Category: PAR COMMUNITIES

These are articles on specific activities and events of the Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) communities in some of the 81 provinces in our country where we have developed partnerships.

PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. or PAR Philippines has no administrative control over these organizations, communities, religious groups, or business corporations who have embraced PAR Principles and Practices. We simply cast the vision, provide training, and serve as consultants as each of them develop their respective sustainability as a part of a national network of PAR Communities.

TRUE GRIT IN THE EYES OF A MORO FAMILY

Two years after the Olimpain family participated in the Coffee Farming and Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) training, the PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. Inclusive Development (PBCI IncluDev) Team revisited their farm to follow-up on the development of their coffee plantation.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/03/a-visit-to-the-olimpain-farm/

POWER, PEACE, AND KINSHIP: INDIGENOUS LEADERS SHARE THEIR DREAMS

Last Sunday, 07 March 2021, I had the pleasure of meeting a tribal chieftain. As we traveled through the hilly landscapes of Northern Mindanao, Bai Jerlina Owok entertained us with stories from her journey as the Bagobo Tagabawa chieftain in Barangay Binaton, Digos City.  She shared the story of how she reclaimed her identity as a Bagobo Tagabawa when she reached the summit of Mount Apo—the highest mountain in the Philippines.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/03/power-peace-and-kinship-indigenous-leaders-share-their-dreams/

OUR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES ARE BASED ON WHAT WE HEAR FROM THE GROUND

In the past few months, I’ve been leading the Field Operations Team of PeaceBuildersCommunity.Org and CoffeeForPeace.Com. We have been immersing ourselves among the farmers around Mt. Apo, specifically among certain Bagobo Tagabawa indigenous communities and certain Settlers’ communities. As we listen to the people on the ground, we adjust our inclusive development policies based on the contexts of the communities we serve.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/02/our-inclusive-development-policies-are-based-on-what-we-hear-from-the-ground/

FOUNDING LEADERS OF KAPEYAPAAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION IN ALEGRE START THEIR TRAINING

The founding leaders of Kapeyapaan Farmers Association in Barangay Alegre (KFA-Alegre), Bansalan, Davao del Sur started their six-month training. This program happens from January to June 2021. The participants are among the strategically qualified group of farmers. We have secured proper coordination with government authorities and the provincial tribal leadership regarding our purposes, objectives, and operational procedures, especially our compliance with public health safety protocols.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/01/founding-leaders-of-kapeyapaan-farmers-association-alegre-start-their-training/

KALINGA PAR COMMUNITY INITIATES CAGAYAN VALLEY PAR FIELD OPERATIONS

Our Cagayan Valley Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) Field Operations have started the Rehabilitation Phase of their long-term inclusive development and social entrepreneurial initiatives. This is our focus in response to the disaster caused by Typhoon Ulysses. We are grateful to the Creator for a successful launch. Thankful to Kalinga PAR Community of PeaceBuilders Community – Cordillera, led by Malou Isumacher and Wanay S. Baluyan, who are voluntarily giving their time and energies for these endeavours.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/01/kalinga-par-community-initiates-cagayan-valley-par-field-operations/

FOR US, THE ADVENT EXPRESSES OUR JOURNEY IN CHRIST-CENTERED PEACEBUILDING

We join the Christians around the world in celebrating the Advent or Coming of Jesus. During the four Sundays preceding Christmas, we lit the candles on our Advent wreath. Hope. Love. Joy. Peace. Then on Christmas Day, we lit the Christ candle. For us, this progressive lighting of candles symbolizes our journey in Christ-centered peacebuilding. This expresses our sense of expectation. This is our witness and a declaration of the coming of the Prince of Peace – Jesus Christ!

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/12/for-us-the-advent-expresses-our-journey-in-christ-centered-peacebuilding/

PBCI ORGANIZES FOR IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM DISASTER RESPONSE IN CAGAYAN VALLEY

We are raising funds for the families and communities affected by Typhoon Ulysses that caused floods and destruction of homes among thousands of families here in the Philippines. PBCI will focus on Northern Luzon, specifically Tuguegarao City and the heavily flooded Cagayan Valley. As of Saturday, 14 November 2020, the Tuguegarao Command Center reported that the whole city was submerged underwater, affecting 30,332 families, submerging the home of 28,676 families, with only 536 evacuated into LGU evacuation centers.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/11/pbci-organizes-for-immediate-and-long-term-disaster-response-in-cagayan-valley/

PBCI-CFP TRIBE PARTICIPATED IN A ‘COMMUNITY RESOURCE SHARING’ EVENT

How can we dignify and help folks from communities who are more economically in need, compared to the other communities in the city, during these times of public health crisis?

Organize a ‘community resource sharing event.’ That’s what three organizations did to serve an urban poor neighborhood in Davao City.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/08/pbci-cfp-tribe-participated-in-a-community-resource-sharing-event/

IN THE MIDST OF COVID19 CRISIS, A NEW SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IS BORN!

ProducePeace+ buys fruits and vegetables directly from farmers at justice-based prices. They sell them to solidarity markets mostly belonging to upper-middle class families. They use a big chunk of their net profit to provide nutritious food relief for the urban poor. ProducePeace+ is building a justice-based relationship between socio-economic divide through social enterprise. This opens a way towards conscientization, transformation, and healing of both the people and the land.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/05/in-the-midst-of-covid19-crisis-a-new-social-enterprise-is-born/

WE’RE GEARING OURSELVES UP TO FACE THE PANDEMIC THREAT AS THE NEW NORMAL

We have to accept and face the new reality. The on-going threat of a global pandemic is the ‘now normal’ and we’ll learn how to be resilient as we live with it. No, this is not a defeatist attitude. We’re being like normal Filipinos. We face some 20 typhoons a year that devastate our lives and livelihood. After each typhoon, we get up. We count our loses—lives and properties. We receive relief. We rebuild. We move on. Then we get ready for the next typhoon. This is life. We cry. We get angry. But we also make jokes about this life and laugh about it.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/04/were-gearing-ourselves-up-to-face-the-pandemic-threat-as-the-new-normal/

NCR-BASED PBCI BOARD MEMBERS INITIATE PAR OPERATIONS IN METRO MANILA

PeaceBuilders Community MetroManila is a “bayanihan” of people advocating and working for a just, radical, and active non-violent transformation of our beautiful land. Their mandate is to practice and propagate our message of peace—as harmony with the Creator, harmony with our being, harmony with others, and harmony with the creation—in the various contexts of the urban reality in the National Capital Region (NCR).

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/04/ncr-based-pbci-board-members-initiate-par-operations-in-urban-manila/

LOVE-ENERGIZED COURAGE, PEOPLE’S RIGHTS, AND CHEERFUL COMPLIANCE TO COVID19 LOCKDOWN PROTOCOLS

CoViD19 radically exacerbates the crises faced by our already struggling democracy. Our human rights are violated and our democratic institutions are further weakened. While cheerfully complying with the government’s lockdown protocols, we will seek to protect our rights and our institutions. Sustained by Love-energized spiritual courage, we will face the challenges before us brought about by this pandemic.

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/love-energized-courage-peoples-rights-and-cheerful-compliance-to-covid19-lockdown-protocols/

OUR GLOBAL PEACE COMMUNITY

We are sent by Mennonite Church Canada Witness in partnership with our international community.