PEACEBUILDERS COMMUNITY

PAR TEAMS

	THE PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TEAMS Peace and Reconciliation Teams (PAR-T) are composed of local volunteers from various communities who are partnered with international volunteers. They are jointly trained for 8 months in the following areas — :: Armed Conflict Area Survival Training :: Fact-Finding Missions :: Conflict Transformation :: Disaster Preparedness :: Trauma Healing :: Inter-Faith Dialogue :: Medical and Relief Operations :: Development Communications :: Cross-Cultural Communications :: Personal Growth & Development TEAMS' CURRENT STATUS: Q2-2010 :: Ligawasan PAR Team 1: Deployed & Active :: Ranao PAR Team: Deployed & Active :: University PAR Team: Deployed & Active :: Central Luzon PAR Team: Field Testing :: Greater Davao Area PAR Team: Organizing :: Bukidnon PAR Team: Organizing
	MISSION OF THE PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TEAMS :: To promote peace and reconciliation in our land by giving skilled, courageous support to communities experiencing various conflicts :: To inspire various parties-in-conflict to discard violence in favor of nonviolent action as a means of settling differences :: To provide various communities with first-hand information and resources for responding to situations of conflict, and to urge their active involvement :: To interpret a nonviolent perspective to the media and to our nation as a whole
	23 LEADERS PARTICIPATE IN CL PAR CATALYST SEMINAR By Dann Pantoja, March 23, 2010, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines Twenty-three community leaders participated in the First Central Luzon Peace and Reconciliation Catalyst Seminar, held in Cabanatuan City last March 23, 2010. This is part of Peacebuilders Community's PAR Team Organizing in Luzon-- the northern island of the Philippines. These participants are leaders of the Association of Ministers and Ministries in Nueva Ecija (AMMNE). They are bishops, pastors, family-life counsellors, professors, doctors and civil society executives. Bishop John Tayoto and his staff from the Asian Center of Leadership and Education coordinated this event. AMMNE envisions to invite, train, organize, and mobilize a Peace and Reconciliation Team (PAR-T) from a group of provincial leaders who would, in turn, invite, train, organize, and mobilize PAR-Ts in various municipalities in Nueva Ecija. Most of these teams would be specializing in Disaster Preparation and will be field-tested in strategic communities in Central Luzon. The training and preparation will include various skills in responding to both natural and man-made disasters. Peacebuilders Community aims to help increase the disaster preparedness of our partner communities in key areas of Central Luzon. In order to achieve our goal, (a) we have to increase the capacity of our local community partners to respond to disasters caused by natural hazards and conflict; and, (b) we have to increase local disaster coordination among related agencies present in partner communities. This PAR-T organizing in Central Luzon is done in partnership with the Mennonite Central Committee, Peace Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church Canada, Coffee for Peace, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, and the Integrated Mennonite Churches in the Philippines.
	DAVAO UNIVERSITY PAR TEAM IS LAUNCHED By Bennette Grace Tenecio, PARTO, Davao University PAR Zone Energetic. Bubbly. Critical thinkers. Highly opinionated. Smart. Creative. That’s how I describe my trainees. University Peace and Reconciliation Zone is a pilot project of Peacebuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) to start a peace movement among university students in Mindanao. When I learned that I’ll be assigned as the PAR Team Organizer (PARTO) of the University PAR, I was excited and challenged at the same time. I'm excited because I used to be a campus worker and really loved it. I'm challenged because I know that this will be a high-energy commitment! So, I started to pray and to plan on how to go about it. Like what I used to do a few months before actually joining PBCI, I hanged out at the Coffee for Peace. It was, and still is, my favorite thing to do. While sitting comfortably on the couch, I heard two students talking about the wall pictures in the coffee shop. One blurted: “I want to be like them. People who work for peace!” "This is it!" I said to myself. "I have to grab this opportunity to talk to these students." And I did. Now, that student is the core leader of the University PAR. It’s so amazing how everything got in-sync with the plans In the first quarter, key universities were identified and begin to look for students who are willing to be part of the University PAR. Students from University of the Philippines Mindanao Campus, Ateneo de Davao University, University of Mindanao and Holy Cross of Davao City were given orientation about the University PAR. Only the students from ADDU (Ateneo de Davao University) and HCDC (Holy Cross of Davao City) expressed their commitment to be trained and be part of the University PAR. Hanging out with these students is part of the mentoring sessions. Visiting them in their campus is a great experience. Learning their struggles and conflicts in a students’ context is a great challenge but at the same time an encouragement. Training them about peace and reconciliation in their lenses is a big deal. Students have unique issues about peace and they have unique ideas on how to deal with it. These are students of Mass Communications, International Studies (Majoring in American Studies) and Engineering. They come from different year levels. Some are freshmen and some are in their third year. Listening to their different stories and their hopes on how to achieve peace and reconciliation in our land made me think that their youthful ideas and idealism bring hope. It is possible to achieve the Salam-Shalom that we are praying and hoping to happen. Right now, these students are on their PAR (Peace and Reconciliation) Basic Course training. They are so eager to learn and excited to be exposed in peacebuilding work. Continued discussions and questions are entertained in every campus visits and e-group interaction. Our “tambayan” (hang-out), the PBCI office, is fast becoming to be the home of the University PAR Team. One of them articulated the groups' heart well: “We want to be a catalyst of peace here in our land and we want our voices to be heard.” Looking at peace through the students' lenses energizes me to continue this journey--to walk with these students to help achieve peace and reconciliation in our land. (Follow the University PAR Team on Facebook) September 16, 2009 Davao City Bennette Grace Tenecio is University PAR Team Organizer and Trauma Healing Program Specialist at PBCI. With her master's degree in Clinical Psychology, Benette has various experiences working with children and youth. She served as a university campus worker in Metro Manila for a number of years. Now, she has decided to serve in Mindanao where she was born, the place she considers home. top
	FIRST RANAO PAR ZONE HEALTH CARE TRAINING LAUNCHED By Mei Solocasa, PARTO, Ranao PAR Zone MAY 04-08, 2009, Poona Piagapo, Lanao del Norte--Peacebuilders Community, Reach International and ECOWeb worked together to start the Healthcare Training and Services in this municipality. The 2-day training was participated by 32 people from the 6 baranggays (Nunungan, Pyangamangaan, Pantao, Kablangan, Pantao Raya, Poblacion) of the municipality. On the third day, the trainees were exposed to a medical clinic accommodating 82 patients who come from the said barangays. The medical team was welcomed warmly by the Maranao community, and was given the opportunity to live closely with their language and culture. In spite of the hardships to rehabilitate their communities after the devastation caused by armed encounters that happened last August 2008, the team was warmly offered with places to sleep and food to eat during the stay. The team was hosted in Poblacion during the first 3 days of the healthcare training, and was hosted in Pyangamangaan during the remaining 2 days of the medical clinic. The people in these communities hardly get checked-up by a medical doctor. They do not even have much opportunities to visit the municipal health center. The roads are almost impossible to pass through due to its perilous condition. If it is heavily raining, people prefer to walk for 5 hours, rather than ride on a horse or truck or motorcycle and risk falling on the cliff or meet an accident on the “roller-coaster” road. The nearest health center from where the team held its medical clinic is 2 hours walk away, and this is one of the reasons why pregnant women don’t get pre-natal check-up, thus increasing the cases of pregnancy complications, such as hemorrhaging, septicemia (infection), abortion, and etc. It is a fulfillment to the team to get started in Poona Piagapo, and we continue to pray that the 32 healthcare trainees would be sustained for the next 9 months of the training. We are doing our best so that the 82 patients would remember the healthcare teachings that we shared with them. In our public health trainings, we stress that a lot of remedies to their diseases could be easily found in their own community, such as corn silk tea for edematous pregnant women, steam therapy for those who could hardly breathe due to phlegm and nasal secretions, and a lot more. The five-day work of the medical team seemed to be a five-day vacation. The work became enjoyable as we all shared our strengths and weaknesses with each other. Most members of our team also learned some Maranao words and phrases, and were able to appreciate the distinctive taste of Maranao dishes due to its spices—locally called "palapa" (a mixture of onion, ginger, and chilli). The first week of training finally began. I'm looking forward for more meaningful moments with the Maranao people in the next months to come. In spite of the differences on our languages, beliefs, religions, and cultures, I've again experienced, that love---outweighs our differences. (Follow Mei Solocasa's journey on Facebook!) top FIRST PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TEAM SENT-OUT FOR DUTY IN MIDSAYAP by Dann Pantoja, Director of Field Operations Davao City, March 31, 2008. 18 young people from the three people groups of Mindanao (Bangsamoro, Lumad, and Migrants) finished the one-year training course to qualify as members of the Peace and Reconciliation Team (PAR-T). These teams are composed of local volunteers from various conflict areas of Mindanao. To be effective agents of peace and reconciliation, they were required to undergo training in — :: fact-finding missions :: information management :: peace education :: justice advocacy :: inter-faith dialogue :: cross-cultural communications :: conflict transformation :: medical and relief operations :: trauma healing :: personal growth & development Elwyn Neri was the one who gathered, trained, and nurtured these young people to become a team. He stayed in Midsayap, North Cotabato for eight months to build the first PAR-T. Each member of this team is aware of what is expected of them as individuals: :: to qualify and recruit two more PAR-T trainees within six months :: to pursue further training in Peace and Reconciliation 2 and 3 and other supplementary modules :: to be available anytime their services are needed in a conflict area These volunteers are currently operating in Central Mindanao in partnership with the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), Southern Christian College's Community Education Research and Extension Administration (SCC-CEREA), and the Mindanao People's Peace Movement (MPPM). top HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN OUR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TEAMS :: Information for Applicants in PDF Format :: Application Form in MS Word Format