The message of Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) is articulated and demonstrated even in the midst of CoViD19 public health crisis and the growing unjust governance in our land. This is particularly made possible by 7 budding women entrepreneurs who are being mentored by the PBCI-CFP Tribe. They are Mary, Sihaya, Annie, Wanay, Mandy, Bennette, and Diane. They are developing their own micro-enterprise and have been marketing their products and experiencing encouraging results.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/07/pbci-cfp-family-gives-birth-to-womens-social-enterprise-initiatives-as-a-response-to-covid19-realities/
Sihaya Ansibod, PBCI Director of Field Operations, has been updating me on her activities. At this point, she’s directing our Inclusive Development Consulting with a corporation and with a government agency, working in three provinces in Mindanao. As far as our team is concerned, her trustworthiness is at 100 per cent level. Sihaya speaks for PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) in the area of field operations.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/07/our-director-of-field-operations-pursues-inclusive-development-projects-amidst-covid19-realities/
With much gratitude to Afunyan—our Creator, Tala fulfilled all her academic requirements and earned the Master of Arts degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, USA. Her thesis topic, “Decolonizing and Localizing Peacebuilding Through a For-Profit Social Enterprise: The Story of Coffee for Peace and PeaceBuilders Community,” helps us see a clearer picture of our journey at PBCI and CFP.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/06/tala-completes-her-masters-degree-from-emus-center-for-justice-peacebuilding/
Independence is freedom from various military, economic, political, and religious systems that still enslave us. It is earning our self-respect. It’s when we can ensure agricultural sustainability in the context of the 21st century global reality. Independence means training more social entrepreneurs who regenerate resources for all. Independence is enjoying our right-to-self-determination as a multi-cultural society. Most of all, independence is the liberation of women in our society.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/06/philippine-independence-day-not-until-we-truly-enjoy-our-right-to-self-determination/
My own research of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act 2020 leads me to some scary and chilling points listed below. This list is not exhaustive as I don’t have enough time to dig deeper due to other pressing meetings and assignments. I am a peace-loving Pinoy. I am a law-abiding citizen. I am not affiliated with any political parties. I am a Pinoy and subscribes to #AllPinoysMatter.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/06/anti-terrorism-bill-a-possible-return-to-the-dark-days-of-marcos-martial-law/
This is my expression of support to the call of my Palestinian Christian brother and friend, The Rev. Dr. Jack Sara. “I have already written several articles on this subject, expressing how so many of those so-called ‘Evangelical leaders’ have not been helpful in achieving peace here,” he laments. “As we mark the seventy-second year of the nakba,” he adds, “I call upon Christians around the world to help us say enough of the injustice and to join us in prophetically speaking against systems that instill suffering and strife on a weak and almost helpless people.”
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/05/i-support-my-palestinian-sisters-and-brothers-as-we-commemorate-the-72nd-year-of-al-nakba/
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.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/05/in-the-midst-of-covid19-crisis-a-new-social-enterprise-is-born/
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.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/04/were-gearing-ourselves-up-to-face-the-pandemic-threat-as-the-new-normal/
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).
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/04/ncr-based-pbci-board-members-initiate-par-operations-in-urban-manila/
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.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/love-energized-courage-peoples-rights-and-cheerful-compliance-to-covid19-lockdown-protocols/
We, PBCI-CFP Tribe, are praying and seeking for justice and peace among the poor even in the midst of the CoViD19 crisis. While at work, we’ve assigned workplaces for each team member in our center and we’ve encouraged everyone to stay there unless it’s really necessary to crossover. All our field operations and travel plans are suspended indefinitely. This is our small way to help #FlattenTheCurve.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/our-prayer-for-the-effectiveness-of-our-fragile-capacity-to-serve-the-urban-poor-during-covid19-crisis/
Our Ama, Lakan Sumulong, led the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) to celebrate with the Indigenous Peoples and the Bangsamoro in affirming their kinship at the Talaandig Ancestral Territory at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad. The Settlers have been actively participating in this celebration for the past 9 years.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/pbci-cfp-tribe-participates-in-the-9th-celebration-of-ip-moro-kinship-affirmation/
We are sent by Mennonite Church Canada Witness in partnership with our international community.
