NEWS
FROM BRAZIL
supplied by Brazil Justice Net
Number 569, May 25, 2007
Visit
our home page at: http//www.braziljusticenet.org
In this week´s edition of News from Brazil, Joanne Blaney describes her
work with ESPERE, an NGO dedicated to building a culture of peace.
Is the cycle of violence inevitable?
By Joanne Blaney, Maryknoll Lay Missioner
“When I arrived here on the first day of the
course, I had a hard heart, full of desire for vengeance…. I felt like a dry
withered flower without hope… the symbol of how I felt is this empty cup…. I was
like this crumpled-up tissue broken by pain.” These are same of the statements
made by participants of the ESPERE (Schools of Pardon and Reconciliation)
course that we recently gave to a group of educators at the Center for Human
Rights and Popular Education (CDHEP) here in São Paulo. ESPERE means hope in
Portuguese/Spanish and the course helps participants learn to transform anger
and desire for vengeance. It also offers theoretical and practical training
in pardon and restorative justice so as to build a culture of peace.
We
live in a society marked by violence: structural and interpersonal. Violence
in the family and society from injustices, misunderstandings, and a lack of
dialogue affect all of us. The cycle of hate and vengeance destroys so many
families and communities. Political peace or cease-fires can be proclaimed by
government or warring factions but these are ineffective if social peace is not
constructed at the community level.
At one time, Columbia was
considered the most violent country in the world. Today, it is one of the few
countries in our world that has successfully lowered its levels of urban and
interpersonal violence. ESPERE Schools of Pardon and Reconciliation have been a
helpful strategy in this process. ESPERE was begun in Bogotá, Columbia in 2001
by Leonel Narváez, a Consolata missioner and sociologist with a doctorate from
Harvard University. For many years, Narváez worked in Kenya and, later on, in
the Amazon region of Columbia. It was there that he saw how the cycle of
violence repeats itself with the victim becoming aggressive and continuing the
cycle. Narváez found the Fundaçion para la Reconciliación (Foundation for
Reconciliation) and ESPERE has spread throughout Columbia where reconciliation
centers work with diverse populations such as victims of violence, displaced
people, gang members, children, adolescents, adults, prison inmates, community
action groups, etc. Over 60 neighborhoods in the most violent areas of Bogotá
have been implementing these Schools of Pardon and Reconciliation. Territories
of peace have been established in neighborhoods. Significant changes have been
noted in the transformation of familial and neighborhood conflicts. In 2004, the
city council of Bogotá passed a resolution to implement a compulsory class of
Human Rights and Reconciliation in all of Bogotá´s educational institutions.
Throughout Columbia, violence within families has decreased, along with a marked
improvement in personal and community relationships.
Narváez mediated
negotiations between the Colombia government and the leaders of the
revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, the largest of Columbia´s
guerrillas groups). He has worked with more than 1,000 ex-combatants of
Columbia´s para-military and guerrilla groups and helped to disarm and
reintegrate them into society. Most of these ex-combatants are young people
between the ages of 18-25 who have witnessed, and sometimes participated in,
horrible and cruel acts. ESPERE provides them with an opportunity to
recuperate, heal, and rebuild their lives. In Columbia, more than 20,000
ex-combatants have been reinserted into society.
Internationally, more
than 3,000 facilitators have been trained in the methodology of ESPERE. They
are from 11 different countries including Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Peru,
Italy, Senegal, South Africa and Ethiopia. ESPERE has won many awards
including one from the United Nations as well as the 2006 Honorable Mention
Education for Peace Award from UNESCO.
How do the Schools for Pardon
and Reconciliation function?
In our world today, there is much
information about methods to resolve conflicts, mediation, non-violence, and how
to build a culture of peace. ESPERE uses this theoretical information but also
offers individual and group dynamics in which participants learn to transform
their anger and rancor. It works with four fundamental aspects of human
beings: cognitive (knowledge), emotional (feelings), behavior (actions), and
spiritual (transcendence). In a violent situation, the victim, as well as the
offender needs help. Victims in a conflict, many times, feel that they have
little power. Those who continue to feel that they are victims eventually turn
into aggressors unless they learn to deal with their hurt and angry feelings.
Rage and resentment accumulate over time and in some communities, this rage and
hatred are collective and get passed down from generation to generation. For
centuries, societies have passed law after law to combat violence yet our world
seems to get more violent.
ESPERE works on restoring relationships by
giving people a safe place to tell their story, to free themselves from the
bottled-up anger and pain, to forgive or ask for forgiveness. Pardon is seen as
a process and a decision that benefits, not only the aggressor but also the
victim. It is not a matter of forgetting what happened or excusing destructive
behavior but learning to perceive the situation in a new way. Manifestations
of anger and aggressions are many times a cry for respect or help. It is a
willingness to look with new eyes and see more than the limits of the person
who offended. Some of the modules of the program have titles such as: “ I see
with new eyes….I learn how to listen…I decide to forgive…I share the pain…I
construct the truth…I work for justice, etc.”
The program helps to identify and
understand the origin of conflicts and offers strategies and training in
non-violent conflict resolution techniques. Restorative justice principles are
an integral part of the ESPERE program. Restorative justice is a process that
involves, to the extent possible, those involved in a specific offense or crime
(victims and offenders) to meet together and identify harms, needs, and
obligations, in order to heal . It is a way to help offenders understand how
their actions have impacted others, to take responsibility for those actions,
and to make restitution. Restorative justice provides an opportunity for
dialogue between the victim and offender. Many times, the process involves the
community and provides for the restoration of relationships, thus improving the
social fabric.
ESPERE in São Paulo
ESPERE is being implemented
in São Paulo at CDHEP ( Human Rights and Popular Education Center), which is
located in Capão Redondo, an area marked by social exclusion and high levels of
urban violence. CDHEP works on community leadership formation, violence
prevention, and the formation and articulation of social movements. One major
goal is to form citizens who actively participate in society to bring about
more justice. CDHEP works with educators, the family, the community and with
public agents. It participates in municipal and state forums, promotes courses
for popular legal promoters, and educates leaders in the defense of human and
environmental rights.
The ESPERE course of 40 hours has been given to
a group of municipal police offers and to groups of educators. Those educators
who have been trained in the program are now giving the course to their students
in 15 different locations. Our goal is to break the cycle of violence and to
deepen the notions of “real” forgiveness and reconciliation as well as to build
‘territories of peace’. The course with children and adolescents is part of a
larger program called “I Am a Citizen”, whose objective is to deepen the notion
of citizenship and to strengthen values, attitudes and actions in defense of
life, thus overcoming violence.
In evaluating the course,
comments from the educators and the police included:
- This course made a big difference in my
life. Now when conflicts occur, I think, I reflect, I try to listen to both
sides
- I am less aggressive. This course helped me learn to deal with others
and their conflicts.
- I thought that it was weak to ask for forgiveness. Now
I understand differently.
- I feel an inner peace and am ready to bring the
light of Espere to my students.
- My family and co-workers have
commented that I am different. I am calm and I listen. I don’t explode in
anger.
- It is my pride that keeps me from forgiving. I´m learning how to deal
with my anger.
- I am ready to take this knowledge and compassion to
others.
- I understand now what it really means to forgive.
ESPERE
acknowledges the role of spirituality in generating compassion and solidarity
which are essential parts of social change. It recognizes the importance of
individuals and communities to cultivate spirituality as a way to build a future
without violence. Our work is on an individual and social level. Forgiveness
can heal the wounds and stop violence. Building a culture of peace demands
social commitment to join with others in working to change the economic, social
and political structures that also cause violence.
