Reflections on peace as a culture

IMG_1440Attempting to be creative while typing is especially difficult as we zigzag through Army checkpoints and broken roads. In between sentences, I look out the window: rice fields, coconut trees and the happenings of people’s daily lives pass us by. I wonder how much pain and suffering this land has seen– it used to be a battleground. Although we are only getting a glimpse into of the lives of these people, I could’t be more grateful for this experience.

Peace is truly a culture in Mindanao. So many Mindanaoans work so hard everyday to keep peace. Peace means something different to everyone we ask. For some, peace grants physical and psychological safety, it lets people sleep at night, it gives people food on their table. I believe that peace is a human right that everyone deserves; no one should be able to take that away. Unfortunately people try, and sometimes successfully, to take away peace.

Today I felt like I truly had grown as a researcher. Although I was timid at first, I am becoming much more comfortable with interviewing people in both a group and individual basis. Today I spoke with a government official in Northern Mindanao for an extended period of time. Speaking to him individually allowed his comfort level to increase which gave me much more information to include in my work. I look forward to being able to continue to improve my skills throughout the remainder of the trip. I am privileged to be able to listen to the stories of the people that work so hard to obtain and maintain peace. I am even more privileged to be a part of the conduit in which these stories can be heard by others in the United States, and hopefully elsewhere too.