Introducing

Pathway to peace

THE CELEBRATED Chilean novelist Isabel Allende gave shape to the process and form of discovering agency when she stated that “we are the authors of our own stories”.

It is therefore at this turbulent time, when our communities experience the ecstasy and agony of life on the Cape Flats, that we need to draw from the wisdom of Allende’s observation, as we narrate the metamorphic journeys towards peace. This will ensure that our tragedies can become our triumphs, because we alone decide our destiny through our choices. It is also within the red seas of contradiction and rage that beauty can be sustained. Beauty never dies, the light cannot be extinguished and our spirits can never be vanquished.

The killings and violence had reached such tragic proportions that there was a call at the end of 2017 for the army to be stationed in Hanover Park. This did not occur. The police are out gunned, out resourced and understaffed. Sources researching this growing crisis estimate that there are 450 to 500 child soldiers in the Hanover Park community. Powerful non-state armed groups (gangs and drug lords) have staked out geographic zones to control sections of the local economy.

Allende’s expression of agency is reflected in the approach of Lucinda Paulse, a Hanover Park peace ambassador co-ordinator, who noted that “the greatness that lies within the community can be made to shine and building peace is the only way to transform Hanover Park, a community caught in the grip of war”. This view is supported by Gail Reid, also a peace ambassador, who stated that “the only way to solve the problem of violence is through solidarity for peace”.

Effectively these women have accurately identified the systemic violence and oppressed conditions.

Another aspect that needs to be examined is the situation of educators, working in war zones and hyper-traumatised schools. They are in need of in-depth counselling and protection, as they have to deal with many of the aggressive learners who are linked to gangs.

These sacred places should be no-go areas for violence and drugs. We must save our young people and the schools must be protected.

On a recent visit to Groenvlei High School, the principal, Tony Adamson, hosted peace ambassadors from his school and the adjacent Mountview and Crystal high schools. Adamson informed me that the peace ambassador programme “holds significant value for the intellectual and educational development of learners and it is essential to embrace these peace concepts…”

Young people have started writing their own stories. Crystal High was first out of the starting blocks and the story The strength to dream by Inga Habe a Grade 12 learner, was published in the Cape Argus.

The Crystal High Dignity Day peace project was a huge success and Samuel Stoffberg and Chelsea Jacobs, both Grade 12 learners at Crystal High wrote an inspiring article about their project. Chelsea Jacobs separately proposed a unifying approach in support of peace in Hanover Park and this was adopted by the three schools as a means to publicly demonstrate against violence.

On June 7 the Grade 11s at Crystal High successfully completed their Peace Project: Adapt, adopt a buddy, and anti-bullying initiative which focused on respect for one another. Crystal High has four law enforcement officers and their presence is an indication of the challenges faced by the teachers and learners. Crystal High is the first school to complete their peace cluster projects. The rising energy of peace must be embraced by peace partners so that a new peace culture can be entrenched.

Mumtaaz Galant, a peace ambassador and Grade 12 learner from Mountview High School, is a remarkable young woman who wrote a moving article on her search for inner peace titled On the quest for peace, published 8 June in the Cape Argus.

An extract from the poem One Light published in Voices Awakened reflects the essence of the peace programme. “One light, shining forever, is all we need, to exile weapons and war, and give us peace”.