The Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Colombia Ana Díaz, MS Bridging the Gaps: Risk Reduction, Relief and Recovery Conference Istanbul, Turkey.

The Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Colombia

Ana Díaz, MSBridging the Gaps: Risk Reduction, Relief and

Recovery ConferenceIstanbul, Turkey

March 31-April 2, 2009

Outline

• Overview of the Violence in Colombia• The Schools of Forgiveness and

Reconciliation, ESPERE• Three current initiatives

Overview of the Violence in Colombia

Some Statistics

• Homicide rate at 29 per 100,000 (2005)• Top cause of death in 2002: Violence• Violence against women: 43% (2007)• 2.7-3.1 Million estimated Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)• 270,000 new IDPs in the first semester of 2008• War-related deaths: Approx. 8-10% of all homicides (2004)

(Source: CODHES, PAHO, DHS Survey)

Photo: El Tiempo Newspaper 09/30/08

On Top of That…

• 31,671 paramilitaries and collaborators have demobilized (2003-2006) •17% have been estimated to have formed new armed groups

• 40,000 FARC and 4,000 ELN members are estimated to continue to operate

• 390,000 soldiers in the National Army(Source: UNHCR, Colombian Gov.)

Photo: Alto Comisionado para la Paz Photo: Fundación para la Reconciliación

What are we Left With?“I was talking to my brother in the classroom when I got hit by a soccer ball. I get really excited when I see them so I kicked it right away to send it back to the owner. I kicked it very hard though and accidently hit a girl and broke her collar bone. Before I knew it, the boyfriend came after me to hit me and actually broke my mouth . The girl was brought to the hospital. The school coordinator told me that I should have not hit the girl anyway and that the girl had told her it was intentional so nothing happened to the boyfriend and I was left as the bad guy. That night, since the girl lived right next to me, the mother came demanding money for the medical bills. Later the dad came with a gun threatening to kill me. Luckily I was working that night but my father told me what happened. My father was so mad that he hit me . We were in that dilemma for 6 months.”

The ESPERE Schools of the Fundación para la Reconciliación

The Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, ESPERE

• An approach that focuses on the process for removing emotional and identity barriers that block the way to ending interpersonal conflict

• Building capacity and motivation to self- repair, repair others

• Empowerment: Creating community mediators and trainer-of-trainers

• Propose restorative justice as an alternative to punitive justice

Photo: Fundación para la Reconciliación

Conflict leaves victims but victims also have other social and political identities worth recuperating

The Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, ESPERE cont.

The ways people respond to conflict:

• Taking revenge or distancing oneself from the victim both socially and emotionally to ameliorate feelings of powerlessness and guilt—These routes are likely to intensify rather than end conflict

• Apology-forgiveness cycle to remove the emotional barriers to reconciliation for both victims and perpetrators, at their own pace

• Forgiveness process helps officialize a personal story and offer a new point of departure

(A. Nadler & N. Shnabel in “The Social Psychology of Intergroup Reconciliation” , 2008)

Goal: Healing of emotional wounds and management of memories

ESPERE MethodologySocial reconnection

Safe environment

Tell their story: narrative truth

Self-reflection

Photos: Fundación para la Reconciliación

Assertive communication

Challenges of the Methodology

• Addresses interpersonal level conflict• Not stand-alone sessions• Process does not end after 80 hours • Preservation of basic principles in TOT Model• Evaluation, measuring impact

Basis for Sustainable Reconciliation: Healing of Emotional Wounds

Three Major Initiatives

• Emotional Literacy Program– 9,125 IDPs and former

combatants primarily• The National network of

youth for Reconciliation– 7,000 youth (ages 13-18) in

14 schools• Peace Leaders Program

– 220 former combatants in Bogotá Photo: Fundación para la Reconciliación

What Has Worked?

• Internal Champions within local governments, Ministry of Education

• ESPERE for teachers first• Partnering with other NGOs• Personal Testimonies and preliminary

outcome data

Voices of Participants[With the network] a girl from my group told me she was being bullied so, what did I do? I went and talked with the boy and his group doing the bullying and I said to them: no, you have to have this thing called ethics of care, you have to talk and so I gave them all of the concepts. The older ones in the group began to understand and some went and apologized to the girl. And I know they meant it because I can tell when someone is trying to play me. I felt I helped a lot, you know, to get the bad ones to not do this stuff anymore, as I was doing it in sixth grade. And is not like I gave them a lecture you know, because I have experience so I knew they would not listen to a lecture, I make it dynamic.”

Pablo, member of the Youth for Reconciliation Network .

Voices of Participants“We were invited to the forgiveness workshops and I thought, here is another stupid psychosocial program. I did not have the slightest idea of the effect those workshops would have on me. I had the time to cry, to be able to find myself and for the first time in my life, I saw my own potential as a human being. I discovered also that with my temperament, I was losing the woman I love. I was able to take responsibility for my wrongdoings. I had the courage to ask for forgiveness, from the heart. I was able to recognize that I had spent my entire life wasting time over things that did not matter and that it wasn’t a church what I needed. What I needed was to forgive myself. “

Pedro, former combatant and today peace leader.

Thank you!

Contact Information:Ana Dí[email protected]

Fundación para la Reconciliaciónwww.fundacionparalareconciliacion.org

Colombia

Photos: John Ospina

•Founded in 2001•Work with communities in 63 areas (municipalities and cities), and through partners in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia and South Africa•93,000 participants of ESPERE in Colombia •3,500 volunteers (trainers of trainers) in 40 cities and towns. •Human rights and reconciliation classes in all schools of Bogotá since 2004•Awarded with several National Peace Awards as well as with an honorable mention in Peace Education by UNESCO (2006).

Components of Forgiveness Modules (6)

1- Introduction to F&R: what forgiveness is and what is not

2- From Darkness to Light3- Decision to Forgive4- Looking with other Eyes5- Understand my Offender6- Launching a Bridge

Components of Reconciliation Modules (4)

1- Building Collective Truth 2- Guaranteeing Justice 3- Facilitating a Pact4- Celebrating, Making Memory and

Offering Reparation

Correos de Paz

ESPERE Graduation