By Sydney Smith
Photos by Felix Unogwu
Felix Unogwu is being followed. Search for Common Ground’s Children and Youth Specialist, he arrived in Fez, Morocco’s third largest city, a few days prior with colleagues from Sierra Leone: Country Director Ambrose James and Alimamy Kamara . They’re here meeting with the Search for Common Ground Morocco staff for what Felix calls “country cross-fertilization.” They’ll be conducting media training for the Search Morocco Team and the staff of the regional public radio in Fez. The team is also there to witness the work of the youth mediators in Fez in the hopes of creating similar programs in Sierra Leone where, as Felix says, “the context is fertile and there is a need.”
Now he and the Sierra Leone staff are taking part (mostly as observers) in a Public Sensitization Day, during which the mediators go into public squares of the community to spread awareness and give out information about the services offered in their center.
Much of their work is spread by word of mouth, and at least one man, selling bright fruits and vegetables, has already had experiences with the center. “Yes,” he cries in recognition, “They do good work!”
Felix joins the young mediators as they fan out in the medina. They talk to young and old, male and female.
Ambrose observing the mediators
The square is busy and the responses to the outreach are positive. And there, just off to the side is a man who does not speak or approach, just…follows. Felix has no idea who he might be or what his interest is. Perhaps he is merely curious. Coming from the comparatively laid back Sierra Leone, Ambrose and Alimamy must adjust to Fez’s stricter culture.
Meeting with the mayor
The King’s portrait hangs in nearly every building and the team’s progress would have been all but impossible without the blessing of Fez’s mayor, one of the most powerful men in the region. To get anything accomplished here requires consulting with many institutions and skill with maneuvering the system. Morocco’s civil society is fledgling but Felix and the Sierra Leone staff are impressed with what the Morocco team has achieved in spite of constraints.
One of these achievements is the amazing trust that the mediators seem to have built within the community. Most mediators are somewhere between the ages of 17 and 30 and they often mediate on cases involving people twice and three times their age. Marriage issues are frequent, as are issues of custody and disputes between neighbors and tenants. In a culture that values and respects age, Felix was initially surprised to see an elderly man bring forth a domestic dispute before teenage staff. However all parties said they felt comfortable doing so. A few of the mediators confess that it can sometimes feel strange, like talking with their grandfather or parents about their personal problems, but that the training they’ve received tended to make such feelings evaporate.
When he first arrived, there was some wariness on the part of mediators who felt that they might be scrutinized. But Felix assured them he had come with a blank slate and was there to learn. For those who might remain unconvinced he pulls out his Arabic dance moves.
At first it has the awkward one-man-dancing-in-a-circle-by-himself feel, complete with “what is this man doing??” looks. But eventually his exuberance wins out and many mediators join, laughing and egging each other on. Even many girls, unused to dancing with men cannot help but catch the spirit. 
When he leaves, Felix –SFCG “best hugger” awardee—will have a hug line queuing for him; this in spite of cultural reluctance about women touching unrelated men.
Some tensions are harder to dance away. When they began the media training, Felix gave a presentation to show SFCG programs, projects and methodology around the world. He included a clip of a peace song written and performed by a Palestinian and Israeli musician. He thought the message of collaboration would appeal to his Moroccan audience. Yet the reaction to the clip was complete silence. Pin-drop silence that seemed, to Felix, to stretch on for ages. Finally, one young man spoke:
“Why did the Jewish guy sing first?”
Alimamy nearly burst out laughing, but a well-timed pinch from Felix silenced him. The question took Felix by complete surprise, but it seemed that most were in agreement. In their perception, the singing order seemed symbolic of dominance. Some thought it was a bad idea for them to be singing together at all. For Felix it was an example of how differently people can view things and of how important it is to hear those viewpoints. In short: mediation.
More pictures from Felix’s trip:
- MediAction also has a children’s center
The Old City
More from the Sensitization Day
Youth President, Ali doing outreach
Aaaaand more dancing!
Maybe you’ve heard about The Team, maybe you’re getting geared up for the World Cup and need some soccer in your life before it starts, maybe you’re looking for a show that does more than entertain…?
You, my friend, are in luck!
The Team: Kenya is now available to viewers outside the reach of Kenyan TV. Full episodes from the first season are now online at Link TV.
Enjoy!
“The political and social realities of Palestinian life under occupation, as well as a strong desire to resolve problems creatively and peacefully, are what distinguish the Palestinian TEAM program as an evocative work of art.”
Behind the scenes on The Team (© 2009 Ma’an)
Search for Common Ground’s innovative soap opera series will be airing soon on the Palestinian television station Ma’an. Journalist Alon Raab traveled to the West Bank to meet the creators. He writes: “Without compromising on story or entertainment, Shoumali and fellow creators emphasize the rule of law and freedom of association, challenges faced by women, peaceful conflict resolution and the importance of pursuing one’s dreams.”
Read his excellent article here.
Goodwill Ambassador and actress, Mia Farrow (media.prsa.org)
In the lead up to these elections, Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow traveled to Guinea to launch a youth peacebuilding program, implemented by Search for Common Ground and UNICEF. The project will encourage youth (who make up 30% of Guinea’s population) to be peaceful actors of change.
SFCG Guinea Country Director, Quentin Kanyatsi says, “Through our programme, young people learn about their rights, non violent ways of dealing with adversarial situations, and about democratic change. Better informed, they are able to resist political manipulations and will become a non violent drive of positive change during and beyond the transition in Guinea.”
Read the full article here.
Check out what else SFCG is doing in Guinea.
Me and my clan against the world;
Me and my family against my clan;
Me and my brother against my family;
Me against my brother.
~Somali Proverb
By Sydney Smith
Confederate soldier near Spotsylvania Court House, VA (Library of Congress)
“I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. ”
~William Tecumseh Sherman (Union General)
This article by Dr. Gary Kohls highlights a little known fact of Mother’s Day: that its earliest incarnation was as a proclamation against war.
Certainly the cards, breakfast in bed, gifts, flowers, and a little respect for all the unsung work that mothers do, don’t go unappreciated. But the holiday’s original intent was to give mothers an even greater gift, more time with their sons.
- Julia Ward Howe (from jhu.edu)
The first mother’s day was proclaimed in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe an abolitionist, suffragette and social activist, who is probably most famous for authoring “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which she wrote after visiting a Union Army camp. Howe was deeply effected and troubled by the horrors and death toll of the American Civil War and she drafted her Mother’s Day Proclamation with the belief that women could play a vital role in resolving conflict and creating peace.
Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870:
Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God –
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
Wishing a Happy and peaceful Mother’s Day to all.
