By Peterlinus Ouma
The peace building and conflict resolution team from Shalom is on a very special mission this month.
The communities of Todonyang and Sies lie on the northwestern edge of Turkana bordering Ethiopia. In the past, the Turkana and Dassenach communities have traded and intermarried with each other. The area is blessed with a lot of fish from Lake Turkana/River Omo and both communities have large herds of cattle and goats.
As the harsh weather continues to threaten their livelihood, communities are forced to go out and look for pasture, ideal fishing point and water. Recently the relationship between the two communities has been spoiled by conflict.
Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation has been engaged with both communities conducting workshops so as to enhance their skills in conflict management over the last two years.
During the first week of November a workshop on Conflict Resolution will be held in these two locations. The topic will touch on non-violent strategies of effectively resolving conflicts for sustainable peace. The training will touch on effective communication strategies, the use of a third party mediator, the exploration of alternatives to conflict, among other sub-topics.
The main objective is to understand and use the skills of conflict resolution so as to effectively resolve two-party and multi-party conflicts in their communities.
