“We count ourselves lucky for having attended this Shalom-SCCRR academic course (elective) on Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation pertaining to modules on conflict theories, conflict transformation, peace development, etc. from January to May 2022. Many of us attended this course for various reasons.
This course is of fundamental importance in our world today. We as citizens in this world experience serious conflicts, manifest violence, massive killings and rampart loss of property due to strike and fire exchange between parties with incompatible goals. Since time immemorial, Africa, its people and resources have been abused. The poor management processes of their resources by weak and failed states has led to negative peace escalating to manifest violence frequently. Nowadays the media is preoccupied by the Russia-Ukraine war that escalated recently, but criminal acts, conflicts, expressions of anger and threats are persistently very common to us here in Africa.
The course on conflict resolution and reconciliation helped broaden our horizons to the realities behind the conflicts in our world, and initiated us to the informed and relevant approaches to them as missionaries. The world is full of conflict but there is a scarcity of qualified personnel to study, understand and seek to bring reconciliation to conflict situations. So, it is a privilege for us to have gone through this training and we hope the formation will continue to go empower us to become genuine peacebuilding practitioners throughout our lives. Our own experience from the course, has been positive as the lecturers, both Frs. Oliver Noonan MA, and Patrick Devine PhD, and Ms. Esther Kibe MA, Project Officer Shalom-SCCRR, very good theoretical and field practitioner input. They made the class an interactive one and everybody had a say in the class. We each could carry ourselves in the situation of our fellow countrymen and understand why in our various countries we have tribal, cultural, and national conflicts.
Overall, the course was very well presented; one could grasp the content and the meaning of each lesson. The examples used to talk of war or conflict situations were recent ones and challenges that many countries are still facing up to date. Bringing a woman (Esther) to talk about the role of women in conflict (as victims, perpetrators and peacebuilders) was one of the best initiatives ever. The pedagogical skills of the Shalom team lecturers impacted our lives tremendously. We will ever remain grateful for all that they did that is impacting us socially, spiritually, psychologically and intellectually, holistically and integrally, to deal with conflicts appropriately.
“Nature has endowed man with a thinking that recalls and gives thanks, in a thoughtful, thankful way…” (Martin Heidegger) and so we thank all participants for their enthusiasm and invaluable contributions during the course. We want to become missionaries for the message of Jesus Christ in our hearts’, promoting the sacred values of peace, truth, justice and mercy wherever we will be sent forth to love and to serve all of humanity.”
By:
Tangaza Students Class of 2022
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