What are Peace Messengers?

In 2003, SCI international adopted a strategic plan for 2004-2009 in order to better coordinate the action of the branches around common goals. One of these goals was "to improve the quality of peace education within the movement." Peace Messengers were formed to make this goal a reality. Peace Messengers are volunteers visiting work camps in order to run peace education activities. They can visit work camps of their own branches, or in other countries.

There is no fixed format for Peace Messengers sessions. They can run a one hour, one evening, one day or even a one week-end programme, depending on their availability and the time that can be freed during the workcamp. The activities can be very different: an exercise aiming at raising awareness on one particular issue related to peace, a presentation, a testimony, an artistic workshop, or even a whole programme resulting in workcamp participants running awareness raising activities themselves in the local community.  

Peace Messengers sessions all aim at raising awareness on peace-related issues, and giving tools to participants that they can use back home, after the work camp.  These sessions should be well integrated into the workcamp; this is why the Peace Messenger should work with the workcamp coordinator, to make sure that the activity organised fits into the general processes and dynamics. A two-hour session out of the blue from an unknown person and with no relation to the theme of the workcamp is not very likely to have a long-lasting impact...

Click here to find examples of projects run by Peace Messengers.

Click here to find resources to organise Peace Messengers activities.

Click here to read the Peace Messengers Handbook 2009

Reflections of an Aspiring Peace Messenger

Laetitia Barbry, EVS and Peace Messenger at OWA-Poland, following a Peace Messengers training session in Novi Sad, February 2008.

"As it was an unclear and uncertain point for the people who attend the training themselves, I, therefore, would like to insist on the nature and work of the future and past Peace Messenger. They won’t be coming as Mahatma Gandhi himself, surrounded by light and peacefulness incarnation, they won’t be carrying a conflict -resolution –solution-pack-ready-to–apply, But they will work for and about peace by coming to workcamps to “Give something to think about and possibilities to do… .”

 Let me tell you how I see the next few months. Firstly the task and aim of Peace messenger won’t be possible without a close collaboration with Campleaders, a mutual decision of how, when and how long I (let’s assume from now on that I will be the next Peace messenger) will stay on each workcamp. The campleader play an important role as link with the project partner, the volunteers. The "Peace activities” themselves will be prepare beforehand but will be flexible regarding to group dynamic and camp work and topic. It will consist on games, workshops, discussion depending on the group, the time, topics will also be flexible but probably insist on Intercultural dialogue and learning. A last point is to specify. The “Peace Messenger” project as such, should be define, undertake, evaluate and leave a trace which will be useful not only as a report of activity sitting on a shelf but as a real tool for next generation at SCI international level. There will be a time for few people sitting around a table with the word “ booklet” between them , and this also have to be planned. So, let’s put a definitive end to this “article”: by inviting all campleaders, volunteers interested in this project  to contact me, check the spaceforpeace.net or also just think about a very simple question: “How do YOU see the Peace messenger work?"

Training opportunities

SCI has already organised trainings for Peace Messengers and is planning to organise others in the future. For more information, please contact peacemessangers@gmail.com