Pen pals for Peace

The world of high-speed communication has removed much of the excitement and anticipation that used to accompany receiving a letter in the mail.

But not at Miriam College (MC) in Quezon City, known as a "zone of peace", and Rajah Muda High School (RMHS) in Pikit, Cotabato, a community once torn apart by war.

Therese Villanueva was still in Grade 7 at MC when she received her first letter from her assigned pen pal, Norma Sanday, a student at RMHS. Months before, Therese had written her pen pal about her life at MC and the big city. In reply, Norma told Therese stories about what happened to her family, like the night they were awakened by the sound of gunshots.

"I would often be surprised by what she told me. Whenever I hear news about what’s happening in Mindanao, I always think about Norma and how difficult (her family’s life is)," Therese, now a high school student, writes in the April 2006 issue of Pag-Asa, the newsletter of the "twinning project" between the two schools.

Another MC student, Lean Lumabas, narrates her experience of receiving her first reply from her RMHS pen pal: "Nang matanggap ko ang liham, kaagad ko itong binuksan at binasa, at sa sobrang pagkasabik ko, nasira ko pa ang sobre ng liham. Nang mabasa ko ang kanyang liham, naghalo ang saya at lungkot. Mapalad ako at nabiyayaan ako ng magandang buhay sa piling ng aking pamilya. Sa kabilang banda, nalungkot ako dahil sana, ito rin ang kanyang nararanasan sa buhay–malayo sa panganib, at masaganang buhay."

("When I received the letter, I opened it right away, and in my excitement, I even tore the envelope. When I read her letter, I felt a mix of joy and sadness. I am lucky to be blessed with a good life with my family. On the other hand, I am sad because I wish the same things for her–freedom from danger, and a prosperous life.")

Started in August 2004, the twinning project is an initiative of the Center for Peace Education, (CPE) an NGO based at Miriam College, in partnership with BALAY, an organization that provides integrated rehabilitation in conflict areas. Other project supporters are the Maryknoll College class of 1979, the participating school units and organizations of Miriam College, CORDAID-Netherlands, and the Department of Education Region XII.

According to Dr. Loreta Navarro Castro, director of the CPE, the project aims to "bridge the gap and prejudices that currently exist between many Muslims and Christians" through a "people to people" process.

This process involves an exchange of letters and information between students of RMHS, a public school of about 300 students, and specific groups in MC, such as the Pax Cristi and Grade 7 Peace Education classes. The partner schools have also launched common projects and solidarity actions, especially during the annual celebration of the Mindanao Week of Peace.

"The long-term goal is to enable both schools to be truly ‘schools of peace’‚" Castro says.

Two years later, from about 100 participants from MC who joined the project, about 50 continue to exchange letters with their new-found Maguindanaon friends at the rate of about three cycles per year. Their letters, reflections, poems, and drawings–replete with early wisdom and sincerity–are compiled in two issues of Pag-Asa, which means hope in both Tagalog and Maguindanaon.

In an essay in this compilation titled "Bakit Ganito ang Buhay Ko?" RMHS student Abdulnasser Hussain freely expresses his feelings and thoughts about leaving their home and farm and staying for a year and five months in a cramped and miserable evacuation center.

He recounts with clarity how the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government began to have a "misunderstanding" during the presidency of Joseph Estrada. He narrates how his once peaceful and self-sufficient village was attacked by armed troops, their school and homes razed by bombs, and soldiers and rebels–"fellow Filipinos"–were killed on the battlefield.

On the other hand, RMHS student Norhata Malik writes eloquently about the face of war ("Mukha ng Digmaan") being one of tears, pain, and extreme suffering ("bawa’t kahulugan nito’y luha, sakit, at matinding kahirapan"). She ends by saying that in war, no one wins–only the lives of your brothers are lost.

Castro stresses the importance of the project’s being mutually beneficial to the partner schools: "We are learning from them and they from us, thus we are enriching each other."

Thus, in May 2005, the administrators and teachers involved in the project held a joint seminar in Midsayap, Cotabato. During the seminar, RMHS teachers gave presentations on Mindanao culture and history and the situation in Pikit. For their part, the MC group shared their knowledge on teaching-learning strategies and on the main themes of peace education. They also donated teaching materials to the school.

A high point of the twinning project came in November 2005, during the Mindanao Week of Peace, when a Training Workshop on Youth Peacebuilding was held at Miriam College. With the help of CORDAID and a "lugawan" fundraiser organized by the MC students, about 30 RMHS students, together with their teachers, traveled to Manila, many for the first time, and visited Miriam College. They and the members of selected groups from MC spent two days interacting and planning while the pen pals, who were seeing each other for the first time, caught up with the news.

For most of the participants, the workshop was an eye-opener. Experiences of anxiety turning into ease and camaraderie, of prejudice transforming into understanding and acceptance, and of isolation being replaced by unity and cooperation, were common in their writings.

Summing the impact of that trailblazing workshop, RMHS student Mohaguira Kinga writes, "Ang workshop na iyon ang nagtugon sa mga katanungang bumabagabag sa aking isipan simula‚t simula sapul nang ako’y bata pa lamang sapagka’t ako’y namuhay sa takot na dulot ng hidwaan sa Mindanao. Napatunayan ko na kaya pala naming makitungo at makibagay sa aming kapwa, magkaiba man ang aming mga paniniwala. Dito ay nalaman kong hindi lang pala kami ang naghahangad ng kapayapaan. Nabatid kong ang kapayapaan ay makakamtan lamang kung sisimulan muna natin sa ating mga sarili."

("That workshop answered the questions that piqued my mind as a young girl, because I lived in fear, borne of the conflict in Mindanao. I was able to prove that we can live in harmony with others, even if we have different beliefs. Here, I realized that we are not the only ones who desire peace. I learned that peace can be achieved if we start with ourselves.")

As the high school students from both schools continue to write their letters and poems, and as they offer prayers for peace and for one another’s safety, the seed and spirit of peace education promises to stay robust and thriving. –Women’s Feature Service