The experience at the Annual Peacebuilding Training of the Mindanao Peace Institute (MPI) in Davao City was a dream come true. It was a long and cumbersome journey with lots of new experiences ranging from airline regulations to emergency landing that resulted in missed flights and finally an earthquake. In spite of all of this, the climax was a safe space that brought different experiences gained not only from a post-war country in Africa but also other parts of the world.

The Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Program Midterm Workshop held at Malagos Gardens Resort, Davao City, from October 22 to 24, 2022, was a very enriching experience for me and my seven other co-participants. Together with our competent facilitators, Ashok and Florina Xavier, we journeyed to discover ourselves and each other. Mentoring involves several principles in order for it to be effective. Here are some principles taken from reflections of our joint experiences together.

On Sunday, October 9, 2022, MPI’s Research, Documentation, and Learning team, Anna Gingco and Marlies Roth, gathered a group of five participants for a roundtable conversation. It was a mix of people from different cultural and geographical backgrounds, experiences and age ranges. It was their genuine interest in each other’s reflections that made the conversation so memorable.

While there is no way to compensate for atrocity, there is a way to transcend it, by making it a gift to others.

Judith Herman in Trauma and Recovery, p.36

I have heard, witnessed, and experienced prevalent truths that are common to advocates, peace and development workers, and frontliners regardless of their platform to achieve the goals of justpeace in communities during the MPI 2022 Annual Peacebuilding Training with the theme Emerging Realities: How Do We Respond as Peacebuilders? Here are chunks of realities from all over the world as generously shared by fellow-peacebuilders-turned-friends wrapped into a gift of wisdom while serving as a class assistant.