After having participated in two online courses offered by MPI, I had great expectations and enthusiasm to go to the Philippines and take the in-person course Conflict-Sensitive Journalism and Content Creation: Theories and Practice (CSJ). The experience of learning about peace and conflict in MPI left me with a good impression and the desire to learn more as these experiences helped me to better understand my work at Centro Nacional Chega!. The MPI classes allowed me to not only acquire new knowledge, but also to learn concrete tools that are extremely useful in my work with the youth and with the victims and survivors of human rights violations in Timor-Leste.
During the online courses, I liked how the facilitators conducted the sessions and I enjoyed meeting and learning from other participants. They brought knowledge and experiences that greatly enriched the topics covered during the course. Similarly, the course organizers also left a good impression on me. Although my knowledge of English is somewhat limited, at no point did it prevent me from understanding and participating in the group discussions. While I really liked the two online courses, having a slow internet connection had affected my participation.
When I attended the MPI Annual Training in person, it was very interesting yet also challenging because I traveled alone from Timor-Leste and I did not know if there were other colleagues from other institutions in my home country who were also participating in the course. However, participating in person was very good because it allowed direct interaction with the facilitators and participants. Meeting new people, participating in group work together, and group discussion were crucial to me in order to understand the materials and content presented during the course.
For the course content, I believe that the subjects discussed were all relevant and provided tangible contribution to the work of each participant in their respective organizations. I chose to take the CSJ course because it was relevant to my work at Centro Nacional Chega!, which is mandated to ensure the preservation of the memory and history of Timor-Leste from 1974 to 1999 and to promote and monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) on the institutionalization of memory and promotion of human rights.
The course I chose was my first option because we started a pilot program at Centro Nacional Chega! called the “Peace Journalism Program.” The program consists of three main objectives: a) provide training in peace journalism to participants; b) allow the participants to learn history through the stories of victims of past human rights violations in a target district; and, c) produce a creative output related to the history of Timor-Leste’s human rights struggles and broadcast the output on national television, on social media, and in schools. As such, I came to this course with high expectations that I will learn how to approach and report on sensitive issues connected to the lives of the most vulnerable victims of human rights violations in my country.
I left this course with a lot of knowledge gained and fond memories of the facilitators and my course colleagues. The facilitators addressed the topic in a clear and simple manner and made a point of involving all participants in the discussions and activities during the course. I also learned a lot from my classmates, who were mostly young, creative, and eager to help their respective communities.This experience was a valuable reference for the work being carried out at the Centro Nacional Chega!. I was inspired by the activities done by other course participants in their respective organizations, especially the way they use social media like TikTok and Facebook to spread awareness about certain subjects. These examples were highly relevant and can be replicated for our other project at Centro Nacional Chega! called “Chega! Young Ambassadors,” a traineeship program for university students.
The CSJ course supports the continuation of the 'Peace Journalism Program' at Centro Nacional Chega!, bearing in mind that the purpose of this project is to preserve not only the memories of the human rights victims but also their stories after the conflict. The MPI course helped me realize that in the Peace Journalism Program, in addition to giving priority to the most vulnerable victims, we must also focus our attention on deeper issues like the stories that are unknown to most people and to identify the reasons for the lack of support for the victims from the government.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the course topics for the CSJ course were relevant to peacebuilding work, conflict transformation, and the promotion of human rights. I would like to thank MPI for providing the space for participants to share their experiences and knowledge in order to replicate or improve their work in their respective organizations or countries.
Alexandre Ornay Pinto, a Local Expert for higher education from the Civil Peace Service program, Southeast Asian University Partnership for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation (SAUP) at Centro Nacional Chega! in Timor-Leste.