As a young practitioner in the field of peacebuilding, I did not think mentorship was a role that I could possibly fill. I thought I only had to focus on gaining new knowledge and skills and applying them. But being part of MPI’s Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program allowed me to see that the understanding and experience you gain is only truly valuable when you are able to share the lessons you learned with others. I was taught that letting others drink from your cup is as important as emptying and filling it again. Through the program, I gained confidence in myself and capacity to mentor other young grassroots peace practitioners, who are themselves untapped mentors in their own communities. The program is both a journey of self-discovery and of multiplying!
In early December 2018, the first batch of mentors from the Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program of MPI, a group comprised entirely of people from Mindanao, met at Davao Eagle Ridge Resort for a midterm workshop. For three days, the mentors reflected on their six-months mentoring experience since the initial workshop held after MPI’s 2018 Annual Peacebuilding Training. They shared their stories and elaborated on the challenges and highlights in working with their mentees and the circumstances in which they work.
“Knowledge needs to be shared”
The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Foundation, Inc. (MPI) began a new and innovative Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program with a workshop that on the first day emphasized the need for knowledge to be shared. Participants recognized that when sharing their skills and what they are good at, that knowledge is multiplied. Mentoring, while usually voluntary and unpaid, can bring about mutual learning experiences, as we support one another.
| M | – | Manage the Relationship |
| E | – | Encourage |
| N | – | Nurture |
| T | – | Teach |
| O | – | Offer Mutual Respect |
| R | – | Respond to the Learners Need |
MPI, along with the workshop’s co-facilitators, Gladston “Ashok” and Florina Xavier, developed and designed the program with the objective that grassroots peacebuilders who are working in the field would be able to enhance their mentoring ability. This will, in turn, strengthen the peacebuilding skills of their co-workers in their organizations and partners in the communities where they work.
An article about the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute that was published in Misioneros, a Spanish publication about the work of Maryknoll Missioners, won an award from the Catholic Press Association of the United States & Canada. The article, Un Refugio para Fomentar la Paz Mundial (A Refuge for Peacebuilding) took second place in the in the 2018 Awards, "Best Story and Photo Package."
Co-authored by Kimberly Asencio and Fred Goddard, the CPA wrote:
The topic of this story—the work of peace builders in the Philippines—is important and consequential. The translated
story is well illustrated, with a lovely, moody lead photograph and several photos that are used efficiently in a clean,
easy-to-read layout.
You may read the Spanish version here: https://misionerosmaryknoll.org/2017/05/refugio-fomentar-la-paz-mundial/
The English version can be found here: https://maryknollmagazine.org/2017/05/a-refuge-for-peacebuilding/
This article was originally published on the Elizabethtown College blog of MPI Facilitator Jon Rudy.
The Republic of Bendora is an island nation surrounded by lesser islands like Renbel, Kula, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Laos and Canada to name a few. Fictitious of course, Bendora is the name of one of the case study scenarios we used in the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) Human Centered Security course. Our training design was hands-on and used made-up scenarios with real-world challenges. Newly designed to help those seeking to reframe security paradigms in their countries, this course tasked work groups to use conflict analysis and mapping skills. One starting assumption in Human Security include that nations are most secure when the needs of people (freedom from fear, freedom from want and respect for dignity) are the reference points (click on image for a larger map).
This year at MPI we had a major delegation from the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation, and Peace in the Solomon Islands. During group work participants from five other countries tackled the Bendoran security issues which included clan tensions, an earthquake, outside meddling by foreign powers and weak governance. I observed that, in the minds of the participants, Bendora was imagined as an island nation among many other islands. The Bendoran mapping exercise proved the truism that our world is shaped by our perspective.