Monrovia — The Technical lead for Ignite Group has told students of the Center for Peace Education and other Liberians to manage their feelings in the search for peace. Mr. Bako K. Shuaibu said Liberians should observe their surroundings and learn how to manage their feelings.
Mr. Shuaibu said that sometimes people are controlled by negative feelings and temperament, which can lead to conflict. He said that students and citizens in general must be able to control their anger levels so that they do not end up in unexpected situations.
The Ignite Group Technical lead made these comments recently in Moulton Corner, Brewerville, at the Center for Peace Education Ritual Ceremony: Transitioning from Conflict to Peace, where he served as a guest speaker.
"While you have been taught about gossip and taking wrong information to others, you also need to learn temperament, which is the key trigger of conflict. Sometimes our emotions get the best of us, so we must be careful," he said.
He urged the students to be relaxed citizens and always observe their surroundings so that they can play safely by the rules. "You cannot come to this environment with your head clouded or full of thoughts that your emotions are playing with you or saying things to you. That is going to affect how you behave, even in this gathering and with your friends."
He said it is good that the Center for Peace Education is working with the students at this time because when they reach their teens, they already know how to approach their friends or the communities where they live. He said that as they go along, they should try to free their minds so that they can learn from different people, and different people can learn from them.
He told the students that people who occupy their minds sometimes grow up to be arrogant, and they do not learn a lot from other people because there is a negative feeling that tells them they know it all. When they get to the environment, they want to play dominance, which sometimes triggers conflict and creates enemies.
Speaking at the program, the Deputy Director for USAID-Liberia Democracy, Human Rights Governance Office, Dr. Mandy Dagold, said that people in leadership should note that those they are leading are humans and must feel for them. Dr. Dagold said that humans have the same needs, such as clothes, water, food, friendship, and love, and those needs are the things they use every day. She said that needs affect human lives and must not be taken lightly by leaders.
"Everybody wants the same things, but some people assume that others have too much, and others have low, so that brings jealousy," she added.
Over the years, staff at various city schools have reported that these peace education classes improve school climate, reducing both peer conflicts and disruptive behaviors. At the community level, local community dwellers have reported an increase in positive social behavior among young people.
For this election year, CPE has been providing young people with knowledge and skills to prevent election violence and pursue peaceful, violence-free, and inclusive elections. Meanwhile, students have also reported on the ways the peace education classes impacted them personally.
The students explained that election violence does not occur suddenly but instead grows and develops. Jallah Kollie disclosed that conflict can start from "chy-chy polay," followed by "cutting eyes and throwing hints," explained Catherine Passaway, and then it moves onto "palava," as Ousman Konneh stated. The students mentioned that awareness of these symptoms of conflict can help them avoid election violence before, during, and after election day.
Furthermore, the students spoke of some of the characteristic traits they have learned thus far. "Not only to listen to what you want to hear," revealed Ousman Konneh. "But also to always show respect to others, no matter who they are," Bobby A.L. Butler lamented. And as Martha Qultal explained, "To ignore someone who abuses or picks at you and avoid reprisal because it leads to conflict."
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Many of these students and teachers also talked about their desire to share this message of peace with others so that more Liberian individuals, families, and communities can live free from the harmful effects of unhealthy and unsafe conflict.
As one of the teachers, Mr. Moseray reported that he wants his students to think about how "conflict affects the opponent and also the individual physically and emotionally." The next several months will reveal if political candidates and their supporters can demonstrate similar restraint and positivity during this high-stakes election year. Perhaps Annie Stewart said it best when she said, "Parents should guide children and also avoid reprisal because it can develop and lead to conflict!"
The significance of the program transitioning from conflict to peace is that the students involved are going to serve as peace ambassadors.
