…I felt very proud and excited to become one of the ‘Rooters’ with the Peace Work Institute in 2012 and for what is about to happen]and considered it a responsibility… We, young people have used this space to build relationships across cultural dividers…
I come from Georgia. It is a small country with two red points on the map, two ethno-territorial conflicts -Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region (South Ossetia)…
By making the decision to sign up for the Peace Work Institute I changed everything in my life, but, of course, I did not realize it immediately… Personally, for me the most impressive, inspiring and powerful ‘click’ from my PWI experience was Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.
This circle is based on three questions: why, what and how? I frequently ask myself why I have started working diligently on peacebuilding rather than other topics, such as government concerns. … Things are very bad here in my country, so I think that it is high time for people like me to work seriously and sincerely for its betterment. Yes, I strongly believe in my generation for proper changes and building he PEACE.
Almost two years have passed after the RFR project and I still keep thinking about ‘Why’. I realized a very important ‘click’ for myself and probably for some of you – I work on peacebuilding because, intellectually, to be at peace is to never avoid questioning, but always be looking for answers… In 2017, I won the Rondine ‘Cittadella della Pace’/The Peace Fortress/ Programme Scholarship. For twenty years, Rondine, Italy, works for peace, proposing an original training programme for young people coming from different cultures or countries in conflict areas. The programme teaches students to understand their own conflict and accept to live with their own ‘enemy’…
This amazing project [RfR PWI] is to empower youth with new skills and tools, which will help them to transform conflicts in the future. ‘Rooters’ have the opportunity to get to know each other, creating networks, to get to know deeply about the conflicts, possible ways of resolution through negotiation and advocacy skills, and most importantly – to build trust with each other. … I have been participating in many seminars in my life and travelling a lot, but I have never met such a diverse group – this group was extremely friendly and very united. Thank you all for your contribution, for your efforts, for the friendship, for the smile, for the joy, for all the love.
Kristina Arakelova, Georgia – Roots Peace Work Institute 2015 Alumna
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