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Focusing on Peace in Jaipur, India – Day 1

Participants were able to see how there can be many opinions, how conflict can emerge from responses and finally the importance of dialogue to promote understanding.

  After their successful session at Pune University, Play for Peace trainers Swati Bhatt and Agyat Shunya travelled 1,000 kilometers north to Jaipur to meet with those taking part in the Youth Leadership Development program from World Vision India. The trainers held a session in the city last year with the support of Play for Peace certified trainers Ajat Shatru and Abha Jeurkar, who also joined them in this four-day session. This meeting was designed to follow-up with the participants, provide an opportunity to expand their views of the world around them and provide tools that will enable them to promote peace. Day 1 started at 7 am and the participants were asked to perform an act that will add peace in the world. At first the group was perplexed until someone said “To bring peace we have to talk to someone – what can we do?” This started the discussion about what people were doing to promote peace or how games can promote peace. The next topics of discussion were about social justice, violence and non-violence. Swati and Agyat asked the participants to take a position on a statement that they offered. The group were then asked to discuss the varying opinions and understand the other perspectives. Participants were able to see how there can be many opinions, how conflict can emerge from responses and finally the importance of dialogue to promote understanding. One of the final exercises of the day was focused on raising awareness of peace. The group was asked to think of one situation that touches them or ignites their anger. They were then asked to provide a 15-minute talk on that subject. Some could not bring out facts and instead simply gave their perspective. This highlighted the importance of educating ourselves on facts and combine these with personal experiences so that a listener can have context, understand the big picture and the reasons behind an opinion. Watch for our next blog story about Day 2 activities in Jaipur. Jaipur 11Jaipur 12 Jaipur 13 Jaipur 14 Jaipur 15 Jaipur 16