communicating peace

in september, i’ll begin the third year of my undergrad at mcmaster university, moving closer toward my bachelor’s degree in peace studies and communication studies. when i first decided to combine those two majors, i didn’t believe that they had anything to do with each other. i was taking peace studies because i think hippies are cool, and communication studies because — when it comes right down to it — i’m nothing like a hippie; i wanted to study something practical that will get me a job after school.

but, as it turns out, peace is hugely dependent on good communication. i started to believe this last year when i took a course about nonviolence and religion. i learned that most major world religions espouse creating peace between humans as a core value. however, the way this message of peace has been communicated by many groups of religious adherents has made for themselves a bloody and violent reputation. for example, the muslim notion of jihad was first written about in the qua’ran as an internal struggle against evil, a struggle which aims to create inner righteousness and peace. but, over the years, people have come to believe that islamic faith is about violence and barbarity, because some adherents have communicated jihad outwardly, killing those they believe to be evil in the world around them.

as a christian, attentive to the teachings of jesus, i believe that peace-making is one of my responsibilities. so, when i took off for rwanda, i was ready to put into action so many of the things i have come to believe about peace. in fact, i even packed a little conflict transformation handbook, thinking i might be a really good student and map out some of the large-scale issues i became aware of during my time here. (i’ll be honest, the book has been collecting dust in my suitcase since i arrived . . . but give me a break, this is my summer holiday!)

i thought that being a peace-maker here in kigali would be something i am really good at because i thought that i have always been a really gifted communicator; my mom could attest to the fact that i’ve been speaking my mind clearly since i was two years old. but, when i arrived here in rwanda and attended my very first ubuzima meeting, where not a soul spoke english, i realized that all this time i had been equating communication with words. you see, i am good at talking with people, and writing encouraging letters, but when you put me in a room full of kinyarwanda speakers and ask me to communicate peace to them, i feel like someone pulled my chair out from underneath me. i just kept smiling and waving like a dumb fool, hoping to God that the moment would be over soon.

it was the same story with my tutoring kids and the street boys; i felt like my inability to communicate through speech was crippling my ministry, rendering me completely useless as a peace-maker. then, my friend kendal arrived in rwanda, and i watched as her dance ministry took off like a rocket. kendal is a very expressive person. her long arms make wide gestures in the air while she talks, and she loves to pull people close for big friendly hugs. i noticed that people feel really content with themselves when they’re with kendal, and i think that being content with yourself is a big part of being at peace.

so, i went to the gospel of john to find out if jesus, the great peace-maker, was a dancer.  though i haven’t found evidence of him dancing yet, i have noticed that jesus didn’t limit his love for people with words. jesus moved from city to city, he touched the blind, he healed the lepers, he stretched his arms wide open and died on a cross for you and me. jesus was a speaker, yes — a profound and innovative speaker at that — but jesus was also a doer. he brought peace to this world through actions, and i’m learning to do that now too.

lately i’ve been giving shakira lots of hugs during english lessons, and i’ve been praying with valence on the lawn at church. i give gifts to people i meet at ubuzima, and sing with all my might on sunday mornings. i go to visit my friends at their house and make cups of tea for sylvester at night.

i never saw it coming, but those hippies were right: peace is a movement, and communicating it always takes a bit of action.

i'm rubbing off on them -- street boys are throwing down the peace sign all over the place!

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