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2014 NARPI Summer Training

It takes courage! These are the memorable words with

which Professor Liu Cheng of Nanjing University, the host

of the 2014 NARPI Summer Peacebuilding Training,

greeted a large circle of new faces on the morning of August

9, 2014, referring to his hosting role and to the work of

peacebuilding. Because of Liu Chengs dedicated effort, this

years NARPI Training could be held at Nanjing University,

one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China.

From August 8 to 21, the fourth annual NARPI Summer

Peacebuilding Training brought together 52 participants

from different parts of Northeast Asia, as well as Canada

and the Philippines. Eight facilitators worked together to

lead six courses: Conflict and Peace Framework, Theory

and Practice of Peace Education, and Restorative Approach

to Historical Conflict in the first week; and Arts and Stories

for Peacebuilding: Presenting Our Histories Justly,

Psychosocial Trauma: Awareness and Response, and

Peacebuilding Skills: Transformative Mediation in the

second week. Two local hosts and two admin staff were

joined by eight volunteers doing language support, admin

assistance, shopping, photography, and course

documentation. With guest speakers, visitors and family

members included, NARPI brought a total of 86 people

together.

This year, several former NARPI participants joined again,

but most of the participants were new to NARPI. Some

learned about peacebuilding for the first time and others

appreciated the opportunity to reflect and share about

their many years of experience in the field. On a feedback

form, an anonymous participant shared, I enjoyed

getting to know peace builders and broadening my mind.

I realized how much I dont know

about peace. And Emily Wang

commented, NARPI helps me to

reflect on my field work of

peacebuilding. The sharing and

growing that happens through

courses and relationships during the

summer peacebuilding training

contributes to the building of

NARPIs vision for active non-

violence, mutual cooperation, and

lasting peace in Northeast Asia. As

Executive Director Jae Young Lee

shared, When you build a house,

you start from the bottom. Likewise,

sustainable peacebuilding starts

with the people.

NARPI participants and hosts gather for a picture in front of the John Rabe House Museum during the three-day field trip

Nanjing University students brainstorm with their group about new concepts in Conflict and Peace Framework

2014 Newsletter www.narpi.net

admin@narpi.net 82.70.8817.8690

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Each new hosting location brings in new people and

organizations with diverse gifts to offer one another. This

years host Professor Liu Cheng joined NARPI as a

participant last year in Korea. In a relatively short time he

got all the necessary approvals, hosted NARPI Executive

Director Jae Young Lee and Steering Committee Chair

Kyoko Okumoto for a preparation visit, and recruited

Nanjing University students to join NARPI. PhD student

Bai Shuang (Bella) volunteered as the main communica-

tion channel with the admin team in planning local

logistics and the field trip; after the training began, she

tirelessly served participants and the admin team in many

details of organizing and communications. Other Nanjing

University students helped as class assistants and also as

guides for fellow participants during the field trip and the

free afternoons for sight-seeing.

Nanjing has a rich history as the capital of China during six

dynasties and also a painful history from the massacre of

hundreds of thousands of people in 1937. During the three-

day field trip, NARPI participants visited the Nanjing

Museum and the Presidential Palace as an introduction to

local history and culture. Then, NARPI participants

learned about the Nanjing Massacre, hearing from a survi-

vor and visiting the Nanjing Massacre Museum. A visit to

the John Rabe House added the perspective of people who

worked to help and protect citizens of Nanjing during the

massacre. On the last day of the field trip, NARPI visited a

nursing home and the main office of the Amity Foundation,

an NGO founded in 1985, with active programs in develop-

ment, health, education, disaster relief, and social welfare

in several locations across China today.

When Xia Shu Qin visited NARPI, she shared her story of

the terror she experienced during the Nanjing Massacre.

She told about the day that Japanese soldiers broke into

her home and raped and killed seven of her family mem-

bers. Not long afterwards, she also emphasized the kind-

ness that she has experienced from Japanese people as she

has travelled to tell her story. Her message, similar to other

survivors of atrocities, was not for revenge, but for people

to work together to prevent similar atrocities from happen-

ing again. Two evening sessions gave participants space for

processing and debriefing. In the first, participants and

facilitators worked in small groups to create questions to

take along to the Nanjing Massacre Museum, such as: How

Nanjing massacre survivor Xia Shu Qin shares her story while Ma Rui (left), Liu Cheng, He Lan, and all NARPI participants listen closely

Restorative Approach to Historical Conflict engages in a dialogue representing Justice ,Truth, Mercy and Peace

One small group models their interpretation of the meaning of NARPI at the Week 2 Opening Ceremony

Another group illustrates how NARPI is like a family

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can we face the tragedy and violence beyond national iden-

tity? How can we move forward but at the same time look

back to our past? After the Museum visit, participants re-

flected on their questions again, with new and deeper un-

derstanding.

Participants shared that an important part of the courses

was the opportunity to learn from each other. In the

course Arts and Stories for Peacebuilding, I learned

through many activities and peace processes. Our class-

mates thoughts and opinions were so awesome to me I

learned a lot from them, explained Ryu Hye Sun (Angela).

Tsering Yonten shared that the Peace Education course

has been a wonderful opportunity for all of the participants

to have a basic understanding of peace education and to

learn from each other. He added that the way the course

was facilitated somehow inspired our potential on the sub-

ject, and that NARPI was a really good chance to observe

some different methods of training others.

NARPIs co-facilitator teams use a variety of activities to

help participants understand new concepts of peacebuild-

ing and put them into practice. Tsoggerel (Sogee) Enk-

hbayar shared what she liked about the Transformative

Mediation course: The mediation role plays were great. I

liked when we really got into character and dealt with the

situation as if it was our own real issue. After learning

about restorative justice in Restorative Approach to His-

torical Conflict, Dolgorjav Munkhbayar said Now I want to

practice more and more. In the evenings, participants led

discussions, showed movies, emceed culture and talent

nights, taught each other dances, and shared traditional

clothing from their cultures. And when people needed a

break, they enjoyed swimming, ping pong and badminton

together. Lyozo Teruoka, a returning participant, led a dis-

cussion on stereotypes. Akiko Ishihara and Emily Wang

showed movies and gave presentations about victims of

mercury pollution in Minamata, Japan and about naval

base construction and historical oppression in Jeju Island,

Korea. Rui Ma (Robert), a participant from 2013, invited

Peking Opera and Traditional Orchestra groups from the

Nanjing YMCA to join NARPIs culture and talent nights.

The culture and talent nights were full of song and dance,

including an unforgettable opening dance performance by

Nanjing University students in the second week.

At the closing ceremony, Liu Cheng reflected that If you

share food, you end up with less. If you share knowledge or

peace, then there is more. As NARPI participants, facilita-

tors, volunteers, visitors, and staff shared their experiences

with one another, friendships and understanding spread

across cultural and political divides, creating, in Nakada

Naoyukis words, a precious community.

NARPI is grateful for the involvement of partners who

share wisdom, recruit new participants, and give financial

assistance. This year NARPI received new funding from the

Robert Bosch Stiftung, a German foundation with a new

focus area in peace and conflict resolution. Individual and

Arts and Stories for Peacebuilding performs a song for the Culture and Talent Night

Peacebuilding Skills: Transformative Mediation poses for a group photo. What animals do you see?

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organizational donations came from several new sources

this year, as well, in addition to support from long-time

partners Mennonite Central Committee, Global Partner-

ship for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and

Mennonite Mission Network.

As participants return home to their communities, families,

classes and jobs, they have opportunities to share what

they learned. Several participants expressed a renewed

academic interest in peace studies. Others made plans to

collaborate together in peacebuilding activities. Teachers

made plans to incorporate peace education in their classes.

Zhang Hongyan (Anne), a middle school vice principal in

Sichuan Province, China, has already presented about what

she learned at NARPI to her fellow teachers.

Mongolian participants and NARPI Steering Committee

member Oyuna Damdinsuren have begun preparations to

host NARPI in Mongolia next year.

Check out our website (www.narpi.net) and Facebook

page (https://www.facebook.com/narpipeace).

Spread the word about NARPI! If you want to do a pres-

entation about NARPI in your community, please let us

know at admin@narpi.net, and we can send you some re-

sources.

Talk to your school, work, social and religious communi-

ties about donating to NARPI. Consider raising support for

people from your school, workplace, or community to par-

ticipate in the NARPI Summer Training; and then provide

opportunities through which they can share what they

learned afterwards. If you are interested in donating,

please contact the admin team at admin@narpi.net.

NARPI is looking for someone to join the admin office

in Korea this winter, as Kaias term will end in December.

The main responsibilities are writing grant applications

and reports, managing the budget, updating the website,

and assisting with summer training preparations and

meetings. For someone with an interest in peacebuilding

and Northeast Asia, this position provides a good opportu-

nity to experience Korea and learn about NARPIs partners

in peacebuilding.

Stay Involved with NARPI

NARPI 2015 NARPIs 2015 Summer Peacebuilding Training will be

hosted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Look for applica-

tions on the NARPI website by March 31, 2015. Travel

preparations to Mongolia need to be arranged at least a

month in advance, so the application period will be

earlier next year than it has been in the past.