Peace on Earth - Real Gifts

Christmas is a time of wishes for peace on earth and goodwill to all men.

In Scotland, the words evoke images of quiet days and tranquil nights but in areas of fighting, they have added significance.

Peace holds the promise of a different future for the millions of people embroiled in conflicts across the globe or struggling to recover in their aftermath.

Long after the fighting has been consigned to the history books and the television cameras have left, Scotland’s leading aid agency, SCIAF, continues to support communities as they take tentative steps towards that most elusive of gifts: peace.

“Conflicts may have different motives or triggers but the impact of fighting is blatantly apparent: families ripped apart, communities living in fear, shattered buildings and spirits,” said Emma O’Shea, SCIAF Fundraising Officer. “SCIAF’s peace building work focuses on responding to the immediate needs of those fleeing fighting who are termed ‘refugees’, educating people to move away from a culture of violence to one of peace, and building links between different factions within communities.”

In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, 300,000 people were killed in Burundi, a country which is a third the size of Scotland. Everyone was touched by fighting and loss. Eleven years on, this summer witnessed the signing of a peace agreement between the last rebel group and the Burundian Government.

Stephen Martin, Africa Project Officer, said: “Burundi has largely been ignored by the world but SCIAF has been working in the region for years. A million people fled into Tanzania during the fighting and they are now starting to return. There are layers of tension running through the country between those returning and those who stayed and the different classes. In a culture where disagreements are often resolved by violence, it’s easy for conflicts to spiral out of control.”

Eighty percent of present conflicts are about territory, as families return to find strangers living on and farming what was once their land. Ownership of land is a life or death issue as people need to grow food to survive. SCIAF is working with local organisations to ensure that if people have conflict they know how to resolve it peacefully or who to approach for mediation.

Stephen continued: “It’s about awareness raising across the population, a high percent of which are young adults. To make Burundi a peaceful society, it’s essential to get the attention of young people and one of the ways is through sporting events. Young people all play and watch sport so we are working with sports clubs and local authorities to organise sporting events including football matches that bring different communities together in an organised and constructive way. It allows them to meet safely.”

Educating young adults and children and preparing them for peace is an important aspect of any recovery process. Children are deeply affected by conflict and a number of SCIAF-funded projects from Africa to Latin America, focus on addressing their specific needs providing education, food, art therapy and counselling. In the Dominican Republic, SCIAF works with children who have fled unrest in neighbouring Haiti.

Emma explained: “Haitians cannot officially register in the Dominican Republic. This has resulted in thousands of people being denied education and health care. SCIAF partner, the Jesuit Refugee Service provides literacy classes, school kits and uniforms to children and an annual summer camp. Teachers and counsellors teach young people about tolerance and accepting differences as well as combating illiteracy.”

As children in Haiti prepare to attend classes for the first time, Burundi is adjusting to the challenges of living during peace. Fr Joaquin Ciervide SJ, Regional Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in the Great Lakes commented: “A light of hope has grown in the past year. After years of war, Burundi is on the path to peace.”

SCIAF’s Real Gifts scheme allows you to support people who have fled conflict across the globe and to spread the peace of Christmas. You can provide a gift of peace through sport in countries like Burundi for only £20 and it costs only £45 to pay for the education of a refugee child in countries like Haiti.

September 2007