Teachng Peace Wherever You Are
by Christine Curci
I stepped off the plane in Accra, Ghana three months ago ready to work at my
new job — providing social work and mediation services at Lincoln Community
School, an international school grades K-12, with over 50 cultures
represented among its 500 students, and 20 cultures among the faculty. I had
no idea what would be awaiting me, and how I would fit in. Coming into any
school setting mid-year is always difficult, but coming into an entirely
different country culture as well, promised to hold even more challenges for
me.
Fortunately, having experience in Haiti allowed me a smooth transition into
Ghanaian culture. At first, the similarities between the two cultures
astonished me. Then I remembered that at one time, Ghana was a major
exporter of slaves. The ships went to the Caribbean first before arriving on
our own shores. Since then, I see the twin footprints of Ghana and Haiti
everywhere I go.
I have visited the two most well-known castles that exported slaves. In the
women's quarters, unexpected tears ran down my face. The misery and pain
were palpable — embedded in the walls, even after all these years. My heart
grew heavy with the weight of human folly, the knowledge that lives were
traded for beads and firearms and alcohol. I asked a silent forgiveness for
the part my ancestors played in this painful drama that continues to play
itself out.
And at my school, what did I find for avenues of peace work? First was the a
conversation with the British principal of the junior school. "Did anyone in
the US protest the war in Iraq? We never saw any evidence of it in our
newspapers or media." You can imagine the discussion and teaching platform
this provided me. Conversation ranged from the Students for Peace group that
Janet Caldwell and I started together at Gorham High School, to the many
demonstrations all of us took part in before and after the war! She ended up
by telling me how wonderful it was that I was here, bringing the news. I
felt luckier than she could have imagined.
My second insight came while observing, being part of, and talking with
students about school culture in this setting. Despite, or maybe because
they are the sons and daughters of diplomats, wealthy business people,
missionaries or NGO people, I learned that few international schools take
the time to do intentional work in areas like respect for diversity,
tolerance, or conflict resolution: the work of peace. The expectation is
that because students come from families that often move from country to
country they somehow will see themselves as "one big family." That doesn't
seem to be the case. I often hear sentiments expressed about "the Ghanaians,
the Lebanese." Additionally, there is almost no tolerance for sexual
diversity.
This discovered, I suggested to the school administration that by itself,
attending school in an international setting is not enough to create an
international family. This alone does not insure either quality interaction
among students, or among students and staff. It does not insure open minds,
skills that establish and maintain relationships, or the ability to manage
conflict in culturally and intellectually diverse settings. Given a
multicultural setting with all its opportunities for meaningful dialogue, it
is essential that there be training, practice and modeling in skills that
help bridge and appreciate differences. Without that, we deny these students
the full depth of experience that is accessible to them, and the opportunity
to help to establish a safer and more peaceful world.
This is my calIing. For now, I continue to learn, and to plan. I will come
home this summer before heading back to Ghana for another school year. I
hope to establish the first intentional program in an international school
that examines and consciously promotes dialogue to discuss differences,
promote tolerance and build understanding and integrity of action based on
compassion and connection. This is the work of peace I want to do.
Back to Peace Talk Index, Summer, 2004