by Brian Williams
This past week, I was smiling more than usual. It was a smile of contentment and acknowledgement that peace has the power to elevate human dignity.
Peace is a state of balanced tranquility, accompanied by the absence of violence and the fear of violence.
I received a July 25 text message from Carl Erasmus, a Peace Ambassador. He sent WhatsApp photos of colourful paintings about peace images and messages on walls in the Atlantis community.
Erasmus spreads messages of peace through art. Carl received peace training in May 2021 and also trains other young artists.
From the Cape Flats, I also received communication from Lucinda Paulse on July 24 about the peace work that she and a number of other Peace Ambassadors have been doing almost every week since they completed their training in April 2018 in Hanover Park.
This group of Peace Ambassadors have been impressively active on a regular basis: peace education to children and youth, providing food support to destitute families, peace marches, counselling support to those in distress, environmental peace activities, and the list goes on.
From Manenberg, on July 24, I received encouraging peace messages from Magadien Wentzel. An award-winning book by Jonny Steinberg, The Number is based on the prison and life experiences of Wentzel.
Many articles, documentaries and a film depict key aspects of the life of Wentzel.
He provided a case study of his life at a recent peace training workshop of Law Enforcement Officers (City of Cape Town) on June 30.
An insightful comment by Wentzel to the Law Enforcement Officers was that “… After I came out of prison and despite the decision to change my life, I was not fully accepted by society”.
He stated he was tempted to commit crimes after many disappointments. He became depressed and reconsidered his options because of the constant rejections.
Wentzel said: “I was not at peace, even though I had attended so many training courses in prison and outside of prison”. In July 2015, he attended a peace training programme in Kensington, which I facilitated. He told the Law Enforcement Officers the design and impact of this peace training marked a turning point in his life.
It was at this training he discovered his missing link: inner peace and projects of peace to bring dignity to the lives of others. Since 2015, Wentzel has remained steadfast in his commitment as a Peace Ambassador and Peace Educator, and has become part of my team. He has introduced peace activities in Manenberg and other communities.
I received a message from one of the friends of Riedwaan Samuels, and he wanted a reunion of Groenvlei Peace Ambassadors. Riedwaan is a young Peace Ambassador who was shot four times in September 2018 (Hanover Park teen Peace Ambassador shot 4 times, a month after another is killed).
While he was in hospital, a group of friends visited him and vowed to take revenge. Instead, Riedwaan convinced them not to do any harm to the young man who had shot him.
Riedwaan explained to his friends he had decided he would rather opt for peace after he had completed the peace training at Groenvlei High School in May 2018.
Riedwaan emerged as one of the most influential young leaders for peace. He was featured in a Carte Blanche programme as well on the SABC3 Expresso morning show.
Numerous articles have been written about his positive choices.
Premier Alan Winde, who was inspired by the peace choices made by Riedwaan, visited him at his home at the time that he was recovering from the gunshot wounds.
Riedwaan joined the Tour de Peace bicycle trip along with a group of other peace activists and travelled to rural towns in the Western Cape to spread the message of peace.
A number of these young people remain active and continue to promote peace. This group have been able to reach 25000 people with their peace messages.
Ricardo Stevens and a number of Peace Ambassadors from Factreton completed their training in May 2021. Currently, they remain active in building peace. They were visited by Advocate Brent Gerber and Ivan Anthony from the City of Cape Town.
These officials were deeply impressed with the Peace Ambassadors solving dignity problems that they face. Roeline Stevens, the Area Coordinator, sadly passed away earlier this year. American students received training from teenage Peace Ambassadors from Factreton in August 2021.
Theresa Isaacs, an Area Coordinator, has continued with the peace mobilisation in the informal settlement, and food parcels and toys were issued to the children on July 20.
Yes, I was smiling joyfully when I received the welcome and unexpected messages about the peace work being done. Saint Francis is correct when he said “all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle”.
* Professor Brian Williams is visiting professor in Peace, Mediation and Labour Relations: University of the Sacred Heart, Gulu-Uganda. Chief executive: Williams Labour Law and Mediation Thought Leader Award Recipient for 2018 (Black Management Forum).
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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