Because of its long international experience, Conciliation Resources is well placed to help and support us. Thanks to you we now understand what peacebuilding is; your experience has really made us competent.
Emma, student activist
“Peace is essential”
Emma is a 23 year old student from Boy Rabbe, in Bangui's 4th arrondissement, one of the most troubled arrondissements, or neighbourhoods, of the Central African capital. She studies at the University of Bangui, and is in her second year of Business Management and Administration degree.
I like university but the conditions are not easy: the library books are out of date and I don't have a computer either.
Emma is studying business because she has a vision:
After studying I want to launch an enterprise here (in CAR) for young people, especially orphans and young women. There is a real lack of opportunities and enterprise for young people and I want to be part of the change.
Emma is also an active member of a local peace committee, established at the Lycee Boganda college in the 4th arrondissement by a group of young people with support from Conciliation Resources towards end of last year. She is one of the founder members of the peace committee, because, in her own words: "peace is essential."
Emma explains that her family has really suffered during this crisis:
Especially because we are from Boy Rabbe. Under [ex] Séléka people around us were being attacked and raped, their possessions stolen. I helped set up this peace committee because I want to speak out about peace. Without peace between us Central Africans, we cannot do anything.
Emma and her friends from Lycee Boganda, who represent students from many different neighbourhoods of Bangui, got together towards the end of 2014, and decided to approach Conciliation Resources to help them set up a peace committee.
We had all seen terrible things. We want to reinforce the message of working towards peace with all the young people in Bangui.
Conciliation Resources met the students, listened to their stories and their concerns, and worked with them to set up the committee and also discussed their training needs, and their vision of the work they want to do for peace.
Conciliation Resources has trained young people in advocacy skills, inter-communal dialogue and conflict analysis, and they are now active in their college and their community: they are also working in collaboration with other local peace committees established with Conciliation Resources to support a community of IDPs who fled Boy Rabbe in 2013, and are still afraid to return home due to the presence of anti-Balaka. They have held regular meetings with local authorities and community leaders, to explore how best to support the IDPs and supporting their return to their own homes.
We have had young people arriving at the Lycee Boganda carrying weapons: we suffer from a culture of vengeance, but we need to have the skills to teach and train young people that reconciliation is possible. We are the next generation of peacebuilders. Please just keep working with us!