TAKING THE NEXT STEPS TOWARDS PEACE

BY DWIGHT JASON RONAN

One of the great things about the
Fredskorpset exchange fellowship
program is the opportunity to “give
back” to our home countries. For the
past few months, I was able to share
my experiences, the challenges, and
the lessons learned from the
ten-month post in Myanmar to
various people back here in the
Philippines. And it was an absolute
privilege to be able to share the COMMUNICATING PEACE. FK fellows Myra Sioco and Dwight Jason Ronan sharing their
knowledge and skills gained from a experiences on different radio stations in the Philippines.
fruitful assignment.
Together with my co-fellow Myra Sioco, I was given the chance to of the ongoing peace talks in Mindanao. Secretary Quintos-Deles
be interviewed in three different radio programs. The first and Professor Leonen were also some of the guests during the
interview was for “Leader Ka K!”, a program focusing on seminar together with other key negotiators from the MILF.
youth-related issues, on DZLB 1116 AM station on March 11. I was
also interviewed for “May Punto Ka Diyan!” on DZUP 1602 AM The highlight of our follow-up activities in the Philippines is the
station on March 24 where we also discussed the present peace information-sharing forum we organized last March 18, entitled
initiatives in the Philippines. And lastly on April 3, I was also “Communicating Peace: The Myanmar and Bhutan PeaceComm
interviewed for ”Radyo Kalikasan” for DWBL 1242 AM station. Experience”. It was held at the College of Development
Being a community broadcasting major and a former radio Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños, a
program host, it was quite nostalgic to be “on air” once again. globally-recognized academic institution in the field of communi-
cations. We chose this college as our main audience because we
Myra and I also attended various peace forums back here in the thought that our experiences with PeaceComm would be very
Philippines. The first one was the “Forum on Peace and Security: helpful for its students and faculty members. Around 80 students,
Pursuing EDSA’s Path of Peace” held last March 3 at the Ateneo de faculty members, and other local advocacy groups attended the
Manila University. Various peace organizations and other advocacy said event.
groups participated in the said event. Among the guests in this
forum were Secretary Ging Quintos-Deles, the presidential adviser The whole PeaceComm fellowship program has truly been a
on the peace process; Marvic Leonen, the Philippine government’s wonderful and great experience with the support of Fredskorpset
lead negotiator for the peace talks with the Moro Islamic and this experience wouldn’t be as great with the generous
Liberation Front (MILF); and Alexander Padilla, the Philippine support from Fredskorpset and PeaceComm partners, especially
government’s lead negotiator for the peace talks with the National the Environmental Broadcast Circle (EBC) and Shalom (Nyein)
Democratic Front (NDF). It was a very insightful forum where I Foundation.
learned more on the present peace initiatives in the Philippines.
There is still so much to be done in the field of peace both in the
The second forum that we attended was the “Peace Conference on Philippines and Myanmar (and even in other parts of the world)
the Bangsomoro Question” last March 23 at the University of the and all we can do is to continue moving forward and making peace
Philippines in Diliman. The forum highlighted the current situation possible.

 PAGE 2
Giving Back to West Timor BY YOHANES VICTOR LASI USBOBO
Due to some issues with our visa and stay permit in Myanmar,
Dwight and I went back to our home countries earlier than
expected. Because of this, I flew back to Jakarta on the
morning of January 26.
As part of the program, I began to plan for my follow-up
activities with my home organization — ITP. We decided to
conduct two sharing activities, one with the ITP staff in Jakarta
and one in my hometown in West Timor.
My first information-sharing activity was held on January 26
with the ITP staff. Plu Reh, the PeaceComm fellow assigned to
ITP, also attended the activity.
Most of the staff were interested on this exchange program
because it is beneficial, not only for the participants, but also
to its partners. Based on this, all of the staff hoped that the
network established through this program will be strength-
ened, especially in working for peace in Southeast Asia.
On February 18, I traveled to Atambua in Belu District in West
Timor to share my experiences with the community leaders in
the area. Belu District is 250 kilometers from my hometown
and it also borders the country of East Timor. It took me
around eight hours by bus to reach this town from Kupang.
I chose Atambua as a place to share my experiences because I
worked in this area in facilitating the community in their
peace-building activities since 2004. Being at the border with
East Timor, Atambua is the largest base for refugees from
East Timor.
Attended by government representatives, community leaders,
and ex-East Timorese refugees, the sharing activity lasted
about four hours. It was an interesting session, especially
when I told them about the current situation in Myanmar and
the FK exchange program.
From March 25 to 26, I also facilitated an activity for
community leaders in Kupang. It was attended by 23
participants from three districts, namely; Kupang City, Kupang
Regent and TTS Regent. It was held at Wisma Oemathonis in
the capital of Kupang regency. We chose Camplong because
it was in the middle of the three districts and it is easy for the
participant to go.
This activity was organized with the help of Lopo Dame
Flobamora and the Commission for Justice Peace and
Integrity of Creation of the Archdiocese of Kupang.
PEACE COMMUNICATORS
From these two activities, I noticed that many people in West
Timor didn’t know the difference between Myanmar and
Burma. They thought Burma was different from Myanmar.
Their knowledge about Myanmar was only limited to the news
from television and newspapers. Most of them are only aware
of the military regime, Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi and some Burmese refugees arrested by Indonesian police
while trying to cross into Australia.
During these activities, I shared my experiences from the
PrepCourse in Bangkok and my activities in Myanmar. I also
discussed the current situation in Myanmar and the presence
of Shalom Foundation as a local NGO involved in peace
building and conflict prevention and also in facilitating
dialogue with the Myanmar government.
I also shared my experiences to some communities in
Ayotupas (TTS), Manufonu and Wini (the border areas between
TTU Regent and Oekusi Distric of East Timor).
All in all, participants from the information-sharing activities
gained new perspective and information on the current
situation in Myanmar.
The PeaceComm program, which was organized by FK and its
partners, gave me the opportunity to improve my skills, to get
to know other people, culture and the way of life of Myanmar
and to share these experiences especially to West Timorese. I
hope that this program will be extended to continue working
for equality, mutual understanding and cooperation among
Asian countries and to eradicate poverty, prevent conflict and,
in the long term, bring about lasting peace.

 PEACE COMMUNICATORS VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4

Coming Home to Bhutan

BY DAWA TSHERING
After I returned to Bhutan, I immediately organized an
information sharing workshop for the staff of Tarayana. From
March 21 to 22, I shared my experiences and the lessons I learned
from fellowship.

On the first day, I shared them information about Fredskorpset,

the PeaceComm exchange program and my learning experiences
during ten months that I was posted in the Philippines. I also
shared new project ideas which we could adopt here in Bhutan,
like the coffee for peace, corn husk decoration, and the benefits
of a community radio program.

On the second day, I gave presentations on the RICE model, mass

communication, community radio program, the roles of
development workers, and participatory-community approach. I
also shared reading materials which are very relevant to our work.

The info-sharing workshop seminar allowed me to share my

experiences with my colleagues and all the participants were very
happy with my presentations. All the knowledge and experiences
During my field visit, I shared the ideas of a community radio
shared will be very useful in improving our community work with
program with the community members and they were very
Tarayana.
impressed with the idea. Although we could not start setting-up
the community radio program due to the absence of a
After my information-sharing workshop, I was tasked to visit the
National policy on radio broadcasting, there were still positive
new project site assigned to me. Together with a colleague from
responses from both the government and the public. We are now
Tarayana, we went to the remote village of Langdarbi. A two-day
just waiting for the government’s instruction to start the
walk from the nearest road point, this village has no access to
community radio program in the country.

road and to electricity.

Applying What I’ve Learned

When I came home, I immediately took part in different
BY PLU REH
activities within my hometown of Deemawso and I was given the
task to help organize that annual festival of Kay Htyo Boe.
Usually celebrated in March and April, the traditional Kay Htyo
Boe festival is the only event in Kayah state, when
communities gather together to celebrate their pre-Christianity
customs and practices. It was my responsibility to coordinate with
the eight nearby villages to participate in the celebrations. Aside
from the traditional Kayah ceremonies, dance and song competi-
tions and a volleyball tournament were also held.
injured. Consequently, the relationship between the two villages
continued to get sour.
Village leaders immediately asked me to solve the tension between
the two villages. Learning from the CEWERS activities from my
assignment in Indonesia, I facilitated in setting-up a mediation
team to start the conflict resolution process. With this, we con-
ducted meetings and dialogues for about 12 times within four
weeks. After much discussions and meetings with the concerned
parties, both sides decided to reconcile. Both parties vowed in front
of the Kay Htyo Boe traditional poles to continue to live in peace.

During the last day of the festival, a problem arose between two
villages after the championship round of the volleyball game.
After the team from Daw Kalokhu village won just by a point, the
losing team complained and demanded a rematch after a “bad
call” from the referee. The tension escalated when the losing
players started attacking the winning team. Some even tried to
burn other people’s houses. A total of four men were seriously
Seeing the reconciliation between the two villages, I realized that
the best way to solve a conflict is to make all the concerned parties
deeply involved in the process. We, the mediators, are just the
facilitators of this process. Actually, this problem was very small if
we compare it to others. But it was still a great experience for our
community. Because of what happened, we’ve been getting great
responses from many neighbouring communities.

This page is part of the April 2011 Issue of the Peace Communicators Newsletter.
 VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 PEACE COMMUNICATORS

A Fresh Start in Myanmar BY HKAM AWNG

When we came back to Myanmar, we immediately had a
meeting to plan for our follow-up activities in Yangon and in
our hometown in Myitkyina. For the whole month of March,
I conducted four information sharing workshops on the
PeaceComm 5 experience.
The first workshop was conducted in Yangon where the
participants were Shalom’s youth fellows and other field
officers from Kayah and Kachin states. The second
workshop was conducted at Shalom’s head office in
Myitkyina in Kachin state. Organized together with Hkun
Myat, this workshop was attended by staff members from
the different programs and projects of Shalom. The third
workshop was also conducted in Myitkyina with youth
volunteers attending the said event. The last workshop was
conducted in Yangon on March 30. The workshop included
presentations from me, Plu Reh, and Hkun Myat.
During these workshops, I specifically shared my
experiences and knowledge on the way of life and culture of
Bhutanese people, the initiatives of Tarayana Foundation,
and the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) of Bhu-
tan.
I am really thankful to FK and my home and host
organizations for guiding me during the exchange program
since it started in March 2010 until I safely returned home in
February 2011.

SHARING THE PEACECOMM EXPERIENCE. FK fellows Hkam Awng, Hkun Myat, and Plu Reh discussing their experiences at their
information sharing activities in Yangon and Myitkyina in Myanmar. HKUN MYAT

This page is part of the April 2011 Issue of the Peace Communicators Newsletter.
 PEACE COMMUNICATORS PAGE 3

Communicating Peace
BY MYRA FLOR SIOCO

My posting in Bhutan has finally ended and it’s now our

responsibility to share in our home countries what we have
learned. Information-sharing activities is part of our task to
ensure that the acquired skills, lessons learned, and the
knowledge gained will be passed onto others. Aside from
sharing our stories through PeaceComm newsletter, we have
also planned to impart valuable information through forums
and radio interviews.

A forum on Communicating Peace was organized by Dwight

Jason Ronan, a co-Filipino FK participant who was posted in
Myanmar. He invited me to join him in sharing our experiences
in our host countries as exchange participants. I’m thankful
because I was able to meet about 80 junior students from the
University of the Philippines in Los Baños and share with them
the challenges I faced in relation to community broadcasting in
Bhutan.

It was also great opportunity for me to share Bhutan’s

socio-economic development, their culture, the Gross National
Happiness concept and other challenges I dealt with while
living and working in a different country.

We also attended conferences on Peace and Security in the

country where all peace organizations gathered to discuss the
current state of negotiations between the government and two
Islamic Militant groups. These forums have increased my
understanding on the peace efforts initiated by the government.
They have also encouraged the civil society groups to take an
active role in strengthening peace efforts initiated by the
government.

We were also invited by some radio stations to share our

knowledge and experiences in our host countries. Through the
radio interviews, we were able to reach a wider audience and
impart to them what we learned from the exchange program.

Living in harmony with the nature, learning to live independ-

ently and living a simple life are few of the things I learned
when I was in Bhutan. During the 10-month posting, I also
learned how to appreciate simple things in life and value more
our relationships with family and friends.

Through the trainings and workshops I’ve attended, I also

gained more knowledge about project management and fund
raising. The individual meetings I had with the program and
field officers have given me better understanding on how to
effectively mobilize the people in the rural villages.

It’s because of this experience that I would like to be part of a

community-based organization in my country. I find it more
rewarding to work closely with the people and personally see
the impact of a development project in their lives.

FK fellows Myra Sioco and Dwight Jason Ronan during the

Please see attached insert for other information sharing “Communicating Peace: The Myanmar and Bhutan PeaceComm
activities of the participants. Experience” forum at University of the Philippines Los Baños.
 PAGE 4
PEACE COMMUNICATORS
is produced by the
Environmental Broadcast Circle (EBC) of the
Philippines in partnership with the Institut Titian
Perdamaian (ITP) of Indonesia, Shalom (Nyein)
Foundation (SF) of Myanmar and
Tarayana Foundation (TF) of Bhutan.
Together, they form the PeaceComm
Exchange Program which aims to promote
mutual exchange of knowledge, experiences, and
skills on peace and communication.
With support from:
Editorial Committee:
Ja Nan Lahtaw (SF)
Ichsan Malik (ITP)
Chime Paden Wangdi (TF)
Elizabeth Roxas (EBC)
Mimi Ricamunda (EBC)
Dwight Jason Ronan (Participant)
Chief Editor:
Elizabeth Roxas
Contributors:
Dawa Tshering (Bhutan)
Yohanes Victor Lasi Usbobo (Indonesia)
Hkam Awng (Myanmar)
Hkun Myat (Myanmar)
Plu Reh (Myanmar)
Dwight Jason Ronan (Philippines)
Myra Flor Sioco (Philippines)
Production Coordinator:
Dulce Cuacoyes
Lay-out and Design:
Dwight Jason Ronan
Environmental Broadcast Circle (EBC)
3F GIF Medical Building, 510
C. Raymundo Avenue
Caniogan, Pasig City, 1606, Philippines
Telephone Number: +6326434583
Fax Number: +6326422128
E-mail: ebc@ebc.org.ph
PEACE COMMUNICATORS
Message from the Lead Partner
Elizabeth Roxas
Executive Director
Environmental Broadcast Circle
It feels sad that PeaceComm as a project is coming to an end. On the other hand,
PeaceComm is happy and proud of the thirty (30) participants and six (6)
partner organizations who directly benefited from this exchange program. We
believe that the knowledge, experience and skills on peace and communication
that we gained will remain with us in working towards the achievement of a just
and lasting peace.
There have been challenges in the implementation and barriers along the way,
but this simply tells us that nobody is excused to certain circumstances which
may lead to conflict. It is how we manage the conflicts and not let these destroy
the bridges that we are trying to build through different communication
channels and strategies towards right and appropriate messages.
This in a way has taught us to practice what we preach in PeaceComm— we do
RICE -- Research on the issues as a basis for getting the right Information, active
listening to parties involved and deep understanding of the situation necessary
for determining the proper ways and means of Communication that leads
towards Education to let other people become aware of the issues and later
participate in the move for peace.
I would like to congratulate the 30 participants who are now certified peace
communicators. May you live the true values and real essence of such a title in
your respective countries and works and in the way you live your lives.
To the partners, who are peace communicators themselves, accept our apologies
for the shortcomings of a lead partner. Trust that every effort has been exerted
for the benefit of the project, setting aside negative energies, but drawing more
from the advantages of our collective successes and accomplishments and
building on them to create a solid force to continue working on our common
goals and explore possibilities of future partnerships within or even without.
But within or without, let us spread the true essence of partnerships through
mutual understanding, mutual support and cooperation, and must importantly
mutual TRUST. It is through our continuing perseverance that will determine
the success and sustainability of this
partnership —even beyond PeaceComm.
To FK, we cannot thank you enough for your continuing efforts in providing the
technical and financial means to back us up to ensure that we achieve the goals
of this project. We appreciate your sincere desire to uplift the economic, social
and political conditions of the people in the developing world, addressing the
resolutions to poverty eradication and realization of human rights—ultimately,
peace.