YEAR TWO: 2003-04

1. Project Summary

The Culture, Spirituality, and Theology of Peace Project (CSTP) lays the groundwork for self-sufficient development and sustainable peace. By reinforcing positive principles and values, and promoting interchange among grassroots leaders, it unlocks and focuses the local resources necessary for lasting life, happiness, liberty, and prosperity. Thus, it supports local efforts to build economically and environmentally sustainable communities.

The CSTP Project began in Fall 2002. It is different from other peace projects because it is grassroots (rather than top-down), inclusive (with the participation of different religions, ethnicities, nationalities, spiritualities, and non-religious sentiments), and its positive (using Appreciative Inquiry methodology).

2. Achievements and Activities, Year 2 (Sept 2003-May 2004)

The Culture, Spirituality, and Theology of Peace Project (CSTP) continues making important advances during its second year. It has sparked a growing Mesoamerican Peace movement that seeks to create a sustainable alternative where life is valued more than money, in response to the neoliberal paradigm of globalization, which threatens to reduce the quality of life of all but the richest.

Sixteen workshops in Mesoamerica (the region from southern Mexico to Panama) and four in the United States laid the groundwork for future years, bringing new individuals into the project, providing training opportunities for local peacemakers, and introducing the project's second theme, "Myself and the Other." The majority of the workshops focused on "Earth and Ecology," a topic which serves as a point-of-entry for new participants and introduces them to the project's powerful methodology of Appreciative Inquiry.

Appreciative Inquiry is powerful because it awakens hope. Most traditional methods focus on "problems" as the starting point for change, but this negativity rarely inspires and frequently misses the forest for the trees. Appreciative Inquiry, instead, focuses on the positive within individuals, organizations, and circumstances. As one participant put it, "We are so used to searching for problems that we almost forget about all the good things we have." Another, from Honduras, said

Workshop in Antigua, Guatemala, with Mayan women.

When I arrived at last year's Peace Institute in Ciudad Romero, I was physically and mentally tired. When Mark Chupp began training us on how to use Appreciative Inquiry, I started criticizing it because it seemed too simple. Then, all of a sudden, I realized that this method could create deep change in myself and help me to make others happy. Today, I know that I have learned to see the world from a new angle and that this change has manifested itself in my life: in the radio station where I work, in my church, and in our organization's strategic plan. I no longer focus on negative things. My relationships with people have changed.

The participatory nature of AI engages participants. Instead of passively listening, they become engaged. Their engagement has enriched the project, helping us to understand better what values, principles, self-sufficiency, sustainable peace, and other ideas really mean and how they can be applied. More than once, we have discussed if principles are the roots of values or vice versa. Through much discussion, we have found that we begin acquiring values when we are young and have to do with what we understand, how we understand it, and the importance we give to it. Principles, on the other hand, are logical deductions that are based on values.

Among the workshops, several stand out as particularly important. In Washington State, two were held with the participation of Native Americans on their reservations. In Guatemala, Mayan women, who are generally quiet, have a greater and greater participation. In Quetzaltenango, in response to water shortages, participants have organized to plant 12,000 trees in order to support the aquifers. In Honduras, Red COMAL, a network of rural cooperative stores with 18,000 member families, has taken a major role because it has recognized key elements in the project that inspire the values and principles necessary for their goals of fair trade and solidarity. In Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua, a group of 600 men and women had formed peace brigades to help in disarming after the war (1980-1988). After achieving significant success, the organization had languished without new objectives. Through two workshops and organization by one of the project's new peacemakers, Gustavo Ruiz, the peace brigades have found new inspiration and have committed to work again for peace, but now with a holistic vision that goes beyond the absence of guns. Finally, in a one-of-a-kind workshop in El Salvador, 23 US-based rabbinical students participated in a workshop facilitated by an ex-priest.

Workshop at the Squaxin Reservation in Washinton State. Mayan Spiritual Leader, Federico Castillo, opened the event with a prayer circle.

From June 2003 to April 2004, the introduction to the peace manual was written. The peace manual is an important text, not only to facilitate the work of individual peacemakers but also to ensure a degree of unity and shared experience between all of the participating countries as more and more workshops are given by local peacemakers. The introduction to the manual presents the project's history, holistic vision of peace, and methodology.

COMPAZ (The Mesoamerican Peace Committee) continues to guide the project's activities in Mesoamerica. Representatives from each of the participating countries (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) gathered in El Salvador in May 2004 to create a strategic plan with the overall goal of "Building peace through the promotion and strengthening of the culture, spirituality, and theology of peace so that the people of Mesoamerica and the United States live in harmony with each other and the Earth." Specific activities to meet these goals were planned through February 2005.

It is worth noting that local participants are voluntarily covering more and more of the costs of project execution, particularly for the workshops. This includes providing facilities and covering the transportation, room, and board costs for local participants. Not only does this increase the impact of donors' gifts, it also indicates the value that local beneficiaries give to the project.

3. Upcoming Activities

For 10 days in August, approximately 20 outstanding participants will gather in Nicaragua for the second annual Peace Institute. They will receive advanced training in how to give workshops and how to organize for peace within their communities. As during the previous year's peace institute, they will also begin outlining and writing the Peace Manual's second chapter, focusing on Earth & Ecology.

In October, US-based participants in the CSTP will come together in Chicago with the hope of forming a body similar to COMPAZ for the United States. This group will include several FSSCA board members and supporters, as well as outstanding participants from workshops held in the United States. Trinidad Sanchez, the bilingual Executive Director of Red COMAL in Honduras, will sit in to share the Mesoamerican perspective.

Wanda, a Native American leader, presents on values and principles at the Squaxin workshop in April.

In February, 2005, as many as 100 people from all participating countries will gather in El Salvador for an international encounter titled "Monsignor Romero, Myself, and the Other." Participants will explore the project's second theme, "Myself & the Other." Monsignor Oscar Romero has become an unofficial patron saint for El Salvador and thousands of other people around the world, in part because of his advocacy for peace and justice, particularly for the poor. The 25th Anniversary of his martyrdom, in 2005, will provide a rich context for many of the discussions and activities.

July 2004.