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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 7, 2003 |
Swahili Lessons – Kenyan GET Together |
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| Kenyan, Duncan Maina, and his "Survival Swahili" class |
Duncan Maina, bassist with the Peter Orwa Band, took time out from entertaining participants with his tunes and dance moves, to prepare the 150 GET students for their two-day stay in Kenya with a "Survival Swahili" lesson. The students first learnt the key phrases for haggling a good bargain in English, before Duncan took the stage and taught them the essential Swahili phrases for striking a good deal in the marketplace.
One of the most popular phrases was "membaya", meaning too expensive, as many Japanese people are unaccustomed to the rigours of haggling. Much interest was also shown in the tips offered on how to be a polite shopper. Many participants could be heard whispering repeatedly, "asante sana" - thank you, to themselves. After a few more communication necessities, Duncan taught a Kenyan favourite "hakuna matata" - no worries. Students role-played shopping using their new Swahili skills, in preparation for the real thing in Mombasa. |
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| Kumar and the theory of "Conflict Transcendence" |
Kumar - Why Conflict Transcendence?
Inspired by his experiences as a teacher in Ethiopia during the war with Eritrea and the devastating famine of the 1980s, a graduate of Peace Studies from Notre Dame University, Kumar travels the world giving seminars on the Transcend theory of conflict resolution. To present his talk on conflict, he used the comparison of the ocean, saying that "just as the ocean constitutes 71percent of the Earth, conflicts make up most of our life", and that "peace on Earth comes not from the absence of conflicts, but our ability to cope with them".
The same ocean that contains boundless treasures and resources for life is also a source of death if we do not know how to navigate its dangerous waters. Conflict transcendence is like swimming this vast ocean, adapting to the complex currents as though adapting to the differing situations in a conflict with empathy and creativity. A skilled "conflict swimmer" makes sure all the tensions and pressures of a conflict do not overwhelm him/her and drown him/her. It is a vital survival skill in a world that is increasingly intolerant, insecure, unjust and violent.
During Kumar's two weeks onboard Peace Boat, he could not help comparing life on the waves with life on the land. Peace Boat has an overwhelming majority of one ethnic group and many minority ethnic groups with significant numbers. The resources onboard are limited and there are a variety of people from different sociological groups abiding by a set of unwritten norms and rules. Kumar asked the question "But how come the Peace Boat is peaceful?" The answer he gave was that all our basic requirements of life are met, such as water, food, healthcare, and unlike one fifth of humanity on land, there is no group deprived of these fundamental necessities. |
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Kumar went on to describe this one-fifth of humanity as "the children who go hungry in the midst of affluence, the ones who are sick, illiterate and pushed to a corner". More than one billion people are living in absolute poverty around the world, and he asked, "What do we do for them?" apart from plundering them even more in the name of liberalization, privatization, and globalization.
The conflicts of economic disparities, identity, religious bigotry, political oppression and all kinds of physical and structural violence threaten the survival, well-being and identity of us all. Kumar said that, "the history of our future will be, and should be, the history of conflict transcendence."
By approaching a conflict with empathy and objectivity, with a goal to transcend the solution with no "losers" and a non-violent ending, the question is no longer "What are we going to do?" but "How are we going to do? When are we going to do? And where are we going to do?" Kumar concluded his lecture with the stirring words of Laragh Cullen from Northern Ireland:
Peace in our country.
A truce in our land,
Harmony in our world,
All war banned.
I live in Dungannon,
I've never known peace,
I'm tired of the choppers,
Soldiers and Police.
I'm tired of the sirens
The town's like a cage,
I wish there was peace,
I'm eleven years of age.
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