BY TAC
The on-going crisis rocking the two anglophone regions has encouraged all and sundry to articulate peace, conflict prevention, non-violence communication and actions.
It’s against this background that some 20 community peace club members drawn from all works of life irrespective of their denomination across Meme Division, have received lectures on enhancing peace and community intervention during a one-day capacity building workshop that took place at the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, Church Center in Kumba chief town of Meme Division South West Region of Cameroon.
The workshop organised by the PCC, Peace Work Unit, dubbed ” Workshop for community Peace Club members to enhance capacity on community intervention” took place on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
Opening the workshop, the Presbyterian Secretary for Kumba, Rev Kang Denis Tem, thanked the PCC Peace Office, with their Transforming Lives for Peace slogan for the initiative in creating the community peace club for without peace everything goes in disorder.
He regretted the atrocities caused by the on-going armed conflict that has been rocking the North West and South West Regions for six years. He said with the workshop, he is confident that community leaders drawn from across members will carry the message of the importance of peace and conflict prevention.
Rev Kang Denis, disclosed that he looks forward to the day that a clergy in Kumba of the Roman Catholic Church will come to talk peace in PCC and vice versa, and a day whereby the day the doors of all the churches in Kumba that take care of the spiritual lives of people in Kumba can be able to come under a common umbrella to talk peace. Kumba he said is “an important city in the South West Region, it’s the economic headquarters of the region and once it’s destroyed because of chaos, disorder and war know that the Region is on its knees giving that Kumba is such an important city in the region”.
The Presbyterian Secretary hinted that this peace initiative should go to the nooks and crannies of the two regions. He said the beneficiaries of the training should produce multiplier effect where they can go to train others and at the end of day they will see that, it will be incumbent for those in the bushes to lay down their arms and come and meet us so that peace can be collectively embraced for the good of the city of Kumba in particular, the Anglophone Regions and Cameroon in general.
The National Program Officer for the PCC Peace Work Unit, Ngalle Nelson who drilled participants on non-violentactions hinted that the participants are lovers of peace who have come together to see how they can cause change within their communities especially with the armed conflict we are experiencing brought about by the crisis.
He disclosed that the PCC Peace office is driven by the theory of non-violence and how the society can response to conflict.
The participants who went home satisfied received lessons on: the Basis of conflict prevention from Achah Henrietta Abid , National Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the PCC Peace Work Unit. Renowned Peace Journalist, Ndasi Gilbert of the PCC National Communication Office, drilled the participants on Non Violence Communication.
Reactions
Reacting to the press, one of the participants, Rev Akanimoh Peter, Registrar of the Apostolic Bilingual Seminary in Kumba said the workshop was timely as it gave him the opportunity to talk peace, how to prevent conflict and communicate peace. He said he will use the knowledge gathered and translate same to the institution he belongs and off course go ahead to reshape the syllabus of the peace and conflict transformation in his institution.
To Modesta Andin from Kosala one of the most hostile areas in Kumba, the peace building workshop thanks to the PCC Peace Unit has really opened her eyes onso many issues. The sub themes of the workshop,basis of conflict prevention, non violence communication and action has broaden her scope on peace building and that he will match words with action in all their Kosala meeting gatherings.