Motivational Workshop on Strategies and Actions to Implement and Multiply a New Culture of Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Venezuela
Caracas, Venezuela, April 5, 2018
Paz Activa, is a non-profit, non-profit civil association with no Venezuelan political and non-governmental affiliation, which since 1999 has been dedicated to the promotion of the human development of the population in the scope of social coexistence, as well as the creation of mechanisms and instances of participation for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. It is constituted by a multidisciplinary group of young professionals, who belong to Circulo De Cooperación para el Diálogo (URI) and the Luis Dolan Chair of FACES-UCV, who are dedicated to the study and analysis of citizen security.
Click the yellow arrows to scroll through the photos in the slideshow below.
This initiative has been carried out through different training workshops on situational crime prevention, technical tables to strengthen capacities, and governance projects, among others. This important Association is made up of three programs: the Organized Crime Observatory, the Road Safety Observatory and, finally, the Transitional Justice Initiative. The latter, since last February, has formed a group of sixty (60) people from different organizations of Venezuelan civil society - with professional experience in the area and a multiplier effect. They will carry out, together with the Schools of Reconciliation and Forgiveness (ESPERE), an interesting and profitable motivational workshop on strategies and actions to implement and multiply a new culture of forgiveness and reconciliation in Venezuela. This is one of the most important assets in the constitution of social capital, and is necessary for the progress of the peoples in the globalized world.
The objective of the training is to promote a political culture of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Because forgiveness and reconciliation prevent and avoid retaliation or adjustment of accounts - the main factor in escalation of both interpersonal and collective violence - the ESPERE have built a whole methodological and pedagogical process. This process has spread in 13 countries in Latin America and Africa. Participants reinterpret a painful event from their past, immediate or remote, to overcome the pain and feelings of resentment and revenge that limit the enjoyment of life. The objective of the training is to promote a political culture of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The first module of the wonderful workshop "El Perdón" was held on February 23, 24 and 25, in a hotel located in Colonia Tovar (Aragua, Venezuela). It was headed by Dr. Luis Cedeño, Director of Paz Activa, Father Leonel Narváez, Director of the Foundation for Reconciliation, two (2) Colombian facilitators belonging to the Foundation for Reconciliation Lic. Luisa Galindo and Freddy Velandia, together with five (5) Consolata Missionaries of Venezuela.
The activity took 8 to 10 hours a day, during the morning, afternoon and evening. Participants experienced different exercises related to making the decision to forgive and open up to reconciliation. The ESPERE program addresses situations of violence. Its methodological strategy seeks that each participant takes an active role and passes from being the victim of an offense to being co-creator of his victory. The aim is to open dialogue spaces for the recovery of security in oneself and social security, of knowing oneself as a member of a network of relationships that have been fragmented by the aggressions of life.
This interactive and ludic course is made up of 12 work modules: 6 for forgiveness and 6 for reconciliation. Each module lasts approximately 4 hours. It is currently being developed in 19 countries and has worked with more than 2,200,000 people around the world. The participants are people who decide to live a strong experience of healing wounds-anger, resentment, pain, revenge, sadness-caused by the violence and conflicts of daily life.
Undoubtedly, venturing into the "Forgiveness and Reconciliation" is an arduous task. Despite being studied scientifically, the training of ESPERE has the particularity of approaching ourselves, listening to us and healing those wounds inside that we were not able to recognize. Basically, in this first part, the participants learn to elaborate their rage, to transform the hatred and resentment, and to promote concrete actions that acquire another class of behaviors. It traps us in a magical way that encourages us to begin a phase of important changes in our own lives, in our environment, and in our country. It encourages us to recover the meaning of life, the sense of security and belonging to the community, through the conceptual and methodological tools (increasingly improved), to work for Peace.
For more information, access Paz Activa's website.
