Community Programs
Our community programs aim to promote reconciliation and community development by creating an environment in which destructive conflict can be responded to in constructive ways.
We encourage dialogue, both within and between communities, and create culturally-sensitive support systems to facilitate conflict resolution. Our desire is for people to (re)discover and appreciate their own culture, and the culture of others, and to acquire positive values concerning family and society.
We have established both short and long term peace-building and developmental programs, and work in collaboration with other organizations, educational establishments, and religious institutions as well as with individual volunteers and other groups.
We currently run the following community programs in Switzerland:
The following programs take place in Zimbabwe:
- Shalom Generation Club
- Community Compassion and Care
- Benevolent Instruments of Peace
- Peace Begins with You
Each of our communtity programs are described in brief, below. For more information, please contact us.
Mon Voisin
A weekly afternoon program for children from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Using crafts, games, and other creative tools, we explore cultural values and teach some of the techniques involved in resolving interpersonal and intercultural conflict.
Peace Club
A weekly club for teenagers where peacemaking skills are actively promoted. Using role-play, theatre, music, and dance, we encourage young people to understand, accept, and integrate with others from different cultural backgrounds. The aim is to build positive support systems for resolving personal and community conflict.
Mon Voisin Summer Camp
A one week camp during the summer holiday where children from the local community mix with those from the refugee centre. We help the children to relate to, and support, one another through team-based activities and to express their creativity through art, dance, and music.
Shalom Generation Club
The Shalom Generation Club targets children and young people who have been victims, or perpetrators, of both social and political violence. The aim is to help them understand, accept, and integrate with others from different cultural backgrounds, and to build positive support systems for resolving personal and community conflict.
Community Compassion and Care
A program offering practical and moral support to families, widows, and orphans in Zimbabwe's local communities. Our goal is to help rebuild their sense of value, and to inspire them to tap into their creativity and potential as they reconstruct their lives.
Benevolent Instruments of Peace
This program seeks to empower women and children by teaching the necessary skills for solving conflict constructively and non-violently. We help participants discover their potential for bringing about positive change, and for playing a critical role in community development through initiatives that promote reconciliation and peace, mediation, and negotiation.
Peace Begins with You
A media campaign seeking to promote a "culture of peace" through conflict resolution and dialogue. The media is a powerful communication tool that can reach a wide and diverse audience. It can be used to change attitudes, shape perceptions, reinforce beliefs, and foster positive communication skills that are essential for peacebuilding.