Journey through Conflict Trail Guide
by
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Journey through Conflict Trail Guide
“The only way out is through.” C.G. Jung
Introduction
As we walked into the Glen of Tilt, autumn welcomed us in shades of green and brown. Surrounded by steep mountains and hills, breathing crisp air, enjoying the sound of clear, peat-coloured water rushing over rocks, we headed slowly on a windy track towards Forrest Lodge. Over the next four days this remote setting in the Scottish Highlands would allow for further wandering and wondering. But that is not why we came all this way.
The physical, outdoor walking and enjoyment of wild beauty were indeed important parts of the story. However, in this process we were also encouraging a journey of a different, deeper kind: a challenging exploration of the human cost of violent conflict, a risky search for deeper understanding, a careful cultivation of connections, a humanisation of relationships… a journey through conflict. For it was a rather unlikely group who stepped into that Highland Glen– a father of a British soldier killed on duty in Northern Ireland, a few republican and loyalist ex-prisoners, a former British soldier injured in a bomb blast in Belfast, a catholic civilian whose two brothers were killed by the UVF, a young protestant youth worker from a security force family, a young catholic community worker whose father is a former political ex-prisoner, and a few facilitators with their own experiences of violent political conflict.
How did these people who have lived through the conflict in and about Northern Ireland come to trek together, in this way? This group’s shared travelling did not begin when we took those first steps into a remote Scottish valley. Prior to travelling to Scotland participants were carefully selected and then prepared, individually and as a group. Nor did this group’s journey stop after a few intense autumn days in the Scottish Highlands. They met again, formally, on two further occasions. And from the relationships that grew or were strengthened by these wanderings a number of ripples continue to spread.
To get a fuller picture we need, however, to zoom out further. For this group was following in the steps of many previous groups of similar backgrounds. These challenging journeys of humanisation, among those who have been deeply divided by the conflict in and about Northern Ireland, have also extended beyond the shores of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Since 2001 we have taken diverse groups all the way to South Africa.[i] Through this extended two week journey participants are exposed to ongoing relational challenges in a different conflict area and get an opportunity to experience a five day wilderness trail, as part of their Journey through Conflict.
Over the years most participants have described this South African wilderness experience as one of the most challenging but rewarding parts of their journey.
At the heart of this experience lies the Black Imfolozi River. During a five day trail its muddy flow literally provides a common lifeline for each group of participants on this stage of their individual and shared trek. During the day, water for cooking, tea, drinking and washing is drawn from this river. At night, rocky ledges on the banks of the Imfolozi provide some safety, more or less out of reach of unpredictable elephants or predators. This river, however, not only sustains and protects human visitors. In its murky depths crocodiles are at home. From a distance these prehistoric creatures can be seen sunbathing; sometimes, if you look carefully and remain quiet, ancient, watchful eyes and nostrils break the surface a stone’s throw away. No wonder that crossing the Imfolozi is unforgettable: the reluctant taking off of boots, the slippery, step by step, hyper-vigilant wading through, the firm holding of hands. In the above picture, those crossing together are a loyalist and republican ex-prisoner and a protestant church leader, followed by a catholic school principal and the daughter of a British soldier killed in action in Northern Ireland.
This joint crossing of the Imfolozi River is clearly an important step for those holding hands. More generally, in our Journey through Conflict work the Imfolozi crossing, for example, serves also as a potent metaphor. A metaphor for the calculated risks and unpredictability involved in reaching out to former enemies, a symbol of the vulnerability required to cultivate enduring connections between people divided by decades, if not centuries, of violent political conflict.
While we adapt the process we offer to individuals and groups to meet the specific needs of participants there are a number of key, interconnected strands to Journey through Conflict. These are:
- PREPARATION, of individual participants and each group;
- Opportunities to share LIFE HISTORIES (“storytelling”);
- Opportunities to enter into DEEP DIALOGUE around difficult themes or “elephants in the room”, such as the use of violence, different and opposing (cultural) identities, forgiveness, truth, justice, issues around “victims” and “perpetrators”;
- Weaving (WILD) NATURE into the journey;
- Encouraging participants to WORK TOGETHER and SHARE LEARNING within their spheres of influence – the RIPPLE EFFECT.
When we are in the position to select a group of 10-15 participants with a commitment to at least a year long process, including a number of residential events, one most clearly sees three broad stages/phases of Journey through Conflict – Starting a Journey, Journeying Together, Returning Home. Returning to the (Imfolozi) river as a metaphor, these stages could be seen as three stretches of a river.
- The first stretch, Preparation, is like the small, individual tributaries flowing into the river.
- Then there is the main river, with its twists and turns, its calm and fast flowing sections representing Life Histories, Deep Dialogue, and Wild Nature.
- The third part can be represented by the mouth of the river, with the water flowing into the ocean, highlighting the Ripples that spread into family, friend, community, regional, national and international circles from participation in Journey through Conflict.[ii]
[i] With financial support from Atlantic Philanthropies (2002, 2004) and additional fundraising, led by participants from the private sector in Ireland (2005-2011). We are also continuing with our attempts to secure funding for a similar project that would include international participants from a range of conflict zones.
[ii] Examples include the Sustainable Peace network and the Ballynafeigh Interdependence project.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Journey through Conflict is about the challenging exploration of the human cost of violent conflict, the risky search for deeper understanding, the careful cultivation of creative ways to deal with difference, the humble (re)humanization of relationships. This “trail guide” provides an introduction to the interwoven stages of journey through conflict and highlights what lies at the core of being and becoming a guide, a facilitator. Given widespread and increasing violent conflict across the world, the insights in this guide—rooted in lived experience and practical wisdom acquired over many years—will be relevant to those working in many different areas of conflict transformation. For more information, please see: http://www.beyondwalls.co.uk.
About the Author
Alistair Little
Alistair Little is a former loyalist political prisoner, from an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)(Protestant) background. Alistair became involved in the conflict in and about Northern Ireland at the age of 14, was imprisoned at the age of 17 and served almost 13 years in prison. Upon his release Alistair qualified as a counsellor and for more than 20 years have been doing peace/reconciliation/conflict transformation work in Northern Ireland, Ireland, the Balkans, the Middle East, and South Africa.
A key focus of Alistair’s work remains the exploration of the human cost of violent conflict, working with former combatants, survivors and members of wider society. This exploration includes the facilitation of in-depth sharing of personal histories/storytelling between diverse participants, in combination with deep dialogue and nature-based activities—a process entitled as Journey through Conflict.
Alistair has given presentations at numerous international conferences on conflict and reconciliation themes and has participated in many local and international TV programs, most recently “Moving Beyond Hatred” for NHK, Japan. Part of this journey from political violence to becoming a conflict transformation practitioner is the subject of an award-winning BBC film “Five Minutes of Heaven,” starring Liam Neeson and Jimmy Nesbitt, screened internationally since January 2009. Alistair’s autobiography “Give a Boy a Gun: From Killing to Peacebuilding” (London: Darton, Longman & Todd) was published in early 2009.
For more on Alistair’s journey, watch :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1S3B4dk5QU
Wilhelm Verwoerd
Wilhelm Verwoerd was born in South Africa in 1964. He grew up during the heyday of the system of Apartheid, within a white, Afrikaner family and with former Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd as grandfather. It took Wilhelm more than 20 years to truly face up to the systematic dehumanisation of Apartheid, leading him to join the African National Congress in the early 1990s and to work as a researcher within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. During the 1990s Wilhelm was also a lecturer in Political Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Stellenbosch.
Wilhelm’s personal and professional journey of reconciliation continued on the island of Ireland, where from 2002 to 2011 he worked as a co-ordinator of and facilitator within the Glencree Survivors and Former Combatants programme (www.glencree.ie). During this period Wilhelm worked closely with Alistair Little to help develop the Journey through Conflict process. At the end of 2012 Wilhelm moved back to South Africa to help develop the work of Beyond Walls in that challenging context.
Wilhelm is the author of My Winds of Change published by Ravan Press (1996) and co-edited with Charles Villa-Vicencio, Looking Back, Reaching Forward: Reflections on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Juta Publishing Co./ London: Zed Books, 2000). In 2008 his PhD, Equity, Mercy, Forgiveness: Interpreting Amnesty within the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was published by Peeters, Leuven. Wilhelm is also the author and co-author of a number of articles on topics such as reconciliation, forgiveness and apology. He has an MA (Politics, Philosophy, Economics) degree from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Applied Ethics from the University of Johannesburg.
For more on Wilhelm’ journey, listen to recent interview:
http://whmp.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=6084277
Endorsements
In a digital world awash with information and data, wisdom is as rare as ever and daily more difficult to discern. Most of the countless words we read and hear every day are the unreflective spawn of other words. They amount to chatter. Truthful words, wise words, come from long silence and silent listening, which is why they are so rare in a noisy, distracted, maybe even deranged, world. They come as well from experience and suffering, in other words at a cost.
The Journey Through Conflict Trail Guide is first and above all a wise work, as even its title suggests, for it speaks of a journey, the kind of journey that requires guidance. After all, there is no simple doorway, ritual, prayer or pill that can offer healing from the deep wounds inflicted by violence, whether we are its victim or the hand that wielded it. Healing is a journey, not along a paved, signposted road but along a rough trail, a wilderness trail fraught with danger. Just as crucially, it is a journey “through” conflict, not around it nor away from it. Still less is it a retreat into denial or oblivion. The authors of this guide know this, the way we know what we have lived and what we have witnessed. They bring to this guide years of experience and long journeys of their own.
This volume will bring not only insight but also hope to all those struggling to find their way or to help others find their way through conflict and its wounds to healing and inner peace. Our humanity and others' are easily denied, even lost, in today’s world where everything appears at risk and for sale. The many roads to lost humanity are indeed well-paved and shockingly short, while the road back—the road to re-affirmation and recovery—is long, arduous and mostly unmarked. This book will help the lost and their helpers envision and trust that road, and in doing this it provides a great service.
Robert Emmet Meagher
Professor of Humanities
Hampshire College, Amherst MA
Author of Herakles Gone Mad: Rethinking Heroism in a Time of Endless War and Killing from the Inside Out: The Moral Injury of War.
The Journey through Conflict Trail Guide is a valuable distillation of the wisdom acquired by Alistair Little and Wilhelm Verwoerd throughout their years facilitating transformational change among survivors of conflict. They provide a fascinating account of their work, sharing practical insights into how the seeds of sustainable peace can be sown, step-by-step. It is a must-read for practitioners, students and academics who want to understand their compelling methods.
Dr Gladys Ganiel, Co-ordinator of the Master’s in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics)