My last reflections as director

The time has come for me to write my final letter as Executive Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce. Today, I have even more hope and belief in what we are creating than ten years ago when I grabbed David Hartsough at The Hague and set NP in motion. 

We have been tempered by frustrations, setbacks, and pain.  The wounding of one of our peacekeepers, dengue fever and malaria, bombardments, financial hardships, a tsunami, and an excruciating kidnapping ordeal have taught us some tough realities of our work. Yet, we have persevered!  We have thrived.  We have grown.

I no longer talk about NP as something that is going to happen in the future.  We are doing it right now.  NP and unarmed civilian peacekeeping are alive and at work in the world because of our faith, commitment, sacrifice, financial support, stubbornness, and hope.

We are part of a persistent momentum of the human spirit that refuses to accept war as the final arbiter of conflict.  We have caught glimpses of a stronger and more vital reality of nonviolence that emerges amid blaring brutalities.  We are not promoting vague ideals.  We are demonstrating that unarmed peacekeeping can and does effectively protect civilians and help lay a foundation for peace in some of very violent places.

Memories and reflections cascade over me at the moment:

  • Ela Gandhi saying at our convening conference, "My grandfather would be very happy today."
  • Receiving the unsolicited endorsement from the Dalai Lama.
  • Sending the first team of peacekeepers to training in Thailand with the faith that we could raise the money to sustain them.  Nearly seven years later, many of them are still with NP.
  • The dramatic return of 26 child soldiers to their families.
  • The seven-day presence of our peacekeepers in a church with villagers whose neighbors had just been massacred.
  • The journalist who is alive today because of our accompaniment.
  • The safe retrieval of a grandmother caught in a crossfire.
  • A village that didn't have to flee because of NP mediation.
  • The protection of women human rights defenders as they continued their courageous work.
  • AND NOW, the official role of providing civilian protection as part of the International Monitoring Team in Mindanao.  This marks not only an important accomplishment for NP but a major recognition of the whole concept of unarmed civilian peacekeeping.

2010 bursts with opportunity.  In addition to our enhanced role in the Philippines, we are now providing protection for those in the most devastated part of Sri Lanka.  We are developing a project in Honduras.  Our first team for the Sudan project goes to training in February, the same month we send an exploratory team to Georgia.

We are broadening our base of support.  The European Commission and Belgian government have increased their support for our work in Mindanao, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

BUT I WANT TO BE CLEAR- the foundation of our financial well-being rests on our individual donors.  Without significant contributions from you, our work will not continue.

In a recent Yes! Magazine article, Professor Michael Nagler underlined the vital importance of your support:  "For the last 20 years, the practice of unarmed civilian peacekeeping has been steadily growing, saving lives, and moderating conflicts all over the world, though only individual donors and a few enlightened governments (not including our own) keep them going. One global effort, called the Nonviolent Peaceforce, says plainly that they represent 'what you can say yes to when you say no to war;' but the deafening drumbeat of violence and materialism, blaring at us in every medium...is overwhelming, and we do not heed them."

But you, our supporters, have heard through the drumbeat.  You continue to heed the call.

As we continue to create Nonviolent Peaceforce, we have to make a commitment to the long-term, even beyond our lifetimes.  This is multigenerational work.  After his release, Jaleel told me, "I want to work for NP forever!"  This is the spirit that pervades NP.

I am proud to say that NP has outgrown my service as executive director.  I look forward to working with our new Executive Director Tim Wallis and all of the rest of you in my new role as Director of Special Projects.

With more hope and resolve than ever!

Mel