Tiruvalla, India.  It was like a festival for the small village. The URI Peace Centre became suddenly active for a whole week. Thirty-nine youngsters participated in the programme – mostly college and school students, with a few other youth leaders from different CCs around Tiruvalla.

Joseph Chacko, the local organizer, welcomed everyone, and several other leaders spoke on the occasion. Several volunteers from the Dalit Federation CC extended support.

We will share just a few highlights with you. Further information can be obtained from Dr. Abraham Karickam ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ), the course coordinator and Regional Coordinator for South India.

The first session was for Appreciative Inquiry. All were asked to choose a companion. They spent 15 minutes to interview their friends. In the plenary, each one introduced his/her companion. They expressed their talents also by singing, dancing, acting and so on.

After lunch Dr. Abraham Karickam introduced the dynamics of peace building and the program for the whole week. Two exercises were used as tools:

1.     A bowl was circulated to collect some money. A debate was held on how to use this amount. 100 opinions. Decision was deferred. = Lesson: Differences are natural, as individuals are different. We have to learn to arrive at decisions peacefully.

2.     Two volunteers were invited to act as two sheep. They were tied with a rope, each pulling in different directions for grass kept at both ends. Neither was able to eat. They came for dialogue and decided to go together to eat at one point. It was a success.

Throughout the week special interactive sessions focused on the tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, and their respective resources for peace.  Inspirational elements from the Moral Imagination training program were included.

Daily practices included electing camp conveners and leaders for each day, morning meditations, and writing “evening pages” journals.

On Sunday a group of Hindu students from a neighboring village joined the party. They spent the whole afternoon in group discussions and sharing. Whatever the campers learned, they shared with the boys and girls from the other village. This was a new experiment by which we extended the benefits to a wider group.

In the evaluation session, all participants shared their unforgettable experiences. Many of them were in tears. One week had changed their personality and outlook. They had no idea of the course when they began. Now they have become budding peace builders. They asked for a meeting of the same group every month as a follow up. All were invited to attend the Annual Youth camp on the May 10 at Karickam, and a bus has been arranged for the whole group to come.