I have been wondering about alternative ways to convey a message or to conduct training. My line of work – human rights – is about humans. It is not only for lawyers. It is not only for those who are attracted to conflict resolution or peace building. It is the fundamental entitlement that all human beings enjoy.
I wanted to try to reach out to the people who would not come to my lecture. I wanted to try to communicate with the people who have decided that they would not be interested in other people in the conflict zone.
This was our endeavour. Me and my two friends – one is an aroma therapist; the other is a voice actress.
We entitled our event ‘Daily life in the middle of the conflict’.
The voice actress friend Higashi and I conveyed unedited voices of children in the conflict or post-conflict countries. All as they said.
We asked the participants what they felt. They were shocked. Shocked by the difference. Shocked by the raw feelings, and also by the unexpectedly ‘normal’ feelings that the children expressed.
We then got the participants to express their feelings. On a big rolled sheet. ‘Express yourself’ was the only thing we instructed the participants to do.
This was a big surprise. The shy students, the president of a company, those people working in completely different fields… they made an art piece. A picture? Not really. It is a 3D art.
I am going to send the result to Timor-Leste. Plenty of the voices came from children in East Timor/Timor-Leste. So, communication between the participants and young people in Timor-Leste begins.
aikiharahunt 