The Culture Of Peace, 99 Ways to Make It Happen
- Culture is about how we live; how we think, speak and behave. When we do all these with positive values, then qwe live in a culture of peace. It brings benefit to the self and others
- Peace means much more than the absence of war. peacde considered as a set of values, attitudes and modes of behaviour promoting the peaceful settlement and conflict and the quest for mutual understanding.
- Peace is a way of being, doing and living in society that can be thaught, developed and best of all improved upon.
- Peace is living in harmony amidst diversity where and when we adopt a common platform of positive values
- Peace is not only the absence of conflict, but requires a positive, dynamic, articipatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation. The power of PEACE is to change future headlines from “Violence Increaces, Again” to “Violence Diminishes”.
Respect all life
Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice.
- Respect yourself as a human being, do not abuse your body, mind with drugs etc.
- Respect yourself as a human being, give yourself a moment of peace.
- Having a positive thought about yourself for at least one minute everyday.
- Reduce waste and negative thought about others.
- Do not get angry for at least one day in a week
- Be truthful to yourself and others.
- Water and talk to plants in the morning
- Give respect to others as I would like to be respected
- Be the first to wish others good morning.
- Be the first to offer a smile to others
- Cultivate the thinking good of others
- Respect others by not gossiping about them
- Treat your subordinates with respect by giving instructions properly
- Stand up when someone older speaks to you
- Practice good manners in front of both the junior and the senior
Reject violence
Practise active non-violence, rejecting in all its forms: physical, sexual, phychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents.
- Have mercy for yourself; realise but do not be hard on yourself when make mistakes are made.
- Stop watching violent movies
- Promise not to get irritated for at least once a week
- Do not come into anger at least during the morning
- Speak sweetly/softly/politely to reduce the force of words
- Avoid banging doors
- Handle things gently and with care
- Declare truce with your enemies. Make them your friends again.
- Avoid beating children with cane/hand
- Do not cause harm to animals
- Do not cause fear to animals
- Do not cause sorrow to people: children, subordinates, maids, pupils, the elderly
- Do not threaten people
- Do not conflict amongst friends or family
- Remove all words of violence from your vocabulary
- Enable others to share their thought and ideas without fear of discrimination or reprisal
Share with others
Share my time and material resources in spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression.
- Share your time with others in office/family/community
- Share your material resources with others
- Share your virtues, patience, love, mercy, happiness
- Share your achievement, success with others
- Share your inspiration with others so that they are inspired
- Share your responsibility with others that they become independent
- Share your enthusiasm with others
- Share your knowledge with others
- Give your cooperation to others
- Give your support to others in times of need
- Share with others by being sincere and honest
- Share good news to generate positive energy
- Share to ease burden of others
- Help others overcome their limitations or handicaps
- Share a skill or an alternative method of doing things
- Share a joke to create lightness and easiness
- Car-pool to relieve transport burden on others
- Share a meal with a friend
Listen to understand
Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation and rejection of others.
- Be non-judgemental, detached observer, listen with an open mind
- Give your attention to someone by focusing your eyes on him/her when he/she is speaking
- When listening, put yourself in that person's shoes
- Paraphrase the message to make sure that what you say is understood by others
- Practise silence / solitude to enable you to listen not only to the voices but also to the feelings of others.
- Listen with patience and love and a positive mind e.g. it will only be a win win situation for all
- Speak softly, speak sweetly, speak less. Listen more. So as not to impose your authority over others.
- Amidst the chaos of negativity, listen to the cry of attention and understanding
- Some people find it difficult to express their feelings. We have to respect their right to privacy.
- Accept the fact that everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, which can also be valid.
- When someone starts doing things differently, he is trying to communicate something. Listen with attention.
- Be sensitive to vibrations/feelings, which sometimes can convey a message louder than words.
- Sometimes people do not mean what they say but show their feelings.
- Acknowledge someone's sharing with positive or encouraging comments
- Do not interrupt when someone is talking, unless your comment is asked for
- Be at ease and make the talker relax and at ease too before speaking. A relaxed mind speaks and absorbs better.
- Listen with your ears and understand with your heart.
Preserve the planet
Promote consumer behaviour that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet.
- Refrain from open burning
- Do not cut down trees unnecessarily
- Refrain from throwing rubbish into drains/waterways/open spaces
- Reduce usage of plastic bags in supermarkets/markets/shopping malls/homes
- Collect litter along your walkway
- Conserve water, electricity, make sure fans, lights, water taps are properly turned off.
- Use ozone friendly aerosols or none at all.
- Recycle plastic bags/newspapers.
- Cut down use of air conditioner to protect the ozone.
- Do not discard used oil into sink or toilet bowl.
- Reduce polluting the environment by not driving once a week, and encourage car-pool
- Use paper wisely, reuse envelopes, photocopied paper, etc.
- Use handkerchief instead of tissues.
- Reduce 'noise pollution' by reducing the volume of music players
- Stop smoking
- Practise silence/solitude to create a peaceful atmosphere
- Reduce usage of styrofoam which is non-biodegradable.
- Plant more greens in your environment
Rediscover Solidarity
Contribute to the development of my community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity.
- Get to now your neighbours and share a smile with them.
- Be courteous, considerate and respectful to your neighbours by reducing the volume of TV/players, speak softly during certain times, etc.
- Keep your neighbourhood clean.
- Join in celebration with your neighbours during festivities.
- Encourage harmony and unity in the community through sharing care, good news and wishes.
- Support your community leaders in projects.
- Ensure safety in the neighbourhood.
- Organise a cultural night with "Peace" as the theme to instill peace loving attitudes in children and adults.
- Accept one another's faith, customs and practices with love and understanding.
- Take the lead to do something proactive and not just blame others.
- Have an informal family gathering once a fortnight to share news or experiences.
- Go for a family trip or picnic once a month.
- Offer to help look after your neighbours' house when they have to be away.
- In times of sorrow, make a conscious effort to be present to offer physical or emotional support.
- Keep in touch with long-lost friends or loved ones just to show support you still care.