I remember
the first time I came to the Peace Village of Mulatos I was told that I didn’t
know how to step. Up until that point I wasn’t aware I had been doing it wrong.
But that day I was definitely not walking right; I would sink into the mud far deeper
than the people I was accompanying. I became desperate in that mud, and my “accompanied”
had to take my hand like a child, and show me how to navigate the mud.
People here
see their struggle as a long arduous walk. They see the path to peace and the
way of resistance as a process of walking together.They often ask who is
prepared to walk with them, they talk about who has walked with them in the
past, who will continue to walk with them in the future. Life here is a constant
process of walking and learning from one another, strengthening one another
along the way.
I have
learnt to love walking, to embrace the uphill climbs, to feel strong with every
step, to accept the mud and the sweat. I’ve got better at it and people now know
me as somebody who walks fast, who is capable of taking on the tough climbs, of
walking wherever necessary with the people who need it for their safety and
protection.
After my
time in the Peace Community, I see the path of resistance as a path through a
thick and vibrant jungle. It’s long, the mud is thick, the air is humid, there
are mosquitos and radiant blue butterflies which dance around you, and
sometimes you despair that with every two steps uphill, you sink one step back
down.
I still fall.
I have got better, but I still fall in the mud, and I slip and I slide. I dance
too. You end up moving your body in strange ways when you’re trying not to
fall, when one foot hits firm grounds and the other is about to sink, you have
to twist yourself in ingenious and innovative ways, inventing dance moves along
the way. And I have learnt so much about resistence and
carving out spaces for peace and non-violence from walking with the Peace
Community.