#ThrowbackThursday to this beautiful story from Protection Officer Laura, NP South Sudan. It is a reminder that creating lasting peace is not just about big, heroic actions. It is about the small, everyday moments. "One day several young boys showed up to a Child Friendly Space carrying machine guns made out of clay. They were modeled to look like mini AK-47s. My national staff partner sat the boys down and asked them, "Is this what you want from your life? Is a gun what you want?" They boys responded, 'No, we want cows.' So my partner asked if we could turn the guns into cows. We sat with them and made cows out the pieces of the clay machine guns. The result was a herd of clay cows that they shared amongst all the boys. It's the act of connecting with children with where they are at rather than where we think they should be. That's what gets me through, that is the shining part of the work."

NP in the News! Some very important take aways from Jeanne Lound Schiller: "Conflict is a normal part of living. Choosing how to deal with it in a positive way is a lifelong challenge, and our daily choices affect individuals and communities. As children and young adults, hopefully we were taught to work hard, to study well, to be responsible and respectful. If we then did our best to embrace these life-giving values, we know that this helped create a better world not just for our generation, but for those to come. Regarding conflict, were we taught to ignore, to deny, to be violent or nonviolent? Is nonviolent conflict resolution possible in most situations or simply a naive idea?"

We have told you some of Destan's story, but here is some more information about the amazing work that Destan and teams in Iraq are doing. "What NP does make us proud because we try to do everything good for people." -Destan, Kurdish Syrian, NP peacekeeper Destan is a Kurdish Syrian whose own life has been turned upside down by ISIS. But when nearly 1300 ISIS wives and children showed up at the displacement camp where NP is working in Iraq, he didn’t see the enemy. He saw women and children in need of protection. They had come to Iraq from across the globe—from nearby Azerbaijan and as far away as South Korea and Trinidad—and were now surrounded by people who hated them. Humanitarian organizations were around to distribute aid during the day, but left during the night. While no one else was looking out for their welfare, Destan kept the women safe during the night. During the day, he accompanied them to get life-saving medical care. As more than 60% of them were Turkish or Azerbaijani, he was able to speak to many of them easily in Turkish and acted as an informal translator. Destan commented, “Providing translation for them made me so glad…it was good for NP to always be nonpartisan and helpful!”

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Looking for short-term employment? Nonviolent Peaceforce has a consultancy for an External Mid-Term Evaluation in South Sudan. Find out more about the job, here:

Thank you to all of our supporters for your contributions! We could not do our work without you.

Congratulations to Randi Kawakita! Randi developed the anti-bullying and conflict resolution curriculum at the local chapter of Nonviolence Peaceforce in Midland, Michigan, among many other achievements. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

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Nonviolent Peaceforce has been busy in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Vinta, which struck the Mindanao in the Southern Philippines particularly intensely. Find out more about the work the NP Philippines teams have been doing to help residents:

NP's latest blog post is out! It is important to note that NP does not do Mine Risk Education (MRE). MRE is a technical training done by qualified, certified professionals. Rather NP's role as portrayed in this story, has been to encourage communities to work together to recognize the risks of harm around them. When NP becomes of aware of the presence of land mines or other similar dangers, we report to the relevant authorities and mine risk action groups who have the technical skills to respond. "Nonviolent Peaceforce recently taught 60 children in the northern part of South Sudan about unexploded weapon safety through chants and games. The children learned to identify landmines and the actions to take when encountering one. First, stop! Second, do not touch! Third, report!" Read more about the initiative:

Nonviolent Peaceforce is hiring a Senior Flying Global Finance Controller in Ferney Voltaire, France (Greater Geneva Area). If this sounds like a good fit for you, find out more: