In the IFP session of 24th September ’19, we did an activity where we needed to split into two groups, both acting out a different country. Our group was acting as the country of ‘Jah’, a developing country whose people were proud of themselves. The other group was the role of the ‘Kay’s, who were people of a wealthy country who purely wanted help others.
How can Jah and Kay help you as a peace-builder?
Looking back, I realised that I was thinking about achieving our own goals rather than building a good relationship with the country. From my point of view, I think it was not communication that we lacked, but the overall intention. I think it was impossible for the Jahs and Kays to have both their goals accomplished as long as the Jahs didn’t notice that it would be much better to build a good relation than be competitive. Therefore, from now on, I think I will consider more about what is better–being competitive, or everyone having a good result, whenever I start to feel bad about something.
Also, being a Jah, I also felt I somehow got closer to understanding what the people in the developing countries might be thinking, even if it’s nowhere near. Before I did this activity, I wasn’t that conscious about how the people who need help might be afraid of being taken advantage of when they are offered help. For us, who most are more or less privileged, I think it’s important to gain trust to them in a long span of time.