Peru joins up with Camino a la paz!

For the third consecutive year, Virgen de Fatima school is adopting peaceful methods to resolve its conflicts. This mixed elementary school of 1642 students and 44 teachers is situated in Huaral, a rural town 90 km north of Lima. Suzanne Matteau, a volonteer cooperant with the CECI (Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation) and instructor at the Pacific Path Institutev, works there full-time in affiliation with the Peruvian organisation IPRECON (Instituto Peruano de Resolucion de Conflictos, Negociacion y Mediacion), and is implementing the Pacific Path program, which was adapted and translated into “Camino a la paz”.

This program has been a great success! The students love participating in the activities, the teachers are very motivated, and more than 500 parents have attended conflict resolution workshops. The peer mediation phase has been implemented in 2002-2003.

This adaptation of the Pacific Path overseas enriches not only the program, but also those who have the chance to participate in it. Suzanne Matteau shared with us, " I have a different vision of life. I appreciate the small pleasures in life more now. I learned to share and discovered a new culture and a nation so poor but so full of hope! ".