Written after my visit to the Peace Village San José de Apartadó / Colombia

The violence of the paramilitaries in Colombia does not decrease – despite President Uribe having started the alleged disarmament of these illegal units in such a full-bodied manner. The Peace Village San José de Apartadó is particularly affected by the difficult political situation in Colombia. San José is a Peace Village of Colombians, mostly expelled farmers who joined about ten year ago. Despite the extreme persecution the inhabitants decided to live a life of non-violent resistance in truth and solidarity. This autonomous power in the country is experienced as a threat by the governing forces. Paramilitaries and the government cooperate in a subtle manner so as to nip the resistance movement in the bud. Two years ago a military station was installed in the village; according to their principle “no arms in the village”, all the villagers left their home and built up a new village in little time on a nearby private site: San Josecito.

168 of these non-violent rebels have been killed during the last ten years, mostly the leading forces with their women and children.

The inhabitants of San Josecito stayed faithful to their decision to remain a Peace Community despite the unbearable pain. It is the only answer and alternative they see and that gives them the power and the courage to live. Meanwhile, this community has become a carrier of hope for all the suppressed ones in the country. Despite the risk of life more and more people dare to raise their voice. We became witnesses of this revolutionary power of resistance in the country. The power of San Josecito encourages other displaced people to raise their voices. The amnesty regulation, which was introduced by the state, serves the protection of the paramilitaries, and prevents the threatened classes of the population to recover their rights.

For us Europeans it is very uncommon to meet so much joy of life despite the great injury, so much decided will to survive and the unconditional search for a way out. The strong holding together of the community reminded us of ancient Christian communities. We are existentially shaken by all that we have seen; all our willpower is shaping to become an unconditional will to create a way out of the dead-end. Having become an eye-witness, I don´t see any other way than helping these people with all means and with that effectively thinking about models with which this or similar help will be possible also for other suppressed and peoples.

The answer is so obvious. It is about a political issue of suppressed peoples. It is also about a humane issue of us all. The power of a strong community is important to all of us, as we lost the knowledge what it means to live in community, solidarity and compassion.

We can and must do so much ore. Not only for the healing in the obviously affected areas. Also for the healing in our affluent societies, all of which are living off the suppression and exploitation of the poorer countries. The cruelty and the misery which have become so obvious in those countries show themselves in a more subtle ways in ours. We are part of the problem, but we are also part of a possible solution.

The power of the autonomous community that we saw and experienced in San Josecito does not only open a way out of the dead-end of suppressed countries. It regards all of us, for all of us have forgotten what it means to live in community, solidarity and charity. We can and must do a lot. Not only for the healing of the obviously affected areas but also for the healing in our affluent societies, all of which are living off of the suppression and the exploitation of the poor countries. The cruelty and misery that has become so obvious there discloses itself in a much more subtle way among us. We are part of this cruelty, happening all over, but we are also part of a possible solution.

An inquiry within the community of San José revealed that all the inhabitants wish for a better future for their children, a place for training and education and a profession. Without a really new orientation, however, this would mean that the Peace Village would soon stop existing, since the youth would soon migrate to the cities. Do we want to allow them to fall for what they project on a world of which is actually the cause of the misery, as we know? The inhabitants of San Josecito understood this need and are in the process of founding an own "University of Resistance". Thereby, they offer the possibility to study the knowledge of survival to all suppressed farmers and indigenous.

On their own, however, threatened by the superiority of the society they do not have a realistic chance. They need international support and networking. This is the area where the Global Campus would have a helping effect. Its curriculum focuses on the core of the injury, the disempowerment and the destruction of the original communities and develops concrete models for the building up of contemporary, autonomous communities. To do this work I founded the peace research centre Tamera in Portugal together with Dieter Duhm where 160 people now live and work. Here, the knowledge that communities need to stay together and not to break apart again, also in the case of inner conflicts, is being developed. By concretely living and transmitting this knowledge a global field of healing develops which, according to the principles of field building in holistic systems, will become effective far beyond the borders of the project. It is a global theme of destruction that can only be healed by global networking. The developing Global Campus is already networked and is working with similar initiatives in other regions, e.g. with the Barefoot College in India and the Holy Land Trust in Palestine.

The germ cells of peace resulting from this will have an acupuncture point like effect on the general organism of the earth. Future communities, which will end the fight of the human being against nature as well as the fight of human beings amongst each other, also the hidden or open fight between the genders, could become the gateway into a new era. The answer seems so banal that we frequently overlook it: We are challenged to re-understand and re-accept the power of community in its essence: Community is the global source for the foundation of a new planetary culture. This reinforcement, which we give to the inhabitants of San Josecito, strengthens ourselves also. In this context the Global Campus can be an initial spark for a worldwide movement: GRACE – Stepping out of the system of violence, stepping into a system of peace.

In the long run the Global Campus will increase the protection for endangered peoples further by developing a higher, more stable and more intelligent system of human cooperation.

Together we are facing an adventure of consciousness: the building up of human cells, who take their decisions and lead their lives in cooperation with and compassion for all the beings on planet Earth. Solutions cannot be drafted at the desk, our planet needs pioneers who are decided for deep human openness and solidarity and to surpass the limits. We research what it is to be human in its depths, also in its spiritual and erotic sources, knowing that a global peaceful revolution is possible.

I have decided to invest all my power in developing the Global Campus. It is self-evident that we need to find committed financial donors who will participate in this adventure with the joy of their hearts. To find these donors I founded GRACE – a foundation for the Humanisation of Money.

We ask all those who see and understand the necessity of this global initiative for their support. I ask for a generous donation for the development of the Global Campus, the financing of which is the first spiritual obstacle that we have to take together. The realisation of the pilgrimage and the first education seminar in San Josecito alone will cost approximately 100,000 Euros. I thank all those who will think along and who will help.

May the Global Campus experience its first powerful 'setting off' within this year.

In the name of the global power of peace

Sabine Lichtenfels