Dense, wet fog is thriving despite the morning sun; a green lush world shines behind it. The river has grown bigger after the heavy rains last night. The clouds again and again give way to reveal the steep hills that surround the village. A "revolution bird" jumps in the twigs of a gum tree. Irma named him this because of his bright red and black color.

The Global Campus is over and nearly all the internationals have left. The last ones will leave San Josecito in the next few days. Everyday life has not yet started again. The outer situation is still regarded as dangerous, and no one goes into town without being accompanied by internationals. Every day, including yesterday, we have seen and heard helicopters over our heads – possible signs of a coming attack. But there is also a lot to celebrate and to share from the last weeks.

Eduard, one of the leaders of the peace community, said: "It used to be mainly fear of attacks that kept the community together. That is still there. But there is now also a perspective, a joy for the future. This is part of a power that will help us to stay together and not break apart even if heavy times and suffering are still to come."

We could not ask for a more beautiful resume for the University of Resistance and the Global Campus.

The Global Campus left visible signs in the village and in the neighboring hamlets. The stones of the memorial with the symbols of the values of the peace community stand in the middle of the community and form a kind of spiritual identity of the peace community. The villagers believe in their power and plan to build news stones on places where the paramilitary regularly go through. The volleyball field is an attraction point for the youth. A raised bed for medicinal plants and a solar dryer for cacao and fruits are placed behind a fence that should protect them from the animals.

Every afternoon Iris Lindstedt invites the children, and more and more adults, to paint. Twenty or more people sit there, concentrated, working with something so precious as paper and color and expressing joy, dreams, and creativity. It is a special kind of home feeling that is been created here.

There is a doctor’s hour every day with Irma Faethke and Andrea Regelmann for the many emergency cases, both big and small. Andrea will also give a seminar in contraception and emergency medicine in the next few days.

The fact that some of us again and again have come back – and will come back again in future – has prepared the trust that made this intensive cooperation possible. For the last of us who are still here and do the final work, or accompany villagers on their trips for security, these final days serve as a time where our souls work through all the things we have experienced and heard. We have shared deeply this unbelievable reality of these people who never knew security or home, whose life has been determined by
death, violence and displacement. What is the soul doing with it? How do children grow in such a situation? How do such experiences affect love and the relation of the genders? Sometimes we get surprising answers during out intimate talks.

There are people who have been finely molded by these hardships and have become jewels – jewels of courage, of mutual support, of intelligence and commitment. Sabine Lichtenfels said, "When an especially strong injury happens in nature, then all of nature’s powers come together in order to heal. I observe this also in this village."

Of course there is much healing work to do, for many people are really traumatized. There are reports and reflections which we will need a lot of time to understand on a soul level. This also applies to our bodies; some of us have fevers and other symptoms. With all of this, the knowledge that everything we see is also our own reality stays with us. Every victim could be our child, our lover. We could be the perpetrator if we had grown up in a different situation. This is NOT the Third World; this is our one world, even when we manage to put this thought away in our brave new world in Europe or North America.

To perceive the friendship of these people and to share their situation for a while is a big gift of healing – for us. I am excited to see the coming cooperation and the fruits of our efforts, and grateful to all who have contributed that it could work out so well. It was a real community process, where very different human abilities and skills worked together.

The last day of the Global Campus begins. Around us the world is coming apart. While we have built an oasis of creativity, learning, coming together, and trust here in the peace community San Josecito, it seems like the country sinks into chaos and violence. The government has declared martial law. Since October 12^th, the Indigenous people of the Cauca have been mobilized for a march, a fight for Mother Earth. Some say that about 30,000 people are walking, and yesterday thousands have blocked the PanAmericana.

Fernando from the Nasa Indians yesterday stood up and said, “Today, three of my companeros have been killed, and many are wounded. If I were not here I would be with them, and in a few days I will take their place.”

Yesterday a leader of an Afro-American peace community was murdered. There is also war in our region. The paramilitary took over the electrical power in three districts. In Turbo, quite close to here, two bus drivers have been killed and five busses were set on fire. There is no more public transport to and from Apartado. All shops were closed yesterday.

In the morning the city was full of graffiti of the Paramilitary, saying, “AUC, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia,” which is the Paramilitary. They also threw flyers in the mailboxes saying that they were protesting against the government which had not fulfilled their promises of salary for the De-Armament.

Padre Giraldo: “We don't think that this is true. The Paramilitary, police and government are very connected. We rather think that the Paramilitary wants to give proof of their power – that they are still able to control four districts they hold in the moment. Nobody knows if this is only a demonstration for one day or if they will keep this up for a longer time. But today and tomorrow nobody can or should go into town.  God wanted that we share this time and that our international friends get to know the state of threats and insecurity which has become normal for the campesinos.”

The sacred hour yesterday became an hour of intensive prayer. We sang and prayed the Lord's Prayer in several languages. The Padre asked us to sing all our sacred songs to build a dome of protection and life through sound, music and prayer. We are in the middle of a war – a tiny, unarmed village, committed to life.

The representatives of the Peace Brigades International from Turbo are concerned and wanted to come yesterday to speak with the consejo, but they could not find transport. Sabine started a sound dome, and it was probably the most intensive dome of sound which any one of us ever had experienced. All of us looked for the sound in this cathedral of tones and put all our power into it. “May this village be protected. May no person be killed any more. May whole Colombia find peace!”

Leandro, one of the Indigenous leaders who as quickly as possible wants to join the march of the Indians: “Don't be afraid of the Paramilitary. In reality they are much more afraid of you.”

Our little village is presently a germ for peace and a new world – a power of a special kind. Many things are very touching when I think of our little culture group that yesterday started an intimate exchange about things of the heart and life decisions. It was not an easy exercise to give complete attention to the person who was in the middle.

Jose: “When I see my friend speaking about what he loves, then I know that I am moved by similar things. In this way a real solidarity starts, and community.”

Bladimir: “In this way trust starts, which is the precondition for every foundation of a new culture.”

This was all from the mouths of young men who several times in their lives have lost
everything, and yet decided for nonviolence and mutual help. They didn’t take up guns, but started on a path which is much more challenging. They teach children in remote
hamlets, children of farmers who are afraid to be killed every day.

Meanwhile six stones for the stone circle were set, a Memorial for the most important qualities of the peace community: Resistance, Unity and Diversity of Cultures, Protection of Life, Dignity, Memory, and Alternatives. For every aspect the villagers found powerful symbols through the necessity, the power and the naiveness of people who
have struggled for survival and peace all their life.

In the morning two old men wanted to show me something, the clay oven which is nearly ready. They are enthusiastic about the simple technology which will improve the life in the houses. Also the solar dryer is ready. With its help the cacao beans can be dried
independent of the weather, which is important in a season where there is barely a day without heavy rain.

Yesterday we also shared the suggestions for future cooperation. Our international consejo and the Campesino and Indigenous consejo arrived at very similar wishes and suggestions. The most important is the plan to make the next Global Campus for the youth in the next year. In addition we agreed on cooperation in most areas of health, solar technology, media cooperation, and deepening the work with the stones.

Now it is morning and we are waiting for the next news from the area and preparing for the closing day. It will be a day of evaluation, celebration and a communion in the afternoon. Some of the internationals have already left. Sami Awad and Hernan
Braveheart left a few days ago, and yesterday Gloria Cuartas, Leon Octavio and the filmteam left.

Yesterday Bijou and I interviewed one of our kitchen women, Soila, who shares a life story with millions of people worldwide – from childhood on, a life of being left, of poverty and violence. But today she is doing better; she gets everything that she needs in the community. Her open brown face is shows no holding back and reflects warmth, a wish to care, and a big heart.

In the afternoon the streets are open again, and very quickly I decided to go to town
together with David to send the diary.  The “armed strike” is finished for the moment. The padre says it was a signal that from now on they are back, and that there will be killings again.

The mayor of Apartado gave an announcement that it had been bandits and drug dealers because the Paramilitary do not exist any more. Oh God. This land needs a deep change, like the whole earth. Sabine read as a morning speech her text about the change in Colombia. Only like this can I imagine a real change.

Our Indigenous friends have left. They took the chance and jumped on the bus to join their friends in the march.

Here, wonderful connections happened – a wonderful and deep understanding which will be continued, possibly in Tamera for the Summer University.

October 12 - Columbus Day - a day of mourning for all the Americas: today, 516 years ago, the continent was discovered, which meant nothing other then the introduction of all the preconditions for its globalization and the destruction of all the natural resources, sources of knowledge and ways of life.

At the same time it is just another Sunday and this afternoon there will be a mass that will be attended by the inhabitants of the surrounding communities.

And we have a vacation day at the Global Campus.  That is good, things were very, very packed these past days.

The mood is wonderful.

It is moving to see how a group of people from the village and from Tamera carry together some enormous stones from the river to the village square:  they will become part of the stone circle, a monument in memory of the suffering but also of the unbending power of the village. One of Sabine Lichtenfels' initiatives that brings me to the heart of the situation here:  I just had an interview with Noelha. She told us how her five year old daughter and her mother-in-law were shot in cold blood by soldiers right in front of her eyes - a shocking report, the camera people were crying behind their shades.

Noelha is now on top of a stone, carving a symbol for the "Protection of Life".  Two hands holding life, painted with the simplicity and power of expression of life itself.  She carves her soul into the stone filled with joy.  Afterwards she tells in the Sharing Circle how the migraine she has had for the last seven years just went away.

Other symbols have also appeared, with the themes Rememberance, Alternatives, Dignity, Unity and Diversity of Cultures. I like especially the symbol for Resistance, a hand with a heart that penetrates through a wall and reaches the other side.  The symbol was painted by Eduard, a member of the Counsel and an impressively strong personality.

This symbols are so deeply felt and lived that their power is already unfolding.  I get this very strong feeling that with symbols like this the village will never succumb.

The other work groups have also made a lot of progress. The Technology Group is busy with the solar dryer,  Mafu is happy,  the Padre and others from the village carry loam and make bricks, to build here this new and simple technology for fruit preservation.

The Healing Group has turned out a nice afternoon.  Natural healing seems to become truly substantial for the first time.  Admittedly there have always been people here that have preserved a knowledge of medicinal plants and ancient healing methods.  But most people rely so much on conventional modern medicine, that their knowledge didn't count much anymore.  This is something that could be changed now through the Global Campus.  The knowledge is being conveyed not only by Patrick and Irma but also by Brigida from San Josecito and a villager from La Union.

Noelha: "When we are sick we must go to the hospital in Apartadó. Because we are farmers with little money we often have long waits, often they don't even treat us, because we don't have the right papers. Sometimes we get the wrong or careless treatment, because the doctors don't have any respect for poor people.  Some of the villagers have already died for not getting the right treatment.  It makes me happy to know that we can treat more and more illnesses ourselves".

The Culture Group is also going strong.  It is made up mostly of young people and Benjamin has made a combination of  personal communications and the study of political healing thought.  Somewhere in between all this we - campesinos, indigenous peoples and people from Tamera -  learn songs in four voices with great enthusiasm. Eros is present all the time. There is constant flirting, hugging, meaningful looks. This delight in each other is heightened by the concentrated group work and study and it helps at the same time to mold it into a beautiful shape.

It is a bit of a pity that almost all the people in the Consejo have to hold a meeting with a woman that has come with Gloria who can help them get the "organic" certification for the cocoa.  Given that this is directly related to their subsistance, it takes priority at the moment over their participation in the work groups, which we fully understand.  It is incredible how much some of these people get done (Almost like in Tamera, I'd like to add).

A small clarification before continuing with the diary. These lines make no claim to have universal validity, or be complete, journalistically balanced nor politically correct.  They are the more or less personal impressions and notes jotted down on the fly in a demanding and unfamiliar situation and they are mostly punched on the keyboard in a few minutes at the internet café or early in the morning before the first meeting and immediately translated.  The journalist work will come later.

I can also forgive even myself to have forgotten or left out or not mentioned things that might have been important.

What is clearly not nice is that until now I haven't named the members of the team that have been on site for weeks to prepare the Global Campus, without whom not even a step in the pilgrimage would have been taken, no exchange of words would have taken place, no lectures and no meetings.  They are Andrea Regelmann and Irma Fäthke.  It has been above all Andrea Regelmann who has paid many visits to the place for a very long time to prepare this moment.  It is palpable that her soul is at home in these latitudes and that she feels good among these people and in this climate,  that she is capable of responding flexibly to constantly changing guidelines and to improvise, and that she enjoys the trust and also the love of these people.  It's wonderful that we have her and that she is how she is.

What is taking place here is like a small miracle.  The village square that usually stays empty and inert has transformed itself into a real Campus, filled with activity.  The new volleyball field built by Mafu and Janosch is embraced with enthusiasm.  Right next to it is a group of young people and children with a couple of guitars that are singing the whole song repertoire of the village, while they dance,  joke and play silly.  Who is to say now that there is no music field in San Josecito? It is not always beautiful but it is certainly lively!  The kitchen entices people with constantly new creations.  The Swiss organization Kitchens without Borders seems to have introduced here the idea that food can also be rich in variety and delicious.  Amanda has taken this on with enthusiasm to the delight of all the villagers and international guests.

Sami Awad is always surrounded by a horde of children.

One of the Indians paints ornaments and love declarations on upper arms, thighs and faces with a special plant colors, hour after hour; this way for once, the villagers transform themselves little by little visually into Indians.

Mafu's group has began to build the solar dryer.

The healing group is preparing the ground for the healing plant beds.

The stone circle group is busy looking for four cosmograms to build a stone circle in San Josecito. Richard Weixler, playing busybody,  makes all sorts of incredible invitations that are a bit too much for the locals.  Now he has found an ocelot in captivity by the farmers of the neighboring village.  After tough negotiations with the help of the Council they have agreed voluntarily to let it go free. In return Richard takes on becoming the godfather to one of their kids, so that he gets a good education.  The liberation action of the totally exhausted wild cat took place yesterday afternoon.

Gloria Cuartas and Leon Octavio have arrived and with them our film crew.  Gloria started a lively speech, as usual, about the current political situation in Colombia and the world. Right now a strike by the civil servants in the judiciary and by the sugarcane workers is causing the declaration of an emergency state with martial law, the freedom of assembly might be in danger.

"I am going to tell you why it is so incredibly important precisely now that the University of the Resistance is taking place and that the different communities meet.  The world is watching this peace village.  It is right in the middle of a geostrategic plan. A new canal is supposed to be built here to join the Pacific and the Atlantic, a plan that will change the whole economy of Colombia and Latin-American. There has been a very long attempt to eradicate all the small communities, all of the humanistic and  cultural organizations.  The peace community is located in a key spot and in spite of all the predictions, in spite of all the attacks, it  has managed to survive until today. Who could have guessed such a standing power in advance?  It is being fought from many sides in Colombia itself. It has more friends outside then inside the country.  All small groups and communities of the world must unite and create such a power that can never be eradicated."

I am sitting in the free study time right now, another small miracle.  At daybreak, around 5:30 AM, the people from Tamera and from the village start coming to study. Some children and grownup's paint at the table with Irma, others read or write or meditate. There is coffee and by sunrise we have a mostly short morning worship and still almost an hour's time until breakfast.  Almost like at home....

The first full day of the Global Campus

It actually starts with early study and morning worship around the "Yellow Stone".  It was put in place and engraved last year by Sabine Lichtenfels, it is know in the middle of the village and stands for the association of the peace villages with the power of Grace.

In the morning we will remain in the plenary, it will be a very full spiritual commencement with four intensive talks by Sabine Lichtenfels, Hernan Braveheart, Sami Awad and Benjamin von Mendelssohn.

Sami Awad's talk electrifies the people.  The situation in Palestine seems to have a lot in common to that in Colombia. And here is a man that has gone through all of it and has come to a choice of non-violence, exactly like the peace village.

Benjamin lists the five non-negotiable, the five columns of the Global Campus: Building of specific models, balance between internal and external peace work, healing of the core issues.

Still, the biggest part of the day goes under title: Opening to indigenous knowledge. A great historical opportunity has emerged to heal the wound brought by occupation in this land that until a few decades ago was inhabited by Indians, where there are still never contacted Indian tribes that know their traditions and keep on renewing their languages and rituals.  Sabine Lichtenfels, referencing to her own life and her research into prehistorical sources said: "Each person sitting here has indigenous roots, whether they originate in Europe or America.  We all have been driven out at some point and separated from our roots and from our connection with the source of knowledge."

Another speaker said: Indigenous means nothing other than "son or daughter of the earth", which means, to love the earth and take care of it and follow its laws.

Fernando, a young participant from the Nasa Indians reports about his growing up, about how he was introduced into the knowledge of his ancestors, which in case happened through his grandfather. "There is not only European science, there is also a very specific indigenous science, a form to obtain knowledge. The European  science talks about the plants, the indigenous science talks with the plants."

A great vision became visible and perceptible:  the vision that the tradition of the farmers and there resistance, their great and courageous decision to step out of the system of war is connected to the knowledge of the indigenous peoples.

Responding to a question by one of the Council members, an indigenous person said: "It is not a matter of comparing Compasinos, Europeans, Palestinians or indigenous peoples.  The whole of humanity was once indigenous, what we were separated from was the connection to the earth.  You can all call yourselves indigenous people when you connect again with the earth." José, a young man from Los Mulatos said: "The knowledge of the indigenous peoples managed to farm this land for one hundred thousand years in a way that has not disturbed it.  They brought slaves.  The result was a colorful mix of human beings, the campesinos (farmers).  If it is true that we can also call ourselves  for indigenous people, I will gladly due it and learn the indigenous knowledge."

A new process has started here, even though the common fate of the persecution had made the campesinos and the indigenous people comrades in their fate, in their inner selves they remained rather estranged.

"We have always supported the peace community", Fernando says. "These people have gone through a lot and need help.  They arrived in this land not long ago, we have been here already 40,000 years.  If they are receptive and ask for our knowledge we are happily ready to help in this way as well." 

07 October

Commencement of the Global Campus

4 PM marks the time of the start of the Global Campus, after we rest, or some of us use the morning to drive to town and take care of the most urgent errands.  We are somewhere between 60 and 100 participants - 30 internationals and the rest from the peace communities around here.

The participation of indigenous people, mostly from Nasa nation of Cauca is especially moving. They are the best organized Indian group in Colombia with fully their own culture of resistance.

The kiosk is the aula, an open round structure with a banana leaf roof and the largest meeting place in San Josecito, in the middle of the village where the parties also take place.  Hens, horses and pigs feed all around us, the normal village life is taking place with its labor and sounds. Now all these varied people will teach each other the knowledge of survival for the next ten days.  The enthusiasm of many is noticeable,  the anticipation with which they put their best shirt on.

Some of them have never gone to school.  It is possible to sense that education, information and development of consciousness is what distinguishes and elevates the people here,  for which their consciousness wakes up, it is that which makes them what they are.  It is not surprising that these people, some of which have to make an effort to read and write, swallow eagerly this world-level knowledge with the greatest attention.  They know that during the days they are here others will tend to their fields or their animals.  Some had to come through long and dangerous paths.  They bring such a commitment to knowledge that is truly applicable and they know often more about imperialism, about the history of socialism and the international context then we who live with an abundance of education.

"Two processes come together here" explains the Padre, "the process of the Global Campus and the process of the University of the Resistance. They have many differences but also some profound similarities". The Padre impresses me every time, he finds always the right words for the situation with his calm and thoughtful way, helping that way to make things whole. There is a full introduction of the work groups: Health, Technology/Ecology and Culture.

The day ends with a Pizza party; two people from the project 'Kitchens without Frontiers' are leaving and they have turned on the Pizza oven and made delicious Pizza.

The whole village enjoys this exotic delicacy with enthusiasm.

The pilgrimage is over, the Global Campus begins - Grace goes on.  The march was only a part of our action, even while we were in the mountains.  The other aspect of the pilgrimage run in parallel and was invisible to most of us, a constant striving to understanding, a keen exchange  among the leadership team with Eduard and the Padre on one side, representing the village,  and Sabine Lichtenfels and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Global Campus on the other.  Sami Awad's experience and advice was also very important in this regard.  Also the Council of indigenous representatives, whose knowledge in the region is invaluable.  The questions at hand were such as: What does the whole group require in order to grow into a working community body?   How should we react to the paramilitary near by? What constitutes an effective peace action in the name of Grace?  What kind of circles and what type of exchange do we need in order to truly understand each other?   How do two different cultures meet and how do they grow together into one force for peace?

That is in the end one of the meanings of the Global Campus and the Grace-Pilgrimage; creating a knowledge about an actual force for peace, about building community, reconciliation, about the coming together  of  internal and external peace work and of field forming actions for a future without war.

The skill of experienced and fully devoted peace workers like those coming together here is clearly apparent.  Sabine: "I am very impressed with the depth of communication and how easy it is often even in situations where we need to act fast.  I have such trust with the Padre that often just a look is enough to reach an understanding.  Still we also have very long talks  in which it becomes clear  the depth to which they informed themselves about our philosophy, before they joined us to cooperate.

It is only a small way back, two hours down to San Josecito. The afternoon is a rest time for everybody except our leading team, which now organises the Global Campus.

It is unbelievable what this team is doing. Mainly Sabine Lichtenfels who is at every place the one who has to speak the right words and to bring the people together. How good it is to have in her such a strong and humane power and orientation. She radiates something which gives the most different people trust in the most difficult situations. And in moments of weakness when you may react in an emotional way this can help you the most.

Richard Weixler has arrived, an Austrian entrepreneur and good friend of Tamera who with his association has bought many hectars of rainforest to save it from being cutting down.

This afternoon at 4 the Global Campus will start. I hope that I will be ready to go online and report.

Descending to La Union. But first we have to climb up for several hours. We have been warned, have started very early and walk from the beginning in a speed that we can endure. Some of us who are a little sick can ride the mulis. We arrive like this in La Union in the early afternoon. It is not only a finca or hamlet but a real village with approximately 200 inhabitants, school, electricity.

During the official reception we are told the history of the village, how the first farmers came here, cut the forest some decades ago, started the cultivation. How the persecution and massacres started, how often they were displaced, but returned again and again.

In July 2000 the paramilitary made an example and shot all the leaders of La Union dead in the middle of the village. At this place now some stones lie – painted with the names of the dead.

For our ritual today photographs of the deaths are placed on the stones and a fire is lit. This makes them very alive.

In the night there is a dancing party.

In our group many emotions come up - in the infinite compassion for the victims of war, confusion is mixed – when you see how much the people in the violent music seem to carry on war noises. Or how less sensitive nature is treated.

It is not upon us to judge. But there is a lot to do and to learn to really develop an example for a culture of life.

"The only one you can change is yourself" - this sentence from Peace Pilgrim comes to my mind.

In the early morning we get terrifying news: paramilitary is very close.
They arrested two members of the council but released them with threats. Very soon we decide to form a group out of nearly all internationals and a big group of campesinos. Together we are going to follow them and show them that it is not possible to threaten the farmers without the international world watching.

We nearly run through the forest for one hour, without speaking. The Padre and a coworker of PBI is five minutes in advance, to make the first contact.

As we arrive to the place where in the night the Campesinos were arrested, nobody is there any more.

We are in a valley, in the center there is a beautiful tree.

Some of the younger boys want to run after the paramilitary, but we decide to speak a prayer in a circle around this tree. When the padre speaks we hear shootings.

"Here, under this tree, which is a symbol of life, we are so close to those, who brought so much death. Here, we will give a sign for life."

Some of us have the feeling that the paramilitary are still here, that they watch us from the hidings in the bush and mountains. How they might perceive us – a colourful group that we are – farmers, children, indigenas, Europeans. In this moment a huge snake shows itself in the tree.

Greeting from mother earth herself.

Gildardo thanks for our help. He is sure that now all armed groups in the mountains will hear that the campesinos have a strong protection.

On the way back I am accompanied by Fernando, a young Indian from the Nasa Nation – a very collected and silent man. With my little Spanish we cannot talk much, but it is a beautiful contact.

When we come back we divide in several smaller groups and make sharing circles to answer three questions:

1.What has happened to you?

2. What is your dream?

3. What obstacles do you see – inside and outside of you?

Our circle is very moving. A man who looks very simple shows himself as well informed about the history of socialism. He says: "Imperialism has stepped on us." Everyone who is sitting with us has lost a familiy member through murder. An older man has been displaced eight times with his family. A young woman says: "My family sent me to Apartado to school. And in 2000, my father was killed."

The others laugh and one says: "Practically your whole family has been killed"!

One sometimes is too shocked to react, but slowly understands that they cannot really afford to feel sorrow, but to comfort each other with jokes or toughness.

On the question of what their dream is, Jairo states: That the Communidad de Paz becomes so strong and attractive that the armed forces one day lay aside their guns because they see that there is something stronger than violence."

When we come together in the plenary the children have collected fruit for us – oranges and some coconuts. Two of them go to the middle and answer on the three questions. What are their wishes? "Internet in the village, a bigger school, more land, and the possibility to work on it safely."

Again a ritual in the evening. Fire and prayers. Different elements show themselves. Sami Awad sings the Lord's Prayer in Arabic. One of the Indigenas speaks a prayer in their language. One of the internationals read poems or prayers the have prepared.

At the end everybody goes to the middle and puts the stick in the fire which we all carried with us from the beginning.

In Los Mulatos the Guarda of the Nasa Indians leaves us. Thank you for this protection!

We make a ceremony to honour Luis Eduardo Guerra and his family here in the chapel.

The Padre and some people of the peace community read texts from the Bible. Sabine says in her prayer: Luis Eduardo, may you know that your death has not been in vain. May the life return to this place.

We sing from the text United Fruit Company the last part including the new part which was written by us, intending to give hope. I have the feeling that the Canto General comes alive at this place.

Today we have shorter way. "One hour", the campesinos say. "Five hours", the Padre corrects. So it is.

We are walking now high in the mountains. At some places we see the coastline, the gulf of Uraba. The wood is very dense. But still it is not original forest any more. What we see is the result of 50 years work of campesinos, a mixture of deforestation, fields and grazings, between which the fertility gets their way.

We can imagine how it has looked up to 30, 40 years ago, as we suddenly stand before a jungle giant: a good 100 meters high or more, it could be surrounded only by ten people holding hands, it is standing in the middle of the bush, which barely reaches its knees, a being from another time.

Also this is to be accepted as reality: the destruction of the nature by the campesinos which they committed in order to survive.

We come to La Esperanza. Three weeks ago at this Finca had been a fight between paramilitary and guerillla. 20 paramilitaries have been killed. The campesinos now are afraid that the revenge of the paramilitary might hit them. Therefore it is very important for them that now we are with them, they are sure that this will be noticed, and international presence is their main protection.

La Esperanza is at the same time a time of returners. Simple huts, rice fields, bananas for cooking, coconuts, corn, oranges, one or two cows, three or four pigs – the farmers produce for their own need and sell their overflow. It is surprising – everything has to be transported on so difficult paths, that this life is attractive for people.

We arrive in the early afternoon, hang our hammocks under the roof of a hut. There is a bit of time to rest and to make a sharing.

A wonderful river invites us to take a bath, the water is beautiful, the tired bones can regenerate.

In spite of all destruction and violence there is still so much of the original to be perceived, such an abundance. One of the last places on earth, where mother earth is still awake – so it seems to us.

The night is full of stars – very rare up here. Everywhere spots of shining beetles, on the hilltops some single last jungle giants reach the sky.

We have a jungle hospital. Irma and Patrick treat little wounds and blisters and fever attacks with a huge patience and commitment. Also the campesinos and indigenas come to them, so that soon they have steady opening times.

The Consejo has met. They come to the conclusion to change the plans. We will not go on walking the next day to New Antiochia but stay here and have rest, share with the whole big group.

We are walking from San Josecito to Los Mulatos. It is the longest distance on this pilgrimage. "3 hours for us, 6 for you," Eduard had said. The Padre corrected: 9 hours. At the end we needed 11.

We started at 9 after a simple ritual where everyone took a small stick, peeled it and thus made its heart free. We would burn the stick up in the mountains.

We are about 150 people – children, women, men, older, internationals, indigenas, mulis, dogs. In the beginning and in the end the guarda walks – the Nasa-Indians with their sacred sticks – a special kind of non-violent tradition in Colombia, a spiritual and very impressive protective power.

They were long walks up through cacao plantations, in which many of us had difficulties breathing. A strong rain brought refreshment – but turned the paths into mud, through which we had to walk now. Again and again we got stuck, the mud sucked into the rubber boots, every step was very heavy to walk.

This is the every day life of those beautiful people. And with open mouth you watch them literally jumping over mud and pitches and stick and stone – seemingly never getting tired.

On one mountain they expect landmines having been placed there by guerilla – so nobody was allowed to leave the path and we had to walk one after the other.

Helping each other becomes a new support. THE value of community, without which it cannot survive. You permanently ask each other: How are you, and it is NOT just to be polite.

"Good", but you hear in the frequency if the person needs anything, a helping hand or a good word. There are people who unfold their helping power in this situatoin: Robert, Anna, Katja belong to them, they become real guardians for me. Ruben, a Colombian guy, who had been in Tamera, cheers the people up with silly dances and an overflowing joy.

It became clear at one point that they had made a wrong calculation and we would not get there before night. The river has grown in the heavy rains and we could not walk the normal path but had to cross the river about 20 times. So we did – in the dark, we formed chains, holding each other by the hands, walking through the river which reached to the belly and was quite strong. In our chain only one time one person was thrown over by the water, Mario, our tough Spaniard, but Katja didn't let him go, so we could get him out again, wet like a dog, but quite alive.

The two liters of water in the rubber boots were not worth emptying after a while. A certain humor spread. Didn't we always want to make an adventure trip?

At the end we reach Los Mulatos, a hamlet with a school and a health station. Here, Luis Eduardo Guerrra and his familiy had been killed in 2005. Now the people are returning. The first thing we saw was the chapel.

It was a completely improvised camp which was built for us. And instead of the 27 sleeping places there were only 13. Thus, they hung hammocks with three or four above each other between the trees, covered with plastic sheets to protect us from the rain.

The others slept on hard wood dense like sardines, which was okay, exhausted as we were.

Beautiful situations, how we made a fire to come together and to dry our clothes, how also the Indigenas came and sat with us and hung their socks in the smoke.

Nature can be mean sometimes. As I had to go to pee in the middle of the night and wanted to hold on to a tree, I touched fully into thorns. Even nature is not nonviolent over here.

Dear friends

It is early morning, just getting light, and we are sitting on the restaurant terrace of the “Kitchen Without Borders.” Below us a river is flowing, the fog is lifting, and after the fierce rains of the night the meadow of the village has turned into a swamp.

The kitchen team, under the guidance of our old friend Amanda, started quite a while ago to cook coffee, peel bananas, and prepare the breakfast for us – six women in white T-shirts. Everywhere there are chickens picking, dogs, pigs, and some horses. The bats have returned in a thick flock to their sleeping places over our heads where they find their holes in the straw roof.

We have arrived in San Josecito. The biggest part of our delegation, nineteen people, have spent two days on the bus and enjoyed the wilderness and abundance of this country. It is an unbelievably beautiful landscape with broad rivers, mountains and valleys, and villages where we would see muddy roads and huts – the grace of women, men, and children who rest in front of their homes in the heat. Simplicity from poverty – but then again huge houses with swimming pools. At bridges and other special points there are groups of soldiers – teenagers with machine guns.

We are often reminded of the sentence: “There is the world that has created us and the world that we have created – the two have to come together, and this is the aim of the journey.” (Dieter Duhm)

Eventually we arrive in Apartado, the banana town – a huge town of huts and little wooden houses. When we turn onto the street of San Jose, Bijou says: “This is the place where so many people have been killed.” This thought is the cold hand which reaches to the heart. The fear and the sorrow which has been under the surface now emerges.

In San Josecito we are greeted by the others of our pilgrimage group and by many of those who have grown in our hearts when they visited Tamera or took part in the pilgrimage in Israel-Palestine: Gildardo, Jairo, Martha, Arley, Amanda, Brigida...

The children are happy; because of us they have two weeks out of school. We are living in the school, and we have mats side-by-side under a spider web of mosquito nets. We sleep surprisingly well in spite of the light, noise and heat. The tropical climate is like an embrace – warm, mother-like and overwhelming; and it is about surrender.

Today we heard talks from several members of the Consejo about the history of the region and the peace community. One can look at this history in a way that this region, this village is a mirror for the whole conflict. Here was a center of the first farmer communities. Here there were the first massacres against campesinos, guerillla groups were founded, and then later the guerillas put away their guns and created a political party, the Union Patriotica, which very soon became the strongest political power in the region on all levels. Eventually the paramilitary systematically killed the leaders and displaced the farmers, one village after the other – directed by the USA whose great cultural invention of the paramilitary forces had been received here so enthusiastically and supported by all structures of the Colombian state.

We receive an unbelievable gift: a part of the world which has never been heard from has now gotten a consciousness and a voice to communicate their history and become a witness. It is the world of those who are never perceived, who really live on the other side of the world, who are chased, killed, slaughtered by the merciless power of the system.

They have always been there, on the other side; we have known this, but they were excluded from our perception. They have been ripped of their right to live, but always away from our circle of perception so that we could pretend they were not there. We received only a hint of pain, the dying of the soul.

But somehow they managed to become conscious of themselves and, in spite of agony and fear, began to raise their voices.

It is shocking the way the system works – this bad alliance of government, big companies, and armies of all kinds, which for many decades have been working on bringing whole regions under their control. Media and indifference of the masses play their role to make the whole system work.

But their antagonist is life itself, and this is what they have not been able to discern yet.

“We have created the peace community to teach them to honor life, not death,” Eduard, one of the leaders, states. He is the coordinator of the pilgrimage.

To end the system of death means not to take part in the game of fear, not to become silent when people around you are being killed, to create communities, to help each other, and again and again to find possibilities to continue.

“We will always go on,” Gildardo says with a defiant smile.

It is also shocking how many ways have been tried to destroy the peace community –massacres, food blockages, and now the Action Sociale where farmers are paid to cooperate with the military, who give up their right for land or become spies.

Since the peace community does not cooperate or pass on information, they are excluded from that. They don’t get health services or education. Presently the mayor of Apartado collects signatures of people against the peace community with the argument that they are stopping money from coming to the region. But yet they always find a possibility to continue.

* * *

Tomorrow the pilgrimage will start with 400 people, including about 50 Indigenas. We will walk in the name of Grace, first to Apartado, to the military base where the orders were given to commit most of the massacres. “We have a message to them that they will not like to hear and which will make them angry. We will tell them that they kill us.”

The pilgrimage will then lead to many places where painful things happened to the community – a trip through the history of the peace community.

“You will be walking over your knees in mud. It will rain heavily. It will be too hot and sometimes too cold. There will be mosquitoes. It will sometimes be difficult for you, but for us it is nature that reminds us to be alive, to be nurtured.”

He also said, “I see that you are moved to tears by the murders and the massacres, but also be touched by life. There is much more life in this village than there would have been without our efforts.”

We asked, “Have there ever been situations where paramilitary or soldiers were so moved that they left their groups and changed sides and joined the peace village?”

“No, but it happened the other way around.”

This could be our aim and vision: To create such a movement in the people that the first soldiers or paramilitaries throw away their guns, change sides and support the peace community.

by Leila Dregger

In the Anandamayi hostel in Bogota, our team has prepared a beautiful camp for the international participants arriving for the pilgrimage. The organization team has been doing a great job preparing all the actions that are planned: the five-day walk through the rain forest to visit the remotevillages of the peace community, the Global Campus with different seminars and practical training, and the media coverage by a film team.

In addition to the participants from the peace research village, Tamera, more participants have arrived, including Sami Awad from Palestine, and Hernan Braveheart, a Lakota shaman from the USA and Peru. Unfortunately the inventor Juergen Kleinwaechter had to cancel his participation because his company needs him at this time.We hear daily from San Jose de Apartado and our team there about the preparation of the place. A large group of Indigenas is planning to participate.

The short time in Bogota is not enough to really get to know this town.

We live in the old city which sometimes look like a village because of its little houses. We see many beautiful people, but also many uniforms and guns, and many poor people as well. Beauty and suffering come very close.A seller of "minutes" - which is one of the many people whose mobile you can use - told us, "Internationals are not in danger in Colombia. The only ones who have to be afraid are the poor people, because our president hates the poor."

Meanwhile we get into contact with a rich and beautiful group of people who want to create a different world.Some of us visited a conference of the ecovillages in Colombia which took place in a University. Among the speakers were Dorothy McLean, cofounder of Findhorn. Many there know about Tamera and were stunned to see us here. They want us to help to get in contact with the peace villages, and this connection can become very important.

We also met the shaman Taita Orleando Gaita, who had received the alternative Nobel Prize and represents a Colombian Indian nation. He and his group maintain sacred places throughout the country by protecting them, and also through rituals. He is an impressive man, full of humor and spirit.  He invited our group the prepare for the pilgrimage with a intensive ritual lasting an entire night. Twelve people are presently taking part in it.

As soon as they come back we will head towards Apartado via Medellin by bus.We will continue this diary as soon as we can.

Thursday 25th September 2008

by Sabine Lichtenfels

We start early in the morning - Meike, Anna Conte, Benjamin von Mendelssohn, Sami Awad, Airilio(our guide), a driver, and Sergio who drives the other car. He is a professor at the university for environmental research. We stop in a ministry in Usme to ask for permission to visit the biggest area of lagoons in the world, called Paramo. This is a name for places which have a very special botanical variety that only exists here.Two young women who work for the ministry join us. Anna Marie is a very special person that we get to know. She is about twenty-five years old and deeply connected to nature. We pass excavations which are 25,000 years old and an equally old cemetery which was discovered just this year.Later Anne Marie explains the meaning of the name "Usme." It is "nest of love." In former times two lovers met here, a Spanish man and an indigenous woman. The other people were against this pairing, and they had to escape to the mountains to live their love. Anne Marie recalls many beautiful indigenous tales of this kind.It is a beautiful mountain range, and we drive for two hours until we stop at the first lagoon which is 3700 meters high. It is a sparse area with dark rocks and special mountain plants. What touches the soul is something different and beyond words. Quickly we climb up the mountain; a light earth receives us and gives us the feeling that we are walking on sacred ground. Immediately I feel connected to my dream. It is like flying. In our silent prayer we get the feeling that we are welcomed by many beings. Two eagles fly above us.Anne Marie speaks words of welcome, so simple that they go immediately into the cells. They could be our words. Where do these people get the deep empathy with the world and with nature, and with the future of the earth? I am not used to meeting these kind of people outside of community. Anne Marie has developed a school where children and parents and teachers come together and learn together. She spoke in a very committed way about her country and her love for it.We stop again and again to connect with the land. I feel a living spirit everywhere. Two eagles fly and the sky is light. Anne Marie is very touched and says this is a special welcome. Eagles are protective spirits, "Muiscas," and the sky becomes clear only when people are welcome, because they come with great respect and a special mission.Time moves fast. It is an unusual delegation. I have never before come together with officials from Ministries and professors in such an intimate prayer and meditation. I take this place into my heart deeply. It is as if we were called.We stagger back home. The richness of the impressions and the change of the climate is a lot for the organism. Ten minutes of deep siesta, and then we continue to an official date with Gloria Cuartas who receives an important award for human rights from France. First I didn't like the idea of going to an official reception - big tables, everyone sitting around a bit helpless, strange music.Orlando is sitting at our table, and we are very surprised that he is here. I ask him if it is really right to join his ritual the following night if we have to continue afterwards to the pilgrimage. He just says that it is the best way to prepare:"If there are unconscious fears in you, they will reveal themselves and you can overcome them. In addition, you might foresee a lot. It will purify body and soul and prepare you. Some say you are weak when you are sensitive, but this is wrong. This is the actual strength."The evening with Gloria becomes much more moving than expected. A journalist who had lived with her for a short time in prison reads a moving text about her life and commitment. Revolutionary songs are sung, and Gloria speaks with such a big heart about her life and her work that we are really touched. The people are much less formal than they would be in a German event. The hearts also speak.Gloria also mentions Tamera in her talk and she says in deep appreciation to me how much power and hope she has gained through our work and how many wounds she could heal. I am deeply touched and firmly embrace her afterwards.We were introduced to many people in the peace movement; for example, Pietat Cordoba, who is  another carrier of hope like Gloria. She is very threatened in the moment. Immediately a feeling of love flows. She thanks us very much for how much we take care of Gloria.