Sisters' Stories: Our first Peace Sisters celebrate
This week, our regular ‘Sisters’ Stories’ focus is on our fabulous graduate Peace Sisters, who recently completed the groundbreaking nine-month project.
As you can see from the video of the closing ceremony below, the Sisters joined together to commemorate their achievements through music, food and dance, with many wearing traditional costumes to reflect a long history of harmony and social integration.
The ceremony was held to mark the end of the Peace Sisters project, delivered in partnership with the German Consulate in Erbil. During the pilot project, the women and girls were trained in skills around conflict resolution and cooperation, as well as critical thinking and confidence-building, enabling them to become mediators, peace defenders and active community leaders.
During the ceremony, the Peace Sisters sang, danced and shared examples of storytelling through photography, and a tasty lunch was served. Meanwhile, a range of special guests were asked to take part in the wider conversation around living and coexisting together peacefully.
The Peace Sisters themselves greatly enjoyed taking part, as you can see from some of their comments below…
“I am very optimistic about what the Peace Sisters can achieve in society after this training, as it shows how a woman can play an important role in society – especially in bringing justice and peace to the environment we are living in”
“During my time doing Peace Sisters training, I have learned a lot. I loved everything about it, especially that everyone can freely express their opinion and accept each other”
“Being part of this project was so exciting and useful. I got the opportunity to learn, gain new skills as well as do fun activities during the training. Now I know so much more about what mediation is, and how to resolve conflicts and deal with problems”
Because this pioneering project has been so successful, we’re now looking to repeat it again this year. Please do support us so we can make this aim a reality!