Zamboanga City –
SOME 20 high school students converged for a two-day peace arts workshop last February 27-28 at the ZABIDA Peace and Development Resource Center in Suterville, this city.

The young participants belonged to the five partner schools of Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ), namely, Ayala National High School, Southcom National High School, Talon-Talon National High School, Sangali National High School and Tagasilay National High School.

The student artists during the two-day training dubbed as “Inter-School Visual Peace Arts Workshop” learned how to express peace through the stroke of their paint brushes and canvass.

Jupiter Pollisco, PAZ Junior Project Coordinator, said that the workshop aims “to give fun to the students and at the same time to enhance their skills in painting.”

“Soon they will know the importance of visual arts in promoting peace and this can help bring peace to their communities and schools,” Pollisco, who is also a veteran visual artist, said.

The participants who mostly were senior and junior and grade seven students were oriented, too, on the Six Paths to Peace module, which was integrated in their workshop.

The module is a doable action program that a person can put into practice to achieve peace in schools and communities. The six paths to peace are: cultivating inner peace, dismantling the culture of war, living with justice and compassion, living in harmony with the earth, promoting human rights and responsibilities and building intercultural respect, reconciliation and solidarity.

“The students can do something to bring peace to their respective schools and communities through these six paths to peace,” emphasized Sr. Emma I. Delgado, PAZ Executive Secretary.

The student- artists during the workshop were divided into six groups, and each group used their paint brushes, paints and canvass to illustrate their own concepts on the six paths to peace.

“Our painting is an expression of our desire for peace. This is our true feeling, we want to be in the right path,” Fharhadiba T. Ahmad shared.

In the closing ceremony, Fr. Angel C. Calvo, CMF, President of PAZ, underscored the importance of young people coming together to show their commitment to peace-building.

“It is always a pleasant surprise to see young people coming together to participate in peace building,” he said.

“This is the best way you can do to express your commitment for peace through arts, instead of complaining,” he advised them.

Earlier this year, PAZ had also conducted peace video documentation workshop to some secondary school students.