On Febrary 15th a group of around forty promoters gathered together to shield themselves from the rainy day to discuss the important topic of conflict resolution. The turn out was pretty good for it still being coffee harvesting season. After they arrived we opened up by having people write on pieces of paper a statement about “a time when you stood up for yourself”, “a time when you did not stand up for your self”, or “something you feel so passionate about you would stand up for it”. People went around and shared their experiences. Some women shared their experiences of standing up against sexual harassment or on the other hand, times when they did not. Many people expressed feeling passionate about standing up for their family and friends. Each person had a unique experience to share that many people could relate to.
After playing telephone and other pump up games, we began our skits. The group of people running the meeting- Albany, Dinora, Sarah, and Zannah spent the majority of the time on a scene where alternate endings were played out based on the type of communication style that was used. The scene was a conflict between two promoters where one regularly attended the meetings and one rarely showed up. A conflict arose from the frustration that arose from this unequal participation in the group. There were four examples: one with a passive action, one with an assertive, another with passive-assertive, and another with mediation done by a program assistant. Each way that the scene was dealt with led to a different ending. At the end, each style was debriefed and people decided which skit was which type of conflict resolution.
The final activity was a competition where groups matched descriptions of the different types of conflict resolution to their corresponding papers. There is nothing like a little competition to get people engaged and excited- people were running here and there trying to match them and the fastest. At the end we talked about each style and where people thought the descriptions should go- if they should stay or move locations. This was a useful activity to get people to start thinking about the types of resolution and the activities associated with them. An example would be: description- yelling- matching style: aggressive.
In the end it was a success. Although it can be a challenging topic to discuss because it is so deeply personal and variant on the personality, culture, and context, the training started some interesting and important discussions relating to the subject. The promoters expressed the importance of getting along and serving and leaders within their communities. Conflict will arise everywhere but what matters is the ability to dispel and transform the situation to create a positive outcome for those involved is a skill that benefits the individual, group, and community.
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