The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire, Inc. launched a 100-day initiative, "Intentional Peacebuilding," to spread the message of peace in Savannah. They're using social media and community engagement to highlight the value of peace and celebrate local peacebuilding efforts.
The campaign, which will run through September 22, aims to celebrate local peacebuilding efforts and inspire the community to get involved. It will culminate in the third annual Peace in the Park event at Daffin Park on September 22.
"Our 100 Days of Intentional Peacebuilding campaign is about being intentional, inclusive, and showing up for peace," said Jill Cardenas, executive director of The Mediation Center. "We believe that everyone in our community has the potential to help create peace."
The vision and mission of the Mediation Center are to support the community and individuals in conflict education, prevention, and resolution services. They want people to be intentional with peace within themselves and let that radiate when facing situations in life.
The Mediation Center kicked off the campaign with a special "Rock Your Peace" rock-painting event on July 18 at their headquarters. The event was free and open to the public.
At the event, members of the public shared how they support peace in the community. Using the hashtag #SAVDayOfPeace to contribute to the 100 Days of Intentional Peacebuilding social media campaign, attendees painted rocks with peace-related emblems, words, or pictures and will leave them in different places around the city for others to discover.
“Our goal with this initiative is to intentionally uplift each other and radiate a positive vibe. We're promoting this intentional peace and building kindness amongst each other,” said Director of Restorative Practices and Community Outreach Sherlisa Praylo.
Praylo explained that the campaign started by engaging the city's youth, encouraging them to find ways to promote peace in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and everyday lives. The Mediation Center has a peer mediation program for the youth, and they are involved with these initiatives.
“We start training peer mediators as early as fourth grade. We teach them all of the skills that it takes to resolve conflicts. You across Savannah have asked for more of this training,” said Cardenas.
Some organizations have recorded themselves talking about what their organization does to spread peace amongst themselves and their team; the videos are posted on social media during these 100 days. The mediation center also recently hosted a group of youth at the center for an open discussion.
“The youth talk about what they're doing with their peers to spread peace. They had open and hard conversations about things that might be difficult to talk about. That's what brings about change. It's understanding one's perspective. Those are some of the ways we've seen people sharing within these 100 days of peace,” said Praylo.
The event on September 22 is free and open to the public. It will offer opportunities for community members to support peace, counter violence, become conflict-resilient, and celebrate unity.
Nominations will soon open for the public to submit names for recognition by the Mediation Center Peace Builders in the Community. Additionally, if people want to volunteer or be vendors at the event, they can visit the center's website for more information about how they can join this initiative ahead of the event in September.
“We open nominations yearly across the board, from youth to other community members—the ones that are actually out there spreading the peace and doing the work. We share them with the community and let them know that we acknowledge the work that they're doing,” said Praylo.
At the Peace in the Park event at Daffin Park, people will participate in a peace walk and Living Room Conversations, which will be a living room set up in the park for people to have deeper conversations and explore ways to resolve conflicts. Attendees will also hear from youth, community leaders, and others doing work to transform their communities into peaceful environments.
“I want people to take away that peace starts somewhere. If you want to see change, you have to do more than just talk about it. You have to share those tools and things you have within your community; that way, we can truly spread more peace,” said Praylo.
