Peacemakers reveal sameness

A 13-year-old boy was recently suspended from his crumbling, inner-city middle school in Michigan.  His family had immigrated to the United States because, in his words, “My parents wanted a better life for us than fighting. There is no government in Somalia, no army or police to keep the peace. Different tribes and groups of people were fighting and killing each other to gain power.”

Getting to the United States was complicated. The father went to Egypt to get an education that would enable him to find work in the U.S. They were finally able to make the move in 2000. It was “hard to fit in but also very exciting.” Not only did they have to get better at English, but the children had to adjust to the rough and tumble of American public schools. It was difficult for this student; “ ... kids made fun of me when I wore funny clothes or didn’t know what was ‘cool.’ Sometimes kids make fun of Africa, laughing like everyone carries spears and wears animal hides.”

Fortunately for this young immigrant, Linda Redding, an artist and peacemaker who works with a Restorative Justice program in his school, intervened when the Somali student was suspended. Using conflict resolution skills, art and a lot of patience she worked with him and his classmates so he could successfully return to school.  She helped him find ways to get the other kids to listen. “When I tell them about Africa and its cities and culture, they are surprised and want to learn more. Now I understand that all people are the same; they just live in different places. They all love their families, and they all want better futures. Everyone has the same feelings.”

I met Linda Redding when her friend Robyn Stegman, a 2009 Mary Baldwin College graduate, invited her to Staunton. She is doing amazing work teaching Michigan students how to get along with each other. Punishment can teach kids what they ought not to do, but it doesn’t go very far in teaching them how to live respectfully and happily with others.

There are not nearly enough Linda Reddings out there, but there a lot more than most Americans realize. Eastern Mennonite University brings in people from all over the world, teaches them conflict resolution skills and then sends them home to teach others. Many American schools teach conflict resolution skills.

When President Obama delivers a speech in Cairo addressing conflict in the Middle East, the whole world is tuned in. When it happens on a daily basis in schools and work places, at Eastern Mennonite and Mary Baldwin, people don’t know about it. Little by little it is changing the way people think. One young middle schooler experienced this first hand. In his art project he told his classmates, “Be proud of who you are, because you are different, and you are your own person. Help other people, because everyone needs help sometime. If we all help each other, we will all get more of what we want. I could not have come to the U.S. and been safe from war if people had not helped my family. Now I want to help someone else.”

The young Somali came to the conclusion that while all people are basically the same, not all countries are the same. He wrote, “People in Somalia look the same, share the same religion, but they still fight. People in the U.S. are very different, but they get along.” I hope he is right about us. I believe he is. 

I think people who come to the U.S. from war-torn, violent places value peace in a way that is hard for a lot of us to fully comprehend. Combat veterans seem to understand it too. I am grateful to a young Somali in Michigan for reminding me how fortunate we are in this country. We have a lot to celebrate.

Patricia Hunt, of Staunton, is a chaplain at Mary Baldwin College.