School of peace education - Sekodi

Living in the different countries brought me many perspectives and underlying nuances of places. In Indonesia, despite the beauty and wonderful places to visit, there are still some issues that arise. On the daily basis, people are handling with poverty, conflicts or sensitive topics around them. I decided to find a people, who are not afraid to open unpleasant topics and put their creative energy in it. The place where I could find engaged people is in peace education programmes.

I was lucky that I met Lioni, the programme coordinator of SEKODI, who is involved in this movement. SEKODI (Sekolah Damai Indonesia) is part of the School of Peace, which was founded in India in order to share perspectives of participants from different backgrounds, educate about conflicts and emphasise the importance of peace. The discussed topics include identity, conflicts, violence, war and transformation. Indonesian part of the school was established by Indonesian alumni involved in training in India. Sekodi through their activities and training is dealing with the tension issues in the society and trying to apply non-violent ideology in the community.

Sekodi course. Image source: Facebook Sekodi [1]

Interview was held with Lioni Beatrik Tobing.

Sekodi course. Image source: Facebook Sekodi [2]

SEKODI started as a movement of School of peace in India. The alumni of that school from Indonesia decided to move forward and take a responsibility to do something. In 2017 they form a 3-month intensive School of peace workshops with many activities like discussions, essays, art projects, drama, mentoring classes, reflections and so on. They had 20-30 participants from Asian countries in different areas of interest. Involved people were from indigenous community, volunteers, NGO workers, students or activists.

I was curious about a programme of SEKODI and with Lioni we were talking about activities during this 3-month training. I should admit, that Indonesia is a place full of contrasts and differences, so pointing out on the issues that are happening in the Indonesian society is a great way how to practically learn about peace. The programme was held in Java island, close to the city Yogyakarta. “The first day we went to Buddhist monastery Borobudur and then we discussed about poverty around this place. We didn’t want to see this giant temple without the story behind. Then the second day we went to Islamic fundamentalist group in Solo and this was an intensive experience. Apparently, the participants had in their mind that they are the extremist group and at the end, they become friends and closer to them. I challenged them that we can’t talk about peace among ourselves, in a group of friends that have the same opinion. We needed to try to understand them and step forward. After meeting with then we should redefine again what is fundamentalist and what is extremist and actually admit that we can constructively talk to them. Later we came to transgender community. We tried to identify the oppressed people in Indonesia and tried to reflect on it."

Sekodi course. Image source: Facebook Sekodi [3]

Another part of the programme was in Bali. Everyone has a connection with Bali as a great touristic spot. But Sekodi pointed out also on another perspective on that place among participants. “Later we went to Bali and everyone was happy about that. We didn’t stay on the surface and we discussed sensitive topics. The discussion was also on the tabu topic as a high rate of paedophilia or prostitution. There is also an issue with mentally disabled people whom in some places put in a chain and not with proper treatment.

Participants of the programme went to the place where the conflict was still a fresh issue. They visited Sulawesi where in 1999 arise ethnopolitical problem between Muslim and Christian community. “We went to central Sulawesi, where we had a big conflict 18 years ago. Our aim was to learn how community perceives that issue and how they deal with it. Around thousand of people died because there were Christians mass killing and many people run away. During our experience we went to Christian village. Firstly we were just observators and we noticed, that the village was new. That village was burned and rebuilt again. Then we were talking with the community. The current situation is now more peaceful and Muslims and Christian are living together, even the majority is Christian."

"In central Sulawesi, we visited city Palu. In this place, we were talking with women group affected by conflict to see how they build their life from scratch. One of the organisation is facilitating and helping them to improve their lives and encourage to move forward. In that area, they have moringa tree, which is very nutritious, plant with various uses. The organisation taught them how to made an income from the plantation of moringa, made different products and so on."

Illustration for Sekodi

Activities of Sekodi are inspirational from many points of view. The way in which they confront the reality, talking about social issues and also personal involvement are shaping the Sekodi movement. Lioni mentioned: “Sekodi is really different, I just realized that organizations always work in their comfort zone. Sekodi tries to recognize others and step up from the bubble and challenge ourselves. We have a range of unusual network and we believe that transformation in society can happen. Our main objective in Sekodi in personal transformation, we believe that if you want to do something in your community and society, first of all, is to transform yourself. The soul is structural analysis, where we take a deeper look into the problem. We use 3 main words: educate, organize and agitate.”

More information:

Sekodi facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sekolahdamaiindonesia/

---

Image sources:

[1] Facebook Sekodi: https://www.facebook.com/sekolahdamaiindonesia/photos/a.1682581848712631.1073741830.1674804039490412/1704439366526879/?type=3&theater

[2] Facebook Sekodi: https://www.facebook.com/sekolahdamaiindonesia/photos/a.1674805262823623.1073741827.1674804039490412/1708193286151487/?type=3&theater

[3] Facebook Sekodi: https://www.facebook.com/sekolahdamaiindonesia/photos/a.1701413336829482.1073741831.1674804039490412/1801203020183846/?type=3&theater

[4] Image by Dita Anggraeni: https://www.facebook.com/sekolahdamaiindonesia/photos/a.1682581848712631.1073741830.1674804039490412/1776239289346886/?type=3&theater