Christian Peacemaker Teams training - Day 3

So much has happened already that I'm not sure where to begin.

Our first gathering was the afternoon of the 15th. We did a few short ice-breaking activities. All ten of us are from very different backgrounds, different areas throughout the U.S. and Canada and have a wealth of experiences among us. Everyone got along well very quickly and we began the orientation. The highlight from the first day was our "ritual of arrival" for which each of us was asked to bring a few ounces of water from our homes. After praying, singing and reading, each of the trainees poured their water into a bowl on the center table in our main training area, while sharing what the symbol of water meant to each of us.

A more personal highlight from that day came closer to meal time. Earlier the group was introduced to Carol, one of CPT's co-directors. Prior to CPT, she worked in Honduras, Thailand and the Philippines. Being a quarter Filipino and wanting to better engage that part of my heritage, I asked Carol about her experience there. After she explained her work to me and I explained the primary reason for my interest, she said something to me that I am holding back tears thinking about.

"We can fully own every part of who we are," Carol told me. "You are fully Filipino." I'm sure that will stay with me for a long time.

The CPT office is in the Douglas Park area of Chicago and we are staying at a place called the Darst Center in Bridgeport. It was named after Brother David Darst, who was a part of the Catonsville Nine. The building is formatted as a hotel of sorts which mostly functions as a place to educate high school and college students in various issues of social justice. The Darst Center also hosts groups, speakers and each CPT training group.

Yesterday we continued our orientation. We were instructed on leading worship for our daily meetings, a task that, like several others (photographing, video taping workshops, writing in the daily log), will rotate among the trainees. We were also introduced to meal preparation here (the CPT training center is essentially an apartment, including kitchen), as well as to the role technology plays in the CPT teams. This refers to photography & video, both as a tool for documentation and (hopefully) and encouragement for perpetrators of injustice (Colombian paramilitary, Isreali soldier) to stop what they are doing since they know they are being watched.
We also had an introduction to the role plays we will have throughout the month. The purpose of the roleplays is to simulate the feelings of a crisis situation that we will experience once on a CPT team. Most are modeled after actual events that took place. Our short practice involvled half of the team playing dog owners who were angry and kicking their dogs, while the other half of us played passerbys who would try to intervene. It was harder than it sounds.

This morning, our teammate David lead worship, reading from the Book of Esther which tells of two women, Vashti & Esther, who resisted authority, the former to assert her dignity and the latter to save lives, each risking being murdered. Also this morning, was our first workshop on non-violence. The group was given a large amount of material, including Gandhi's and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s principles of non-violence. Jessica, CPT's personnel coordinator led us in exercises like asking "What Is Non-Violence?" and discussing which of Gandhi's & MLK's principles do we find most difficult, which we easily accept, have trouble accepting or struggle with.

Next, Carol led us through two workshops. The first was based on Walter Wink's "Jesus' Third Way" (pp. 98-111, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millenium), looking at Matthew 5:38-48 which deals with the love of enemies and creative non-violent resistance. The second involved photos of 20 different peace/non-violent activists from history, including Rigoberta Menchú, Abraham Heschel, Harriet Tubman, Thich Nhat Hahn, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, etc. It was inspiring to learn about and hear quotes from people of many traditions and nations who have worked for positive change.

During lunch, we met Myrla, who shares CPT's office while in the U.S. She lives the rest of the time in the Philippines, where she is from, doing work mostly in regards to U.S. military bases that have been abadoned with toxic waste, and mobilizing around the currently active bases. I expressed interest in her work and had a good conversation. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and hopefully becoming involved in Filipino activism in some way.

After our lunch break Kryss, the training coordinator, led us in the spiritual discipline of silence. We spent 20 minutes silently mediatating or reading. We will be learning about other spiritual disciplines, such as yoga tomorrow. Then Kathy and Dan from Voices for Creative Nonviolence visited to brief us about the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or better known as drones. This is the primary focus of our action next week at the Boeing world headquarters downtown, as they created the "intelligence" gathering component of the Predator drones. Kathy and Dan recently returned from Pakistan trying to find information on the drone war. What it boils down to is that there are "pilots" on a military base in Nevada, in a high-tech box on a trailer, controling these drones with what resemble video game controls. From Nevada, these pilots push the buttons that send explosive missiles from 20,000 feet above ground down to wreck havoc.

Arguments for the use of drones include that they are unmanned (and therefore do not risk "our boys'" lives, which neglects the value of the lives of people in Pakistan & Afghanistan) and that the drones are precise in targetting only "enemies". By the way, of the 700+ people killed by drone-fired missiles in Pakistan alone, only 14 were suspected "Taliban" or "al Queda" leaders. Not to mention that these 14 people were only alleged to be related to terrorist groups and never given an opportunity for trial. The U.S. has, using drones, bombed weddings, funerals that mourned other drone victims. We heard stories of repeated tactic: an initial bombing at 4:30 am or the very early; the dust settles and neighbors began to rescue survivors or clean up; a second series of bombs fall to kill the rescuers, and so on. It has gotten to the point that people are reluctant to help drone victims, in fear of their own lives. Kids don't play in groups or outside. Obiviously, this constant fear of being bombed has a profoundly negative effect on the psychology and culture of a people. Furthermore, what about the military personnel in Nevada, who just killed people from what is essentially his or her office, that leaves and picks their kids up from school and then has dinner with his or her family? What are the consequences in that case?

In light of this information and contemplation, we had a few brainstorming sessions about what is the core message we want to communicate with next week's action, and what we want it to look like. There are some very exciting ideas and the group will continue to work on it the next few days.

The final session of the day was an orientation to Chicago and its public transit system by Jessica. She also gave us a brief history of the neighborhoods Northern Lawndale (near the CPT office), Pilsen (which we travel through each day) and Bridgeport (where the Darst Center is), and a bit of the political history of the city including the Daley mayors and racial tension of the past century.

And to close our day, Sylvia, CPT's Undoing Racism coordinator, led us through a song and participitory reading/prayer.



The past few days have been long and sometimes emotionally and spiritually intense. But if they are any indication on how the rest of the month will be, then this will be one of the most rewarding, challenging, and life-giving experiences I have been involved in.