Meet the Peace Trainers: Participants share why they joined the Peace Train


 









Norma Emerson: “These are my people”  

Why did Norma Emerson want to the part of the Nov. 15-22 Peace Train? “Because of the state the world is in, and I want to contribute to making a difference,” said the 75-year-old from Qualicum Beach, B.C.

The retired teacher, who is part of Knox United Church in Parkesville, hopes the energy being put into the train can “be contagious across Canada” and convince the Canadian government to devote more resources to peace.

“With pressure to spend more on militarization, weapons production corporations would thrive but housing, healthcare, education and mitigating climate change damage suffers,” she said.

Esther Haack: Hoping Canada can once again be a peacemaker in the world 

Esther Haack joined the Peace Train because she strongly believes that situations can’t like in Ukraine and the Middle East “can’t be resolved by continuing on the path of war and hatred. My hope is that Canada can once again become or have a peacemaking and negotiating influence and not be part of the war machine.”

Esther, 68, who lives on a farm at the base of the Beaufort Range outside the city of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, has been involved in peace and justice issues for a long time. 

Her commitment to peace is based on a number of things, including the experience of her German parents who lived through the Second World War in that country—including becoming refugee when the war ended.

“I feel like I experienced some of the negative impacts of war,” Esther said of what she learned from her parents. Her religious faith has also taught her “there is also a strong spiritual base in terms of loving our neighbours, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Katherine Murray: To be a peacemaker on the outside, you first have to be one on the inside”

Katherine Murray decided to join the Peace Train because of her growing concern about the “rise in hate, violence, nationalism, conflict, and war.”

Katherine, 51, is a spiritual care/spiritual director from Abbotsford, B.C. By being part of the Train, she hopes to “advocate for peaceful and just responses, and peaceful and just alternatives, to the conflicts and challenges we face in Canada and in our world today.”

While she believes it is important for Canada to dedicate more resources to peacemaking, she also thinks “we need to learn how to be people who know how to make and create peace,” she says. 

That, she adds, “is work that begins first within ourselves. It includes learning how to be a peaceful person who can communicate non-violently, who can resolve conflicts peacefully, and who can get at the root of problems and challenges and resolve them before they escalate and become violent.”

It’s about planting seeds of peace inside ourselves. “To be a peacemaker on the outside, you first have to be one on the inside,” she says.

The goal of the Peace Train is to ask the Canadian government to establish a Centre of Excellence for Peace and Justice focused on research, education, and training in conflict resolution, diplomacy, and peace operations. More information can be found at https://www.peacetraincanada.com

Photo above: Norma Emerson, Esther Haack, Katherine Murray. 

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