Meet the Peace Trainers: A Way to Take Action Rooted in Compassion



 










For Helen Grace Smith of Port Alberni, B.C., participating in the Nov. 15-22 Peace Train is a way of “taking a small action that is rooted in compassion.”

Smith, 67, is enjoying her comfortable new life as a retiree following a career as a speech language pathologist. At the same time, she is aware that millions of people around the world are suffering due to conflict and war in places like Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. “For many people insecurity, hunger, disease, and death are daily realities,” she says. “I feel a need to pay attention, to be aware.”

For her, going to Ottawa on the Peace Train to ask the government to establish and fund a Centre of Excellence for Peace and Justice focused on research, education, and training in conflict resolution, diplomacy, and peace operations is a way to pay attention and be aware.

“Our collective action is a small one,” she acknowledges, noting other groups such as Project Ploughshares have been working at this agenda for a long time.

“I don't expect that our Peace Train will get a lot of notice, but I hope it will get some from the politicians,” she says, adding that maybe it will also strengthen the hearts of those who have been working at the issue for years.

“Maybe, just maybe, our idea of establishing a Centre of Excellence for Peace and Justice will be a seed that will germinate and take root,” she adds.

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

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