IPP Balanza: 9 januar 2010

In Canada, we have various forms of mousetraps. Some are spring-loaded and can be tripped only once before needing to be reset. This usually ends with the death of the mouse.

But there is another seemingly more humane trap that catches mice alive. And because it works on a lever, it allows for more then one mouse to be caught before being emptied. I say “seemingly” humane because most people that have used these traps for any length of time with tell you something about them that never shows up in the literature. As long as you only catch one mouse, everything is fine. You can find a nice safe spot away from your house and safely release the captive. BUT… the funny thing about these traps is, that if you happen to catch more then one before you have a chance to empty the trap, things get a little tense inside the trap. The more confined and desperate the mice get, the more they fight. It is not uncommon to return to one of these “humane” live traps and find all the mice dead, and all horribly mutilated.

We know this to be true of people as well. Crowded cities usually have much higher rates of crime and incidence of domestic violence. And the more these crowed people become stressed from say something like a garbage strike, water shortage, or heat wave, the higher these rates and incidences become.

So… one would think that a perfect recipe for disaster would be to take a group of people from different cultures, generations, and genders, that speak different languages, eat different foods, have different washing, eating, sleeping, religious, and/or norms of decency, move them to an additional locations where everything that is known and comfortable is removed. Crowd (cram) them into a tight space, say… 24 people living in a space designed for 4, and begin to stress them. And how do you stress them more? You do things like taking away running hot water, working bathrooms, contact to the outside world (reduced internet etc.). You might deprive people of sleep… (ok… I snore a lot… so what). You might also increase their anxiety about personal safety by taking them to a combat zone and surrounding them with combatants… armed combatants… heavily armed… and lots of them. You might introduce bugs… big bugs… in fact HUGE bugs… larger then most people’s pets… and again… lots of them. And after they are deprived, crowed and stressed, you can sit back sell tickets, and watch the fireworks.

Now, this might seem extreme and sound like the setting for a “Survivor Colombia” or some other equally unbelievable reality television or cheesy made-for-television movie… but it’s not. It has been simply another CISV International People’s Project. Now… admittedly… while I’ve been involved with CISV for over 15 years, this is my first real CISV experience… and quite frankly I really didn’t know what to expect. But given the conditions listed… I really didn’t expect there was to be NO personal conflicts. My experience here flies in the face of everything I know about human nature. And when I say no personal conflicts, I mean none, nada, nothing, zilch, zero. Is it possible that there has been, but I just haven’t seen it? Yes… it’s possible… but I even started looking for the rough parts… the hidden pot that is “almost” boiling… the “sand-paper” edges… and I absolutely have not seen them at all. What I’ve seen instead is a group of people that has bonded, become tighter, more helpful and even more lenient and incredibly sharing. Snoring becomes a competition… hand sized cockroaches become a curiosity, cold showers become “invigorating” and the armed convoy becomes a parade.

So… what is it that makes this situation so different? What makes these people become so immune to outside forces that would normally destroy them? Why are they NOT at each other’s throats?

Is it because they are all CISV’ers… dedicated to promoting global friendships? It can’t be that simple, can it? Is it because they all truly like each other? I think not. I love my family but sometimes traveling with them is a challenge to say the least. Is it because they have recognized that what they are doing in Colombia is much larger than they are… and the petty irritations of a handful of travelers can’t compare to the daily lives, the very trials of existence that the people of Arauca experience every breathing moment? Again… I don’t think so. The bonding had started even in Bogota and long before they arrived here in the red zone.

To be perfectly honest… I simply don’t know. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above… and more. But I can tell you that it’s amazing to see… and even more encouraging to be a part of.

“World Peace” is a huge buzzword that lots of people, politicians included, throw around like last year’s textbooks, but I doubt that few people believe it is feasible let alone possible. But I can also tell you that if that is true, then here… in Colombia… in this camp… the 24 or so representatives here from the numerous countries and cultures that are attending this IPP appear to have achieved the impossible. And the even more surprising realization is that these people are not special. They’re plucked from various societies almost at random… but if they can do it… why can’t everyone?

Guess what… world peace IS possible… I’ve seen it.