IPP Balanza: 2 januar 2010

Today we left Bogota very early in the morning to fly to Tame in Arauca. It has been a busy day filled with new people, new experiences and new thoughts. I am however not going to use this entry to describe our whereabouts throughout the day. Instead I am mostly going to try to describe what I have come to realise about the probable progress the next couple of days after today’s meeting of different expectations and expected expectations as well as different realities.

Let me first point out that I am full of admiration for the work that the mediators are doing in the communities in Tame. I think that meeting them today made us all realise what tremendous effort and knowledge is behind the work that they are doing. Personally now more than ever coming here is not a question of me being able to teach the mediators attached to the project by the School of Community Justice anything about alternative conflict resolution. Coming from a welfare state as Denmark that is completely controlled by the official social institutions most likely I will be able to learn something new about the use, theory and methods of conflict resolution in terms of everyday conflicts. That this is possible in the midst of the general political conflict of Colombia is only even more impressive.

In my first conversation with one of the mediators in the bus ride from the place where we had breakfast what struck me the most was the immense pride that they feel for the work they are doing. After expressing my interest the mediator spend the rest of the trip telling me how the work she is doing has not only enriched her own life but also been a great help to improving the social integration of the community. And throughout today’s activities where we have been trying to share our own experiences with and knowledge of conflict resolution in for example Denmark it has shown that the mediators have a lot of experiences from their own situation that they want to share. Without actually having been here long enough to know this for sure my first guess would be that the work as a mediator in the city of Tame could be very isolated. Although the community might appreciate the work that they are doing, they might not have anyone besides for themselves with whom they can share their academic knowledge of conflict resolution. And based on my conversations today I would say that some of the mediators see us as exactly international representatives with an academic expert knowledge of conflict resolution in our own countries. And they have this sudden possibility of proudly sharing everything they know with someone whom they think will understand their feeling of pride. And though I might not understand I can clearly see why they feel proud. And as their expectations might be to be able to achieve understanding of their academic knowledge and progress, my expectation is now clearly to come from here with a ton of knowledge and a more humble view on our capabilities in this area in Denmark.