For many years, guns, bombs and land mines have caused physical and emotional damage to Cambodians and even today, illegally kept weapons cause many problems. It is estimated that thousands of unregistered small arms are still in the possession of civilians and many are being used to commit robberies, rape and other crimes. CWS is convinced that in a peaceful Cambodia there is no place for these conflict machines and we therefore actively encourage people to hand in their weapons to local authorities. Together with EUASAC, the European Union’s organization for curbing the proliferation of small arms, we began our work to make people aware of the advantages of handing in their weapons and we provide information on why possessing one is a hazard to peace. Finally, we create opportunities for people to anonymously hand in their weapons, which has resulted in many positive changes in our target communities.

“Before the weapons reduction program, many of us felt unsafe because there was always the possibility of weapons popping up during village conflicts,” a man from the village of Chey told us. “It is much more difficult to trust each other if you know somebody has a weapon, but fortunately
that has all changed now!”

The weapon reduction program has been very successful and in Kompong Thom province alone, 1,273 weapons were handed in during a single collection period! Subsequent to their collection, weapons are publicly destroyed in a so-called “flame of peace”, an event we have witnessed many times in the last couple of years. CWS is convinced that a Cambodia without weapons creates better opportunities for development and lasting peace. Or, as the Cambodian authorities themselves said during the recent passage of a law on weapons management:

“A successful small arms program contributes to the spread of peace and security in the country, which will consequently bring further development”

CWS:Dhammayietra

“We must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to the Buddha, Christ or Ghandi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettoes and the battlefields will then become our temples.” -Maha Ghosananda

In 1992, during the first year of the UN brokered peace agreement, a Buddhist monk called Maha Ghossananda, lead a “Dhammayietra,” or ‘peace march’ across Cambodia with the aim of restoring the hope and spirit of the Cambodian people. The 16-day, 275 kilometer peace march passed through territory which, at that time, was still controlled by the Khmer Rouge. However, fighting ceased when the Dhammayietra passed, and Maha Ghossananda was able to discuss the future of peace and the Buddhist way of achieving this;

A peaceful heart makes a peaceful person
A peaceful person makes a peaceful family
A peaceful family makes a peaceful community
A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation
A peaceful nation makes a peaceful world.

Since that first walk, Dhammayietra has returned every year and it has grown into an initiative which not only promotes peace but also points out various problems in Cambodian society ranging from HIV/AIDS to reconciliation. After the walk has ended, Dhammayietra does not stop. Volunteers remain active all year round to provide training on peace and other issues, particularly in parts of Cambodia that face many problems. After years of violence and depression, the positive message of Dhammayietra has a huge impact on many. In a culturally accepted setting, subjects are discussed that would normally never be discussed in conservative Cambodian society. CWS is therefore glad to be among the steady supporters of Dhammayietra and values its unique approach to bring Cambodians closer to each other, and we believe that despite the recent passing of Maha Ghossananda, the beliefs he promoted will remain alive.

CWS: Against Corruption as our cornerstone to peace

Corruption is a serious problem in Cambodia. It happens on all levels of society and influences the lives of many. At first glance, corruption seems to have nothing to do with peace and democracy building. However, from the viewpoint of CWS, corruption restricts a democracy from being truly democratic. In our work we therefore never give in to corruption and we have an approach of actively changing people’s attitude towards the phenomenon. In the province of Svay Rieng, for example, we have been challenged with corruption on numerous occasions. The corruption we experience often has many faces; ranging from an individual who demands an unregistered sum of money to ‘speed things up’ to construction workers expecting food from poor villagers in exchange for their services.

A good example of combatting corruption was experienced in early 2006. CWS, at that time, was preparing well digging activities for nine very poor families in the district of Rumdoul. Everything went as planned and the wells were due to be constructed free of charge. However, during a monitoring visit we were surprised to hear that people had paid 20,000 Riel for their wells! A small investigation soon showed that the deputy chief had accepted the money. When the money was not returned, our staff met with the villagers and informed them about the mission, vision and core values of CWS. When the deputy chief finally understood that the consequence of having accepted the money was that CWS could not construct the wells, he was so surprised that he immediately returned everything. For CWS, corruption is not merely a cultural phenomenon or something we“just have to live with.” We rather see it as a major obstruction in achieving our goals and are therefore dedicated to eliminating it.

CWS: Trauma & Reconcilliation Training

The years of war have caused major physical damage to Cambodia. Infrastructure was destroyed, government buildings plundered and until this day unexploded mines and bombs remain scattered over the country. What’s often forgotten, though, is the fact that it is not just bridges and roads that were damaged during the war, but more so, people’s lives were damaged. Most Cambodians who have experienced the cruelties of Khmer Rouge oppression and civil war have never talked about what happened to them, and many emotional scars remain unhealed. “Some mornings I wake up bathing in sweat and being scared for everybody close to me,” one woman told us. “It is on those days that I believe life is too heavy to bear and I wish I had never been born.”

Many problems we come across during our work originate from hidden trauma or unsolved conflict and it is therefore very important to pay attention to this aspect of people’s lives. Furthermore, with the Khmer Rouge tribunal in its preparatory stages, the question of justice, truth and forgiveness is ever more present in society and people have only recently started to look for answers. In order to deal with these issues,CWS employs specially trained staff. Awareness for trauma, peace and reconciliation is raised through training sessions with community leadership as well as villagers and we give them the opportunity to speak about their past. We encourage people to look back to the periods in their life that were peaceful and ask themselves the question why they experienced it this way. Through doing this, people understand that appreciation of peace is crucial for building a stable Cambodia.

Furthermore, CWS organizes training possibilities for its own staff and the staff of partner NGOs to extend their knowledge of effective peace building, trauma and restorative justice. In 2006, for example, a team of Cambodians attended a training course on these subjects at the Eastern Mennonite University (USA). During other initiatives, local CWS staff cooperated with people from countries such as Peru and the Philippines.