By Marisa Loranger, #CollegiateLife Editor.
Entering war torn countries and trying to bring peace is a difficult task that not many are up to. Mel Duncan, the co-founder of the Nonviolent Peace Force, is one person who is willing to do the difficult.
Duncan will speak at Delta’s lecture theater (G-160) Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. He will discuss how he has helped countries keep their communities safe in the middle of dangerous situations.
Jeffery Dykhuizen, Delta College Global Peace Studies chair, hopes that this event will show Delta students that they can change the world in small ways, every day.
“Anytime we pick up a piece of trash that is left there and put it in the garbage can, you’ve made the world cleaner right? That’s what we’re getting into here. You open the door for someone and they say thank you. It doesn’t have to be I saved the polar bears and the polar ice caps. But every time we use those little water dispensers we have at Delta now instead of buying a new bottle of water, I’m not adding to the problem. That’s what we in our global peace studies program are going for. Every time we’re doing something positive, we are changing the world,” says Dykhuizen.
The Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is “an international non-government organization, [that] provides direct protection to civilians caught in violent conflict and works with local organizations to reduce further outbreaks of violence,” according to their website.
The organization has been around for 20 years and has gone to more than 40 countries to provide peace for civilians in war torn countries.
Duncan will be speaking on the importance of peace and the issues that are plaguing the world. Those who work for the Nonviolent Peaceforce are trained to enter violent areas and put themselves between aggressors and victims. It’s their job to keep the people safe so they don’t have to leave their homes.
“There’s the possibility here that a student gets so interested [from Duncan’s speech] that they might eventually volunteer for that and it’s pretty intense training,” explained Jeffery Dykhuizen.
His speech will also tie in with Delta College’s relativity new Global Peace Studies program. The program “prepares students to understand the complexity of global issues and become agents of positive change,” explained Delta College’s website.
