Theory into Practice: Preparations for India

Here's a photo of me, at my desk at home. My flatmate instructed me to look interesting :-) This is pretty much where I'm sitting right now, trying not to get too distracted from the task at hand - writing something about Nonviolence in Iraq before I leave for India.

The purpose of the trip to India is to find out if I'm the right person, or I should say one of many suitable people, to put the theories of Nonviolence into action. Eighteen of us from around the world are getting to know one another by email as we prepare for the first stage of the Nonviolent Peaceforce recruitment process. It's comforting to find out that most of the group are not dissimilar to me - the differences being where they studied Peace & Conflict and what sort of NGO they have worked for.

Already we have been given numerous papers on the application of nonviolence to Sri Lanka, updates on the current conflict, immunisation/insurance type information and a personality test! For the next week, and possibly month, we will be tested with role plays about situations of real conflict, challenged by our own cultural insensitivities and will hopefully begin to build a supportive community.

I'm very nervous, of course.