I want to pause...and I want to see...

Hola, 

As New Year's eve approaches us and we celebrate that another 365 days have passed and new ones come, I want to pause not to look at the year as a beginning and an end, but as every moment spent, experiences lived, happy and sad moments, every sun felt, sometimes, at night, and every darkness felt, sometimes, in the middle of the day or even in a sunny morning. 

I want to pause... 

to acknowledge the twilight that brings uncertainty and freedom, the smiles, the tears, the frustrations, the dreams, hope, friendship and love. 

I want to pause... 

to acknowledge that every day is different, that every experience shapes me, that every person I meet makes a contribution to my life, that every challenge posed to me makes me stronger, that every frustration is worthy because it makes me more resilient, reflective and enables me to creatively walk other paths. 

I want to pause... 

to see the year as a compilation of different moments unfolded back and forth, intertwined with what has passed and what is yet to pass; a chain of events that have not finished and are not closed on the 31st of December but remain open to reshape us. The year is not a linear cycle; it is not a day after another; it is a connection of events, of moments, of people, of scenes, of exhilarating experiences that make us human. 

I want to see.... 

that the days to come are not marked by the calendar 

that I allow myself to be frustrated and to deal with it in creative ways 

that I continue allowing myself to be myself with flaws and beauties and be aware of it and what it entails 

that I don't strive for perfection but for goodness 

that I do not worry about time and goals but about the now and my actions 

that I detach from what I try to control or tries to control me and from what set boundaries to my spirit 

I want to see... 

Myself with more people (old and new ones in my life), living more experiences, visiting new places, letting the music of life guide me, and silence fill (my) emptiness, learning not for the sake of being the best in what I like but for the sake of making a contribution in others' lives, in (to) the world. 

I want to see.. 

Myself connected to the world... Not constrained by others or by things... Not afraid of what comes next and more empathic and grounded to myself. 

I want to see.. 

Myself finding the angel inside me, flying with the moon, walking facing the sun, and starting each day as a new day... as a new experience. As the song of Facundo Cabral tells us... This is a new day to start again... Este es un nuevo día para empezar de nuevo... 

Enjoy the music and the lyrics in Spanish and... 

Happy New Year... Happy tomorrow and experiences thereof to all of you! 

Peace,

Malu

 

Letra - Facundo Cabral - Este es un Nuevo Día 

Prosa
Esta es la canción que canto cada mañana al despertar,
Para agradecerle al Cielo,
La gentileza de un nuevo día,
Es decir de una nueva oportunidad.
Porque siempre se puede empezar de nuevo,
En una eternidad siempre se puede empezar de nuevo,
Y esto es tan cierto como que el paraiso no está perdido sino olvidado.

Canto:
Este es un nuevo día,
Para empezar de nuevo,
Para buscar al ángel,
Que me crece los sueños.

Para cantar,
Para reir,
Para volver
A ser feliz Bis

Prosa:
Todos nacemos con un ángel de la guarda,
Pero pocos lo conservamos,
Hay quien prefiere un sicoanalista.
Todos tenemos una conciencia,
Pero pocos la escuchamos,
Hay quien prefiere la televisión.

Todos somos ricos, es decir hijos de Dios,
Pero pocos lo sabemos,

Perdona hermano que yo no entienda que no seas feliz
en tan bello planeta,
que hayas hecho un cementerio de esta tierra,
que es una fiesta.

Tienes un corazón, un cerebro,
Un alma, un espíritu,
Entonces como puedes sentirte pobre y desdichado.
 
Canto:
En este nuevo día,
Yo dejaré al espejo,
Y trataré de ser,
Por fin un hombre nuevo,

De cara al Sol,
Caminaré,
Y con la Luna,
Volaré. Bis.

Prosa:
Ahora mismo le puedes decir basta a la mujer que ya no te gusta,
Al hombre que ya no amas,
Al trabajo que odias,
A las cosas que te encadenan a la tarjeta de crédito,
A los noticieros que te envenenan desde la mañana y desde el helicóptero,
A los que quieren dirigir tu vida.

Ahora mismo le puedes decir basta al miedo que heredaste,
Porque la vida es aquí y ahora mismo,
Por eso:

Canto:
Este es un nuevo día,
Para empezar de nuevo,
Para buscar al ángel,
Que nos crece los sueños.

Para cantar,
Para reir,
Para volver
A ser feliz Bis

Si Señor.

Education and Fragility - Meeting in Brussels

Hello,

After a very intense summer traveling and doing some consultancies, I finally returned home at the end of September to focus on finishing my thesis and writing a chapter of a book on Evaluation of Peace Education Programs that will be published in 2012.  

Just after the Nepal workshop in September I got the proposal for a new and very interesting job, and in November I signed the contract.  I have not started to work yet, waiting to get the Swiss work permit. Hopefully I will start by the end of January.  I will be working in the field of education and emergencies, specifically with fragile contexts, working with different organizations promoting conflict-sensitive programming and planning in the education sector.

I am very excited since this is a field I am really passionate about.  Previously I worked in promoting quality education in some (not only) areas affected by armed conflicts, ethnic divisions or violence, training educators on how to deliver education programs that enhance a constructive living together and mutual understanding and respect.  However, I did not work directly on influencing education policies.  With this new job I will be working at the international level creating dialogue and generating new thinking on the need, importance and benefits of providing quality education systems in contexts of fragility.  This is what makes me excited and challenged.  One of my professional objectives is to work in enhancing quality education in formal settings, and this job opportunity is an excellent step towards contributing to that goal.

At the end of October, I attended a meeting in Brussels on education and fragility with several organizations working in this area that are part of a group I will be working with.  I learned a lot, got to know more about this field, connected academic ideas with what was discussed, linked my previous working experiences with the discussions, and reflected a lot about the work I will be doing and the relation to my thesis on peace education.

Two main ideas about fragility and education:

Fragility is commonly defined as the lack of capacity or willingness of a State to provide basic and life-saving services to the population, which in turn results in conflict, state collapse, loss of territorial control, extreme political instability, clientelist policies and repression or denial of resources to subgroups of the population.  Read more at INEE Education and Fragility.

Education can encourage inclusive and constructive living together of individuals and communities, which can contribute to conflict prevention and long-term peace building. Contrariwise, depending on the nature of its design and implementation, education can perpetuate or entrench dynamics of fragility.  This is why it is extremely important to design education systems and programs that are inclusive, relevant to the social, political and economic contexts, that allow equal access to everyone and promote equity. Peace education can play an important role in developing curricula and methodologies that can mitigate conflict and violence.

I will be sharing more about this topics during this year and I hope to contribute to advance this area at the academic and practical levels.

You can watch this video from Save the Children about their work in the so called Fragile States.

Peace,

Malu