Asiya Mohammed, a former Caux Scholar, who has worked with Creators of Peace both in the US and the UK, was invited to offer a peace circle taster under the auspices of the Advocates for Western Arab Relations (AWARE) Center, a nongovernmental organization based in Kuwait that works to create better understanding and promote dialogue between East and West. More than 20 women attended this introductory session and because of enthusiasm shown by participants, Asiya was encouraged to host the very first peace circle in Kuwait. At this session she also met Asyah Riaz, a trained social worker from Copenhagen who had a wealth of experience in mediation and working with women. They formed an immediate friendship and worked together to organize and facilitate the first Kuwaiti peace circle.

In May 2010, the first circle began with nine participants mainly from the expatriate community. Together they represented ethnic, national, religious and age diversity. While some were new to Kuwait, others had converted to Islam, and now considered Kuwait as home.

From the very first peace circle, participants responded with great passion as connections were forged on a very personal level. During sessions on destroying peace, forgiveness and inner listening, the women were often moved to tears. As they shared their personal stories and spoke freely about the struggle for peace, they openly discussed lack of trust, fear, pain and insecurity. Together they learned new techniques for rebuilding trust and becoming creators of peace within their families, place of work and communities.

From a facilitator perspective, Asiya and I learned a great deal from each other. We attempted to use new strategies such as a meditational walk through for inner listening, “Forum Theater” and painting. We discovered that these were very important tools which allowed women to explore themselves and peace on a much deeper level. Through theater and art, women were empowered and discovered their ability to create change in situations of conflict. Through inner listening, participants gained new perspective and shifted perceptions on their role as agents for change.

The greatest accomplishment from this circle was that each woman, including both facilitators, were moved to a deeper level. A few experienced personal transformation and knew that their new approach to peace would now be colored and flavored with what they had learned in the past 6 weeks. For many of them, something deep within had changed and they now felt more equipped to resolve conflicts and inner struggles in a peaceful manner.

As a takeaway, a few of the participants were interested in being trained as facilitators. One even booked tickets and will travel to the Caux Conference Center in Switzerland for this summers training. Another felt called to do peace circles wherever she traveled to in the world. Yet another decided to share her learning from the peace circle at a family reunion after years spent apart.

We have decided to meet in Kuwait for one final circle after the Muslim festival of Eid ul Fitr and there is a waiting list for a fall peace circle also. As facilitators, the Kuwaiti peace circle definitely changed our lives and that of the women who made the commitment to participate.

Report by facilitators Asiya Mohammed and Asyah Riaz