Second Peace Game in Monrovia

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Second Peace Game in Monrovia BY EZEKIEL MAVOLO

M

onrovia based Future Guardians of Peace hosted another peace tournament on Sunday, May 26, 2013 on the George Weah sports field in Paynesville City, Red Light community. The game planning process began as soon as the first peace game ended in April. Sports have the ability to attract youth, and give us a fun and entertaining way of coming together to address common issues and ideals amongst our communities, such as teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention, conflict/resolution, and sustainable peacebuilding initiatives. This time around, we wanted to take extra caution in making sure participants (both players and spectators) understood the intent behind organizing these tournaments: creating a culture of sustainable peacebuilding and raising awareness of risks afflicting the youth within our communities. Even though official letters were

Guardian of Peace to oversee a team and explain the purpose of the games. I oversaw S.E. Kickball Club, Morris S. Kamara assisted Angel of the Ring, Akoi Mawolo was assigned to Action Girls, and everyone collectively coordinated Angel FC, as they were our upcoming team. Discussions took place at our regular Saturday meetings on how to address each team and what role each individual was to play in preparation for the games. We met several times before the tournament was hosted so that all corrections were made in accord with the advice given by our mentor, James Makor (Director of the environmental organization, SAMFU (Save My Future Foundation)). These meetings are an important part of our grassroots peacebuilding. We spend a lot of time interacting with community members and understanding what

ALL-GIRLS KICKBALL TEAM, PHOTO BY EZEKIEL MAVOLO

written to the four teams (Angel FC, Action Girls FC, S.E Kickball Club and Angel of the Ring) stating the reasons for which the games were to be played, we found that a special emphasis on our intention would serve as a benevolent reminder. To ensure that this message of peacebuilding was dispersed and understood, we assigned each Future

 • everyday gandhis • FALL 

issues are prevalent and in need of addressing. Come the meeting on Saturday, we are able to contemplate how to implement a project to approach the concerns. Among the many decisions we had to make in regards to the upcoming peace games, we agreed on purchasing a ball for each team, in hopes that the ball would help keep them together and


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