I met Elhachemi Sabi, 24 years old, Algerian blogger and citizen journalist, volunteer with the Algerian Food bank and other NGOs, peace activist in the chat forum of the Global Media Forum. He lives in a small village called El Mouafkia in the Algerian province Chlef.
He started an initiative of a global campaign against war inspired by the non-profit organization MasterPeace. The goal of the campaign is to create awareness to the importance of sharing a peace culture. And to do that with one clear and simple message: “It’s Enough, We Want Peace!”
Participation is easy:
Make a selfie including a piece of paper with the line “It’s Enough, We Want Peace” in English and in your own language.
- Make an artwork, illustration, photo of it(be creative!)
- Share it online! On your Facebook page, on Twitter, Instagram, et cetera. Just use the hashtag #WeWantPeace
- Don’t forget to share it on the special Facebook page
What you get:
- The best selfies, photos and artwork entries will be chosen to be included in MasterPeace’s publication ‘#WeWantPeace”
- You’ll be actively helping in spreading the word about the importance of gathering global voices to stop wars and sharing a peace building culture.
- It will get you thinking and talking and you will be part of a global community.
Let’s help reduce the violence together!
Besides doing my small part for this initiative, I became curious to know more about this young man and his aspiration. So I sent him some questions:
What is the dream of your life and how is it related with your initiative?
My dream is to contribute to make the world a better place and to make it suck less by reducing the violence and try to fight with nonviolence. Most people around me told me, that I should think about my community and my country first of all. I’m trying to show them that wherever we are, in every situation, we are part of this world. That is why we have to care about it and this is another dream for me that people care about the world.
With my initiative I try to create awareness about nonviolence culture and to show the young around the world that everyone can start something good despite the criticism and obstacles that you may encounter.
Is there a defining moment in your past that made you think and believe as you do?
Yes absolutely, since I was child, terrorism and violence was a daily scene. It was a difficult for me and for all Algerians. I felt sadness and despair because the conflicting parties did not care about the dead and missing people. Everything was turned off, we could not travel.
I cannot describe what happened, because it is very harsh and didn’t bring any positive results. On the contrary it caused the recession and the fading spirit of citizenship. Subsequently through my initiative I’m trying to raise awareness of the need to build a culture of peace in order to provide the appropriate conditions for Community development.
What do you say to the people in order they care more about peace and join your initiative?
My message for the people is: Peace is not going to be a function of government intervention. Governments have had thousands of years to get their act together and what do they have to show for it? Taxes? Parking meters? Mind-numbing bureaucracy? At best, they’ve brokered a few cease fires. But cease fires, even though they’re better than nothing, are not peace. Cease fires are merely the pregnant pause in between wars.
Peace is not going to come from our governments. Peace is going to come from somewhere else — and that somewhere else is the people who elect (or inherit) the governments that rule this world.
Come on. Join me. We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. You don’t have to be perfect to start something. The impact will be now or maybe later, just stay faithful and keep believing in your cause.
