Peace, paz, shalom, salaam, satyagraha, aloha
While writing these words I found myself constantly crying. The days have been warm. The winds have brought the Saharan sands. The Hurricanes have missed us. Our politics…What politics? Let’s talk about us…
I want to begin asking, what’s going on in your minds? What’s going on inside you all dressed in blue, holding hands? Have you looked at your eyes in the mirrors? When was the last time that you listened to the sound of your own voices? We spend all our lives searching for happiness and peace and sometimes seem to forget to search in the nearest chamber, the chamber that lies within. And yes, I understand, within is the most difficult of all the places to define. It is the only part of this existence that we will never be able escape.
I’ve spent much of my life on that search. I know what it is to be sad. I’ve been known to laugh and cry at the same time. I have cried seeing a bird perch outside my window because I felt blessed that in the middle of my chaotic city, Río Piedras, I was able to presence the magnificence of such a site. I have smiled to myself while I walk the halls of this school and recognize how far we have come as a community. I have seen us change from a gray, boxed, jail looking building to one of the prettiest campuses in this island. Maria Montessori once said, “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” I have experienced the joy of a school in peace. Collazo you have a lot to do with this. All the teachers that give their time and effort to your education have to do with this. I feel proud to be part of a community where these standards are valued highly. I think of the Interact club with their organic garden and Heart for Haiti. I see students making music in the hallways. I see the Drama, Forensics and Oratoria clubs sharing their talent with the world. I see students creating art with their hearts and their minds. I see Mr. Cruz drawing a bohique in my whiteboard so that my students may understand how a Taino doctor was represented. I see Otero singing the Beatles and Zayra meditating with her kids. Magali opening the world of literature to this school with her goddess like walk. I love to see kids knowing how to mix chemicals in chemistry hopefully to make medicines that cure cancer and aids not bombs. I have to admit I’ve spent all my life in this community and I have never been so proud of being part of this community as I am today. I think I can start affirming that if Maria Montessori were to see this school today she would say Commonwealth-Parkville School is educating students that will defend everlasting Peace.
Dorothy Thompson once said that “Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence”. A teacher knows better than anyone that conflict is inevitable. A teacher also knows that we almost always solve conflict without having to hurt any of our precious students. A teacher and her/his students are the most creative combinations possible. I still remember crying in one of the projects done by one of my graduated classes. They created the most amazing Utopia that you can imagine. This Utopia had elders and younger generations working together to create a more perfect world. They gave me hope. The same hope that you give me today. The hope that one day I may live to be old and wise beyond my years and know that many of you will be collaborating in local, international and non profits institutions creating renewable energy, reforesting our lands, feeding the hungry, educating the illiterate, empowering the disempowered, solving conflict with dialogue instead of wars. I know this world is possible. You have made me believe so. I hope my illusion is not just because of the cohoba rituals I’ve talked about in the PR history class. I hope my illusion comes from the recognition of your capabilities. I know the world that waits is better because you’re in it. The world that waits is better because your parent’s, this faculty and you have consciously and creatively made a decision to change what is wrong. Let’s look for those round tables. Let’s think of circles not squares. Let’s think white, gray, green, yellow, blue and pink. Let’s think in many colors. Let’s think in many sizes. Let’s remember to look back every now and then and remember the people that taught us how to love. Only through love will we ever attain Peace.
Give Peace a chance.
