(A4O, Melbourne, 2019) Advocacy for Oromia held a series of 10 Peace Education Project workshops from July to August 2019 at Ross House.

The course, which was hosted by the Perm Rawat Foundation, held in
collaboration with Advocacy for Oromia, is called the Oromo Peace
Education Project. “The workshops help us not only to recognise, but also
to build our inner strength and hope,” said Dabessa Gemelal, the Peace
Education coordinator at Advocacy for Oromia.

The Peace Education Program is a series of 10 sessions that guide an
individual toward discovering inner resources integral in developing healthy
life skills. Each session focuses on one of ten topics: Peace, Appreciation,
Inner Strength, Self-Awareness, Clarity, Understanding, Dignity, Choice,
Hope, and Contentment.

A graduation ceremony for our first Oromo Peace Ambassadors was held at
Ross House on August 3, 2019; 8 Oromo Peace Ambassadors graduated.
“The impact of this program is very positive, it has helped us to cultivate
inner strength,” Dabessa said. “I myself have grown from it, and I have
seen the positive effect it has had on the participants.” The Oromo Peace
Ambassadors were handed their graduation certificates by Gerry O’Connor
and Beatrice & Jeremy Collier from the Peace Education Team, Melbourne,
who facilitated the workshops.

The Oromo Peace Education Program helped participants feel empowered
to face past events, gain a willingness to change, better manage their day
to day life and spread a culture of peace and love.

By attending the peace education, the participants gained a deeper
understanding of different cultures and an enhanced capability in analysing
and solving conflicts by peaceful means. They also learned the importance
of mutual respect and co-operation and were taught about human rights,
causes of conflict and peaceful solutions.

Advocacy for Oromia work with Australian-Oromos to change lives for the
better and we couldn’t run these significant events without the support of
Ross House. We are proud of our achievements so far, however there is so
much more exploring and discovering left for us to do in the future.

Our thanks to the many, many people who have contributed to this peace
education project along the way. We appreciate the constant support of
Ross House and we proudly call the space, the Oromo House, where we
feel at home – for this we wish to thank Ross House and its staff for always
being so helpful and friendly.