Sara Velaga

We sifted through our feelings, traumas, memories… How is it possible for schoolmates, neighbours, friends, even brothers, to become mortal enemies overnight. I got part of the answer at the training organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action in Ulcinj.

If CNA ever invites you to attend their training, RUN to fill out the application form and hope you’ll be selected, because there’s strong competition. All you need to bring along is an open mind and a desire to socialise, and you won’t regret it.

I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to push their own and then our collective social boundaries.

It’s hard to describe the experience of the training, so I would recommend seeing it for yourself.

Meeting different people, learning about their experiences and ways of thinking can go a long way to help mutual understanding.

I made friends, but real friends. People I still meet up with and sometimes we go on trips together. But also, I saw first-hand that I have a lot in common with people who seem nothing like me. That pain isn’t just mine, that others also share it. It might sound...

During the training, I also realised I shouldn’t feel lonely because I have a lot of friends who think this way.

I’ll never forget the enthusiasm of the trainers in transferring their knowledge, experiences and exercises. It wasn’t new for me, it just made me remember that all people carry within them different stories, different burdens and different baggage, and that we can learn something from everyone…

For years, this training has been true to the essence of peace education – providing support in creating a safe group atmosphere where many will engage for the first time in their lives in an empathy-based learning experience about the war and post-war past. I have nothing but words of praise for the inclusive segment of the training, both in terms of selecting participants of different profiles and in terms of enabling the participants to follow the entirety of the training in all the regional languages.

If you want to experience catharsis, sign up for the training. Don’t take it lightly, it’s a serious endeavour. It’ll turn your experiences, beliefs and emotions upside down. Even five days after the training, I’m still trying to put together everything I experienced during those 10 days. Without wanting to sound pretentious, I will say that the training made me a better person. So go ahead, sign up!

…not to mention how memorable it is to share your stories with the rest of the group and often find understanding despite the fact that we come from different backgrounds.

I would say my experience can be summed up as follows: being myself, peace and listening. Participating in this training allowed me to be myself for the first time, to talk and express my opinions the way I feel them, without fearing they would be judged. This brought on a sense of peace that […]

I’ve been to many trainings, but none are like CNA.

This training had just one downside. It set the bar unrealistically high for all others!

A cathartic experience

Even ten years later, the training leaves a strong impression of awakened awareness and understanding of others.

I recommend the training to everyone, and I guarantee you won’t be the same again.

There will definitely be an exchange of opinions, every participant will be afforded respect, there will be mutual listening, as well as mutual criticism and self-criticism. This means opening up topics that are painful and that we often “sweep under the rug”, but that prevent us from embarking on a constructive process of dealing with the past and building our societies on the values of peace.

I’ll remember this training as some of the happiest days in my life, because I felt complete, purified, aware and in touch with my emotions throughout the 10 days. I never had an extended family, but during the time we spent together, I found out that a family can be completely different people.

This training helped me learn and understand more about myself and the people around me.

If I had to sum up the training in one word, it would be courage.

…what had the biggest impact on me were the personal stories of all the people at the training. They enriched this entire training and gave everything an emotional dimension that is sorely needed in working on reconciliation and dealing with the past.

Now I’m strong. Now I know how.

I’d like to point out that one of the things I said during the training was “I’d like us to be able to travel without fear, for me to come from Banja Luka to Bugojno and have coffee with Naima, and for her to do the same and come visit me.” Thanks to this training, my wish came true.

This training is unique. There is nothing like it in our region that works towards peacebuilding with a similar approach. I participated in various seminars and study visits organised internationally, nationally and locally, but this training successfully brought together the issues facing our countries, the tools for dealing with them and the people for whom they matter!

When participants from previous trainings told me about how it had changed their lives, even though I believed them, I could not fathom how a ten-day training could really do that.

Above all, I think a form has been found for learning about nonviolence that makes a strong and lasting impression on the participants.

If you want to express your views openly and receive founded and constructive criticism, as well as give it out without fear of being judged, then this training with professionals in peace education is the right choice for you and you won’t be wasting your time.