Cultivating Connections: The Transformative Work of Fundación CEPPA Across Nations

Cultivating Connections: The Transformative Work of Fundación CEPPA Across Nations

Kalani Rodriguez Jimenez[1]

krodriguez23@wisc.edu

Abstract

The Center for Peace Studies (CEPPA) Foundation established their presence and incredible contributions to a peaceful, cooperative society since their early years as a foundation. After being founded in 1990, their mission quickly turned international, as they continued their nonviolence teachings and training in various countries. Using specialized programs like Creative Response to Conflict (RCC) and the Alternative Program to Violence (PAV), these initiatives focused on fostering self reflection and internal peace to catalyze broader social change. Their university workshops, visits to correctional facilities, and transformative training educate and enrich individuals to build their leadership potential while learning peaceful interactions. Within Costa Rica and across countries, their effort contributes to nonviolent conflict resolutions as well as growing civic engagement.

Cultivating Connections: The Transformative Work of Fundación CEPPA Across Nations

The CEPPA Foundation's legacy kicked off quickly in 1992, just two short years after being founded. Celina Garcia, the founder of CEPPA, visited Egypt to give a workshop – unfortunately, records are limited, so topics discussed remain unknown.

September of 1993 brought about new programs to share and transformations to follow. The Creative Response to Conflict Program (Programa Respuesta Creativa al Conflicto, RCC) – led by Inés, Virginia, Blanca, and Dyalá in the Colegio Parroquial San Antonio in Ciudad Darío, Nicaragua – held a unique and ambitious goal of eradicating violence while cultivating a culture of peace. This workshop in Nicaragua primarily focused on instilling confidence in oneself and finding internal peace to understand and find conflictless solutions.

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú continued the work of RCC in January of 1994 under the guidance of Priscilla Prutzman and Celina Garcia. Here, students focused on positivity and learned tools which lead to nonviolent action through cooperative techniques and activities. 

Celina Garcia continued international teachings of RCC as well as PAV – the Alternative Program to Violence – in El Salvador in 1994. This workshop, which lasted about 5 days, was meant to train educators specialized in psychology at the Ministry of Education.

While in El Salvador, students focused on building their self image and instilling peace in themselves. Throughout their promotion of values such as cooperation, responsibility, and conflict resolution, they were able to utilize and create new tools which encourage reflection and enable collective action.

Emphasis and exploration of understanding oneself continued into 1995, when in August the Foundation conducted an 8 day workshop with the Colegio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in Jalisco, Mexico. More specifically, the students of the school discussed how to maintain their calm and trust. The main point of growth here was seen when conversing about conflict within the home. It was taught that to build a nonviolent and understanding society, it is crucial to first reflect on oneself.

Shortly later in August of 1995, more training ensued in Perú by Karen Vargas and Celina Garcia. These trainings took place at the Centro Cultural de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú – focused on PAV and RCC programs and activities.

The approaches discussed in these workshops are used to reduce tensions in the classroom as well as beyond, as they are carried home with the trainees and their future students.

In February of 1996, Celina Garcia and Aurora Vargas brought RCC to El Salvador to create a culture of peace with FUNPRES – the Pro Education Foundation (Fundación Pro Educación). While here, the Foundation engaged in training with the non-profit organization and also taught them PAV ideology and techniques.

Later in July of 1996, FUNPRES was once again visited for another RCC workshop. Anna Vindas and Celina Garcia also discussed alternative responses to violence and recommended improvements to evaluate the project ongoing in El Salvador. While here, the impacts of this project were also highlighted by the FUNPRES team.

In 1997, Celina Garcia visited Tunisia for another workshop through Fundación CEPPA. This workshop lasted from October to December and focused on non-profit organizations and social movements for new visions in international studies.

1999 followed with similar circumstances as Egypt's workshop. Celina Garcia visited the Netherlands to give a workshop on peace and education.

The year 2011 began with a visit to the Pestalozzi Foundation in Switzerland, where details were coordinated for conducting training sessions over the next five years.

In 2015, Celina Garcia, Felix Salas, and Rolando Mena visited El Salvador for another workshop. This one took place in El Tribunal de Ética Gubernamental de El Salvador.

2017 was an incredibly important year for the Center for Peace Studies Foundation (Fundación Centro de Estudios Para la Paz, CEPPA), as their emphasis on nonviolent action and social educational initiatives led them to various locations across the world. During visits to different countries, the Foundation was able to train and inspire other peace studies workers as well as uplift and enable students to explore and practice communication skills within an intercultural environment.

In September in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Celina Garcia and Aileen Vargas were invited by the Swiss foundation – Fondation Pestalozzi– to give some of their coordinators training which would teach them to become facilitators interacting with the same non-violence peace alternatives and processes.

Through the aided training and participation in workshops, individuals were able to break down cultural barriers to connect across cultures. Self care and meditation processes were also used as a technique for conflict resolution, which proved useful in itself for self understanding and therefore understanding of others.

The following month in October of 2017, the Foundation traveled to the Alliant University in Fresno, California, USA. Here, the Foundation was able to visit with both local and international students to share their processes and perspectives which encourage alternatives to violence. The workshop in Fresno, led by Celina Garcia, highlighted the need to construct knowledge and understanding using the participatory and experiential methodology (PEM).

This approach merges real world, hands-on learning with collaborative co-creation and cooperation. Within this, acknowledging how to understand and recognize the differences between intercultural education and internalization was also discussed. Using PEM, education and learning shifts from passive information gathering to active engagement, where critical thinking and community driven problem solving is emphasized.

August of 2018 followed with continued growth and introspective thinking. Through active listening activities and cooperative participation – led by Celina Garcia, Aileen Vargas, and Stephanie Bienkiewicz – students in Skyline College, CA, USA were able to explore and practice basic communication skills while interacting with an intercultural environment. Collaborative conversations and dialogues enveloped their abilities to build foundations for active listening, all while enabling them to see conflict as an opportunity rather than as a setback.

Though this workshop focused on priorly learned concepts such as active listening and collaboration, it also discussed salient topics such as gender and conflict management – specifically to do with violence and dating. Through group discussions and activities, students learned to prioritize themselves while practicing de-escalation and conflict resolution techniques.

Overall, through the numerous international workshops given by Fundación CEPPA and over 30 years of global service, facilitators and students were able to grow collaboratively and find new pathways to communicate with intent. By utilizing non conflict resolution and the Participatory and Experiential Methodology (PEM), these initiatives move education beyond passive learning and into active engagement. These decades of work illustrate that peace is not an abstract goal, but rather a lived experience which can be found in moments of self reflection and by listening to one another. The power of listening and being heard ultimately enable and empower students to lead collaborative conversations aimed to increase intercultural awareness and globalization education. By shifting our perspective to see conflict as an opportunity for growth, we can unlock the potential for genuine intercultural connection across cultures and nations.

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[1] Kalani Rodriguez Jimenez, Bachelor of Arts: Legal Studies, Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies and Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison.