My journey of peace started because I am a hybrid. My father is Catholic. My mother is Muslim. Their unique union was something they had to fight for in my country, the Philippines, where tension continues to persist between the Christian majority and the Muslim minority.
The first years of my life were spent in Zamboanga, a Philippines region known for conflict and terrorist attacks. But I grew up seeing that it is possible to have coexistence with two religions inside my home. We could bring that peace outside and promote respect and understanding to other people. At 14 years old, I co-founded the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (KRIS Library) with my parents. We established six peace libraries in communities affected by conflict. Initially, we were looked at suspiciously, and Muslim children and Christian children were hesitant to talk to each other. But as time passed, young people from different faiths and backgrounds were able to read, learn, and study together, creating friendships that form the backbone of peace. What our libraries represented became more and more accepted.
One of our findings was that a lot of young people join terrorist organizations and violent extremist groups because they have no other choice. They don’t have access to education or employment, and their main hurdle is poverty. I was able to get a quality education at a prestigious high school because I received a scholarship, but many other kids are not able to go to school like me. My desire to share similar opportunities with as many young people as possible encouraged me to launch a scholarship program when I became the overall head of KRIS Library at 16 years old. To date, scholarship recipients have gone on to become teachers, nurses, officials in local government councils, leaders in youth organizations, and advocates for peace in their own communities.
This journey toward peace has been extremely difficult and the fight is far from over. I have formed Extremely Together with nine other young leaders to develop ideas to prevent violent extremism. If many of today’s powerful heads of states and institutions are themselves utilizing terror and fear to sow conflict, then young people must move in the opposite direction. The onus is on us to wage peace more strongly and loudly than those who wage war. I dream of more young people becoming advocates and leaders of peace.
———–
Get a copy of WE HAVE A DREAM 201 Dreams 201 Countries