The following story by Ms. Asiimwe Jackline for Global Peace Foundation Uganda highlights the heartwarming lessons on peace she learned from her mother. Do you have a story about how Peace Begins in the Home? Contact us today and tell your story.

When I was little, my mum took time to give me the best care she could, protecting me against animals, while teaching me how to live with them. I was frequently in the company of so many birds that used to come to feed on whatever would be left of my mother’s harvest in the compound. After eating, they would sing beautifully as a symbolic expression of gratitude to my mum for having left something for their survival.

I asked my mum, “Why do these birds sing after eating our food? Where do they stay?” I learned that some lived with us in our kitchen house (which was thatched with grass). Two birds lived inside our grass thatched house. One evening, I followed these two birds as they went to sleep. I found out when they laid their eggs in their nest inside our kitchen house. I took the eggs to show them to my mum, boasting how I got these beautiful eggs from the birds’ nest. She demanded to know where I had got them from, to which I explained that I had found them in a birds’ nest inside our kitchen house. She advised me never to get close to the bird nests since some may become dangerous once tempered, but harmless once left free in their environment. From that time, I learned from my mother that other animals (apart from humans) have a higher potential of being unfriendly.

Girl sits next to her mother at the 2018 Global Peace Leadership Conference held in Uganda

This revelation strengthened my exclusive closeness to humans, knowing that they are the only friends of rescue. I developed confidence in humans; not only towards my relatives, but also to people from other distant places.

Nevertheless, we can all agree that we are living in reversed times. It is reasonable now to fear fellow humans than other animals; to be careful with the so-called sister or brother, at anytime and anywhere because she or he is potentially my closest enemy. This leaves me pondering whether my mother was right to be more fearful of wild animals than a man? Or whether wild animals are more rational than a man?

Uganda today has been paralyzed by shock-waves of evil, experiencing the tragedy of human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping, which have not stopped the tears of mothers from flowing. Such incidents frustrate and creates mental trauma to mothers, who spend most of their lifetime nurturing, caring and shaping their children to peacefully coexist with others for the development of the nation. Mothers play their part in nurturing peaceful hearts, but their noble cause is being defeated by the irrationality of humanity’s self-destructive behavior. This undermines the goodwill of mothers to continue working for and educating peace.

But I still see hope.

The Global Peace Women’s motto of “Peace begins in the Home” is a women-led initiative with the aim to offer hope to families from different parts of the country and around the world. Acknowledging women’s unique quality of compassion, nurturing and empathy builds the character and culture of a family and community. There is a call to all of us (women) to put our mind and heart together to strengthen a culture that supports healthy, happy families and thus striving to building peace at the heart of every society.

Asiimwe Jackline writing for GPF Uganda

Everyone in the community of Uganda is a target. This is why we all must play a part to eradicate the incidents we find in this country today. To address the uncultured traits of murders, human trafficking, kidnaps, environmental destruction and corruption, among others, women must step up to create awareness. To move towards forming a peaceful, healthy and happy Ugandan society; empowering women to take the lead in building a society that values peace and justice, and promoting co-existence in all political, social, religious, economic and environmental issues.

My mum’s indispensable role in strengthening her family, instilling discipline and uplifting the value of her family and children to generate positive social transformation through her constant communication, monitoring, supervision and daily service, should be the attitudes that must create change in our works. Ugandans, this collective responsibility cannot be done by a mother’s responsibility alone. Together, we can become peacebuilders starting from our families and communities to live in a better world.

Would you love to see these changes in our community? Improving skills on how to strengthen and stabilize peace and prosperity in the family; Uplifting the value of the women in the family, community and nation; Increasing the number of women championing in initiatives for the development of peaceful families and communities; Increasing knowledge and skills on how to sustain and propagate healthy, peaceful and prosperous family institutions amidst local, regional and international challenges. I invite you to be part of this new model for building sustainable peace; “Peace Begins in the Homes” to create “One Family Under God,” starting with Women-Led Initiatives for peace and development.

Let’s work together to transform the nation.