Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre

Originally posted to the old P & J website by Motunrayo Kinrin and Bob Warren

The 21st century has come to witness a wide range of interesting occurrences which are not only worthy of note but serve as yard sticks to measure future successes. The Global Xchange (GX) program is one of them. The program which is organised by Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), the British Council and Community Services Volunteers (CSV) is aimed at community development using young people within the ages of 18 – 25. The eighteen young people that make up the GX team are from Nigeria and the UK thus aside from developing the community, a base for cultural learning, religious tolerance and better international relationships are promoted.

For the Xchange the Scottish capital Edinburgh was twinned with Calabar in south-east Nigeria to be the host communities where the volunteers live and work for a period of six months (three months in each community).

As several ideas come into play fundamental projects are brilliantly executed. Work placements (of which the P&J is one) are carefully selected mirroring the individual interests of the volunteers in order to better develop their skills and help them to enjoy what they do. Amongst the projects which the volunteers undertook in Nigeria were the visiting of an orphanage, helping psychiatric patients with music therapy, embarking on an educational rally, monitoring the voter registration and performing a drama to fund raise for an impoverished special needs school.

Education, an indispensable tool in the 21st century comes into play as volunteers run weekly workshops and presentations around an issue of their choice affecting the host community. This further enhances the level of confidence in volunteers and broadens their insights in several fields.

As volunteers in the Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre we are able to understand issues that not only affect Edinburgh but the UK and the world at large. The centre has served as an educative forum where materials for presentations, debates, thesis and seminar could be used. In a lot of ways we feel that the aim of the Global Xchange programme has a verisimilitude with the Peace & Justice Centre. As little as one volunteer is able to do, it goes a long way in preparing peoples minds for responsibilities that permeate our world. Thus as young activists we triumphantly join the Anti Trident campaign irrespective of our background, religion or culture. Because we understand the greatest need of the human race we say NO! to Trident, and all we want is PEACE!