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Josua's Journey for peace
"I was curious to know about this programme, and luckily was assigned by my organisation to take part in this movement. I doubted myself if I could walk such a long journey. But my enthusiasm, curiosity defeated my doubt.
So I decided I had to take part."
Josua arrives at Bhopal International airport.
Josua Situmorang is one of nine young leaders chosen from the ILC network to march for a better future with the ILC-Jai Jagat 2020 fellowship programme.
The march took them on a 100km journey through the congested roads of Central India to the paddy fields of rural communities, while learning the principles of the non-violence movement.
Their mission? Learn the principles well enough to go home and apply them in their own communities, while connecting to each other through a global peer network.
Part 1: Josua arrives in India
Josua jumps on a rickshaw to meet the other fellows
...”it will be an incredible experience in my life”
The workshop begins
Part 2: the workshop
Josua meets the fellow youth activists for the first time.
You too can meet all of them here.
Coming from all corners of the globe, the nine young activists share a common goal and will spend weeks together learning the principles of the
non-violence movement.
“We will bring something meaningful back to our communities”
Rajagopal P.V., founder of Ekta Parishad, led the march and the fellows in their non-violent movement teachings.
The march begins
PART 3: One in the same
As the journey beings, Josua discovers that India's struggles for land rights is similar to that of Indonesia.
"1% of Indonesian people own or control more than 50% of our land"
Young women from a local college show support for the marchers
part 4: building a movement
Josua asks Rajogopal what it takes to build ownership of a non-violent movement.
Rajogopal sits down with the fellows to discuss how to build a social movement
"A non-violent society, according to me, is a society where people are non-violent between their relations, between people, but also non-violent with nature."
As the march carries on, Rajagopal offers words of advice to the fellows, building on his decades of experience mobilising social movements across India and empowering young people - our future leaders - towards peace and justice.
Marchers arrive at a medical college to give a presentation to the students
part 5: the long walk
Josua reflects on the people he meets and places he sees along the way, with land rights struggles always at the forefront.
"We stopped and had many discussions about land issues. How the people in the area do not have land (rights), about their problems and challenges we share."
After over 70km of walking, continuing the conversation around land issues
Part 6: The Final Chapter
What's next for Josua and the other fellows?
"My mission is to make the non-violence community popular among young people in Jakarta"
More insights from the fellows in their blog entries
Jai Jagat 2020: a global peace campaign
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