Some 28 young men and women from several troubled communities across the Corporate Area celebrated the end of the first phase of special mediation training with a spirited graduation ceremony held yesterday at the Peace Centre in Kingston.
The programme which is a project of the Peace management Initiative (PMI), the CHASE Fund and the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF), saw the graduates completing 40 hours of rigorous mediation training over six days. They feel they are now better equipped to deal with disputes in their communities.
"It wasn't difficult because the trainers knew what they were about and they guided us through the process," said Lesline Salmon, 22, of Mountain View.
"It (the training) was decent. It open your eyes to a heap of things. You train and you become a mediator," said another graduate Mikahail Grant, 18.
PROUD
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, who was guest speaker at the function, told the graduates that he was very proud of their progress and urged them to go back into their communities and spread the word.
"As a member of the PMI, I am particularly proud to be here," said Dr. Robertson. "A great responsibility rests upon you as you go back into your communities." He further explained to the graduates that Jamaica needed to get to the point where violence is not the accepted norm for settling disputes.
The 28 students are the first batch of more than 130 persons from communities where the PMI has made interventions to settle violent disputes. The DRF is responsible for the training. The $2.3 million for the training came from the CHASE Fund.
Some of the communities involved in the project are Kintyre, Denham Town, Central Kingston and Woodford Park.
