Peace Camp Preparation

Peace makers, activists, carers of the planet...take note: before you take on
another action, or plan your next nonviolent protest, why not consider
setting some time and space aside for yourself? When is the last time you and
your wise woman strength had some quality time together? Has your inner child
been getting the nurturing he really deserves? In all the hustle and bustle
of our revolutionary struggle we can easily overlook the importance of taking
good care of ourselves, and one another... yet would be amazed at how
empowering a little bit of preparation can be.

I'd like to share my experience of participating in a three day workshop,
held by women of the Australian Nonviolence Network (ANN), in the beautiful
setting of Commonground. The focus of the workshop was to help prepare us, in
ways both practical and personal, for the National Women's Peace Camp in
Benalla over Easter weekend.

It was certainly taking part in this event prior to the camp that facilitated
my great enjoyment and sense of satisfaction from the overall experience of
the peace camp itself. This was to be my first 'action' as in, organized,
group-oriented type of nonviolent event. I've been active in various ways for
some time, having involvement in community radio, women's centres, and
volunteer work; but had never joined others in being part of a political
action at a specific time and place. Some fears arose in me: would I feel
connected with the other women? Would I fit in? Would I feel clear as to my
reasons for being there? In short, would going to a women's peace camp really
be all I know in my heart it should be? Having been disillusioned by the lack
of organization at previous group events over the years, I tend to be
somewhat cynical. I suppose I've come to recognize that I have needs that
must be addressed and met before I'm willing to put my full energy into
anything I'm involved in. When you consider the complexities of an event such
as this - three hundred women, from all over Australia, all ages, different
backgrounds; all with different concerns and levels of involvement in the
common struggle for peace - it's easy identify, from a practical, personal,
and political viewpoint, what some of those needs might be.

So, what happened at the workshop? To begin, it was attended by eight women,
ranging in ages from 19-50, from Western Australia to Alice Springs to
Currency Creek, SA. It was facilitated by two women of the ANN.

Day one was a sort of "orientation", we met and chatted, and got an idea of
the agenda for the next three days together. We set aims for the workshop and
made agreements according to our needs during the time we'd be there; finding
ways to accommodate the amount of information to be covered, whilst allowing
for personal space, and ensuring each would be given the chance to voice her
thoughts and feelings.

I was pleased that we were a relatively small group, and felt confident that
we'd actually accomplish what we set out to do. Although we were aware that
Benalla was chosen as the camp site because of the recent Australian Defence
Industries (ADI) munitions factory being built there, most of us were unclear
of the links between ADI and the Australian Government and how they are
connected to the war on Bougainville. We were lucky to have among us one
member from the group Australian Humanitarian Aid for Bougainville (AHAB),
which meant we were able to learn about the history of Bougainville to the
present, including the blockade around it, which is preventing medicine,
books, food, and basic necessities reaching the innocent victims of violence
and warfare. She shared her information, read some frightful accounts and
stories of life on Bougainville, which touched our hearts and left us with a
clearer sense of the importance of protesting against ADI.

Three of the women in the group were on the camp organizing collective. This
proved useful when one of the exercises we did was to break into small groups
of three and discuss what we knew and what questions we had about the camp
regarding the structure, the set up, facilities, and plans for the weekend.
On rejoining the big group we pooled our knowledge, thus meeting any
logistical queries and feeling safe to move on to exploring some of the
potentially more challenging aspects of the camp.

Day two included focussing on fears and developing listening skills. In
pairs, we vocalised any concerns and practised reflecting back what we had
heard each other say. This not only gave us an opportunity to get in touch
with some of our own insecurities, but to discover that we were not alone in
many of our fears. Again, this process was shared in the larger group. We did
a few role plays of situations that we anticipated might come up at and
around the camp, and sought ways to best deal with them. From this day came
the idea of experimenting with a 'listening post' in Benalla, as one of the
common fears was around issues of how the local citizens would react to us
camping in their town and protesting against one of their local industries.
The emphasis of this listening post would be to allow the locals to express
some of their fears, in an effort to prevent the peace camp being seen as the
threat to the community.

On day three we sought to prepare ourselves emotionally and practically for
the action that included an arrestable component. We shared our individual
thoughts and feelings around being arrested, and established who was
considering it. We agreed that those of us who were not going to participate
in that part of the action, which was to climb a fence at ADI as a symbolic
act of breaking the blockade on Bougainville, would play vital support roles
for those risking arrest. This meant arranging beforehand things like care of
personal belongings, transport, coming to the police station with a change of
clothes, and other necessities in the practical realm. It also meant
encouragement through singing and cheering, and maintaining morale and
emotional support. 

We'd been in touch with the ANN women's group who had organized the action at
ADI, and we'd agreed to support them by playing a role in the theatrics of
their action - this included performing a song and making a banner
representing massive environmental devastation. We rehearsed the entire
action once; then again with two police officers, who were to be at the
action, as our audience. This gave us an opportunity not only to familiarise
ourselves with what would occur, but the police as well, thus dispelling any
uncertainty on behalf of us all. By attempting to build this relationship
with the officers, a certain air of trust was created. It meant that we were
confident and organized in what we were about to embark upon. We were going
to act in a responsible and nonviolent fashion, and we deserved the right to
be treated with the same degree of respect.

By the end of the three days, our group had established a definite closeness
and sense of support. We'd had fun sharing stories, singing, laughing, and
eating together. We agreed that we'd stay as a group at the camp, and have
mealtimes set aside as our time together, where we'd 'check- in' to see how
things were going for one another. Many of us had commitments to other
friends or groups at the camp, and we all had different activities that we
were interested in, but it was comforting to have the safety of our group to
come 'home' to. Knowing this helped prevent any feelings of disconnectedness
or isolation, or at least gave a space for such feelings to be effectively
dealt with.

The women's peace camp at Benalla was a very meaningful experience for me.
The effort I put into preparing myself emotionally and practically before
hand helped me to make connections with lots of great women, learn issues,
and deepen my understanding of the ties between the personal and political in
my life.
Marina Brown