Nov. 25. 2024. The 3rd World March for Peace and Non-violence passed in Florence, Italy, in time with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The advocates of the 3rd World March for Peace and Non-violence in Florence, Italy who marched to make a call to end all wars and all forms of violence walked hand in hand with ONE BILLION RISING, placed special focus on the rights of all women to have a decent life free from any form of violence, be it physical, sexual, psychological. emotional or cultural.
Dom-an Macagne shared her story during this event, a story about her experience as a woman survivor of human rights violations who had firsthand experiences of abuse and how the World March helped her integrate, reconcile and transform these types of violence. Here is her story. May it inspire you to do your part in ending violence in the world around you.
“My name is Dom-an. I live in the mountainous homeland of my Indigenous Kankanaey ancestors in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines. I play the Sacred Breath Music with the bamboo nose flute I learned from my brother, who learned from our grandmother. It helps to empty my mind and calm my spirit amidst the noise and chaos in my life journey.
What is the World March for Peace and Non-violence for me? How did I get into the 1st and 3rd World March and how do I relate this to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women?
World Without Wars and Violence invited me to walk with a dream for humanity that resonated deeply within me. It was a relief to some of my questions, spoken and unspoken. I joined the 1st World March in the Philippines in 2009 hosted by the Ang Komunidad humanist community in Manila. They accepted me without judgment. Like many goodhearted people I met, they offered a home, food, quiet support… acts of compassion and kindness that kept my heart warm.
I was once an internal refugee who fled my home in a small city and immersed myself in the thick populations of the capital city in search of truth, peace and healing. My family life was overturned in November 28, two decades ago. Widowed at the age of 33, I was left with young daughters who had questions too many I could not answer… why would their gentle, loving father die of 22 gunshot wounds? Seeking answers placed my life at risk as I became a target of dangerous men. The father of my children was a passionate environmental and human rights defender, a social activist who denounced corruption and tyranny as he fought for social justice after his own father was assassinated by greedy politicians.
I resolved to live. I chose to evolve and transform the woundedness I felt into that which gives hope. I wanted to believe that someday our sorrows will turn into joy. Guided by my daughters, I learned to detach from the narrative of victimhood and refused to become collateral damage of war. I lived one day at a time. Feeling, sensing, and flowing with the uncertainties and insecurities in a dangerous situation. I was stigmatized and ridiculed, hounded and harassed. I became poorer than ever and lived on the generosity of kindred souls as I struggled to heal my shattered self. I played the flute… but even playing it as I searched for truth had its own perils. A roller coaster it was… I held on to hope and learned to let go of fear. I learned to be silent in order to be safe and sane. When I was more composed and felt safer, I tried to live an ordinary life. I took on various jobs. I studied and finally completed my masteral research on traditional knowledge and practices on mental health and well-being. I reconnected with my indigenous ancestral roots, with the land and people. I established new relations and occupied myself with advocacies aligned to peace and healing… of mind, body and spirit.
The 3rd World March came to the Philippines in October 2024. Indeed, it was a timely opportunity to connect local initiatives with the global movement of shared visions. After visiting Malolos Bulacan and Baguio City, it entered Sagada.
Sagada is one of the first towns recognized as a peace zone in 1989 when the people clamored for demilitarization by both state security forces as well as the armed revolutionary forces. This, after children were caught in crossfires right in the middle of the town and residents could no longer attend to their livelihoods. It was a community-led initiative, which was driven by the resolve to restore peace and harmony. The call was anchored in the Sagada indigenous peoples’ core value of ‘lawa and inayan’, the
indigenous local expression of ‘do no harm’ and a mandate to respect sacred life.
Today however, with the shift towards rapid urbanization and increased tourism, a more consumerist individualist culture is replacing what was once loved by local and international travelers in Sagada … the serenity the landscape offered coupled with the warmth and simplicity amongst the indigenous peoples as they dealt with the complexities of life.
In the last 15 years since I returned to Sagada, I have observed that violence took a new form. Attacks against children and girls increased. These were offensive violations that could not be settled by weakened traditional patriarchal ways of resolving conflicts while the criminal justice system remains wanting. Our community also had their share of young sons brought home from wars, valorized as heroes yet leaving children and women as orphans and widows while their mothers wailed. Meanwhile, our homes are not spared of bigger news of violence and wars projected on television and social
media. Co-vid 19 lockdowns forced us to follow a narrative of fear. I am a mother of young women. This is not the dream I have for my children and grandchildren.
Touching the hope that storms and conflicts bring into our lives, the 3rd World March has once again touched and ignited hearts across sectors, just as it did mine in the 1st World March… to connect with the vision for a world without wars and violence.
In the 3rd World March, we heard the young people remembering positive core values and practices that gave them an experience of peace, indigenous healers acknowledging historical ancestral trauma and the need for intergenerational healing in order to restore peace and harmony, organic farmers healing the land and offering alternatives to food production systems that have imbibed so much violence, teachers
and educators inculcating peace within the schools, soldiers who are oriented with protecting the people from acts of violence. In a collaborative mural, young people expressed how they perceived peace. It was interesting to note that they featured the heart repeatedly, surrounded with the full colors of the living earth. They also gave inspiration to elders and community leaders during the planting of trees for peace,
resilience and healing.
Here are some photos of the 3rd World March in Sagada…
The World March indeed amplifies the voices denouncing aggression and wars as well as the voices and actions that nurture a culture of peace and non-violence. It is also important to highlight the role of women in holding spaces and weaving connections to carry on with this beautiful initiative. As fellow women peacemakers say, ‘World peace will not be realized without the full, meaningful and safe participation of women.’
Our wounds may have been deeply embedded, our scars overlayed one after another, our hearts may not cease to break. Yet all the more, we become stronger… more radiant… more resilient…ever creative… as we continue to share light and love amidst turbulent and challenging times.
About the Writer/Speaker:
Dom-an Florence Macagne, is an indigenous woman, mother, organic farmer, flute player and writer. She co-founded Kasiyana Peace and Healing Initiatives that focuses on community-based work promoting regenerative food and farming, cultural arts, youth and women empowerment for peacebuilding and climate action. A video of her testimony was shown during the passage of the 3rd World March in Florence in time for the International Day of Violence Against Women, November 25.
About the 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence:
The World March for Peace and Nonviolence is an initiative of World Without Wars, an international organization which has worked for peace and nonviolence since 1995 and was created by the Humanist Movement. The 3rd MM began in San José, Costa Rica on 2th October 2024, International Day of
Nonviolence, fifteen years after the 1st MM. It will tour the 5 continents, ending in San José, Costa Rica on January 5, 2025.
https://en.theworldmarch.org/
About One Billion Rising:
The 2024 One Billion Rising campaign encourages communities to use art and activism to demand an end to violence against women, girls, gender expansive people, and the planet. The campaign’s goals include:
> Shining a light on the injustice and impunity that survivors face
> Creating a new consciousness where violence is unthinkable
> Expressing joy and community through dance
(Source: Internet AI Overview)
https://www.onebillionrising.org/