East London teenagers tell how they are tackling gang culture and violence in their borough
For 17-year-old Sohail Karim, from East London, gang culture used to be a part of his life. ‘I grew up on a council estate in an area where there was a lot of violence between gangs of white and Asian youths,’ he told a Greencoat Forum in the London centre of Initiatives of Change, on 13 October, 2009. ‘I started to become involved in gangs and I wasn’t the best student at school either.’
But then Sohail completed a Truce 2020 peace-building course in the borough of Newham. ‘I went back to my old school to share what I had learned and show my old teachers that I had changed and was doing something positive.’
Andres Ilves, Chair of Peace Direct, introduced four young members of the Newham-based conflict resolution charity, Truce 2020, at the Greencoat Forum. They were Fiaza Muhammad, aged 20, Jasmine Simeron, 18, Sohail Karim, 17, and Isha Khan, 20. Speaking on ‘Conflict.Resolution’, they each told what they had learned as part of the Truce 2020 project and of the importance of taking their peace building skills back into the community.
Sohail said he had the chance to put his conflict resolution skills into practice when a confrontation between white and Asian gangs threatened to spill into violence. ‘One of the gang member’s younger brothers was getting bullied, so I arranged a meeting with the two gang leaders and the three of us managed to reach an agreement. I helped them to see the situation from a bigger perspective.’
Introducing them, Ilves spoke about Peace Direct’s role in supporting and funding local peace building initiatives as opposed to imposing a solution from the outside.
Truce 2020 organises 10-week training courses in leadership, mediation and conflict resolution for young people aged between 16 and 21 in Newham. The course, which is accredited by the Open College Network, includes the chance for them to go on a fully funded residential workshop outside London, to get to know each other and explore issues in more depth.
At the end of the course international peace builders from as far afield as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka and Kashmir come to speak to the group about their activities. After the course has finished, Truce 2020 graduates are given the opportunity to further their interests and connect with other affiliated organisations.
Fiaza said that the mediation techniques that she has learnt on the course have helped her improve her relationship with her mother. ‘Before the course, if my mum had tried to tell me something I didn’t want to hear I would either shout at her or storm off. Now I listen to her, give her a chance to say what’s on her mind and then calmly tell her what I’m thinking.’
The four, who are all members of the steering committee which governs the way the project is run, give their own workshops and taster sessions in schools in the local area. Jasmine said: ‘Giving your own sessions is a great chance to give something back and show what you’ve learnt. It’s also really satisfying when you can see that you’re getting through to people.’
Tribute was paid to Truce 2020’s project manager Klaudia Brezna, who also took part in the Greencoat Forum. She makes sure the 2020 courses run smoothly and organises taster sessions in schools. Members of the audience from other London boroughs urged the young people of Truce 2020 to share their experiences in their boroughs too.
Cheryl Gallagher
English