MRI's Steven Botkin Co-Leads International Gender-Sensitive Active Non-Violence Training in Manila Photo: View of Manila from retreat center.

Arrival in the Philippines

Hartford to Washington DC; DC to San Francisco; San Francisco to Manila (refueling in Guam). A total of 30 hours of transit and 12 hours of time difference highlights the fact that I really am on the other side of the world from the East Coast of the United States.

I landed in Manila at 5 am on Inauguration Day for the new President of the Philippines, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (son of Senator and martyr Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino.) It is a national holiday and the streets of Manila were uncharacteristically empty of traffic as I traveled to the retreat center on a beautiful hilltop outside of the city.

It is here that the 19 men from 17 countries in Central America, Africa, Asia and Europe will gather again for the second Gender-Sensitive Active Non-Violence Training: Exploring Masculinities, Violence and Peacebuilding. Designed and organized by the Women's Peacemakers Program (WPP) of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, in December I co-facilitated the first training for this group in the Netherlands (see their collective statement: "Together for Transformation". In the intervening six months, the men used the strategies and skills from the first training in their home contexts to develop ally relationships with women and conduct trainings in their communities. Trainings on gender-sensitive active non-violence were conducted for youth leaders in Kenya, Nicaragua and the Philippines, peace activists in Ghana and Liberia, religious leaders in Fiji, journalist in Nepal, and traditional leaders in Pakistan, among other. The Congo Men's Resource Centre was formed (with technical assistance from the Rwanda Men's Resource Centre), as was the Centre on Research and Training on field of Gender and Development in Burundi.

I have arrived two days before the second training will begin to make final preparations, recover from jet lag and adjust to the new time zone. The large building, filled with dormitory style rooms and meeting spaces, is surrounded by lush forest and bamboo groves with hidden paths and patios (perfect for tai chi). All of my visits to Africa have helped me acclimate to the tropical weather and modest facilities (no hot water).

Tonight, the director of a national Filipino non-violence organization, AKKAPKA (which stands for "the radical response to violence: the power of truth, the power of love, the power of justice") will take Isabelle and José from WPP and me out to participate in some of the inauguration day parties.

Tomorrow, my co-facilitator, Patricia Ackerman, will arrive from the U.S. (after bad weather delayed her travel by 24 hours), and training participants will begin to arrive. The reunions will be poignant and there will be many stories to share. I am honoured to play a role in building this global network of community activists, organizers and trainers for violence prevention, gender equality and positive masculinity.

- Steven Botkin