This week, I have something a little bit different for you - a radical linguistic technique which is building peace, personal and political, all over the world - and the inspiring woman taking it to Colombia’s most conflict-stricken contexts.
So here is an hour with Camila Reyes Azcuénaga – the founder of Resuena, the organisation bringing the school of thought known as ‘Nonviolent Communication’ (NVC) to Colombia.
Developed in the late 20th Century by psychologist Marshall Rosenberg, NVC now has trainers and centres in more than 60 countries around the world. It’s a way of structuring thoughts and communication to prevent and heal conflict, breaching the divides of culture, politics, and identity.
In the first part of the podcast, Camila gives us a masterclass in these techniques and their underlying ideas, talking us through the four steps – observation, feeling, need, and request – along with some everyday examples. She then tells us about her amazing work in some of Colombia’s most difficult contexts, and why this work is so necessary not just for the country – but for all of us.
Camila studied law and political science and worked with indigenous communities and landmines here in Colombia, but felt the country needed a more fundamental change than she could achieve with that work. She left Colombia in search of something which would shift the paradigm of violence and conflict entirely.
“In Colombia, we need something more basic than laws and politics: we need to learn how we can treat ourselves - and one another - like humans,” Camila told me.
After stumbling across Nonviolent Communication training during Occupy Wall Street on a trip to New York, she felt she had finally found what she was looking for. She spent years training, and finally returned to Colombia - founding Resuena in 2011, running free workshops for years.
“I knew that if I wanted this to exist in Colombia, I needed to create the space for it myself, with my own life - saying, ‘this is important, I'm here,’” she said.
Resuena has now trained thousands of people, working with institutions like the United Nations, the Truth Commission, and the Search Unit for Missing Persons, as well as with grassroots social leaders in conflict-stricken areas of Colombia’s South-west.
“We need to learn to stop confusing observation and interpretation. In a country like Colombia, many people have been killed over interpretations. When we live in a society that is collectively traumatised, the meanings we create are the ones that are more painful - those meanings have kept us separated.”
The organisation helps people to navigate interpersonal conflicts, as well as to maintain cohesion within social movements and community groups.
This interview is also available on the Colombia Calling podcast - the Spotify version embedded here has ads plus this week’s headlines - also available on Apple and wherever else you get your podcasts!
Through guided discussions, participants are trained to identify the patterns of behaviour that divide them and weaken their collective campaigns and processes, and then to replace them with a focus on common ground.
“That's what I'm trying to do here in Colombia - to show people that there's a way to stay together even if we think differently, even if we have different identities.”
This year, Resuena also launched the ‘Sowers of Nonviolent Communication’ network: trainees can now go into their own communities and pass on the training, multiplying the effect of each workshop.
“Peace doesn't just depend on the FARC or the ELN or paramilitary groups or the government. Each of us has a role to play, because each of us is responsible for our relationships. The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our relationships.
The disconnection in homes is disconnected with the disconnection in the workplace… All this disconnection is connected. You can take responsibility for the piece of peace that depends on you,” Camila said.
“I did the NVC school a year ago, and since then my life has changed completely. Now I understand other leaders - I understand the state.
The other day I did a training for the special consultation where an ethnic authority had a disagreement with a public official. By this point, we had already had about two years of total disagreements where nothing could advance.
After the workshop, the ethnic authority and the public official managed to reach an agreement - now we are understanding one other better. and treating one other better.
After they received the talk, both parties sat down, they reached an agreement, they saw each other's needs. It's not that you are indigenous, or you are Afro, and I am the authority: No. They saw one another as human beings - we ended a conflict and we can do the same with many other conflicts.”
Keyla Blandón, ethnic authority in the special consultation mechanism for the north, northeast and lower Cauca, coordinator of the Tarazá Victims’ Organisation, and President of a community council in the village of La Caucana.
Find out more about Resuena via their website and Facebook & Instagram pages -
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