The Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Post-Graduate Association (PGA) recently held a Peace Workshop at the Hotel School, Ritson Campus.

This workshop was a consultative session facilitated by the Director of the DUT International Centre for Non-Violence (ICON) Crispin Hemson. It was aimed at understanding people’s experience of violence, how to challenge the effect of violence on campus/at home or during the period when they conduct their studies and how to overcome the damaging effect of violence as well as how to recognise resilience and capacity enabling peace. This workshop forms part of various annual workshops that the DUT PGA will be hosting.

Postgraduate student, Thula Cele said, “Children’s greatest exposure to violence comes from some of the television programmes, they start to believe what they see on television is good and practise it, so I think peace should be taught the same way as violence because as you could see some of these programmes that are shown on television do perpetrate violence and if they also see programmes that teaches them peace they will grow up with skills of solving conflicts, anger management etc.”

In his address, Hemson highlighted that intrusive thoughts, physical complaints, avoidance of emotions and social withdrawal which is the state of complete or near complete lack of contact between an individual and their society, are symptoms that prevent the individual from functioning optimally and exposes individuals to being more vulnerable to developing other psychological disorders.

“Victims of violence need to acknowledge that they have a problem and look out for these symptoms so that they can get professional help. We should never underestimate our own capacity to bring about change and we need to recognise that we are in a context of extremely high level of violence by international standards,” he stressed.

Pictured: PGA members with the attendees of the Peace Workshop.

Nomkhuleko Thutshini