Amahoro Amani – messengers of peace

The project Amahoro Amani can be found in three African countries and its goal is to make young people involved in the peace movement as messengers of peace. This is done by creating local peace clubs that are led by a Scout or Guide. The project is a collaboration between Kvinna till Kvinna (Woman to woman) and scouts and guides in Sweden, with support from the Post Code Lottery.

Charnella Huguette Girumubanyi from Burundi is chief for a peace group that was started as a part of Amahoro Amani. Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the three countries where you can find the project. Its objective is to make young people messengers of peace. The work is carried out in small peace clubs. All the leaders of the clubs are educated to lead a group of young people and it is a requirement that they are either a scout or a guide.

Now the movement is at the World Scout Jamboree and they are represented at the Global Development Village. “What we do in the club varies depending on the chief. Usually my club meets once a week and we talk about peace or do an activity together”, Charnella says.

There are no requirements you have to fulfill to become a messenger of peace. You should however, once you become a messenger, spread the message of peace.

“We encourage people to try to change the world. For example, during our meetings we have planted trees. They cut down a lot of trees during war and then they never replant them”, she continues. A crucial part in the peace movement is teaching people about the environments importance.

Amahoro means peace in Kirundih and Kinyarwanda. The word for peace in Kiswalili is Amani. These languages are spoken in the three countries where the project is conducted and Amahoro Amani has therefore been chosen as the name for this peace promoting project. If you want to, you can read more about how the project has been before and how it’s going right now (text in swedish).

Text by: Irene Andersson
Photo: Audun Ingebrigtsen, Christoffer Munkestam/Scouterna