What we do
We exist to promote the culture of conflict competence and positive life skills among the peers in Africa in the 21st century
Training
Train peer to peer mediation in schools, colleges, and corporate world
Clubs
Roll out and supevise peer to peer mediation clubs in schools and colleges
Sensitization
Promote peer to peer mediation sensitization nationally
Mobilization
Mobilize and promote peace building culture among the youths
Mentorship
Mentor youths to become conflict competent
Competitions
Promote peer to peer competitions nationally and internationally
Model of mediation club operations in High Schools
Interested students will form a mediation club under the leadership of the Peer Mediation club Patron who must be a teacher. A good size of the group is 10 -16 students consisting of different levels of the class.
The aim is to train the practical steps of a mediation process, to learn about conflicts (definition, development, escalation model, conflict styles), the attitude of a mediator and the limits of mediation (mediation is not advised in a case of (cyber) bullying, criminal acts, and mayhem because of an imbalance in power).
After the training, the commitment of the students/teachers should be appreciated by issuing a certificate. Alternatively, teachers can attend a mediation training offered by higher education institutions, e.g. Mediation Training Institute of East Africa (MTI) in order to certify the learners willing to major on the mediation activities. By participating in the training the concept and didactic methods will be passed on to the teachers who from that point on can train the next generation of students.
The first step is the qualification of the mediation club members (teachers and students will be trained together), often carried out by an external expert. Sometimes the selection of students who will be trained as peer mediators is sensitive, not all volunteers are equally suitable.
Here the teachers might decide to give someone a chance because they see a potential for personal growth or decide differently, depending primarily on the circumstances in a particular case.
It is important to discuss the practical arrangements before or during the training period to avoid a long break between the training and the first application. Students are usually eager to start right away. The members of the mediation club will meet with the teacher mediators on a regular basis, possibly once a week or every second week for an hour – depending on the conditions in school. During the meetings mediation cases can be reviewed: what went well, did any difficulties occur, what can be improved? If the student’s don´t have any or many cases yet they might want to discuss how to change the situation.
Concept of implementing peer mediation
Peer mediation is based on the assumption and experience that older students can assist younger students to solve their problems in a facilitated process, the mediation 8th or 9th graders participate in a training which enables them to conduct mediation on their own. The training comprises of 20 hours in which the learners are expected to cover the following topics:
- Definition of conflicts
- Conflict escalation model
- Conflict behavior patterns
- Personal conflict style
- Five phases of mediation
- The mindset of a mediator
- Role play
The training will focus a lot on the mindset of a mediator since the rule in mediation requires that the mediator is supposed to be a neutral third party. In the event that one of the parties is found to be a friend to the mediator then another neutral mediator should step in to replace the former.
