THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
But, from her lounge room, her office desk, from her restaurant table – seriously, what can she DO? How can a woman in a safe and happy small town end the global, cultural acceptance of war? What can any of us do?
So, Justine got me thinking. That thinking led me to the internet. And, the internet led me to all kinds of stories about what Justine could do (the fight against the global sale and transfer of weapons, the arms trade that fuels wars; speaking out about the horror and reality of rape as a weapon of war).
Then my research led me to Leymah Gbowee. I’d never heard of Leymah Gbowee, the co-ordinator of the Women’s Peace Building Network of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Leymah and the women of Liberia brought peace to their country. They met in the fish markets every day dressed in white, their hair tied, with a big banner saying ‘the women of Liberia want peace now’. They sustained their protest for two and a half years. Thousands of women took part. Women turned up enmasse to the peace talks between Liberia’s leader Charles Taylor and the rebel leaders. The women linked arm to arm around the building and would not let the delegates out until a peace plan had been signed. As Leymah says, in a documentary called Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which details their struggle: “These women had seen the worst but, they still had the vibrance for life”. These women went into the countryside and dragged combatants out of the bush, made them cut their hair, and return to their communities.
From Where I Stand
So maybe it’s my turn to stop Justine in the corridor at work because I am in wonder of the Liberian story. Justine is in despair at the story of the refugee family whose child died of hunger as they fled a war they didn’t want. To be honest though, I don’t know if this helps either of us with the question of what we can DO. I suppose, knowing we have to do something could be a start. The conversation in the corridor at work could be a start.
About Christina Armstrong
Christina completed a Masters in Creative Writing in 2004 at the University of Wollongong and from this her first novel, Blue, was shortlisted for the 2005 Australian Vogel Literary Award. Her second novel is currently in development having been awarded a mentorship through the Australian Society of Authors. Christina is based in regional NSW and when not writing poetry and fiction she can be found walking through the wilderness for inspiration.
September 11 2012
Guest blogger: Christina Armstrong
The conversations at work are fun if a little mundane – the mess at home, the kids, the endless rain, the chicken testicle soup someone had on a visit to China. But, the other week Justine stopped me in the corridor for something different. She didn’t know what to do but, she wanted to DO something.
She had seen on television a refugee family in Africa, one child dying of starvation, one already dead somewhere on the journey to the camp. It was series two of the radical Australian reality TV show, Go Back To Where You Came From. The refugees were fleeing war. There were families, women and children – those unseen, unheard victims of war. Justine has two children of her own, she works part-time, her husband works full-time, there’s a mortgage, the car’s 15 years old and she has a weakness for good restaurants and well-cooked pork-belly but doesn’t get out that often because they struggle each week for left-over cash. Even so, she ended up saying how comfortable and well-off her lifestyle is compared to the refugee family, how much stuff she has: her lounge chair, her television, her remote control, her house. There is no war where Justine lives. War is not fumbling it’s hands through her pockets, up her skirt, down her blouse and grabbing what it can.
"She didn't know what to do but, she wanted to DO something"