'In the face of a deeply divided country, this news brings us hope'
Melisa Castellanos is a PhD student in psychology in Concordia's Interpersonal Relationships and Development Laboratory.
Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 7. The recognition comes at the perfect time: five days after 50.2 per cent of voters rejected a peace agreement with FARC, the oldest and biggest guerrilla group in the world.
Today, as a graduate student at Concordia, I can think over what this means for me, for my country and for my academic career.
I grew up in an urban context, distant from the day-to-day armed conflict. However, as is true for all Colombians, I grew up knowing that my country was one of the most violent places in the world. That motivated me to conduct research oriented toward informing peace education.
When applying to the PhD in Psychology Program at Concordia, I included in my statement of purpose an explanation about how this would be “a secure step toward contributing to knowledge about the healthy development of children in order to meliorate the reality of Colombia and other countries.”
I had the fortune to be accepted into the Interpersonal Relationships and Development Laboratory directed by William Bukowski, who has a deep knowledge of Colombian culture and has conducted research there over the last decade.
This allowed me to maintain contact with my country, as did the Concordia Graduate Student Mobility Award that I got in 2015. That award allowed me to conduct a summer practice in Colombia, and to contribute to the production of a national report on students’ results on citizenship abilities and a document on peace education directed to parents.
I have to confess that despite all my purpose as a researcher in training, I was skeptical about seeing the end of the war in Colombia before I died.
My hopelessness diminished when it was announced that the government and FARC would sign an agreement of peace, but increased again when I saw that not only had Colombians chosen to decline the referendum but also that 63 per cent of Colombians did not take part in the democratic process.
On Friday morning, thanks to an email from Dr. Bukowski, I found out that Santos was awarded the Nobel Prize, and optimism came back to me. As a supporter of the current agreement, I think that this prize represents pressure on the actors to find a prompt solution.
The government, the opposition and FARC leaders will have to find a way to renegotiate the aspects that still need to be revised. The prize committee in Oslo was clear that this recognition is a tool to support Santos and his team in their intention to end a war that has been going on for 50 years.
I have to say that on the negative side, Colombians have a culture “of the moment.” We glorify and celebrate while we forget the actual challenges we have to face.
The main challenge is to change the minds of thousands of my compatriots who did not treat the peace discussion as a serious topic. I do not mean the people who voted either yes or no in the referendum — I am referring to those who did not participate.
But in the face of a deeply divided country, this news brings us hope again.
Find out more about Concordia's Department of Psychology.
