Written by Matt Guynn, Church and Community Group Director of Organizing

On three Saturdays in late June and early July, On Earth Peace sponsored a Spanish-language Kingian Nonviolence training via Zoom for the Bolivian organizing group Standing Rivers/Ríos De Pie. Standing Rivers works for a free, fair & safe Bolivia, protecting forests and promoting human rights, indigenous rights, and sustainable environmental policies. Their goal is a reconciled, democratic society in Bolivia. 

Standing Rivers/Ríos de Pie operates in all nine departments (states) of Bolivia, and the training included people from across the country. The members of Standing Rivers/Ríos de Pie look to Kingian Nonviolence to provide a grounding in agape love and reconciliation for the next stage of their organizing work. 

Jhanisse Vaca Daza, a leader with Standing Rivers, shares: “Experience both with nonviolent protests and humanitarian campaigns have shown us how human rights, indigenous rights, and environmental rights are deeply interwoven in Bolivia. We believe that to create a truly sustainable movement we have to anchor our nonviolence practices in theories that help us face injustice and trauma caused by violence in our country from a perspective of love, understanding, creative force, and reconciliation. Kingian nonviolence will provide us with just that."

On Earth Peace was excited to work with Ruth and Eva Henry as the main facilitators for the training. Ruth is an artist and middle school teacher in Watertown, MA, who previously lived in Colombia, where she trained hip hop artists in five cities in Kingian Nonviolence. OEP’s Matt Guynn also participated in a support role. 

Successful fundraising for this project has gotten us within $1600 of the total goal of $7100, which would cover costs and build a path toward future accompaniment with Ríos de Pie. Please make a donation to close the $1600 gap and support this work in Bolivia by visiting www.OnEarthPeace.org/donate. Be sure to send an email to [email protected] letting us know that your donation is designated for this project, so we track it correctly!