Unity amid diversity

I held back my tears. The story reminded me of my late father who was also a soldier, and my uncle who was killed in a battlefield just before dawn fighting for peace in Mindanao.

I heard a deep sigh from one of my students in Araling Panlipunan 8 one rainy Monday morning when I asked the class to close their eyes for just a couple of seconds and try to feel the inner peace.

I admit, motivating students to be engaging and participative during class discussion is quite challenging  but I felt that everybody was cooperative that morning.

“With eyes closed, try to imagine yourselves living in a world where chaos, conflict between men is constant and that achieving peace is elusive,” I continued.

I decided not to show to them any video or picture because I wanted them to play with their imagination for some time and asked them thought-provoking questions instead.

Deafening silence enveloped the room as the students closed their eyes and wandered through their imaginations.

The moment filled me with an eerie sense of melancholy that I couldn’t explain; I felt something strange within me, something unfathomable, profound and beyond comprehension. I found myself sifting my thoughts.

Moments like these are good for the soul, I thought: To be reflective, soulful.  My heart was really in awe upon seeing the students so engrossed, so engaged, I could tell.

“Imagine what the world looks like. What do you see? What do you feel? How far have you gone with your imagination?” I asked them. They never answered. And so I asked them to open their eyes so they could voice out their thoughts and reflections.

Silence seemed eternal. I paused for a moment. Nobody spoke.

I finally broke the silence by asking if anybody from class could paint a picture in the air as to how it is like to live in a chaotic world where every day you walk in fear and death is one’s shadow.

I know they couldn’t describe vividly the scenes that flashed in their imagination because they never experienced living in the kind of world that I had asked them to imagine but I was certain they somehow felt how it was like.

Still, there was an infinite silence.

Finally, one student raised his hand so I gave him the moment to speak. I sensed he was somewhat hesitant but I encouraged him to speak his thoughts.

He said he could not imagine what life would be like in such a world, and expressed fears that he could survive. He thought it was a depressing picture and couldn’t quite understand in the truest sense why there are some people in the world who are willing to bargain peace for war even if innocent lives are put in total jeopardy, and everyone’s liberty prejudiced.

In my mind, his was an excellent point but what moved me most was his final statement when he said “We may have different beliefs, religion, different skin colors but we all belong to one human race and may the universe hear my cry for world peace.”

His final word was too ponderous that it left the whole class in contemplation. It kept ringing in my ear and I was particularly moved by his resonant call for peace.

It was exactly the message that I had wanted to hear but I never expected he could articulate it that way, so beautifully convincing.  

That very moment, the concept of a Parade of Nations as their culminating activity for Araling Panlipunan was conceived. It was an activity that aimed to show unity amidst diversity.

On the day of the event, spectators packed the court and gave loud cheers and blaring yells. Applause reverberated around the court when more than 200 Grade 8 students garbed with exquisite and colorful national costumes of the country represented paraded on stage. It was a lovely sight to behold.

They projected themselves as men and women who hailed from different lands with distinct cultural backgrounds bearing a common goal in mind: to spread the message of peace that transcends cultural boundaries.

We need to come together so we can live united. This message was underscored during the show when everyone was reminded of the earthquake that hit Haiti; and when super typhoon Yolanda devastated not just the Philippines but also parts of Southeast Asia, and how many nations responded with extraordinary generosity. It was a reminder of how catastrophe can at times bring out the genuine beauty of the human spirit.

The event also paid homage to Philippine heritage as cultural dances and songs were showcased in an opening salvo that made it a sure spectacle.

It was made especially meaningful when a story was told of a young terrorist who walked among dead bodies of soldiers after a siege, with the hope of salvaging whatever was useful. He eventually found an unmailed letter in the pocket of a soldier, which deeply touched his heart and opened his eyes to re-examine his ideologies until he found himself slowly walking towards the army detachment in Mindanao at the break of dawn the next day.

I held back my tears. The story reminded me of my late father who was also a soldier, and my uncle who was killed in a battlefield just before dawn fighting for peace in Mindanao. It was doubly touching to see my students being driven by one common goal, i.e., to foster international friendship and call for understanding to maintain amity of nations with the hope of transcending a message of world peace.

At that moment, while watching them from afar, a realization dawned on me that the most important lesson a teacher could ever impart to his students cannot be found in books shelved in the library but in his heart. This is what I particularly love about this profession that I have embraced without hesitation.

With eyes closed but heart awakened, I tried to find and feel the peace deep within me as I  painted a picture in my mind of a world where everyone hears war no more, where love reigns supreme, and peace is lasting.

I was totally oblivious to the crowd around me that I didn’t even hear the blare of the finale music. The silence would be interrupted by the sound of confetti tubes popped in the air.

I loved the vision that unfolded before me as I opened my eyes. My students, all garbed in national costume and beaming with smiles, made their final bow.

I couldn’t help taking a deep sigh. The future belongs to them.

Ruben D. Escudero Jr. is a public secondary school teacher at Sulangon National High School in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte.