Nanik is a passionate educator and peace worker.
My name is Nanik, born in Central Java – Indonesia. I am the seventh of eight children. My parents are fishpond farmers, who worked hard to raise their children. My parents often tell me about their struggles when we gather together. What they always emphasized was to help each other among the family. When we were still in school, after the older siblings worked, they helped us younger siblings with our studies.
My parents also paid attention to their extended family and the surrounding community, especially marginalized neighbors. This pattern of concern of my parents was seen by us children and has become the basis of our behavior to this day. We all get along well and care for each other.
I am very grateful to have begun to learn the tools of Creating Cultures of Peace in 2008 and to have been able to experience it in my life. It took struggle and perseverance to put them into practice. I began to recognize that when stress occurs, these tools are able to soften the heart, lower the tension of violence and search out a non-violent way.
I have experienced big changes in my family such as how we interact, communicate, solve problems and share roles. I feel that we are maturing by supporting each other to practice peace in our personal and public lives.
Learning each skill built on the others and then documenting them in the curriculum further inspires me to continue deepening and developing peace education. I feel called to take part in the civic responsibility of peace education. In Joglo there are many families of children with special needs. I think they are the same as me. They take longer to understand some things, and I take longer to understand other things. Sometimes, it turns out my opinion was wrong!
I am very grateful for the professionals who patiently assisted me to learn and gave me the opportunity to practice and develop understanding.
By embracing children and their families and accepting them unconditionally, supporting their abilities and acting fairly, a peaceful life will be created. I believe peace is possible.
5 June 2025
Nanik commits to make peace with children through inclusion.