Preparing for the ex-child soldiers to arrive involves more than just building the centre – it involves building a community. We are working to develop a dynamic structure of equals because the strength of the relationships is as important as the solidity of the walls.
We must become a community with a commitment to personal change. We will create regular time and space for open communication that encourages equality and fairness in all our operations. After all, the truest image of ourselves is not that reflected in a mirror, but that reflected in those with whom we live. We must therefore grow as a community of equals where no-one is silenced by the strong, or bribed by the flatterer, or coerced into compromise by the forceful, but where every voice is heard and every opinion honoured.
The greatest barrier to change is fear. To face these fears is to find the path to true transformation. Our whole aim as a community is to form an environment where people are enabled to face their fears. This is why change is so important. It is when we are faced with an area that requires change that we are most powerfully confronted with our fears.