The workshop, organised by the Australian Red Cross with funding from the Tasmanian Community Fund, was led by a member of the local Nepali speaking Bhutanese community.
Participants at the Launceston event were taught about the skills required to 'de-escalate and deal with interpersonal conflicts.'
For many members of the Bhutanese community, though, it's also about learning to share and discuss their problems openly, because of the language barrier many are unable to do so says Pabitra Subba, who, together with her family came to Australia in 2012 after spending more than a decade at a refugee camp in Nepal.
Now working as a nurse, 23-three-year-old Subba led the three-day workshop under the supervision of a Red Cross Volunteer.
Listen to our conversation with Pabitra Subba in Nepali
Tasmania's Nepalis learning about peaceful ways to resolve interpersonal conflict
What is Peaceful Pathways?
According to the Australian Red Cross, the Peaceful Pathways initiative trains "peace leaders from communities of refugee and non-refugee background", who in turn offer the same opportunities to other members of their communities in Tasmania.
The workshop uses the 'Alternatives to Violence Project' (AVP) , developed in 1975 at the request of inmates at Greenhaven Prison in the United States city of New York.
The Red Cross says the non-denominational process now operates in around 60 countries across the globe, in a variety of settings such as prisons, schools and the general community.
After learning about the Alternatives to Violence Project in 2019 through a fellow community member, Pabitra Subba felt it was important to introduce the concept within her local Bhutanese community.
Participants and facilitators seated in a circle during the Alternatives to Violence workshop at Northern suburb community centre in Rocherlea, Tasmania. Source: Supplied
This led to Australia's first-ever Nepali language AVP workshop, concluding in the first week of August.
“These workshops are very engaging, experiential and different from other workshops. It is an open platform where everyone gets to express their opinions and share their problems," she told SBS Nepali.
Why the Bhutanese community?
Like every other refugee community residing in Australia, the Bhutanese people also have their own share of hardships when it comes to settling in a foreign land.
The small Himalayan nation of Bhutan has often described as a "the last Shangri-La", having been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries. The first foreign tourists were only allowed in from 1974.
This picture taken on August 10, 2018 shows a general view of the Beldangi refugee camp in Damak, some 300 km south-east of Kathmandu. Source: Getty
The then Bhutanese government’s policy of ‘One Nation, One People’ meant Nepali speakers were forced to give up their language and culture or face punishment. Many Nepalis, despite being born in Bhutan were denied citizenship.
Ms Subba and her family were among those. They moved to Australia in 2012, after spending almost two decades in refugee camps in Nepal.
"Adjusting in society as an outsider comes with the trauma of separation from native land and family, financial hardships, and many problems which take a negative toll mentally," she adds.
"Moreover, the inability to communicate about these obstacles due to language barriers pushes them further form the support they can otherwise receive from the community and related organisations."
Peaceful Pathways and Afghan and Syrian communities
Xavier Lane-Mullins is the Project Lead of the Peaceful Pathways Project with the Australian Red Cross in Tasmania and has been involved in supporting people from migrant and refugee backgrounds for the last seven years.
"Every refugee community has its own history and reason for moving to Australia, most of which engrave an excruciating mark on their minds and lives," he told SBS Nepali.
Prior to the Nepali speaking Bhutanese community in Tasmania, Mr Lane-Mullins has also worked with the local Afghan and Syrian community members.
"For the Syrian and Iraqi people who arrived in Hobart, life had changed very quickly from privileged comfort to losing their loved ones and possessions in the war," he says.
"For the Afghan community in Launceston, the deep wounds left by generations of persecution by the Taliban has prevented them from placing their trust on anyone around them. Hiding their real identity and whereabouts became an inbuilt safety mechanism as an aftereffect of trauma."
Peaceful Pathways workshop in Tasmania Source: Australian Red Cross
The Bhutanese community also underwent years of oppression and were recipients of support, rather than being able to meet their needs independently.
The effects of trauma had really stopped them from seeing what was going on, and what to pay attention to.
Organisers of the Alternatives to Violence workshop say all training sessions are conducted with an understanding that it can be hard for people to feel safe in a group, share their problems and trust everyone immediately.
This is why, they say, the facilitators work within certain guidelines called building blocks, ensuring that participants can establish a safe ambience first.
"We do a lot of things before we start looking at what conflict is because we want people to feel safe to be able to share with any group. So as a team we are always watching that group and we are very reactive to what we see.
Participants and facilitators engaging in pair activities during the Alternatives to Violence workshop from July 31st to Aug 2nd at Rocherlea, Tasmania. Source: Supplied
Conflict resolution can be related to global, communal, or even personal issues. It can range from wars and persecution of populations, to personal instances of experiencing racism.
Activities like role plays, group sharing, and individual sharing are carried out to help people open up about their ongoing issues. No one is forced to recall a traumatic experience, but rather just share what they are willing to.
"The whole process is aimed at allowing participants to be experiential rather than directing them what they should feel."
"You learn by doing, you don’t learn by someone telling you what to do. All the activities give people a sense of change. No one tells them what it is, they just feel it. And they can reflect on it if they want, as a group – the facilitators help do that.
“I am very happy to be able to conduct the workshop in Nepali," says Ms Subba.
"I feel content that we were able to get the outcome we wanted, by teaching people the things we wanted to teach.”
We have just started, but we can already see that the participants from our first workshop are less hesitant and more confident in expressing themselves.
"It will definitely help people on personal and social levels – especially women, who silently bear injustice due to the patriarchal nature of our culture.”
With high hopes and confidence, Ms Subba encourages her community members to join the AVP workshops and see for themselves how they can help.
The Peaceful Pathway’s AVP workshops are free of cost and Australian Red Cross says it is open to people looking for volunteering opportunities.
