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Peace Begins from home - Hospitality Organizations

Welcoming a stranger within your home is definitely an act of peace.

The Peace Movement wears many faces and manifests in a myriad of forms. Many of us have demonstrated repeatedly, written letters to and lobbied government representatives, signed petitions, participated in boycotts and responsible purchasing, flown peace flags and displayed peace symbols, together with other measures of nonviolent resistance. Artists and musicians have come up with and shared their work for peace. Too many people were arrested, become victims of violence, or simply given their lives toward this goal. Whilst still being there exists a world with wars and related atrocities in many regions, subversive measures and terrorist acts. There may be more cause of a pacifist movement than in the past.

In direct a reaction to World War II, an institution called Servas was formed in 1949 on pacifist principles, their motto "With Every True Friendship, We Build the idea for global Peace." The premise was simple: if you fully familiarize the "other", the dichotomy of "us - them" starts to digest therefore we still can't distance ourselves from and villainize strangers or members of other cultures, countries, religions; war is far not as likely while we are personally accustomed to our supposed or potential enemy. That is built on sound psychological principles, plus the program remains in existence today. It is often identified by the United Nations as a possible accredited NGO with a peace-keeping mission and features been involved in numerous international projects. At its core, however, it is really an hospitality organization having a system of members opening their houses to many other members who will be traveling, housing and feeding them for you to 48 hours, guests sharing in the daily activities of the host in order to improve see the culture of the location.

Other hospitality groups have arisen together with the advent of online, first "Hospitality Club" followed by "CouchSurfing" and already an array of others. The premise of each online hospitality group ranges from free (systematically reciprocal) accommodation to international friendships, English language practice, electronic 'penpals', local travelers' clubs, along with some, pacifist principles along side lines of Servas.

The setting in social activism of those in online groups is less prevalent or apparent compared to those in Servas. Nevertheless, the psychological and philosophical premises are universal. Whether other hospitality groups got down to achieve this purpose is of little consequence for the reason that principle remains true nevertheless. Thus, this concept of housing and feeding strangers, an age-old concept built in the hospitality codes of many a culture across the world now revisited in new form, is a grassroots pacifist movement at a global scale.

World peace can still be throughout our reach...one couch at any given time.

Reference support ngo.