Michelle Cromwell, founder of Multicultural Village Inc. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Braced back in a chair with legs folded and a warm smile, Dr Michelle Cromwell is the photogenic face of an ever-expanding movement for peace. Now her sights are on 'setting up shop' in Jamaica to clone her own ambassadors of non-violence.

Cromwell, a politics and sociology professor and founder of Multicultural Village Inc, a United States-based organisation which hosts retreats with youths aimed at teaching peace-building and conflict-resolution skills, said her mission in Jamaica is inspired by spiralling violence, to which hundreds of children have fallen victim in recent years.

It's been a roundabout journey for the academic - born in Trinidad and now living in the US - who said she wants to make a difference to a country which is close to her heart.

"I love Jamaica because like many other countries it has violence problems but this country is very progressive," she explained. "It is not all about talk and nothing. There is work that needs to be done and Jamaica is ready to do the work.

"I am encouraged by this because I am not all about doing this training for training's sake, but I want to know that if I do this here, it can have some significant benefits."

The Multicultural Village curriculum will be piloted in the central Jamaica parish of Manchester from August 2-15 with a focus on dealing with the elderly.

"We want to teach the youths empathy in order to bridge the gap between the two generations so that people will understand that these people who they place in nursing homes are human beings as well," noted Cromwell.

The target audience are youth aged 12-21 because this is the period when young people develop their identity as social beings, said Cromwell.

The camp has adopted a three-pronged approach to allow participants to discover that their strengths and abilities go beyond national, cultural or global patterns.

"The village is a dynamic learning environment that can be created in multiple settings. The aim is to change these persons.

"The first part of the programme is a workshop which is interactive, so youngsters are taught how to communicate and be a peace builder," she added.

Other sections of the model include joint community action, where participants learn to be interdependent, and a programme on sustainable dialogue.

Pals' newest pals

Cromwell said she has made a request to partner with Peace and Love in Society (PALS) to have persons from that group to be among the five village elders for the season.

"We want to work in concert with what is being done here already, so we want to find out who is doing what here and try to work in concert to enhance what is already being done," she stated.

Tuition fees of US$175 (J$15,487) - coupled with aid from charities - fund the peace camps. Cromwell said in addition to charitable contributions from a church and colleges in the United States, she is hoping that Jamaican groups will come on board. She said Multicultural Village Inc will be awarding scholarships to four persons in Jamaica, which will be determined on a needs basis.

Impacted dozens of lives

The group, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, has positively impacted the lives of dozens of participants from different backgrounds since its formation in 2007.

"The participants were asked to make a commitment that they were yearning for a change in their attitudes. I kept in touch with them to monitor their progress," Cromwell told The Gleaner. "We have a Facebook account that all the participants share with us and we do follow-up visits to the areas."

Like Trinidad and Massa-chusetts, where she has hosted camps, Cromwell said she is predicting similar results in Jamaica.

"While culture is something that persons have to think about, it narrows down to the human condition which we all experience, so regardless of the person's background, we know how to deal with them and they are going to learn," she declared.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com

The Multicultural Village can be contacted by email at info@multiculturalvillage.org, or log on to www.multiculturalvillage.org, or call 617-731-7670.