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“Prayer is our only answer.” Salvador and Samuel are crystal clear about it. Their faith is their defense against the violent threats they are suffering from in El Garzal, Colombia. It’s a kind of answer to the cruelties of the ongoing civil war in Colombia that shows a brave and hopeful way of living in peace.

The 19th of November is observed around the globe as United Nations World Toilet Day. The theme for this year’s World Toilet Day is highlighting the link between sanitation and nutrition. “Drawing the world’s attention to the importance of toilets in supporting better nutrition and improved health. Lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation, along with the absence of good hygiene practices, are among the underlying causes of poor nutrition,” the United Nations' official event site reads.

The World Council of Churches very much desires the God of peace and justice to be present in the lives of all peoples and all nations. Despite realities which suggest that equanimity in human relations is at best difficult if not impossible we have boldly started a pilgrimage of justice and peace; across the world.

The aim of the WCC is to encourage spaces for encounter between the churches in order to give the witness of service to the world in unity with the Spirit of God. During this pilgrimage it has been stimulating to learn of the recognition accorded in Argentina and Chile to the churches and to the organizations that defend human rights.

This week marks the 124th anniversary of the slave uprising in Haiti, which played an important role in the abolition of chattel slavery. Sunday, August 23rd is the UNESCO International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. It is a day where the world is asked to pause and consider the legacy of slavery and the power of social movements like abolitionism.

Going on pilgrimage can be both strenuous and inspiring. Every step of the way, kilometre after kilometre, has to be your own. No-one else can walk it for you, nor relieve of your blisters or aching muscles. As an old Scottish music-hall song puts it, “Keep right on to the end of the road, keep right on to the end….” But it can also be inspiring because you are not the only pilgrim, and even if just now you happen to be walking by yourself you can recall that others have walked the way before you. I feel the same about being a pilgrim for justice and peace.

The word pilgrimage is a linguistic double-edged sword. On the one hand, it connotes a kind of movement towards a higher, even spiritual or religious, end that one has in mind. When thought of in this positive sense, I think of the pilgrimages of the desert fathers who migrated into the sun and sand longing to be alone with God and who were eager to shed off the weight of this world so that they could experience His world more intimately. However, in our post-colonial context, the word pilgrimage equally stirs up mixed emotions, most of which might be negative, particularly amongst Indigenous peoples across the globe.

Spending a month in Cambodia did reveal to me its treasures. The beautiful smiles and resilience of the people of Cambodia makes one forget about its gory past. Isn’t it true that most places inhabited by millions today have a gory past? That should not define who we really are.

One generally thinks of a pilgrimage as a journey undertaken voluntarily, in an attitude of reflection, peace and serenity, and with its objective or purpose being internal and spiritual. But on World Refugee Day (20 June), we may consider that the unprecedented numbers of refugees around the world are also embarked on their own pilgrimage of justice and peace. Though forcibly and unwillingly displaced by war, violence, oppression and deprivation, refugees are journeying away from insecurity towards safety, recognition of their plight, and ultimately the restoration of peace and the realization of justice.