In Eldoret town in Kenya, two tribes had been in conflict for over 40 years. This was primarily due to competition for scarce pasturelands and water sources, which were essential to the food security of both communities. Things were getting increasingly worse due to an increased availability of illegal weapons and the pervasiveness of revenge as a justification for violence. 

World Vision offered a bottoms-up approach to peacebuilding called Deep Democracy, setting these two opposing tribes on a journey to discover new ways of fostering peace. The first step towards peace involved dialogue sessions with representatives across different age groups, genders and community roles. 

Over the course of discussion, both tribes agreed that creating a common market and increasing business ties between the two tribes were the best ways to build trust and improve channels of communication.

To reach this consensus, one tool used was the Soft Shoe Shuffle. Participants had equal opportunity to share their thoughts, while others could indicate whether they agreed by moving closer or further from the speaker. Among the two tribes, the voices of men and the elderly are heard and respected over the voices of women and the young. So this process helps to reduce rank differences among participants and empower women and youth to have their voices heard.

Whenever disagreements arose, those who voted against decisions were asked what they needed done, in order for them to come along with the majority decision. Asking the minority to share their views is the "deep" in Deep Democracy. Silenced minorities don't easily give up strongly held convictions, and this can contribute to tensions that build up over years and erupt in violence. In the end, the tribes discovered that the views of the minority were able to further improve the plans of the majority. One such view was to have gender balance in the local committee overseeing the joint market.

The market has since been launched and is thriving, and there is more peace in the area. Though violence still breaks out from time to time, the scale of it is nowhere near the severity of the past, and locals are also equipped with the skills and tools for Deep Democracy, which is contributing to sustainable peace.

Cambodia's Pol Pot genocide left deep scars among the people. “I was so afraid of them,” says Ming Chan, now a World Vision staff worker. “Many of my friends were killed. My father died of disease. My older four siblings were killed and three of my siblings-in-law. Four of my nieces and nephews were killed. At the end, there were only three of us left, plus my mother.”

Against this historic backdrop of violence, Chan knew that lasting change had to start with kids. In 2006, World Vision helped develop a curriculum called Peace Road that was rolled out in primary and secondary schools. It included Chan’s idea to form children’s clubs. At first, the community resisted because the clubs went against tradition.

“Children did not think about the future,” says Chan. “They had no goals. Even their parents did not think about their children’s futures.”

Through meetings with the parents, Chan was able to convince the community of the benefits of the clubs. By 2012, the results were astonishing: 600 children were trained on how to create a civil society — discovering their rights, learning to create lasting change, understanding that issues such as domestic violence cannot be tolerated, and helping to bring peace to their families. "There is now unity and a love for society,” says Chan.