🌿 “The Peace I Carry Within”
By Georgina Lowole – Malawi
Peace, to me, is more than silence after chaos. It is the quiet strength that lives inside me — the calm I hold onto even when life feels heavy.
Every day when I wake up before sunrise, I listen to the birds outside my window and whisper a small prayer: “Thank you, Lord, for another peaceful morning.” I prepare my child for school, and her laughter fills our home in Lilongwe. That laughter is my peace — simple, pure, and alive.
Emotionally, peace means forgiving myself and others, even when it hurts. It means choosing to stay calm when situations test me. Practically, peace means keeping my family safe, showing love instead of anger, and teaching my child that respect and kindness are stronger than violence.
But outside my home, peace often feels like a candle fighting against the wind.
In my community, I see many challenges that steal our peace. Just last week at the market, two women fought over a small space to sell their tomatoes. Their anger was not really about that spot — it was about the hunger, the stress, and the struggle of daily survival. Around them, people shouted, trying to separate the two. I stood there thinking, this is what poverty does — it pushes people to the edge. When you are fighting to feed your children, peace feels far away.
I work with women, youth, and girls to empower them through civic education, safe motherhood, and human rights. But every day I see how unemployment, early marriages, and gender-based violence continue to wound our communities. Sometimes, it feels like we are patching a torn cloth — but I believe every small effort we make still matters.
My turning point came years ago when violence broke out near where I was staying. A certain family was forced to leave their home at night. I remember seeing them running with the children, holding only a small bag. The fear in their eyes broke something inside me. That night, I realized peace is not just about no fighting — it’s about safety, belonging, and dignity.
Since then, I promised myself that peace must begin with me. I started speaking up, using my voice to teach young girls and women that we have power — power to change how we treat each other, how we speak, and how we solve problems. I learned that peace grows when women rise, when families stand together, and when communities listen instead of shout.
The peace I dream for my family is simple: a home filled with love, not fear; laughter instead of arguments; hope instead of worry. And for my community, I dream of a Malawi where every woman walks freely, every youth finds purpose, and every child sleeps without fear.
Peace is not something I wait for the government or leaders to give me. It’s something I build every day — in my words, my work, and my heart. Because even when the world outside feels uncertain, I carry peace within me — and that is where true freedom begins.
