Take Action for Peace

Throw a House Party

Why Have a House Party?

  • You can get to know your friends and community better
  • It can be a chance to meet new people with a similar world view
  • You can work in solidarity with causes that are important to you
  • You can have rich and dynamic conversations with diverse groups
  • You can help us raise money for the peace campaign
  • There’s a lot of learning
  • They build community
  • They are a lot of fun
  • It’s a chance to be creative

 

Some Ideas to Get Started:

  • Having food is always a good idea
  • Make a list of people you’d like to have there whether they are deep into the issues already or have had little exposure
  • Send out invitations 2 to 3 weeks in advance
  • You might want to set a fundraising goal and ask for a suggested donation
  • A couple days before the party make a call to remind people who confirmed

 

Ideas for Party Activities:

  • Welcoming presentation: Why you decided to host party, who FOR Peace Presence is, what the campaign is about
  • Introductions: Go around in a circle and have people introduce themselves (if they don’t already know one another) and have them share a personal story that relates to peace
  • Videos: Screen some of the campaign videos. One suggested to screen is “Neo-Paramilitary Control and Indigenous Rights.” There are a variety of topics and lengths in our videos so you have options in selecting what will work best for your guests.
  • Discussion: Have a discussion about the video. To get the discussion going it might be helpful to throw out a few questions: What are your reactions to the video; Is there something that surprised you; Can you share something new that you learned; How does the video influence how you think about peace; Why do you think Colombia has been in an armed conflict for over 50 years; How do you construct peace daily; What is your vision of peace; What are some challenges to peace in your communities; What are create strategies to deal with those challenges.
  • A to Z toolkit: Go around in a circle and take turns reading the A to Z toolkit. Have a discussion about what you learned from it. Make your own A to Z list about elements you consider necessary for peace. We’d love you to send them to us.
  • Self-Represented Media: Make a sign with your vision of peace (what does peace mean to you?) and take a picture holding up the sign. Record a short video message (one or two minutes) describing what peace means to you or how you construct peace.
  • Stills: You can download and print some of the campaign pictures and integrate them into your décor for the party (contact us for a high quality image for printing).
  • Sign Up: Collect people’s names and contact information if they are interested in joining our mailing list. Or just have a computer available for people to add themselves to our mailing list themselves.

 

After Party:

  • We’d love to know that you hosted a party and how it went
  • Share any media or materials you generated from the party on your social media networks and send it to us as well
  • Send out Thank You’s
  • Send in on-line any donations that you raised in the house party