Felicia Ilujunka is a force to be reckoned with in her community. During a visit with Felicia in her home in Lokoja’s Oworo community in Kogi State, Nigeria, the Mercy Corps Nigeria team learned about a recent confrontation where Felicia intervened and helped to reconcile a conflict that could have turned their community upside down. In 2019, Mercy Corps Nigeria established the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace programme to help communities like Oworo that are at risk of increasing violent incidents to proactively address root causes of conflicts and foster peace. Felicia had not always been the peacebuilder she is today. As a former teacher of 35 years, she did not tolerate nonsense in and out of the classroom. She had once believed in fighting fire with fire before seeing how destructive that mindset is on her community. By participating in the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) programme, she saw a great change in how to approach conflict and realised she had a gift for mediation. “I also spoke to my fellow women on the need to start with ourselves before preaching peace to others,” said Felicia. She is now known around Oworo as “big mummy” or “lady evangelist” for the work she has done in her community through her involvement in local government groups for women and peacebuilding. Words: Oluwadamilola Anike Aina, Communications Officer, Mercy Corps Nigeria Read the full article on our website