Volunteer Spotlight: Tim Pluta

In each biweekly e-newsletter, we share the stories of World BEYOND War volunteers around the world. Want to volunteer with World BEYOND War? Email greta@worldbeyondwar.org.

Location:

Asturias, Spain

How did you get involved with World BEYOND War (WBW)?

During an online search for peace related articles, information regarding WBW came up. On the website, the Declaration of Peace caught my attention, and some of the people involved were familiar to me. The idea of making war illegal appeals to me and is well underway, so I decided to get involved.

What kinds of volunteer activities do you help with?

I’m involved in a lot! I established the first WBW chapter in Spain. As the chapter coordinator, I collect signatures for the Declaration of Peace, translate materials into Spanish (including WBW’s book, the AGSS), disseminate peace education resources, give educational presentations to the public, introduce WBW and its mission in everyday conversations, and do international networking to strengthen WBW’s international presence and name recognition. I also attended WBW’s international conference, #NoWar2019 in Limerick in October, where I gave a presentation and helped staff the WBW table. I’m also the voice behind WBW’s 2 audio books, A Global Security System (AGSS) and the Peace Almanac.

What’s your top recommendation for someone who wants to get involved with WBW?

Getting involved with WBW is as simple as A, B, C.
A – Act peace. Go to the WBW website and pick an activity that interests you or make one up! Any action beats inaction.
B – Be peace. As we work on peace action, BE peace as well. Be aware of, and feel inside, the peace for which we are working.
C – Commit to peace. Peace is a process, it is not an endpoint. We will always need to work at it. Commitment to peace is essential, both within ourselves and externally.

What keeps you inspired to advocate for change?

Inspiration for continued advocacy for peace is all around! Today, over 1 million organizations are working for peace. These organizations inspire me. There are even more individuals working for peace. They inspire me as well. Organized, large scale war is a learned behavior. The fact that learned behavior can be unlearned inspires me.

Typically, when an organism or an institution dies, it puts a great deal of energy into last-minute efforts for survival. The institution of war is putting a great deal of energy into attempting to convince us that it is necessary. It is my belief that these efforts are a significant indicator that war’s demise is imminent. Our efforts to make war illegal are helping to support this demise. That inspires me.

Posted February 3, 2020.