From Conflict to Friendship: Amina's Story

When fourteen-year-old Amina Sulemana joined the peace club at Tamale Senior High School in 2022, her teachers described her as 'always involved in one quarrel or another.' The eldest of six children in a family affected by the Dagbon chieftaincy conflict, Amina had grown up in an environment where disagreements were settled through shouting, threats, and sometimes violence.

'I didn't know there was another way,' Amina recalls. 'In our community, if someone offends you, you fight back. That's what I saw at home, that's what I saw in the streets.'

Through the peace club's 12-week curriculum, Amina was introduced to the concept of restorative dialogue — the idea that conflicts can be resolved by bringing people together to talk, listen, and find solutions that work for everyone. She was particularly moved by the module on traditional mediation, which drew on the Dagbani concept of tihi yeli — the act of sitting together under a tree to resolve a disagreement.

Today, Amina is one of the school's most active peer mediators. She has successfully facilitated 12 restorative circles among her classmates, addressing issues ranging from bullying to exam cheating to romantic disputes. Her teachers report a marked change not only in Amina's own behaviour but in the culture of her classroom.