* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Like sentries, two men watch a football game from the comfort easy chairs.
We are at the local football pitch in the town Yaloke some 200km from Bangui the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). Anywhere else in the world, these seats would be a vantage pitch-side position, with a great view of the action. But today’s match sees two teams - made up of young Christian men - play each other, while these Muslim men watch on from a distance. Between the spectators and the footballers is a troop of UN soldiers illustrating the wide chasm of social divisions that mar this conflict-riven country.
CAR fell into turmoil following a coup in March 2013, when Seleka fighters removed President Francois Bozize from power. The predominantly Muslim Seleka-led coalition was reportedly involved in a series of attacks on the majority Christian population, prompting the formation of the anti-Balaka militia, who in response targeted the Muslim communities with reprisal attacks. These events cast a religious veil on a conflict that is really about politics and power rather than religion.
Yaloke has been at the centre of the conflict here as many displaced people have sought refuge in the town or stopped over on their way to seek safety in Chad and Cameroon.
The humanitarian crisis in this town and indeed across the whole of CAR is still immense. This week, the UN warned that a humanitarian disaster is looming unless urgent action to boost aid to African nation were taken. According to Aurelien Agbenonci, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in CAR, if the shortfall for aid was not met, the UN "won't be able to continue humanitarian activities till the end of the year".
Only 31 percent of the UN humanitarian appeal for the CAR has been secured, he told the media.
The Yaloke community is evidently divided between the Christian host community and the displaced Muslims living in a UN-protected camp. This picture of two groups who used to live peacefully together but are now separated by distrust, fear and UN tanks represents the tension across CAR today.
Yet I wonder if simple things like football can play an important role in mending rifts between the two religions.
History has us remember the Christmas Day 1914 truce during World War I in Flanders, Belgium, when German and British troops put down their guns for a day to play football. We also know of how famous Brazilian football star Pelé’s 1969 trip to Nigeria with his soccer club, Santos, caused a three-day cease-fire in the Biafran War. In Yaloke, the effect could be similar.
And so a seemingly simple game of football is a pointer to glimmers of hope in CAR’s quest for elusive peace.
This is in many ways is thanks to a group of Christian and Muslim faith leaders. At the height of the conflict, they came together to negotiate peace and safety for and among their followers.
As a result, the Yaloke community is one of the few in CAR that still has both Christians and Muslims living in the same town. Risking their own lives, they decided to build trust between each other, and so enabled trust across their town.
They have now become an example for the country. They have shown to each other and the people around them that words can replace weapons. Their story brings hope for a better tomorrow in the Central African Republic, but also brings lessons so many troubled parts of the world today.
These leaders are demonstrating that even in contexts as complex as CAR, local initiatives to build peace in divided communities are possible. They have succeeded with what so many global conferences struggle to accomplish.
Granted, the international community still has a significant role in ensuring that diplomacy, peacekeeping, and humanitarian and development assistance is offered to the people of CAR their efforts to resolve the conflict. However, it is imperative that we learn from the community leaders in the town of Yaloke and support their home-grown peace-building initiatives.
Sometimes it does not have to be all that complicated, as World Vision and other agencies working here have found. Those of us who seek to help to bring an end to conflicts like CAR do well to find these local peace-builders and support them to bring their communities together.
It may not be fast, but it can build lasting peace.
