Peggy Gish (left) speaks with Tamara Al-Sammarraie, a Bluffton University junior from Iraq, after presenting a workshop about Christian Peacemaker Teams’ efforts in Iraq at the 2013 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference, hosted by Bluffton Feb 8-10.

Gish, who has been active in peace and social justice movements for 45 years, has worked with CPT in Iraq since October 2002, five months before the beginning of the Iraq War. “I really fell in love with the people and the culture,” said Gish, who has made roughly 16 trips to the country.

“In Iraq: Breaking Down Barriers of Hostility” was the title of her presentation, in which she described working with an Iraqi group to help rebuild a civil society as the most rewarding part of her work.

Members of Gish’s CPT group stayed with their Muslim counterparts for five days and together discussed ways that they felt nonviolence could work, she recalled.

American soldiers walking the streets of Iraqi cities were concerned that the team members did not carry weapons, she said, noting that she replied, “We can go into places and homes and be safer because we are not seen as a threat.”

Added Gish: “We were not looking at people as enemies, but we were breaking down those barriers.”

The Athens, Ohio, resident is the author of “Iraq: A Journey of Hope and Peace” and is now writing a second book in which she continues telling the stories of the Iraqi people and of her experiences.

About 200 people attended various events during the weekend peace conference, whose theme was “Spirituality and Shalom: Living at the Intersection of Faith and Justice.”