Waging Peace

Pip Cornall figures its time to wage peace.

The Australian-born raft guide, yoga instructor and mediator wants Ashland to become a peace city. He wants the United States government to form a Department of Peace, and he thinks its time the world started focusing more energy on promoting peace.

"We're looking at 6,000 years of war, and a lot of people say that's the nature of humans," Cornall said. "We're saying, 'well we've had a culture of war, but if we really study peace and if we wage peace, we don't have to have more wars necessarily.'"

Cornall approached the Ashland City Council Oct. 3 asking for a resolution that would designate Ashland as a "peace city" and create a peace service to focus on nonviolent mediation and community work.

The 60-year-old Australian raft guide speaks with a soft tone as he describes the peace summit he attended in Canada this June. His humble demeanor comes from a lifetime of making mistakes and learning from them.

He wants people in Ashland to think more closely about promoting peace in the world rather than living in a bubble.

As a mediator, Cornall works with couples locally on gender violence prevention.

Cornall ran an outdoor adventure business in Australia for 30 years before coming to the United States to get experience in mediation work. He tries to focus on individuals, but Cornall said the best way to make progress is by establishing a peace movement through all branches of government that will bring funding a focus to the movement.

"We want to have one department that's serious about waging peace, and we're going to self-destruct if we don't," Cornall said.

After a divorce and quitting his business, Cornall's focus switched to studying and trying to prevent the violence that men act out on each other and on women.

He wants local governments and citizens to support legislation that will create a Department of Peace to act as an umbrella organization — much like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — to oversee efforts to promote peace.

Cornall admits his task is pretty huge. But he thinks starting from inside and influencing those around you to promote peace is the best way to go about it. He smiles a lot, but Cornall is serious about garnering support and funding to wage peace rather than war. Through Ashland's Web Spirit Community, Cornall raised funds for his trip to the peace summit in Canada.

For the Australian mediator, the peace campaign started from within.

"What can the raft guide do to help make peace in the world?" Cornall asked himself.

Lynn Perkins — a Talent City Council candidate and quality assurance supervisor at the new Amy's Kitchen in White City — has been working with Cornall for a year and a half lobbying national politicians to take a more pro-active approach toward peace, Perkins said. With mixed results from senators and representatives, she said the process has been arduous.

On the small-scale level, Perkins said Cornall has found a way to bring people together against violence.

"He just has a deep, heartfelt concern for peaceful dealings, especially with women," Perkins said.

Cornall's vision of a U.S. Department of Peace may be a ways off. He's heading back to Australia briefly, but his struggle wages on.

"Of all the things that I've been involved with it seems like one of the most concrete, solid steps I can take," he said.

Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.