This autoethnographic essay explores the role of positionality in peace work by drawing on the author’s varied experiences and interactions with victims of violence in East Africa. Employing self-reflexivity, the author seeks to make sense of these encounters within spaces and contexts shaped by divergent lived experiences. Since peace workers—including educators, researchers, and practitioners—interpret their engagements with victims of violence in various ways, whether within actual contexts of violence or from a distance, it is essential to critically examine how their positionality influences these interpretations. The essay urges peace workers to remain critically aware of their positionality so that it does not become a blind spot—one that may obscure the significance of the choices made by victims of violence in complex peacebuilding settings. These choices, often difficult to comprehend as an outsider, can serve as important sites of knowledge about peacebuilding. Through this analysis, the author illustrates that meaningful peace work requires a deep sense of responsibility: a commitment to understanding the specific nature of a conflict before, during, and after engagement.