On March 9th, alumni of the conflict resolution group Seeds of Peace (SOP), will show their solidarity by donning their SOP T-Shirts all around the world. Every summer, teenagers from America and war-torn regions in the Middle East and South Asia gather at Pleasant Lake in Maine. The cabins and soccer pitch represented a traditional camp, but everyday for 90 minutes we met in dialogue huts to discuss the conflict. For many, this is the first time they meet “the enemy.” The camp mantra, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there,” a statement from Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, sums up the camp’s goal for the ‘Seeds’ to find common ground in one another’s humanity, rather than continue to be divided by their principles.
These Seeds have started sowing a new future.
Name: Ron Shehtman
Age: 15
Home: Alia st. 33/9 Afula, Israel.
Greatest Lesson Learned through SOP: Don’t treat a person strangely and differently if he is different because for him, he is ordinary and you are the stranger.
What I do now: A 10th grader in Ort Afula High School
Name: Sana Batool Kardar
Age: 18 years
Home: Lahore, Pakistan Currently in London, UK
Greatest Lesson Learned through SOP: Seeds of Peace shows the the real face of the people we think are our enemies, as I am from Pakistan once a history teacher asked us during a lecture to tell the first word that crosses our mind after we hear the word “INDIANS” some kids answered neighbours, terrorists, bad people… I answered “FRIENDS”. Seeds of Peace showed us that the people from the other side of the other border are humans too with exactly the same feelings, same happiness same sadness same problems as us they are just like us and due to a few people whole nation can not be blamed. We have a mission to make the life the way it should be and the end of the camp was the beginning of a thousand miles on the road of peace.
What they do now/ Occupation: Student at Queen Mary University of London
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