Camp with a purpose

Renowned foreign correspondent John Wallach gave a toast at a dinner in 1993 honoring the… Renowned foreign correspondent John Wallach gave a toast at a dinner in 1993 honoring the Israeli Foreign Minister. Wallach publicly challenged representatives from Israel, Palestine and Egypt to send 15 young people to a summer camp in Maine. Thinking he was bluffing and not wishing to look undiplomatic, all three accepted Wallach’s proposal. Thus was born Seeds of Peace, a 3,000-strong alumni network of young people from conflict areas, coming on scholarship from public donations and government assistance. People from India, Pakistan, Iraq, Cyprus, Afghanistan, the Balkans and the United States have been added to the program.

It looks like a typical camp: arts and crafts, tennis and basketball. Look closer and you can see that something unique is happening that is not happening anywhere else. Certainly not among the leaders of these respective countries who call for global cooperation while refusing to speak with or recognize one another. This is not an option at a camp where Israelis and Palestinians share cabin bunks, dining hall tables and canoes.

Counselors need to be extra careful when dividing up soccer teams and must continually enforce the “English only” rule of camp -communication is difficult if half of a cabin is speaking in Hebrew and the other in Arabic. Slowly, friendships begin to emerge.

The campers also participate in dialogue sessions led by trained facilitators in which they confront the issues that divide them from their “enemies” – most of whom are getting their first opportunity to interact with these “enemies” when they come to camp. These sessions are grueling and take their toll on all aspects of camp – especially this year, as campers would dart to the pay phones to call home at the first new bulletin that their home city was the latest under fire. More than a few campers have endured things no human being should experience, let alone innocent 12-year-olds. Yet they still have the courage to risk the scorn of friends and family to come live among people they have been taught to hate since birth.

Becoming friends and bunkmates with these kids who just want the freedom to play soccer and go swimming without fear of checkpoint guards and suicide bombers forces one to realize how unacceptable the concept of war is – killing innocent people to advance the ambitions of politicians – in a seemingly advanced society like today’s.

The only hope of ending the killing cannot be entrusted to a single leader or to an uneasy truce. It must rise from generational change – a generation that is weaned on understanding and compassion, not nationalistic fervor and squabbles over century-old text. The generations in power, including the leaders of our country, have had their chance at living up to the ideals of peace and failed miserably in the name of posturing military might. One of the Seeds of Peace mottos reads, “Treaties are made by governments – peace is made by people”.

This is a phenomenon that one can actually witness happening through Seeds of Peace. One can see it in the thousands of alumni who continue to stay in touch with friends from “the other side” and educate their local communities about the goals of Seeds of Peace. The first Seeds are just now graduating from law schools and beginning work at engineering firms. They are thriving in varied fields all over the world. Imagine where they will be in another 14 years.

Overly idealistic? History consistently proves that education is the best means to enlighten. It may take generations – or maybe just one – to create a change of attitude, but this method is surely more logical than one rooted in bombings and sanctions.

John Wallach passed away in 1993, but he lives on in the memory of the thousands of Seeds his life has touched with the message that, as he proves, one person can make a difference. Imagine the effects of 3,000 and counting.

Seeds of Peace rarely makes headlines – peace doesn’t exactly sell newspaper,s and these children aren’t exactly movers and shakers.

Give it time. As the camp director, Pittsburgh native Tim Wilson, told the kids, “You don’t have to like each other, but you will respect each other.” The campers may still harbor reservations about the other side, but living with one another helps them realize that all of them are innocent of their parents’ crimes and that all of them only want to live their lives as happily and safely as they can when they’re in Maine. One camper wrote a song in the final days of camp with a chorus that neatly sums up the message of the experience: “Between ideas of right doing and wrong doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

E-mail Daron at djc14@pitt.edu or visit www.seedsofpeace.org.