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Featured Sites |
PeacePartners, Inc. honors our valued partners by celebrating their passion for peace, their
creative ideas, and the wonderful implementation strategies they incorporate.
As we continue to support our partners, it is our privilege to showcase PeaceBuilders sites.
Don't just take our word for it. Read about some featured sites as they explored their problems,
developed their PeaceBuilders solution, and discovered positive outcomes! We invite you to sit
back and explore the fantastic PeaceBuilding events happening throughout the United States and
U.S. Territories. |
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Vision of Peace |
At the beginning of a school year, it is a good idea to start the conversation about
building peace by talking about what the word "peace" means. To some, a peaceful environment
is a quiet environment. Others may use music to help build peace. Still others may enjoy the
sounds of people laughing and interacting. No one is right or wrong--it's a matter of
interpretation and perception.
The important thing is to first understand your own personal vision of peace--to know what
you want and need in order to turn your dreams and visions into realities. In order to
clarify your dream or vision, you can ask yourself, "What does peace look, sound and
feel like?"
But how do we go from knowing what peace means to us individually to being able to work
together to create a peaceful environment for everyone? It's easier than you might think.
And it's fun!
After your staff or young people have determined their own personal visions of peace,
ask them to work in small groups to share their individual perceptions and ideas. They can
work together to create a poster that illustrates their shared vision of peace. Again,
they can rely on the senses to help them work through the discussion: what does peace
look, sound, and feel like to the group? What is their shared vision?
After all the posters are complete, ask a spokesperson from each group to stand, one by one,
and explain the poster they have created and what it all means. You will be surprised at
the intelligent, thoughtful, and fun designs.
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This group clearly defined what peace means to them
by stating exactly what they would see, hear and feel.
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A drawing of the sun shows that this group has a positive,
"sunny" outlook. Peace is possible!
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Stick figures in different shapes and colors signify
diversity at a peaceful site. The children at this site would feel safe,
secure, included, and involved.
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This group envisions creating an umbrella of peace to protect
and nurture all the children.
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This poster depicts a "garden of love". The petals of the
flower are filled with words that signify peace: happiness, learning, respect.
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Peace is like a puzzle to this group. The pieces of the puzzle
include safety, diversity, family, joy, and fun; and they all fit together.
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This easy activity can be done in as little as 30 minutes and the end result is a
more cohesive group and some wonderful PeaceBuilding artwork to decorate your site.
Variation: For very outgoing, energetic groups, give them more leeway regarding what
type of "illustration" they will create. Ask them to create a poster, a song, a
skit, even a dance that illustrates what peace means to them.
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