By Marie Nitke, Herald-Review Staff Writer
On September 14, seven students from the Northern Lights Community School (NLCS) in Warba, MN left the Northwoods to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime, life-changing journey. Their excitement overcame their sleepiness as they loaded onton a bus in the early morning and headed out to Denver, Col., to participate in National PeaceJam 2006.
The experience, the students later said during a group interview on Tuesday September 26th, not only helped them move forward towards completion of a project-based learning opportunity for school, it also moved them forward as free-thinking individuals. Attending PeaceJam, they said, broadened their mindsets on the world around them to include a more global perspective, and taught them ways to make positive changes in their communities.
-What it is-
PeaceJam is a neutral party program dedicated to civic engagement, human rights, character education, violence prevention, reclaiming communities and service learning. One of the main goals of PeaceJam organizers is to inspire a new generation of youth peacemakers who will change themselves as well as their neighborhoods, their communities, and the world. Since 1996, PeaceJam has been putting youth together with Nobel Peace Prize winners to form a new generation of youth dedicated to making positive changes.
On September 15, the United States made history in Denver, Col., when the PeaceJam Foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary. During the three-day event, ten Nobel Peace Prize winners gathered in the same place, for the same cause, at the same time. The celebration brought youth from 31 different countries, including South Africa, Costa Rica, Ireland, England, and the United States. Minnesota had the most representation.
There were 3,000 youth from high schools, community-based organizations and churches who participated. A total of more than 8,000 people, youth and adults, attended the celebration.
This year’s PeaceJam featured discussions by 10 Nobel Laureates (The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigberta Menchu Tum, President Oscar Arias, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Jose Ramos Horta, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, and Betty Williams) on ideas about how to create positive changes in the world. The following Laureates were unable to attend, but still managed to participate in the project via an available book and video: Wangari maathai, due to issues with parliament, and Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.
Youth were able to participate in large group discussions with the Laureates, and present their own ideas for global change.
-What the trip was like-
NLCS student Ana Noblee said that their trip began with a drive down to Minneapolis on Sept. 14, where they met up with Washburn High School students. They shared a bus with these students the rest of the way to Denver.
“We drove for about 16 or 17 hours,” she said, “and gto in at about 2 p.m. on the 15th. Five live bands performed for a kick-off concert.”
The next day, according to Noble, the students arrived at a giant arena at 7 a.m. The Dalai Lama spoke to them about violence, after which participants broke up into “family groups.” These groups, made up of anywhere from two to more than a dozen people, were intentionally set up to be diverse. Most of the groups had members representing all different parts of the United States and the world.
“I liked meeting other people of color,” said Emily Norton, who explained that, as one of the few youths of color in this area, it was nice to see so many other people who looked more like herself.
Following lunch, a public talk was given, which included discussions by all of the Laureates. They spoke on a wide variety of topics, called “global themes.”
NLCS teacher and one of the trip chaperones, Benita Hassell, said that the “global themes” focused on child trafficking, the rights of children, violence, and money spent on war versus money spent on schools. She said the environment for discussion was one of compassion and working together.
Following the discussions, each student had a chance to write a letter the United nations voicing their personal concerns. They also were given books with printed versions of the Laureate’s speeches, and had time to reflect on what they had learned. A DJ provided dance music for them later that night.
On the last day, Sept. 17, the students presented their own group project to Shirin Ebadi, a Laureate from Iran whose mission is to ensure the human rights of women and children.
-What they presented-
As a group, the students chose to focus on the issue of discrimination as the topic of their project. Their goal is to create awareness of discrimination locally by disseminating information. They also hope to make a positive difference in the communkty by starting a chain reaction towards preventing discrimination.
To do this, the students are each making their own eye-catching displays about discrimination, which will be set up with informational packets, worksheets or brochures at area businesses and organizations for community members to read and take home. They also intend to visit area schools to discuss discrimination with other students.
-What they learned-
Every student expressed sincere, emotional ideas regarding how their group project and trip to PeaceJam have changed their lives and their ways of thinking about society.
“I think the way we react and the way we react to other things has changed a lot. I think we’ve changed,” said Danielle Radke.
“I thought what the Peace Prize winners had to say was really encouraging,” said Kyle Sansburn. This was my first year going. I thought ti was a good experience – it was fun.”
Most of the kids in the group went to the Minnesota PeaceJam last year, and were eager for this year’s trip.
“It’s inspiring to spread peace into the world,” said Kayla Finke.
“To know that we’re not the only kids in the world trying to make things happen – it’s an awesome feeling,” added Radke. “It showed me that there are other people out there who care about the same things that we do.”
The group said they learned that change can happen one small group at a time, and they discovered that gestures sometimes thought of as being of little importance, such as opening a door for someone, can make a huge difference in the world.
“Now we’re going to try to open as many doors a we can,” said Sansburn.
Editor’s note: the “What it is” section of this article was written for the newspaper by NLCS student Nate Hassell.
