Seeds of Peace

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Nonprofit Overview

Causes: International, International Peace & Security, Leadership Development, Promotion of International Understanding

Mission: Founded in 1993, Seeds of Peace is dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence. Over the last decade, Seeds of Peace has intensified its impact, dramatically increasing the number of participants, represented nations and programs. From 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the organization still focuses on the Middle East but has expanded its programming to include young leaders from South Asia. Its leadership network now encompasses about 4,000 young people from several conflict regions. The Seeds of Peace internationally recognized program model begins at the International Camp in Maine and continues through follow-up programming with international youth conferences, regional workshops, educational and professional opportunities, and an adult educator program. This comprehensive system allows participants to develop empathy, respect, and confidence as well as leadership, communication and negotiation skills — all critical components that will facilitate peaceful coexistence for the next generation.

Community Stories

2 Stories from Volunteers, Donors & Supporters

Sarah_G2 General Member of the Public

Rating: 5

09/18/2017

When I was 15, I went to Seeds of Peace, a leadership camp for teenagers in communities divided by conflict. I had 90 minutes of dialogue each day with Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, and other Americans. We yelled at each other about settlements, the right of return, the holocaust, and 1948. The rest of the day we played, ate, slept, and laughed together. It was the place I learned most about other cultures and perspectives. I started to question the things I thought were facts and gained the confidence to be a leader. I came back as a counselor in the summer of 2015 and I supported teenagers while they engaged in difficult conversations with people they might never have otherwise interacted with (Israelis and Palestinians; Pakistanis, Afghans, and Indians; teenagers from northern Maine and some of the Somali refugees who were living in Portland). I had spent a lot of time working on farms and at my college's garden, and after my first summer as a counselor I realized how much I wanted to share my passion for growing food with these campers. I applied for grants and raised enough money to build a large garden at camp, 24 4'x8' raised beds. I gathered a group of volunteers and we build, filled, and planted the beds. Then I spent the summer back as a counselor, gardening with the campers and delivering fresh vegetables to the dining hall. The campers really took ownership over the space. During their free time they would come by to weed, think, or snack. One dialogue group would harvest carrots together after their daily dialogues--it allowed for a reflective and communal moment after a difficult 90 minutes. It was the best form of giving back because I gained a ton. I learned so much from creating a space to grow food and talk about it, and I learned way more from watching the incredible campers engage with the garden.

Review from #MyGivingStory

1

Dan_2 General Member of the Public

Rating: 5

08/25/2011

Deep in the heart of Maine, the almost unknown little town of Otisfield just north of Portland, is transformed into an oasis, into a paradise of woods, water, and hills, that opens its arms to youth, not the traditional summer camp that busy parents send their kids to and call vacation, but a camp to which young adults come from the most explosive areas of the world.

For a short time Otisfield becomes home to Hundreds of young leaders, young adults from the most violent sectors of the world. Israeli Youths Play soccer with their Palestinian counterparts. Young Indians canoe with their Pakistani neighbors. Teens caught in the crossroads of decades of hostilities are brought together, to work together to play together and to search for answers together. South East Asian youth that have seen decades of war, Egyptian, Jordanian Afghan youth leaders come together with American Youth to break through cultures of explosive rage and violence, years of animosity and fighting, daily blood baths.

Young adults taught a language of hatred now for the first time can see their enemies up close, eye ball to eyeball, sharing breakfast, lunch, a marshmallow roast over a campfire, in competition not with guns and mortar but with racing, playing, running laughing and most of all a deep lesson that so many of us have yet to learn, that this planet has to be shared with those that do not share the same religion, the same nationality, the same race the same culture, the same politics that we have.

This small insignificant little town in Maine, plays perhaps the most significant role in global relationships. While the Halls of Parliaments’, and Congresses around the world, while the UN in its plush offices in Lower East Side, endlessly debate politics and economics, these children are learning it where it counts and how it counts.

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