Testimonials

summer 2009 & 2010

The " Kids "

Maddie -VT- I think Kids 4 peace was a wonderful experience and I wish I could do it again with every one next summer.   I think the most exciting part was making lots of friends from here and on the other side of the world.  I also loved what we would do at camp.  It was a perfect balance of doing activities, time to socialize and time to be alone or with few people.  We also could to be active; play sports....... as well as relaxing.  I also learned about peace and after getting to know our friends from the middle east I think we all started to look from different views.  I don't think it took long to get into a routine after a few days I felt like we were all a family and we practically were.  We did most every thing together; swimming, eating, socializing, learning, dancing, acting................

Kids 4 Peace was very special for me and I am sure it was for all my friends also.  I still stay in touch with most of them and see some of them from time to time.  I wish I could see some of my friends from the middle east, especially my peace pal Shahar or as my friend Racheal and I call her "Shalme".

Nutayla- Jerusalem -This summer is the interesting and amazing summer in my life, everything in the camp was amazing ( coordinator, advisor, campers and everyone in the camp).?We learn to respect other cultural and religious and I'm sure that the three religious can live with each other in peace.?I wish the dialogue continues in the future and stay friends forever.?thank you for everything.

Merritt -VT -  Kids 4 peace was really fun. I learned a lot if interesting things about other religions, and I had a great time doing it. It was great!

Senia -VT - Kids 4 peace was one of the best experiences I ever had. Camp was great and learning about other religions was so much fun. Everyone is so kind and you get to do so many fun things with them.

Jade - VT - Camp was a great experience for me. It was so much fun. I loved how we learned things but we had a lot of time to get to know the kids and I have a lot of great friends that I still keep in touch with.

Avital - Jerusalem -  About love.  There are a lot of people who talk about hating others and that forces love out of the world.   As peacemakers we need to spread out our peacemaking like a magnet that will bring the love back into the world.

Mira - VT- I think that Kids 4 Peace was a really good experience because I got to see what different religions were like from different perspectives. I also learned new things about Baptism and Ramadan that I never knew before. I realized that there are different ways to pray than just one way. The Muslims pray by moving their body’s up and down while saying something and the Christians pray with an organ playing music. The places where they pray are very different from each other. Like the Muslims pray in a different way by having the girls and boys in separate rooms. Not only did I learn a lot but I had so much fun canoeing, bonfires, swimming, playing games like eble deble, and meditation. I felt glad that everyone got along. When I think about my time at Peace Camp, I feel so happy. I really liked having a “word of the day”, and Opening and Closing of the day. I think that it is amazing that you can make so many friends in ten days and I wish that Kids 4 Peace was longer.

Lyon - Jerusalem - I had a wonderful time in camp, meeting new people from different faiths and religions. It was an amazing terrain that we were in. I wish I had that same experience again. I miss my new friends, though I keep in touch with most of them via Facebook. I also liked doing wonderful arts with our art teacher. I learned how to play Foursquare and it was great playing it with my peace pals. The bonfires were great too. The chala we made was delicious. I liked the fact that all the people at camp respected Sabbath and didn't do anything that was disrespectful against my religion. It was also so much fun making the Abraham tent, we presented Kids4Peace to lots of people and spread the peace with it. I think I learned a lot about peace and I actually helped making peace.

The “Shepherds” & Advisers

Fahmina -To me, Kids4Peace is one of the most amazing organizations created. The idea of bringing adolescent children together to create peace is a phenomenal concept. These kids are so bright, so smart and are willing to put their religious differences aside so they can get along. Never in my life have I visualized that until I experienced this camp. I would highly recommend this camp to anyone who is not only looking for a diverse, peaceful learning experience but also just for fun!

Anna - Help kids experience some thing new, open their minds and realize that because some one is different doesn’t mean that they should be hated.  Show them there are peaceful ways to solve problems.

Holly - Meeting people who they normally wouldn’t meet.  Every body is similar.  What seems hopeless, Israel more conservative, Palestine more fractured.  Change kids perspectives.  Individual people make a huge difference, beyond politics.

Zak - People like each other more, and learn that people are people.

Jesse - If people don’t know about something, they get scared and angry.  K4P is to show kids about other religions, and not to be afraid.  Kids will be calmer and more understanding.  Know that there’s more out there.  Fun.

Jill “Jewish Advisor” from Jerusalem - Hope that K4P will accomplish in each child a chance to rethink all the preconceived notions that they came in with and that they walk out the doors with a desire to truly be a peace maker.  Any one of us in a situation of conflict will try to find the peaceful solution to the problem.  making peace is also a challenge to do within yourself, between two people, in a family, in a community, between 2 peoples, 2 lands, 2 cultures, religions of the world, G*D.

My final words for this survey would be to emphasize the importance of meeting the other, breaking stereotypes, opening up opportunities to challenge our thinking.  It is when we cross boundaries, (and those can be within the state of Vermont, or in the middle east...) when we really MEET OURSELVES.  It is meeting the other that helps us define who we are...and that is the core essence of peace education...when
you make peace with the other, sometimes your enemy, you first have to know yourself, find peace in yourself.  Then you can reach out beyond and find creative ways to make peace around you.