It was a year unlike any other for Seeds of Peace. No member of our community was untouched by the myriad challenges brought on by COVID-19, global financial insecurities, escalating violence and distrust, and in some places, even war.
And yet, hope found a way.
Over 700 people participated in one or more of 60 virtual and in-person programs, many of them new and innovative offerings that expanded our reach to communities we might otherwise have never encountered. From this year forward, each youth’s journey with Seeds of Peace begins at home, and more than 300 youth became Seeds by completing Core Leadership Programs in the Middle East, South Asia, and the U.S. Over 130 of those youth attended our signature Camp program in Maine, which returned for its 28th year this summer after taking a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Though a picture may be worth a thousand words, even that amount seems insufficient for what this community accomplished in 2021. This album is an attempt to do that anyway, largely through the eyes of those closest to the action: our staff.
Camp in the time of COVID-19
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, August)
Working with local and national health experts, extensive protocols were put into place to keep campers and staff healthy all summer, including operating at a reduced capacity, limiting campers to only those from within the Northeast U.S., regular testing, eating all meals outside, keeping pods among dialogue and bunk groups, and of course, wearing masks. Not a single COVID case was reported during either of the two sessions.
Community Action as a core focus
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, August)
Dialogue, community-building, leadership development, and action-taking are the four pillars of the Seeds of Peace Core Leadership Program, and those elements were emphasized daily at Camp with the introduction of the new Community Action program. In Community Action, youth gathered in groups from their hometown to identify and address issues in their communities and beyond. While dialogue and relationship-building are first steps in creating solidarity, the Community Action initiative underscores Seeds of Peace’s belief in the importance of action-taking to bring about real change.
This is how we do it
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, July)
It took an enormous commitment from staff—many of whom were on site the entire summer—to bring together the 2021 Camp. “I love this photo because it’s in many ways the behind the scenes of Camp—staff members worked tirelessly day in and day out to ensure everything ran smoothly, while also supporting each other and enjoying views of the lake.”
— Eliza O’Neil, Co-Director of US Programs
All together now
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, July & August)
“It may seem like a cop out, but my favorite pictures are of the entire Camp together. This was the first time I had to figure out a good way to get everyone in the shot, so it was my biggest challenge this summer. But I also like the idea that no one is left out (except me in the first session). The second session, I was able to get somebody to snap the shot after I got it set up. I like these pictures because the Camp is in the background, the morning sun is on campers’ faces, and they were taken at the end of the session when we felt like a community and everyone could be next to whomever they wanted (as opposed to being organized by bunks or dialogue groups, as we were for much of Camp due to COVID safety protocols). Here, at the end of each session of Camp, we are comfortable standing alongside anyone in the Camp community.”
— Bobbie Gottschalk, Seeds of Peace Co-Founder, Camp photographer
Written on stone
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, August)
“The incredible counselors and campers of Bunk 18 painted these powerful words on rocks at the end of the summer as a reminder of the values they each shared at Camp in the summer of 2021. We see here: “courage, stretch, growth, change, leadership, power (x2!), love, vulnerability, respect.” Throughout Camp, our staff and campers displayed all of these values—and more. Together, our community navigated the many challenges of COVID-19 and spent our time at Camp building collective understanding and power in working against systematic injustice with creativity, joy, and courage. These rocks remain at Camp throughout the winter, and we can’t wait for our 2022 Seeds to see them when they arrive in the Summer and join the legacy left by all our campers and staff throughout the years.”
— Sarah Stone, Camp Director & Multinational Education Consultant
Saying so long
Seeds of Peace Camp (Maine, August)
“This was the last bus pulling away from Camp at the end of Session 1. Departure day is both sad and a giant exhale for staff who put so much into making Camp happen.”
— Eliza O’Neil, Co-Director of US Programs
A Camp in Pakistan’s mountains
Youth Leadership and Dialogue Camp (Pakistan, July)
Young leaders traveled as far as 1,800 km to attend the first Pakistan Youth Leadership and Dialogue Camp, a weeklong, in-person experience led largely by older Seeds who incorporated many of the traditions from the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine. “It was beautiful to see the message that one of the fellows of the Core Leadership Program wrote. It was pure, authentic, simple and encouraging of being an ‘EMPATHETIC HUMAN’. I recently stumbled upon this picture again, and I smiled.”
— Hana Tariq, Pakistan Program Coordinator
Investing in communities through GATHER Hubs
GATHER Hub (East Jerusalem, December)
“This photo shows the founding members of the Sinsila Center in East Jerusalem, an eco-sustainability center that invited GATHER to build our first ever Hub—a community building strategy based on dialogue, education and local change. We have had Hub members from all over Jerusalem and of all ages. Like Um Ashraf, the woman at the center of the photo, who is 73 and from Lifta, an occupied and demolished Palestinian village whose remains tell a story of a once-thriving life of the indigenous Palestinian people who now live as refugees on their own land.”
— Ashraf Ghandour, Director GATHER Middle East Programs
2019 Israeli Seeds become Teen Leaders
Teen Leaders Seminar (Israel, August)
“The Israeli Teen Leaders, who attended Camp in the summer of 2019, came back to a reality that none of us could imagine. This picture is from their meeting in-person for the first time after a year of COVID outbreaks, many Zoom activities, and a war. Despite everything in their world that could make them hopeless, they chose to take action and help our team in Israel build back, enroll, and work with a new generation—our first graduates of the Core Leadership Program. We are so grateful to have those amazing young people with us, and so excited for the next big things they’ll do with their power, willingness, and hope.”
— Jonathan Kabiri and Shahar Shillo, Israeli Programming Team (photo by Jonathan Hefetz)
Spreading impact
Samvaad Project (India, April)
The Samvaad Project sought to train more than 30 professors in interfaith dialogue facilitation, making it the first of its kind in India. Over the course of nine months, the program, staff, and participants had to overcome numerous personal and programmatic obstacles, including having to shift an in-person retreat to virtual platforms after a second wave of COVID-19 swept India. Nevertheless, many of the participants continue to hold interfaith dialogue meetings for their students and communities, long after completing their certification requirements. It officially culminated in December with the National Interfaith Summit.
Interconnected in India
Interfaith Camp (India, December)
The Interfaith Harmony Camp has become a staple of the India Seeds of Peace program, and with extensive COVID safety measures in place, an in-person gathering in December capped India’s 2021 youth programs with an exciting, meaningful note. “This group shot shows all participants and us facilitators interconnected with a long string for a gratitude activity that felt rather special to me. This deliberate act of joining was very symbolic of what Seeds of Peace is essentially about: bringing people together.”
— Urmi Chanda, Senior Programs Coordinator, India
Resiliency and resolve in Jerusalem
Interfaith Dialogue Senior Program (Jerusalem, November)
As the world’s attention was drawn last spring to Palestinian families facing unjust evictions from their homes in Sheik Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian youth continued to gather for Kids4Peace-Jerusalem meetings just blocks away. But when deadly fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas in May, K4P halted their meetings—in part for the safety of participants, and in part to re-evaluate the very nature and purpose of their work. After many meaningful discussions, staff and participants decided to resume meetings as soon as it was safe to do so, with a renewed commitment to listen, to learn from one another, and to find a better way forward—together. “I choose this photo as it shows youth who are both old and new youth to Kids4Peace, and who are of different religions, sharing about what Jerusalem means to them in a conversation led by our youth murshideen Murad.”
— Ittay Flescher, Director, Kids4Peace Jerusalem
A first for Palestinians
Tree-planting (Palestine, October)
The launch of Bassmeh, the Palestinian Core Leadership Program, last fall was a historic moment for Seeds of Peace: For the first time, the organization provided a consistent space solely for youth from across historical Palestine to come together, learn from each other’s different realities, and make plans for creating the future they all deserve. In October, the “Planting Palestine” program allowed youth to work with farmers to replant trees on land facing ongoing threats from Israeli settlements. “I chose this picture for many reasons: One is that both those girls come from two very distant cities—Jerusalem and Saknin. Since the start of the Bassmeh program I have witnessed how their friendship grew, without this program I think, Yara from Sakhnin would have never imagined she would have a great friend all the way from Jerusalem. Another reason is because it was beautiful to see both working together in planting trees. Initially they were very hesitant and wanted a guy to come and help them, but then they decided to challenge themselves and do it on their own. Together, they planted four trees that day.”
— Mirna Ansari, Senior Manager, Palestinian Programs
Spreading wings in Cincinnati
Kids4Peace (Fall)
“Kids4Peace Cincinnati piloted a new program for elementary students in grades 1-4 this fall. Every Wednesday they came together to play a game, hear a story, and brainstorm ways to make the world a little bit better place (left and bottom right). And in the fall of 2021, Kids4Peace Cincinnati hosted a program to learn about local vultures and what everyday people can do to help preserve their environment. We all play a role in creating a peaceful environment, even this turkey vulture.”
— Adam Hayden, Senior Coordinator, US Programs West
In-Person, In Dialogue
Core leadership program (Israel)
“Our Israeli Core Leadership Program participants are finally sitting in a circle and talking! We’ve waited a long time to get back to this important work of dialogue. What we most love about this one is that you could see they both are very engaged in a conversation that is happening, but through the body language (and even beyond that masks) you could see their different reactions to what they’re hearing, being attentive, engaged and curious. (And, possibly mad, or amused).”
— Jonathan Kabiri and Shahar Shillo, Israeli Programming Team (photo by Yaara Better Pocker)
Diversity & respect
Interfaith Camp (India, December)
“This crayon illustration was made by one of our Interfaith Camp participants during an art activity that encouraged them to first depict differences in society, and then solutions. This lovely drawing in primary colors caught my eye in a way only simple, strong things can, with its fundamental message of ‘unity in diversity’. Seeing the drawing felt like we had accomplished what we had set out to do at the camp.”
— Urmi Chanda, Senior Programs Coordinator, India
Connecting leaders, coast-to-coast
Virtual Leadership Programs (United States, July)
From Atlanta to Seattle, Los Angeles to New York City, dozens of youth from across the U.S. logged in day after day for virtual programs this summer and fall that included the Core Leadership Program and numerous skill-building workshops. “As part of the Civic Engagement program with youth logging in from all across the U.S., we talked about how we are all in individual places, on individual screens, but collectively we were working together to make our communities and our world more just and inclusive.”
— Hannah Hochkeppel, Co-Director of US Programs
Young leaders RISE across Jordan
RISE Core Leadership Program (Jordan, September)
The Jordanian Core Leadership Program brought together more than 30 youth from across the country—including areas and schools completely new to Seeds of Peace—for a yearlong initiative. “I love these photos from our Islands of Sanity seminar because they represent the celebration of many months of getting this team assembled and coming to life. Also, because I believe that among this uncertainty and insanity that we live in, this group represents a promise that the sanctuary of now and tomorrow is being constructed by these young women and men.”
— Farah Bdour, Director of Jordanian Programs