Maine camp hosts Arabs and Israelis for frank talk, fun
BY KATHRYN SKELTON | The first words I heard when I entered Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield came from one little boy calling another boy’s people terrorists. He meant it. You could tell. The frank speech was part of their daily facilitation regime, required of all campers at the month-long retreat. Usually, it’s done in groups of 10, but this morning was a little different. Half of the group was away being interviewed by People magazine.
Seeds of Peace is a basket of similar surprises, at one moment challenging Middle Eastern kids to work through the cultural and religious conflicts so present back home, and at the next signing them up for a spirited game of softball. The children, 161 of them from eight different countries, seem resilient enough for the challenge.
John Wallach founded Seeds of Peace six years ago with the goal of humanizing conflict and breaking cycles of violence. A New Yorker, Wallach was galvanized to act by the World Trade Center bombing. The camp has hosted teens from the divided Middle East, as well as such political enemies as Turks and Greeks, Bosnians and Serbs.
The international camp is held in rural Otisfield, a half hour west of Auburn, because it provides a back-to-the-basics setting, the way God intended, Wallach said. Indeed, the former Powhatan boys’ camp layout is simplicity itself, with raw wooden bunk houses and cabins in orderly lines along Pleasant Lake. A smooth dirt road cuts through the complex, rebuilt this spring by the National Guard after the winter ice storm.
Wet towels hung up in bunk houses, drying off from the latest lake dip, are one summer camp sight. Young teens run around, laughing and nagged at by counselors when they’re not where they’re supposed to be. The camp kitchen is loud with near riot-level noise, as the more outgoing campers take to the table tops to sing the camp song, to the hollers and whoops of others.
Twenty-two hundred kids applied this year, seeking the normalcy, fun and adventure only a month in the Maine woods could provide for them. They wrote essays in English on “Why I Want to Make Peace with the Enemy.” They were selected by their governments, making the process democratic by leaving their last names off the essays so as not to just select teens of the rich or politically powerful. Having governments select campers, Wallach said, forces their involvement in this mini-peace process. Unfortunately, it also lets them use the children as pawns in the game of war. After Israel bombed South Lebanon in 1994, Egypt threatened to pull out of camp. A few countries have told Wallach they may not participate next year. “They would like to use their kids to hurt the Israeli kids,” Wallach said. Since Seeds of Peace is one thing the Middle East governments can agree upon, it’s vulnerable to being manipulated.
Campers come from a variety of backgrounds, from living in refugee camps to traveling Europe with their families. To allow even the most disadvantaged kids the opportunity to participate, Wallach works all year to raise the $1.2 million needed to run Seeds of Peace. Parents are asked to make donations, but many are unable.
“Every one of these kids will impact other people,” Wallach says as he walks around camp covered in Seeds of Peace garb from head to toe, looking like a happy grandfather. “These are supposed to be the best and brightest,” he said, proudly adding that two campers have gone on to Harvard and another was just accepted at Georgetown.
Maine resident Tim Wilson serves as camp director, remaining largely behind the scenes. Wallach met Wilson when he served as camp director of Powhatan, which Wallach’s son attended. He said Wilson embodies the goals of camp, and believes his background as an African-American helps to bridge the gap with some of the campers. A former head of the state Energy Office, Wilson said his ultimate hope was for all of the kids to have peace in their homelands. “I just hope every time a kid walks through here he walks away with a sense of fairness and respect for human beings.”
The seeds have attracted a lot of media attention; in the first week this summer they had visits from People magazine, 60 Minutes and several Maine newspapers. No doubt that’s in part due to Wallach’s 30 years as a reporter and editor for the Hearst papers. He won a National Press Club award for his dispatches on the Iran-Contra scandal and has an easy relationship with visiting journalists. The teens love the attention, posing for cameras and asking in which papers they might appear. It’s these childish moments of clowning for attention—flashing toothy grins and mischievous eyes—that belie the campers’ war-town lives back home. Most of them look quite average, dressed in jeans and cotton shorts with sneakers or sandals. Everyone wears green camp T-shirts all the time, to promote unity. To that end, they are also supposed to speak English at all times, but bits of foreign languages are still heard.
College-age counselors wander among the campers, keeping the peace and performing typical summer camp duties. They sleep two to a bunk house at night with the kids and teach special activities, such as juggling and ping pong, during the day. They’re impressed with their young charges. “They’re not typical 15-year-olds, that’s for sure,” said counselor Matt Dineed of Gardiner. Neither he nor counselor Sandy Hartwinger of North Carolina had witnessed any real disputes between campers. “They try to be polite. They always go back and forth and check each other’s points,” said Hartwinger, whose ultimate Frisbee classes were canceled that day due to rain. Waterfront Director Larry Malm from Blue Hill vividly recalls accompanying an anxious group of Israeli campers to the pay phones last July, shortly after the bombing of a Jerusalem market place. Their calls home turned up no bad news, but they served as a reminder of camp’s fragile mission.
Facilitators, who have backgrounds ranging from law to theater, hold the most tumultuous jobs at camp. Their two-hour daily sessions with small groups of campers encourage the teenagers to directly address the troubles back home. That’s when it all comes out—anger over what’s happening in their countries, confusion over whose version of history is the right one and inner conflicts over supporting their homelands or expressing their independent views. Their knowledge of history is unmatched by most American teens. They spout dates and recount war stories with the conviction of one who has heard them since birth. In one group, the kids sit in a circle of wooden benches, paired off with a partner, describing the last time they had to defend their country. A young man named Ali tells the group, “There’s nothing to defend because we’re not into any conflicts right now;” another boy quips, “What a boring country.” One young Palestinian is asked by a fellow camper to show her Palestine on a map. The pair talks at and around each other, using history to defend their points. Facilitator Janis Astor del Balle kneels beside them, supporting them as they both clarify and tackle the issue. “If all they’re doing is spouting positions, there’s no movement,” she comments later.
A bull horn ends the session, as it ends everything else in camp. The kids have a giddy group hug, eager to get on to the fun and games.
“You have to understand, these kids have been conditioned since birth to believe certain things about the other side,” said facilitator Cindy Cohen after observing the morning session. “They’re fed the adult perception of the other side.”
The rest of the day’s menu is filled with swimming, tennis, juggling, street hockey, art and other electives, as well as an afternoon group game. Campers also learn how to use e-mail to keep in touch after camp ends. At lunch time, an anxious line forms at the pay phone, as the kids, with phone cards in hand, get ready to call home. “I tell them I’m happy here because everything is very nice: reporters, teachers, counselors,” said Mosab Qashou from Palestine. He’s a quirky little boy, with sunglasses balanced atop his small head. He never stops moving, either his mouth or his body, much to the annoyance of a few peers. That morning he played a trust game with Liron Ashash from Israel, who was now also waiting patiently by the phone. “We’re neighbors but we don’t get along so well,” Ashash explains. She has long black hair and huge brown eyes. She proudly says she’s 15-and-a-half years old and gently flirts with camper Gil Messing, who traveled with her from Israel. He came to camp with a serious task—seeking redemption through peace for his people. “I believe peace is not made between leaders, peace is made between peoples,” said Messing. “I think my people, after a lot of war and casualties, we deserve peace.”
Each of the teens travels with at least one escort from their country. During the week the delegation meets with their kids once officially, and spends the rest of the time at workshops and events, such as a lecture on American history at the University of Southern Maine.
Escorts are perceived by camp staff as harder to reach with the message of peace, passing their skepticism on to the children. The view is not shared by all, however. “From day one we were all friends, sitting at the same table,” said Nora Krara, an escort for Egypt’s 13 campers. Krara is using vacation time from work to make the trip. “I think it is really fruitful watching the change in the kids’ minds,” she said. “If half of this happened in the Middle East, it would be perfect.”
Gov. Angus King stopped at the camp during this first week. He told the kids they were in the unique position of being able to bring peace to their home countries, and told them to be brave when they returned home. Sen. Richard Bennett, who accompanied King, said he was proud of Maine politics because it had the one element the kids’ governments were looking for—respect. “It’s really a hallmark of what makes Maine special from a governmental point of view,” he said. He left the group with a quote from Margaret Mead, whom many of the campers seemed to recognize: “Never doubt the ability of a small, committed group of people to change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”