Dear Seeds,
Happy New Year!
At the close of my first full year as the Executive Director of Seeds of Peace, I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this organization. In each corner of the world, there are remarkable people doing remarkable things, and holding on tightly to relationships and ideas that were created at Seeds of Peace despite the toughest of obstacles working against them.
For those of you living in conflict, and struggling to cope with the realities around you, I know how far away Camp can seem and how difficult it can be to imagine that a different way of life is possible.
For those of us lucky to be living outside of conflict areas, I know it can be hard to stay connected and translate your experiences at Seeds of Peace to your current lives. But we have built an amazing network over the past 18 years—a network of Seeds, as young as 14 and as old as 32, of educators, of counselors, facilitators, staff, and friends—who share the belief that peace is possible; that people do not need to live with violence, fear, and humiliation, but rather that we all have the right to live in safety and with dignity and respect. I know how hard it can be to keep focused on this path and admire your strength and determination to do so.
I am writing to you today from the shores of a very frozen Pleasant Lake, where our Camp is cold and snowy. Though it is empty and quiet here, the energy of this place and the impact of your time here is very much present.
As we start this new year, one of my resolutions is to strengthen our network as a Seeds of Peace community—and key to that process remains communication. So as we say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011, I wanted to share a few highlights from last year (beyond our summer in Maine) and things to look forward to in the year to come. This is the first of a regular series of newsletters from me that will share organizational and program updates with you. Consider this the first edition:
- If you haven’t seen it yet, Seeds at Camp last summer worked with video producers to remix K’naan’s Wavin’ Flag song from the World Cup and create Wagin’ Peace! Campers from the Middle East, South Asia, and US/UK worked together to write all of the lyrics and choreograph the video. It’s awesome!
- While there are many different views and opinions represented in our Seeds of Peace family, we have posted a statement of values on our website in recognition of the common ground we share as a community. Seeds of Peace aims to have the voices of our Seeds, those whose futures are most affected by these issues, heard. As such, we were inspired by, and quoted directly, the words written by Seeds in 2001 who came together to declare: “we refuse to accept what is when we know what can be.” I encourage you to read the statement, and we welcome your feedback.
- Through a series of discussions with Seeds, current/former staff, outside experts, and others, Seeds of Peace has been relooking at its programs and structure to make sure we are doing all we can to develop and support our network of Seeds and educators who want to work towards ending conflict and build a just and lasting peace. We are transitioning from defining ourselves in terms of Camp and follow-up programs to three core programs that stretch from youth into adulthood:
1) A Junior Leadership Program (for Seeds aged 14-17), which starts with their experience at Camp and continues through year-round activities at home, focused on progressively building and applying four key assets and abilities needed for effective leadership in peace-building: strong relationships and mutual understanding across lines of conflict, a sophisticated knowledge of core conflict issues and the steps needed to create change, critical thinking and communication skills, and an ability to take responsible action and influence others to engage in peace-building;
2) Senior Seeds (for Seeds aged 18-21), offering alumni advanced leadership training suited to their new networks and life phases;
3) and the Graduate Association (for Seeds aged 22+) that serves as a vehicle for alumni to sustain their connection to Seeds of Peace and each other while focusing on high impact local and regional initiatives designed to end conflict and promote lasting peace. More on this to come, but I am excited about our new programmatic outlook and measures of accountability. If you have any questions or want more info, please feel free to be in touch with Eva, our Director of Strategic Initiatives, eva@seedsofpeace.org.
- Seeds of Peace is growing! Thanks to a generous grant, our staff in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have moved to full-time, establishing offices in each country, and launching exciting new programs. They have also been joined by Awista Ayub, Seeds of Peace’s new Regional Director of South Asia based in Mumbai. Awista formerly worked at the Embassy of Afghanistan and is the author of Kabul Girls Soccer Club, which chronicles her work in starting and supporting an Afghan girls’ soccer team. Read more about her book and work here! Awista can be reached at aayub@seedsofpeace.org.
- We have expanded our presence in the United Kingdom! Thanks to an incredible base of supporters and Seeds families in London, we have been able to create an incredible community of Seeds graduates, counselors, supporters and more who have initiated unique programs in schools, religious institutions and more in addition to great social events. We have also welcomed a big group UK-based Seeds to camp last summer. If you are in the UK and not yet plugged in, please let me know.
- In response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, Seeds in Pakistan reached out to their counterparts from around the world to help support the 20 million people affected. Over 60 Seeds throughout the Middle East, South Asia, USA, and UK volunteered to serve as campaign coordinators, raising more than $18,000 and sending many boxes of needed supplies! Seeds of Peace partnered with Kawish Welfare Trust to ensure that all contributions will go towards rebuilding homes and establishing two schools in villages hit by the floods. Not only will these funds go a long way towards providing much-needed support and relief, but it’s an amazing demonstration of what’s possible when young people—even those divided by conflict—choose to come together to make a difference.
- We have made great strides this year to improve the way we run as an organization. Though we’ve been operating in a tough economy, we have reduced our overhead costs significantly and been very diligent and efficient in how we allocate resources, aiming to use as much as possible to directly support Camp and regional programs. At the same time, we have grown and improved our fundraising operations and base of support and hope to see our budget continue to grow to provide more programming for all age groups.
- Finally, Seeds of Peace has been working to create an online community for our alumni that enables you to stay connected to each other, coordinate projects, share resources, and engage a wider community to support your efforts. More to come on this in 2011! If you’d like more information, please email Ashleigh, our Director of American and Graduate Seed Programs.
I only wish there was a way for all of us to come together at line-up to share and discuss these achievements in person, but I don’t think our benches (or even the town of Otisfield!) could accommodate the 4,300 Seeds, 500+ Educators and Delegation Leaders, and the countless counselors, facilitators, and staff that make up our Seeds of Peace family. So we’ll continue to use the tools we have to keep our community connected in every way that we can. And as always, I would love to hear from you with thoughts, questions, concerns and ideas.
Thank you for your leadership, dedication and spirit. Thank you for being a Seed, and thank you for being a part of our family. On behalf of the wonderful Seeds of Peace staff (who I am grateful to be working with), we look forward to supporting you in the year ahead.
Sending much love and warm wishes to you and your families for a more peaceful new year,
Leslie Adelson Lewin
Executive Director