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2018 Camp Report Roundup: Session 2

Aug 14, 2018 / No Comments

Three weeks ago, 162 young leaders from across the United States arrived at the second session of the 2018 Seeds of Peace Camp. Our 26th summer may have just ended, but there’s no better time to look back on the memories these new Seeds will never forget. We hope you enjoy this Camp roundup!

Day 1: July 25

ARRIVAL DAY! Over the course of the afternoon, campers from all across the United States— from nearby in Maine all the way out to Los Angeles—arrived to the enthusiastic welcome of our counselors and staff. By dinnertime, all but four campers were settled into their bunks.

Day 2: July 26

Though it also marked the first dialogue of second session, the highlight of the day was a presentation our returning campers (called “Paradigm Shifters” or PSs) gave to new campers over a roaring fire. The PSs’ sharp contrast between Camp—“the way life could be”—and the outside world was met with deep appreciation for their insight and honesty.

Day 3: July 27

Robert Bordone and Florrie Darwin, faculty at the Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program at Harvard Law School, met with PSs to teach them valuable negotiation skills. The duo also run our popular Mediation and Negotiation Seminar in January.

Day 4: July 28

The spotlight was on our Educators program—teachers, school faculty, and community leaders who are go through their own Camp process as part of our Educators in a Diverse Democracy course. To decompress and reflect after their recent dialogue sessions, the DLs visited neighbors and supporters of Seeds of Peace at Moose Pond.

Day 5: July 29

In addition to trust exercises, rousing debates, and a visit from former head counselor Jerry Smith, this day featured our World Cup of Ga-Ga. Four teams of campers competed in the Big Hall, with the winning team facing off against counselors. This time, the campers prevailed!

Day 6: July 30

While this day was chock-full of activities, the most action happening was in dialogue huts. By now, this session had already gotten past the “getting to know you” phase—which sometimes can lead campers to beat around the bush on controversial topics—and have started confronting divisive issues plaguing their communities head-on in their dialogue sessions.

Day 7: July 31

Our PSs and educators went on an interfaith tour of Portland, hosted by 2016 GATHER Fellow and Portland city councilor Pious Ali. Meanwhile, Camp itself was bustling with activity—including a visit from Maine Seeds Program Director Tim Wilson.

Day 8: August 1

The highlight was “The Mostest,” one of our most popular all-Camp events. Rather than celebrating being the “best” or “greatest” at something, The Mostest celebrates the act of committing to something the fullest. Other highlights include a powerful discussion of race relations from our educators and a performance from our Bollywood special activity group.

Day 9: August 2

Arts Day! This celebration of all forms of art—and how the arts can be used to physicalize and continue the dialogue process—occurs once each session, but a new feature was the “food truck” one group constructed and painted, from which the cooking groups could serve their creations. At night, each dialogue group gave a performance using drama, music and dance.

Day 10: August 3

PSs had two special sessions today: one with Seth, a Maine Seed who is now an investigative reporter covering stories about immigrants and refugees in the US, and another with our educators on improving relations between teachers and students at the high school level. We also offered all our campers the chance to observe the Muslim and Jewish faith services we conduct. For many campers, this was their first opportunity to view their religious practices.

Day 11: August 4

Sports Day! We were joined by two other Maine camps, which we played in soccer and basketball with our girls and boys teams. It was also a visiting day, bringing 40 Maine Seeds back to the place where they first learned “the way life could be.” Meanwhile, Group Challenge—which, like Arts Day, physicalizes and continues campers’ work in dialogue—arrived at its final stage: the ropes course!

Day 12: August 5

Almost always, around the two week mark is when the most challenging, and rewarding, period of the dialogue process begins. That was definitely the case with this session! The many activities campers could engage in, be they on the field, in the art shack, on the waterfront, or performing in the Big Hall, went a long way to defuse the tension.

Day 13: August 6

Our educators participated in two workshops on how to use the arts as teaching tools: one hosted by GATHER Fellow and renowned artist Hanoch Piven, another co-hosted by American Seed Micah and Mic & Pen participant Ami Yares. Meanwhile, campers rehearsed for the Talent Show and held a Café Night in honor of Seeds of Peace founder John Wallach, who passed away in 2002.

Day 14: August 7

Our PSs went on a hike up Bradbury Mountain, but they returned to tragic news. 2017 Maine Seed Laila, who was active in the community and who had come to Camp only three days earlier during visiting day, passed away in a bike accident. Staff and campers alike rose to their best selves in face of the news, giving one another the space and support to grieve.

Day 15: August 8

Everyone who knew Laila gathered in a circle, together in silence, during rest hour to honor her memory. Meanwhile, our beloved Camp Nurse, Peggy Ackers, was presented the Director’s Award of Excellence by Seeds of Peace CEO Leslie Lewin and Camp Director Sarah Brajtbord. At night, campers presented a magnificent Talent Show, including a moving song about Laila by the PSs.

Day 16: August 9

While our educators attended the second annual Seeds of Peace Forum on Educating In a Diverse Democracy at Portland City Hall, back at Camp, Color Games officially began! The next two days would see campers divided into two teams, Green and Blue, competing in all sorts of challenges. By the end of the day, scores were tied!

Day 17: August 10

Color Games were in full swing: canoe races, soccer, basketball, street hockey, debate, art, music, dance, Ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball. All leading up to “Message to Hajime,” a relay-race gauntlet comprised of over 100 tasks. The winner: Green Team!

Day 18: August 11

The last full day of Camp is always one of wrapping up. Campers had their last dialogue sessions, packed for their departures, and learned what year-round regional programs will await them back at home. In a Quaker silent meeting, many campers shed tears, expressed gratitude for being able to be who they really are at Camp without being rejected, and said that the experience made them realize that they could become the people they hoped to be. We also held a memorial service for the Seeds who have passed away over the years; including Laila, five were from 2018.

Day 19: August 12

Departure Day is always bittersweet; feelings of accomplishment and fulfilment clash with flowing tears for leaving the community we created at Camp. By the evening, only one camper remained; he rang the Camp bell one final time and, as its ring reverberated through the empty campgrounds, left on his bus.

Combined with our first session, this summer a total of 352 incredible young leaders—from now on officially “Seeds”—have now gone back to their homes with the skills, wisdom, and courage to lead change in their communities. Not only that, but they have returned to year-round local programming awaiting them there as well. Our 26th summer of Camp may have ended, but their journeys with Seeds of Peace have only just begun.

Dehumanizing Each Other Won’t Effect Real Change. Here’s How We Move Forward | Rolling Stone

May 13, 2024 / No Comments

As conflict grows on campuses and in communities, connection is our best hope.

By Eva Armour, Vishnu Swaminathan

SEEDS OF PEACE is a long-running nonprofit that brings together youth from conflict zones to engage in dialogue and learn leadership skills. Eva Armour is its Chief Impact Officer, and Vishnu Swaminathan is its Chief Operating Officer.

In this time of intense polarization, so many of us are seeking but struggling to find healthy and effective ways to engage colleagues, classmates, or even family on deeply divisive issues — from Israel, Gaza, and campus protests, to abortion and immigration.

We often focus on the arguments without thinking about the part that matters just as much (if not more): how we engage with each other. How we engage conveys our values, sets culture, and can even determine how successful we are at making progress on the issues we care about.

This is particularly true, and also most challenging, when the stakes are high — and when lives are on the line, and we are confronted with horrifying images, it is seemingly impossible. In moments like these, anyone who disagrees with us is not only wrong but fundamentally intolerable. Yet this is when we need to stay most connected to each other’s humanity.

Otherwise, the only path is deeper disconnection, dehumanization of the other, and violence. We can’t build institutions or societies grounded in care and community by shaming or screaming at each other. We can’t expect others to see our full humanity when we deny them theirs.

That is why Seeds of Peace has, for over 30 years, been bringing young people together across lines of difference from the United States and more than 25 other countries. Over 8,000 of these young leaders have now spent part of a summer at the Seeds of Peace Camp, engaging face-to-face in the hard work of dialogue.

Dialogue is a way to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world. It is not debate, negotiation, or group therapy (though it can be therapeutic). Perhaps most importantly, it is also not an end goal in itself but rather a first step and then a continual process towards taking informed action. 

For those of us who are searching for ways to engage others in our lives productively on difficult topics, here are three tested strategies to help build bridges and make interactions more constructive and less destructive.

Find ways to create a connection.

Connection is an antidote to division and violence. Instead of avoiding or attacking those you disagree with, seek out opportunities to go deeper. Do your own work first. Enter conversations with genuine curiosity and practice ways to regulate your body and emotions in order to stay open to listening, even when met with opinions with which you fiercely disagree. Be mindful of defenses and deflections; look for ways to align, even when disagreeing. And do all of this without fear: either you will validate your perspective or hear something new that moves you towards deeper understanding. 

The hard work of staying in dialogue with those with whom we share little in common and sitting with our deep discomfort builds empathy and connection that prevents demonization.

Move beyond sides.

Polarization typically results in pressure to take sides: to be ‘pro’ one group necessitates being ‘anti’ the other. The goal of dialogue isn’t to validate all sides but to increase our capacity to hold multiple truths and redefine the ‘sides’ altogether. It strengthens how we act without diminishing the gravity or urgency of the moment. How might we align and organize per shared values, drawing on the power of our different identities? How might that bring us closer to creating more safe and just communities?

Use your imagination.

Any path forward will require us to first imagine beyond our current realities. Seeds of Peace creates spaces like our camp that allow us to imagine and practice a version of the future that has yet to be born into existence. Doing so is messy and often challenging, but it also expands our ideas for what’s possible and inspires people to work towards realizing it in their communities. As our alumni declared upon returning home after experiencing living together, “We refuse to accept what is when we know what can be.”

We are in a character and values-defining moment. The way we engage with each other now will predict the course for what comes next, and solutions stand the greatest chance for success when they are grounded in dialogue and mutual respect.

“The wish to not have to deal with the other is an illusion,” wrote one of our alumni in the Middle East recently. “And I hope this realization becomes a source of strength rather than weakness. That inevitably, we have to find a way to make this work for all of us. Otherwise, it will work for none of us.”  

Read this commentary piece in Rolling Stone â€șâ€ș

Celebrating the power of young leaders

May 12, 2019 / No Comments

Celebrity guests and a vibrant sunset across the river may have set the stage for our Spring Benefit Dinner last week, but they were merely the backdrop to the celebration of something even larger: the power of youth.

More than 650 friends, old and new, came out in support of our mission, and of our Seeds—their courage, voice, passion, and the potential of the next generation.

MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, recipient of the John P. Wallach Peacemaker Award, noted, “I can’t help but wonder what politics would look like if young people took over presidential campaigns, and debates, and the coverage of them.”

Whoopi Goldberg, the host of the evening, remarked on her own camp experience. “When I was a kid, no one thought we were smart enough to change the world. Things have changed.”

Certainly, the three Seeds who spoke from the heart confirmed Whoopi and Nicolle’s observations, and inspired hope for our shared future.

Palestinian Seed Shahd talked about her experience in dialogue at Camp.

“I quickly discovered the power of personal stories, and how those experiences matter just as much as facts and numbers do. Each of the stories transformed our interpersonal perspectives … The dialogue sessions were an opportunity to share something in common: our humanity.”

Avigail, an Israeli Seed, reflected upon our collective capacity for transforming conflict.

“Working for change requires partners, a community, a team, a circle of belonging. This is what Seeds of Peace is. An example of what human contact could be if conflict has ended. Reality is elastic, if we just put our collective effort to it. The magical normalcy of Camp proves that in the right environment, you can break the most stubborn of paradigms.”

And Syracuse Seed Salat spoke of being born in a Kenyan refugee camp and ultimately finding his home on the field at Seeds of Peace—not just a physical patch of grass, but the embodiment of an unreal experience where people “delve into the most challenging topics fearlessly in the hope of growing past their comfort zone.”

“They listen with their whole bodies even when they disagree with what is being said,” said Salat. “They love with their whole hearts and help each other dismantle and heal from past experiences.”

Just before the Jerusalem Youth Chorus closed out the evening in harmony, Arn and Nancy Tellem, Seeds of Peace Board members and the night’s honorees, paid tribute to friends, supporters, and their own family. As Arn said, “My grandparents escaped anti-Semitism in Europe to come to the States, and Nancy’s parents did too, at the last possible moment in 1938. On both sides of our family, the desire for a more tolerant, more peaceful world is encoded in our DNA.”

If you didn’t get to attend in person, you can peruse this album to see the smiles and the highlights. And we will be sharing longer excerpts of the Seeds’ full speeches on our blog, so be sure to check back soon.

It’s not too late to celebrate our Seeds and support our continued effort to cultivate the next generation of leaders whose success will be rooted in empathy, conviction, and understanding.

Building solidarity: Multinational dialogue returns with 37 Middle East youth in Cyprus

Sep 27, 2022 / No Comments

At the end of a rigorous day of dialogue, group challenges, and activities, the scene at an August Seeds of Peace program looked something like a modern-day John Hughes film: Scattered across a central lawn, small groups were talking, dancing, taking selfies, and sharing TikTok videos—seemingly typical teenagers were doing typical teenager things.

Looks can be deceiving.

Below the surface, there was little typical about MEET in Cyprus, a multinational dialogue program for Middle Eastern youth.

“I’m still processing it all,” said Lara, and Egyptian Seed. “I anticipated it would be big for me, but I can’t explain just how much this has given me something that I didn’t know that I needed.”

With 37 participants from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt, MEET in Cyprus marked the first Seeds of Peace multinational youth dialogue program in more than two years.

With twice-daily dialogue sessions, a special field trip, group challenges, and teambuilding work, the weeklong program was designed to deepen their understanding of conflict, of one another, and of their responsibility—and ability—to change its course.

It had the markings of the most impactful Seeds of Peace programs, but in many ways, was an evolution of how the organization brings youth together. Primarily, it was designed and led by Middle East staff and Cypriot alumni with regional culture at the forefront and built upon a year’s worth of work in Core Leadership Programs.

“At Camp, the youth came in a clean slate, whereas these kids had already done many months of work building their skills with their local teams, so they’re coming in at a whole different level,” said Claire Dibsy Ayed, Seeds of Peace Chief of Legal and Business Affairs, Palestine, and a lead organizer of the Cyprus program.

In a tour of Nicosia led by Cypriot alumni, participants saw checkpoints along the Greek-Turkish border and ventured within the ghostly quiet UN Buffer Zone. Walking amid bullet-riddled, abandoned buildings, they learned about the conflict and visited the Home for Cooperation, which works to bring together Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

“It might not have hit them in the moment, but when they go home and see the things they talked about in Cyprus, and see similar versions of things they saw over there, that’s when it sinks in: It didn’t seem right over there, why is it okay over here?” said Jonathan Kabiri, Director of Israeli Programs.

Topics in dialogue sessions ranged from gender and human rights, to identifying with certain groups and national histories, to the impact of inherited memories, to challenging master narratives.

Outside dialogue, group challenges required them to practice what they were learning in dialogue—speaking from the “I,” working together, not making decisions for others, gaining consensus, to name a few.

Seeds like Adeem, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, described it as a supportive place to share their stories, to grow as leaders, and to better understand themselves and each other.

“At first I thought it was pointless, but I could see as dialogue went on that people started to understand me and the difficulties that I go through on a daily basis, and that it made other people understand my perspective I understood theirs,” she said. “I see how it could help us to have a more successful generation, and maybe not peace, but at least more understanding.”

By the end of the week, many said they were leaving with a feeling of relief: to have gotten things off their chest, to have heard from others who share their struggles, and to learn that there are those on the other side who want to make change.

“This was an opportunity to widen the lens of what the kids see—to understand that there’s more to the struggle than their own reality,” said Monica Baky, an Egyptian Seed and Multinational Dialogue Programs Director. “It’s not so much about making friends, but building solidarity, understanding the nuance of this work, and inspiring a desire to continue.”

In fact, in a post-survey, the vast majority of participants said they felt more inspired to work for change at home after the program. “There is much more to do, much more to speak about, and much more to hear and be heard, and I’m looking forward to more meetings like that,” said Yaniv, an Israeli Seed.

“I came here to meet Israelis—to tell them my story and what I go through at checkpoints and living as a Palestinian,” Christina said. “I know there are others at my school who would be interested in doing the same, so that’s what I want to do. Talk to them about these programs and help them find their voice.”

“I hope I can create a safe space around my community to continue having these conversations, and to talk about the many problems we face in our country,” Lara added. “Like I said, this is something I didn’t know I needed, but hearing from everyone here makes me feel that I’m not alone. That other people thought this was just as powerful as I did.”

U.S. Seeds hone facilitation skills

Nov 28, 2011 / No Comments

NEW YORK | This year’s annual American Seed Thanksgiving Conference focused on training Seeds with the skills required to facilitate dialogue in their communities. Throughout the two-day conference, attendees learned and practiced the tools and techniques facilitators use to transform conflict.

In addition, five Seeds had an opportunity to stay for continued training on Sunday, November 27, and will later directly apply their skills by facilitating dialogue between American high school students at the Cranbrook Schools’ World Affairs seminar, CultureSpeak, from February 24-25, 2012. Cranbrook is a private preparatory boarding school located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. As part of CultureSpeak, these Seeds will facilitate dialogue on culture, race, religion, and politics.

The annual American Seeds Thanksgiving Retreats began in 2004 when a group of pioneering American Seeds decided to convene a retreat to discuss the American Seed experience and reconnect with their friends from Camp. Since then the retreat has grown to include International Seeds studying in the US, topics that enrich Seeds understanding of the Middle East and South Asia, peace-building, and the creation of a council of American Seeds to plan additional seminars and programming in the US.

VIDEO: Seeds, staff host Black History Month forum

Feb 25, 2021 / No Comments

Around 50 members of the Seeds of Peace community logged in to Zoom on February 25 to listen to a powerful, intergenerational discussion: “Black History and the Road Ahead: Tim Wilson and Seeds in Conversation.”

Tim, who serves as Seeds of Peace’s Senior Advisor & Director, Maine Seeds Programs, became the first Black secondary school teacher in the state of Maine in 1966.

The webinar was moderated by Seeds of Peace Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships Rahsaan Graham with Danielle (2018 Maine Seed), Boni (2011 Maine Seed), and Hannah Cooke (Camp Counselor) joining Tim on the panel.

In a little over an hour the conversation covered a multitude of topics, including the long road to racial justice in America, Black leadership, self-care, and how non-Black people can be allies. As Danielle put it: “The shortest, most immediate answer I can think of is: Stand in solidarity. The true definition of compassion is suffering with, and thus, creating a sense of kinship and unity. Acknowledge humanity on a whole, and advocate for those whose humanity has often been diminished.”

As Camp goes virtual, Seeds build skills and solidarity at a critical time

Aug 26, 2020 / No Comments

Somewhere between elaborate Excel worksheets, countless Zoom breakout rooms, spotty Internet service, and an unfettered desire to connect, it happened: Attendees to the 2020 virtual camp formed the transformative formula that is at the foundation of the Seeds of Peace Camp experience.

Across 13 time zones, dozens of Seeds from 12 delegations came together over the course of a week in August for virtual activities, workshops, and, of course, dialogue. It wasn’t the experience anyone had planned for this summer, but when COVID-19 led to the cancellation of in-person Camp in Maine, it brought a bit of Camp into Seeds’ living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and communities.

“Undoubtedly, the Camp experience can never be translated virtually; however, it provided me an opportunity of being in different realms at the same time,” said Emaan, a 2018 Pakistani Seed.

“While in the mornings I was learning my geographical identities and historical facts in online classes, in the evenings I was able to explore and understand the ideologies and mindsets behind them in virtual camp. I understood how everything is connected. It was like bringing my own realities at home and ‘the way life could be’ together in a unique way.”

There were nearly 60 Seeds who participated in the virtual camp, all of whom had previously attended Camp in the last three years, while new applicants for 2020 were invited to attend a Virtual Engagement seminar in July that gave them a taste of the Seeds of Peace experience.

Of course, there’s nothing like in-person Camp in Maine, but the digital version had its benefits: No barriers of cost or travel; no limits on participants; campers participated in multinational dialogue sessions; and the online nature allowed programming staff to design something that was nimble and responsive to what the kids needed in this moment.

“These are the young leaders of the next generation and we need to give them the skills, but they’re the ones working in their home environments and they know what they need,” said Interim Camp Director Clarke Reeves.

The week’s offerings were built from a survey that potential participants took earlier this summer to determine which topics and activities would resonate most. The responses led to options that included workshops on subjects like human-centered design thinking, and discussions on cultural and faith practices and race and privilege.

Seeds had their choice of eight optional workshops and social activities, and the most well attended were those that focused on skill-building and academic and career-oriented subjects. One such course was Conversations on Global Issues and Public Policy, which began with presentation by a Seed who is currently studying public policy in graduate school, and gave Seeds the opportunity to hear directly from graduate students working in the fields of Gender and Public Policy; Energy and Environment; Economic and Political Development; and Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy.

At the heart of virtual camp was the four-day Multinational, Cross-Camp Dialogue, which was themed “Building Leadership Through Solidarity” and included discussions on personal identity, gender, class, and race and ethnicity. They were, of course, abbreviated versions of what Seeds would have experienced at Camp, but for Seeds like Omar, a 2019 Egyptian Seed, they were still able to have a surprisingly significant impact.

“I didn’t think virtual camp would take all my time and energy and that it actually could be useful and educating,” said Omar. “But it improved my self confidence and my ability to communicate and speak in discussions and dialogue, which was most important for me because these skills are really needed in these times—especially if you’re leading change. Every time Seeds of Peace does something like this I always have that feeling that there is always good to do in this world and change to make and work for.”

There were challenges, of course: spotty internet connection, vastly different time zones, competing obligations at home, Zoom fatigue, and trying to replicate the chemistry of a Dialogue Hut—or even the magic of Camp’s Cafe Night or a dance party—is a lot more difficult to pull off online that one might expect. Actually, it’s probably exactly as difficult as one might expect.

But if there’s one thing that virtual camp proved, it’s the importance of finding ways to continue to connect, inspire, and develop young changemakers, especially when it’s difficult to do so.

“During isolation, a global pandemic feels big, scary, and everlasting,” said Elie, a 2018 American Seed. “Virtual camp has reminded me that I am never alone in the world. There are always incredible people out there waiting to unleash their powers and stand together in solidarity.”

Read more reflections from Seeds about the camp â€șâ€ș

A magazine by and for teens: How one Seed is spreading empathy through the written word

Jul 27, 2020 / No Comments

A digital space where teenagers can have a platform of their own; where they can fully realize their ability to create empathy and connect lives across real and imagined boundaries: This is Crossed Paths magazine.

Inspired by her time at the Seeds of Peace Camp and a love for writing, Saya, a 2019 New York City Seed, created the online literary magazine earlier this year with the belief “that dialogue and personal storytelling have the power to bring people together and encourage empathy,” she said.

“Since I couldn’t stay at Seeds forever, I decided to bring the storytelling to a digital space, and thus began Crossed Paths!”

Written and edited entirely by teenagers, the magazine is a space to share stories that resonate with young people, including topics like race, gender, sexuality, and religion.

The first edition, which was themed “Identity,” paired polished artwork with poems and deeply personal reflections about issues such as the pressures of growing up, intersectionality in America, and white women’s dehumanizing obsession with a young Black girl’s hair.

The goal, Saya said, is as the magazine’s name implies: “For our readers and writers to cross paths with new perspectives and stories, hopefully inspiring newfound empathy.”

“We all live in some sort of bubble,” she said, “and the primary purpose of Crossed Paths is to break out of that bubble.”

Crossed Paths is currently accepting submissions from writers and artists for their second issue, which is themed “resilience,” with a deadline of August 1. More information is available at crossedpaths.org.

What is Camp like? Nineteen new Seeds tell it like it is

Jan 12, 2020 / 4 Comments

What does it mean to be a Seed? To eat with, canoe with, and bare your soul to strangers—“enemies,” even—over multiple weeks at a Camp in the middle of rural Maine?

It’s an incredibly difficult question for most Seeds to fully articulate, but fortunately, taking on the difficult—the “impossible,” even—is what Seeds of Peace is all about.

In the following video, originally posted on the SOP19st Instagram account on Christmas Day, 19 Seeds from around the world give their honest, heartfelt, and certainly raggedy (a term used in dialogue sessions that means going beyond the superficial and getting real) takes on topics like meeting with the “other,” their best and most difficult moments at Camp, and why they wanted to come to Camp in the first place.

The video was conceived of and created by the two 2019 Seeds behind the Instagram account, which has become a popular platform for Seeds and counselors to share their Camp experiences and to reconnect. The Instagram account creators both live in the Middle East, but have asked to remain anonymous for now to avoid any misconceptions about bias that might discourage more Seeds from sharing their stories. (They have, however, expressed interest in revealing their identities once they hit 600 followers.)

The goal of the video, said its creator, was partially to give uncensored insight about the Camp experience to those who are considering applying, as well as to be a beacon to help bring Seeds back to what matters most.

“Whenever time passes, we feel the distance between us and our friends and Camp,” the video’s creator wrote in an email. “Some had already moved on and totally forgot about Camp, so it was time to remind them about the experience and their friends.”

The video was created at the expense of studying for final exams and socializing with friends, but was an act of love that the video’s maker said was well worth the sacrifice.

“At the end, this video is for teens around the world, to encourage them to join and have this unforgettable experience. This is the way we can change. This is what we can do.”

Follow the Fellows: Making a play for gender equality

Oct 23, 2019 / No Comments

Could a board game change the world? If it helps players change their minds about the people and the world around them, then Tugba, a 2019 GATHER Fellow from Turkey, is already seeing the results.

Through her company, Learning Designs, she’s created over 60 games and training sessions that introduce skills, ideas, and lessons on everything from teamwork to children’s rights, intercultural learning, youth entrepreneurship, and active citizenship.

Surprisingly, Tugba didn’t play many board games growing up—she said it just wasn’t part of the culture in Turkey—but she did have a playful grandmother who taught her games from her own childhood. Even through a Skype call over an ocean, that ebullient nature shone through in Tugba: She’s quick to laugh, open hearted, and eager to connect.

Building relationships, along with a desire to make an impact, are, after all, what inspired her youthful aspirations of one day becoming mayor. And though she’s not working in government institutions today, in reality, she’s doing exactly what she always wanted to do: make a difference.

“We are creating many different games and trainings that touch people: refugees, young people, and adults,” she said. “I wanted to be mayor because I wanted to change my region and my city, but now I’m doing it for my country and even on an international scale.”

The games, which are often tailor made working with schools, businesses, and nonprofits who focus on a specific need—such as social inclusion for refugees—have been played by thousands of people in Europe and Latin America, but she applied to the GATHER Fellowship looking to further develop a project that’s based around an issue that hits close to home for Tugba: gender equality.

“Turkey ranks 130th (out of 149 countries) in gender equality,” Tugba said, citing a 2018 report by the World Economic Forum. “To overcome this problem, we have to change points of view and make gender issues a point for people to talk about.”

As a female business owner, it’s a topic rooted in personal experiences—when she started her company, she said that even her family still wondered if she could really pull it off, solely because of her gender. It’s these sort of societal barriers, the kind that would give even a supportive family pause or keep a young girl from reaching her full potential, that drive Tugba to change traditional mindsets around gender.

“Even if there are strong women or strong men, we still see that women are not really taking on responsibilities outside the home because their families, or society, is pushing them in that way,” she said. “I know that many of the girls are marrying very early because of this, or many of the girls are not going to school because of this, or not doing what they want to do at school because of this, so we have to change this mentality, this perception, then society will change.”

So how does a board game for 9- to 14-year olds teach this?

“Our first approach is not to teach, but to explore,” she said. Using a design thinking method, each game begins with research and the help of more than 100 volunteers around Turkey who try out the games.

Many of the games encourage players to discuss different topics with the help of prompts—for example, the gender equity game asks questions like, “What do you think of when you hear the word woman/man?” Then continues with questions that flip some of the more common gender stereotypes: “Name any of your boy friends who can cook well,” or, “name a girl friend who has leadership skills.”

“So we are making them think about and discuss gender issues, while they’re also learning about critical thinking and making consensus and working in a team,” she said. “This particular game has already been sent to about a hundred public schools in Turkey, so even when the curriculum doesn’t include gender equality, teachers now have a way to explore the topic through the game material.”

It’s all part of Tugba’s goals to combat stereotypes through dialogue and empathy, while also carrying out the “game-ification” of education, as she called it.

From as early as she can remember—kindergarten, in fact—when it came to the educational system, she’s always thought “there has to be a better way.”

“While things are improving, education in many parts of the world is like a cage for children, where you are not really motivated to learn,” she said. “Learning is the most amazing thing we can do throughout our lives, but while we are children very often it’s like an obligation.”

It was sometime after college, when she held a job running training courses for a European Union program, that she began to see how experiential learning (e.g., games, role playing, and simulations) could invigorate the learning process. If done well, even adults could shake out of their insecurities, and better learn—even enjoy!—a workplace training.

“I noticed that participants in these training courses were being more like themselves; they weren’t judging each other and were being more confident,” Tugba said. “So I started to wonder: How can we use those tools for education? Because education should not only be for cognitive information or knowledge, it should also be a skill, an attitude, an awareness and language. It should be compelling.”

While she hopes to extend the impact of the games’ by translating more of them to English and Arabic, she is resistant to any business strategies that would lessen the social impact of Learning Designs within Turkey. Relationships, Tugba said, are of the utmost importance to her: One way to strengthen connections and bring people together is through playing games, another is through the way she creates them.

“People have told me I should mass produce the games in China for cheap, but I’m producing everything in Turkey because I want to work with local people, social entrepreneurs, and women’s groups and support them,” she said. “My team is always thinking more about impact—how we will make change, how more people will benefit from it—than about profit.”

Success, she said, is not something she’s measuring in numbers, but in the changes she sees in her community, and in the kids playing their games. She described an instance when she was watching children playing a Learning Designs game in the street, and how one little boy refused to follow the game’s instructions to hold hands because it meant he would have to hold the hand of a little girl. About five minutes after being asked why he was refusing, he nonchalantly took the little girl’s hand.

“This is what we want. It’s not about giving them answers, but making them question themselves,” she said. “In many ways, children are more just than adults, and given the chance, I believe that children will find the right way.”

This series highlights our 2019 GATHER Fellows. To learn more about the inspiring social change that Tugba and our other Fellows are working towards, check out #FollowtheFellows on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.