LAHORE | Fourteen Pakistani Seeds and Educators organized a weeklong National Integration Camp for 69 high school students and educators from across Pakistan from February 1-7.
The camp program promotes understanding and tolerance between communities in Pakistan, with participants representing the cities of Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Islamabad, and Peshawar.
The campers worked to build trust through sports and other fun activities and took part in sessions that tackled national and interprovincial issues through dialogue, leadership development, and community action project idea generation.
“Before the camp, I had many misconceptions about people of other provinces,” said Fatima, a camper from Lahore. “Now, I feel like I have the power to change the thoughts of my community.”
The campers held a cultural night and talent show to represent their cultures and showcase their individual talents. Fourteen returning campers from previous Pakistan National Integration Camps took part in their own parallel program, as did 10 educators whose goal was to find ways to promote peace and tolerance in their classrooms.
“It broke stereotypes I had for other provinces, especially about Balochistan,” said Aiman, an educator from Peshawar. “Moreover, I got to know about the minorities living in our country.”
In the post-camp surveys, 95 percent of respondents said that as a result of their experiences at the camp, they feel more equipped to lead efforts to reduce tension between religious, cultural, or ethnic groups in their schools and communities.
Eighty percent of respondents said they had positive views of other ethnic groups after the camp, as opposed to 61 percent beforehand. And 86 percent expressed positive feelings towards other religious groups, compared to 72 percent at the start.
“This camp has given me a lot of confidence [and] ability to listen to other people, and most importantly, how to communicate with people of other religions,” said one participant from Lahore.
Camp participants formulated projects and action plans to implement lessons learned during the week back in their communities.
Maisam, a returning camper from the Hazara minority in Quetta, said that during the camp, he had built a strong friendship with Irfan, from the Pashtun community in Quetta. He said that the camp had given them the confidence to work together to overcome mistrust between the two communities in their city.
The program was funded by the United States Institute of Peace with program support from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the National Commission for Justice and Peace.
NATIONAL INTEGRATION CAMP PHOTOS