BY MAYA MIRCHANDANI | MAINE, UNITED STATES Seeds of Peace International, a non-profit organisation, held a camp at Maine in the United States, for students from different parts of the world that have been affected by conflict in one form or another.
The NGO conducts such camps for children who are often the most invisible faces in areas ridden with conflict and violence.
At the Otisfield camp, there were a few Indians and Pakistanis among the 170 children who attended the camp.
The camp called Seeds of Peace is a rare opportunity for some children to free themselves from the violence that surrounds their life and instead, tell their stories.
Detox programme
Deep in the woods of Maine, Seeds of Peace brings together teenagers from conflict zones. So that the children can literally see the face of their enemy. They call this a “detox programme”. The Seeds of Peace summer camp was started in 1993 mainly for children from Israel and Palestine.
Since then, the programme has been expanded to include children from other Arab countries, Balkans and Afghanistan. The summer camp since last year has also been inviting small contingents of children from India and Pakistan. Out of the 170 kids in the camp, there are 12 each from Mumbai and Lahore.
“We never thought we’d stay in the same bunk, sleep with them. We never thought they’d be so friendly. But we met at Zurich airport and became best friends in five minutes. There were no groups like Indians separate and Pakistanis separate. There were girls separate and boys separate!” said Ira Shukla, a student of Yashodham School, Mumbai.
Coexistence sessions
Apart from the fun and games of summer camp, the children went through daily hour-long coexistence sessions. In such sessions, children, armed with their own narratives, talked about everything from the Partition to Kashmir to religion.
“We went to coexistence sessions and sometimes it became hot. But we talked and became friends and it was only then that it got less intense and we learnt how to respect and trust and communicate with each other,” said Tabish Islam, a student of St Anthony’s College, Lahore.
The Seeds of Peace International camp is located along the shore of a pristine lake in rustic Maine. It has become a place where children, exposed to conflict, forget for a while the hatred that surrounds them back home.
Unique opportunity
For the children, particularly from Pakistan and India, the camp provides a unique opportunity to engage with each other in an atmosphere that allows them to set aside their history books and leave as friends.
“Kids feel a certain amount of power and legitimacy because they feel they come as ambassadors representing their countries,” says Aaron Miller, president, Seeds of Peace International.
“When you listen to their coexistence sessions, you see they are presenting positions of their respective governments or that they have been taught as Indians or Pakistanis and Afghans. What happens during these sessions is that they hear what they have never heard before. The other side’s position,” adds Miller.
It’s a camaraderie that allows kids to join forces in every way from painting mehndi patterns on the each others hands to improvising a dholak from an empty water can as they cheer a volleyball game.
But as they prepare to go back home after a special meeting with President Bush and Congressmen in Washington, they have all been forewarned that the challenge ahead is to hold on to what they have learnt in the past month – even if they face opposition.
Youthful exuberance
“I will tell my people at home that we don’t have to hate Indians. That we should learn from history, not follow it. The Indians I met here opened my mind. If we try and trust each other we can live together in peace,” said Faizan Rasool, a student of St Anthony College, Lahore.
After having had the time of their lives, with their youthful confidence they are determined to at least stay in touch with each other. If for nothing else, to carry on their debates further.
“It’s now up to us to develop the friendship further when we go back and solve the problems which we have not had time to solve in the camp,” said Siddarth Shah, a student of New Era School, Mumbai.
And keeping this promise to themselves and to each other will prove to be the ultimate test of will and of hope for a lasting peace between countries – something that the adult leadership seems unable to create.