2019 Peacebuilders Camp
Creating messages of community and peace
July 17, 2019, besides being Peacebuilders campers’ day to focus on the right to freedom of expression, is also notable for another reason. This day is the 29th anniversary of the birth of an extraordinary young man, Mattie Stepanek. On this day, campers learned from Mattie’s example about their own ability to create peace. Mattie … Continue reading
Advocating for our lives
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that we all have the right to education. What does honoring that right mean to you? Better training or salaries for teachers? Access to schooling for girls in others countries? Less focus on testing? Bilingual classrooms? Free university education? Whatever your educational priorities are, chances … Continue reading
Creative expression, inspiring connection
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that we all have the right to freedom of expression and that we can “receive and impart information and ideas through any media . . .” This important right gets a lot of attention at Peacebuilders Camp, where we encourage the exchange of ideas and … Continue reading
Beyond the comfort zone
Our Session 2 campers have traveled far this week in terms of miles: 60 to Columbus, Georgia on Wednesday, 40 to Lumpkin, Georgia on Thursday, and 2.5 on the Chattahoochee River between Georgia and Alabama. But the milage put on our vans and rafts was nothing compared to the distances most of our campers traveled … Continue reading
What Does a Humanitarian Do?
On Monday of this week, our Session 2 campers arrived ready to tackle new ideas, make new friends, consider new perspectives, and gain new inspiration. After a day of orientation and settling in, they were an eager group on Tuesday morning when counselor Merseigne posed this question: What does a humanitarian do? Answers were offered, … Continue reading
Personality, Identity, and Social Justice
For this first time ever, we led a week of Leadership Training for our summer staff between Sessions One and Two of camp. It was a time for relaxation and recharge between groups of campers. But it was also a space for our impressive group of counselors to learn, discuss, and serve. The week started … Continue reading
Hip hop, graffiti, and angel wings: the right to freedom of expression
Even though we said goodbye to our Session 1 campers on Saturday, our staff continues to reflect on all the great experiences of the week. On Friday, campers had a special chance to engage creatively to learn about the right of the day, the right to freedom of expression. We started by thinking of the … Continue reading
All about clothing: a day of service and learning
The right to clothing is tucked into Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one part of a list of basic human needs that everyone should have access to. On Thursday, we took that one little element of Article 25 and blew it wide open, looking at the right to clothing from many … Continue reading
The right to housing, far away and close at hand
When the United Nations developed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, some rights seemed so basic that they didn’t require much debate. Article 25 includes many of those rights: the right to food, to clothing, to medical care, and to housing. But debate certainly can arise when we ask how those basic needs … Continue reading
Building peace through . . . rugby?
Day 2 of Session 1 of Peacebuilders Camp 2019 has been a day to remember! Our focus today was on Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which tells us that everyone has the right to rest and leisure. Not much resting went on today, but we did think about why the right … Continue reading