Camper Information
Camper Packet | Our Goals | Our Leaders | Our Hosts |
| Our Lodging | Our Schedule |
Welcome to Peacebuilders Camp! Our week will be filled with activities and experiences that will open your eyes, stretch your mind, challenge your thoughts, pull at your heart, engage your hands, and nourish your soul. You will meet a wide variety of people who are working and serving and living in ways unfamiliar to you and whose lives will touch yours in unexpected and long-lasting ways. We hope you will come full of expectation, ready to
experience new ideas,
take on new challenges,
make new friends,
share new experiences,
and have a ton of fun in the process!
View the 2011 Peacebuilders Camper Packet! Click here to download the full packet (PDF format).
Packet includes: Welcome letter, Camp Schedule, FAQ, Counselors and Emergency Contact Info, Packing List, Pick Up & Drop Off Information, Important Forms
During our week together, we will visit intriguing places, meet passionate people, discuss important issues, and serve others in significant ways as we learn about the rights all people should enjoy and discover how we can help make those rights real for people all over the world. We will also sing, play, swim, hike, laugh, relax, tell stories, build fires, build friendships, share our hopes, and create new dreams for ourselves and for our world.
Marilyn McGinnis has been a mom and a teacher for many years. Teaching primarily within Atlanta’s home schooling community, she has come to understand how vital it is for kids to gain an appreciation for the hard work that has been done over time to guarantee us certain rights, and for the hard work that remains to be done so that all may enjoy these rights. By introducing Peacebuilder Campers to amazing individuals who are making a difference in our world, she hopes to inspire young people to accept the challenge to be part of the next generation of peacemakers.
Jonah McDonald is an activist, teacher, storyteller and wilderness guide. Though he no longer teaches middle school in a Montessori setting, Jonah continues to teach in non-classroom settings and particularly enjoys working with middle schoolers. His service on several non-profit boards and work towards Middle East peace have demonstrated to him just how important education is in peace work. He believes the Peacebuilders Camp can help kids develop their own beliefs about the world and in turn catapult the campers into action that betters the world.
Koinonia Partners in Americus, Georgia is a group of people who have chosen to live and work together in ways that support the peacebuilding mission of the community. Koinonia Partners is also a working farm and operates a warehouse, mail-order business and gift shop. During our time at Koinonia, we’ll learn about its peacebuilding history, join in the farm work, and get to know some of the dedicated folks there. We’ll also have a chance to reflect on Koinonia’s commitment to simplicity and community, and compare those values to the materialism and individualism that we generally see all around us.
Koinonia Partners’ guesthouse will be our home-away-from-home for the week. Two to four campers will share each bedroom. Our group will have its own kitchen and living room as well, and two bathrooms with showers. We’ll share a few of our meals with the Koinonia community, and prepare others for ourselves.
After an introduction to human rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we’ll focus each day on one aspect of the UDHR. For each “Right of the Day,” we’ll consider whether or not that right is guaranteed for most of us, who might be left out of that right, and why. Then, we’ll participate in an activity or visit a place where folks are working to extend that right to those who don’t currently enjoy it.
Monday, June 13
Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Activities include:
- Introduction to Peacebuilders Camp
- Games
- Orientation to Koinonia Partners
- Bonfire, storytelling, and s’mores
Important times:
- 7:30 am – meet at Atlanta Friends Meeting in Decatur
- 8:00 am – depart for Koinonia
Tuesday, June 14
Article 23, Section 3: “Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worth of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.”
Activities include:
- Shopping for local produce, meat, and eggs
- Craft project
- Trip to Café Campesino
- Work project at Koinonia
Wednesday, June 15
Article 25, Section 1: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
Activities include:
- Swimming at Reed Bingham State Park
- Visit to Ellenton Health Clinic & Farm Tour
- Service project repackaging food for clinic’s food pantry
- Games and cook-out at State Park
Thursday, June 16
Article 18: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Activities include:
- Visit to Montezuma’s Mennonite Community
- Peach picking at Kauffman’s Farm
- Talk with a conscientious objector
- Make special dessert with fruit we’ve picked
- Movie night
Friday, June 17
Article 25, Section 1: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
Activities include:
- Visit Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village
- Lunch with a peacebuilder
- Participate in a service project with Fuller Center
- Campfire, storytelling, s’mores, and closing ceremony
Saturday, June 18
Article 14, Section 1: Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
Activities Include:
- Visit El Refugio
- Hike at Providence Canyon
- Return to Atlanta
Important times:
- • 6:00 pm – Arrive at Atlanta Friends Meeting in Decatur for pick up