Teenager From Cleveland Finds Herself Emissary of Peace

Montessori Life, Summer 2004 by Lint, Joanne, Whitehead, Hannah

The world today is riddled with pockets of violence. Hatred and distrust influence people in many nations. Fortunately, others search for the road to peace. In her book, To Educate the Human Potential, Maria Montessori reminded us that all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. This connection points the way to peace.

Hannah Whitehead, a 2003 graduate of Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights, OH, found a special way to make this connection with others. She was selected to join a small number of other students from across the United States as part of an international, nonprofit group (with an office in New York City) called Seeds of Peace.

On its website (www.seedsofpeace. org), the organization tells us that it is "doing what no government can. It is sowing the seeds of peace among children who have grown up with the horror of war. . . It is enabling people blinded by hate to see the face of their enemies. . . It is equipping the next generation with tools to end the violence and become leaders of tomorrow."

Hannah spent part of her 2003 summer at a camp in Maine, with teens from Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The following are Hannah's thoughts concerning her unique experience.

Ten flags flew bright, proud, and whole, each blowing in the same warm wind that swept over us and disappeared into the summer haze. "As you stand here," a voice rang out, "you are in the present. You are stuck in a world of hate and violence; a world of guns and bombs and of war. But see those gates? As soon as you step through those gates you will be entering the future. . ."

People say time travel isn't possible. Maybe it isn't, maybe we can't change the past. But the future is up for the taking, and in the summer of 2003, I spent 3 weeks living a glimpse of the future in which Palestinians and Israelis walk hand in hand, and Pakistanis and Indians laugh together as they play basketball. This glimpse is called Seeds of Peace.

Seeds of Peace is a summer camp, but more than that it is the hope for a peaceful world. It is a camp in the heart of Maine, nestled in a beautiful forest, on the edge of a breathtaking lake. It has the hope of sowing "seeds" of peace in areas of conflict all over the world. It draws teenagers from five different conflicted regions each summer, in an effort to train young leaders who have met the "other side" and seen them as human beings. I was one of 15 Americans and 150 teen participants from all over the world including India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

When camp started, allegiances by country were well defined. We moved around in packs according to nations. Even we Americans, although we tried to disperse, would often look around and find that we were all in one group, or realize that we were all sitting at the same table. I had never before realized what it meant to be an American, but now, even though we had just met each other days ago, just being the only Americans made us feel as though we had known each other our whole lives.

Soon, such well-defined groups began to disintegrate. Our day was filled with sports, art, and music, and through each of the activities, the borders between countries slowly melted away. None of these activities, however, achieved that goal better than co-existence. Co-existence was an hour and a half each day in which we discussed, argued, and debated with each other about the conflict in efforts to destroy stereotypes, lies, and propaganda, and to discover the truth about our common hopes and dreams.

Co-existence was not easy; there was a lot of arguing and yelling. Many people only came to camp to prove their point and make the enemy feel guilty. Through co-existence, many of our arguments went around in circles, but the point was not to figure out how to solve the conflict, but rather to find out about what the "other side" was really arguing.

One co-existence session stands out particularly clearly. We all met in a special cabin and sat on overstuffed pillows in a circle. This was not the time for yelling or for working out problems between governments. This was for working out problems between people. We were to take turns telling our "stories." When the story was finished, the teller would appoint other members of the group to "act out" or "re-tell" this personal experience. A thick silence filled the room between stories, not the thick silence of fear or of loneliness, but a silence filled with understanding, hope, and reflection.

A Palestinian retold an Israeli's story of a suicide bombing. An Israeli acted out a Palestinian's account of humiliation at a checkpoint. For the first time in the three weeks we had been there, we fully stepped into others' shoes and looked at the conflict from another perspective. We realized that although we all spoke different languages and celebrated different religions, we were united, if in no other sense, than in our hope for peace. We were fortunate in that we could take that knowledge home to our separate countries and help make that common dream, that glimpse of future, a reality.