Peace Village Summer Day Camp

From Rotary Club of McMinnville Sunrise

The McMinnville Sunrise Club just completed a unique type of service project to help bring the McMinnville community closer together.  In cooperation with the McMinnville Noon Club, Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, the McMinnville School District and local businesses, the club organized their first Peace Village summer day camp Aug. 14- 18.

Peace Village camps teach conflict prevention and resolution skills as well as respect for “the other,” to children through various means, including music and art. One very special event was participation by the kids in Lake Oswego Rotarian Aaron Nigel Smith’s “One World Chorus.”

Via technology, the McMinnville camp connected 74 local kids through song with children in Africa, Jamaica, Brooklyn, India, and Kenya. Another was the planting of a peace pole at the museum.

Out of the 74 kids, who ranged in age from 8 to 13, the two McMinnville clubs and a District 5100 grant gave out 40 scholarships.

The camp also featured representatives of the Muslim Educational Trust, and a special peace song by two Syrian-American girls. Their song was written in cooperation with Rotarian Jerry Leggett of Dayton, Ohio, who helped found the Peace Museum there. For more info on Peace Village, go to peacevillageinc.org.

The mission of Peace Village Global is to end hate and violence by empowering children, families, and communities. The Peace Village Camps are just one of the many programs that include workshops, school-based programs, and stand-up schools. They seek to teach children the specific skills of conflict resolution, empathy building and confronting racism.

Representatives visit from the Islam Academy of the Muslim Educational Trust. Visit included storytelling and music.

RAGFP is a supporter and participator in Rotary projects that involve Peace Village, and the important work of educating children about conflict resolution and empathy toward other cultures. These collaborative projects offer blueprints for peace organizations to work together in fostering peacebuilding. They offer a great example of how RAGFP not only supports Rotarian Peacebuilders around the world, but participates in peace action on the ground.

RAGFP Executive Director Reem Ghunaim serves on the Board of Peace Village, and recently spoke in McMinnville about her inclusive vision of empowering peacebuilders through mutual understanding of cultures and empathy across borders. As a Rotary Peace Fellow and native of Palestine, she offers a unique perspective about conflict resolution and peace advocacy.

McMinnville Peace Village Bridges Cultures for Young People