Peace Pandemic is headed to Tanzania and India this Winter to host soccer camps for children. These soccer camps focus not only on the development of soccer skills but also concentrate on nonviolent education and peace building.
With your donations, Peace Pandemic will ship equipment donations from North American soccer teams, give each child a t-shirt at each camp, and provide them with an experience of a lifetime!
Today is the United Nations designated International Day of Peace!
"Because if you can find it in yourself to do something for Peace Day, September 21st, no matter how big or small, then together we can create a day of global unity. And that unity will save lives."
Today is "an opportunity for individuals around the world - particularly young people - to become involved in the peace process."
"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." - Eleanor Roosevelt
"If we want them to observe it, then we the people are going to have to act and become involved. And if we become involved, they will follow. But they won't do it if we don't do it. The time is now."
"World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion." -Dalai Lama
In a couple of days we'll have this donation box up and running!
Peace Pandemic is headed to Tanzania and India this Winter to host soccer camps for children. These soccer camps focus not only on the development of soccer skills but also concentrate on nonviolent education and peacebuilding. With your donations, Peace Pandemic will ship equipment donations from North American soccer teams, give each child a t-shirt at each camp, and provide them with an experience of a lifetime!
Share this with everyone you know! Spread the word! Every bit counts!
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is a reality"
The Playing for Change Foundation strives to advance John Lennon's vision of peace by engaging artists and audiences from around the world to contribute to music education programs worldwide.
The foundation works to build music schools, support music teachers and programs, purchase instruments, and connect schools for cross-cultural learning and conflict resolution across borders.
This foundation is truly amazing and inspiring. Take a moment to check it out!
A friend of mine recently came across a truly inspiring video of a group of kids on a soccer team called "L'equip petit" or the Little Team. L'equip petit brings a whole new perspective to the way I look at sports... How often do we forget that what we're doing is fun?
"It's fine. They play, they have fun, they learn, they know how to respect the opponent, how to respect their team-mates, they collaborate with the team. We haven't scored any goals yet, but it's fine."
To quote my friend who shared this video with me,
"The game of soccer is in these kids, its their spirit."
"We don't care if we don't score because we have fun."
L'equip petit reminds us of what sport is truly about - learning, growing, respect, teamwork, perseverance, leadership, and being able to show your joy, passion, and love for sport.
Stumbled upon a beautiful poem (see below) about peace dedicated to Sadako Sasaski - a young girl who fell victim to cancer after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in World War II.
She set off on a quest to fold 1000 origami paper cranes in efforts to bring happiness and peace upon herself (and hopefully fight her leukemia.) Unfortunately Sadako only made it to 644 cranes, but family and friends continued on in her honour and folded 1000 cranes to represent a prayer for peace.
A Children's Peace Memorial in honour of Sadako was established in Hiroshima's Peace Park to represent an eternal prayer for a peaceful future world.
To this day thousands of cranes are brought to the monument from all over the world to symbolize both personal, and collective prayers for peace.
It is amazing how one young girl inspired people all over the world to make cranes as prayers for a peaceful world.
"The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends on large measure upon the how our children grow up today. There is no greater insight into the future than recognizing when we save our children, we save ourselves." Margaret Mead
When I first started Peace Pandemic, I was wrapped up in college literature, my existential thinking and questions about religion, politics, life....and women. Through all of my trials and tribulations I quickly learned that the world generally accepts Wisdom, Credibility and "BIG Ideas" if you're older and more distinguished in your field. No one wants to hear the young high school/college kid speak about peace in the world, violence in the Congo, border issues worldwide and especially not about what the older population did wrong.
The world is structured to immediately equate age with wisdom and youth with naivety. This is why we have the established education system to develop, or conform, the young minds of tomorrow yet we are taught meaningless, often superficial things. Our education is believed to be priming us to get jobs when we "grow up." The only issue is that these jobs are not the jobs that are going to be there in the future. If we know anything about recent history, it's that advances in technology are happening so rapidly that the future jobs that will be in demand are completely uncertain.
This essentially means we are teaching the youth what they could be had they lived 20-30 years earlier. The institutions of PEACE and human advancement however, will never go out of style and are constantly evolving. If we see what is happening in Libya, Syria, Israel/Palestine and many many others we can see that educating the youth about solving conflict nonviolently and the value of human life is not such a bad idea. It's no question that War means many suffer and few prosper. By creating a paradigm shift in the respect and value we place on the youth, those "few"that prosper may not be there in the future. Is it UTOPIAN of me to speak of such nonsense? Label me as Utopian or maniacal then for believing that future generations can look forward to a nonviolent, harmonic world to live in.
Jumping back to the education issue...Yes, the education system is important for children to learn to read, write and express themselves. However, this education should be more focused on solving human conflict, becoming social leaders and looking to better humanity. The cycle of violence, injustice and wars will continue to happen if we don't radically look at the way we teach our children. Instead of dousing their creative, outgoing tendencies we should encourage them to share their passions/ideas and not discount the simple brilliance they bring to the table.
Peace Pandemic listens to the youth in the world. If the children of today are going to be in charge of the world tomorrow, doesn't it make sense that we should empower them to become the peaceful leaders we so desperately need? In the end, aren't we all just children of this world...?
"Its up to our generation to build the foundation for a united world" - Jeremy Gilley
The month of September has arrived quickly and September 21st is the UN International Day of Peace - an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence.
This peace movement established by Jeremy Gilley (British actor and filmmaker) began in 1999 with his film "Peace One Day" with the goal of establishing a day free of conflict and war (a global truce day) also promoting non-violence, compassion, humility, acceptance, and of course, peace.
Eventually, thanks in large part to Jeremy's efforts, every member state of the United Nations adopted the day of "global unity." The UN announced that every September 21st would be "Peace Day" or a day of "Global Ceasefire."
Peace One Day is endorsed by philanthropists, actors, singers, performers, fashion designers and athletes all over the world all hoping to create awareness.
Jude Law is an official ambassador of Peace One Day
Supporters include Jude Law, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Angelina Jolie, Paul McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan, and Ban-Ki Moon, to name a few.
Various events happen on Peace Day such as peace walks, discussions, poetry readings, assemblies, and sport and dance events; at the same time life-saving activities like immunization clinics and programs are carried out on this day.
To depict the power of these life-saving activities - in 2007, the ceasefire enabled UN agencies and the Afghan government to give polio vaccines to 1.4 million children in areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Lenny Kravitz at a Peace One Day celebration
Jeremy describes this day as "an opportunity for individuals around the world - particularly young people - to become involved in the peace process."
Peace One Day is taking the initiative one step further and calling for a Global Truce for Peace Day in 2012 to help institutionalize Peace Day and "engage unprecedented numbers of people regardless of national, cultural, political, or religious identity."
Make the pledge here.
Perhaps the greatest thing about Peace One Day is that anyone and everyone can participate. Activities occur in the form of sports, dance, film, class and school activities, and you can organize your own event to raise awareness.
Peace One Day One Goal
"Because if you can find it in yourself to do something for Peace Day, September 21st, no matter how big or small, then together we can create a day of global unity. And that unity will save lives."
Watch this moving video from Jeremy:
"If we want them to observe it, then we the people are going to have to act and become involved. And if we become involved, they will follow. But they won't do it if we don't do it. The time is now."
"If we want them to observe it, then we the people are going to have to act and become involved. And if we become involved, they will follow. But they won't do it if we don't do it. The time is now."
The foundation works to build music schools, support music teachers and programs, purchase instruments, and connect schools for cross-cultural learning and conflict resolution across borders.
This peace movement established by Jeremy Gilley (British actor and filmmaker) began in 1999 with his film "Peace One Day" with the goal of establishing a day free of conflict and war (a global truce day) also promoting non-violence, compassion, humility, acceptance, and of course, peace.
Various events happen on Peace Day such as peace walks, discussions, poetry readings, assemblies, and sport and dance events; at the same time life-saving activities like immunization clinics and programs are carried out on this day.
