Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: World Vision India held an eight-day peace camp in Lonavala, Maharasthra recently, which was attended by roughly 40 children aged 12-16. The children came from three states prone to ethnic violence and riots – Maharasthra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradhesh. The main objective of the camp was to promote reconciliation and non-violent conflict resolution among children for whom ethnic clashes are a daily reality.
Some of the topics covered during the camp included: human dignity; value clarification; stereotyping; prejudices; discrimination; inclusion/exclusion; differences/similarities; facilitation; mediation; negotiation; non-violent conflict resolution and peace-building in the community.
Spending time in a stress-free environment and participation in multi-faith group workshops helped the children to accept each other. Raju Bhagwat, Advocacy Director for World Vision India, explained that adventure sports (facilitated by YMCA volunteers) allowed the children to learn new activities, and deal with stressful situations together as a team.
Bhagwat added that each child was presented with a medal during a ceremony held at the end of the camp.
Fatmira Feka, president for ‘Kids for Peace Kosovo’ sent a note to children in India in which she stated, “We hope that you will continue your activities when you return to your communities and that you will work together with respect for each other as you bring peace, tolerance and harmony to your nation.”
She concluded her note with, “you are doing very good work and we the children of Kosovo are happy to hear about your first step. We are walking beside you.”
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