newsletters
November 2024
Seek peace within yourself and others • Reach out in service • Protect the environment • Respect diversity • Be a responsible citizen of the world
Anonymous: “Peace is a form of resistance. Peace is resistance to anger, to hate, to violence, and to oppression.”
ROTARY ACTION GROUP FOR PEACE: INDIA CHAPTER AN INTERNATIONAL FOCUS ON YOUTH AS SKILLED PEACEMAKERS
On November 26, 2024, World Citizen Peace Board Chair and author Caren Stelson and World BEYOND War Education Director Dr. Phill Gittins were invited to speak on Zoom to a wide-ranging international audience promoted by the Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGP): India Chapter.
RAGP India Chapter member and Peace Ambassador for WCP, Vivek Goyal invited Caren to share her award-winning young adult book, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story with the audience followed by Dr. Phill Gittins who provided a detailed description of World BEYOND War’s Peace Education and Action for Impact initiative. Paired together, both talks made for a clarion call for international youth education and involvement in the work for peace and the abolition of war.
Sachiko Yasui’s vivid story of survival of nuclear war at the end of WWII makes it clear that nuclear war creates an existential crisis as does climate change and the on-going destabilization of the war system world-wide. War is the underlining cause of the refugee crisis, environmental degradation, death, injury, and economic poverty. There can be no true peace without the elimination of war. Underscoring these themes, the non-profit organization, World Beyond War and its program, Peace Education and Action for Impact (PEAI), supported by RAGP, Rotarians and peace partners around the world, have created a concrete program for both peace education and peace action in nineteen countries.
Spanning 14 weeks, PEAI participants ages 18-35 explore the “knowing,” “being,” and “doing” of peacebuilding.” Six weeks of online peace education followed by eight weeks of peace action invite youth-led groups to experience intergenerational cross-cultural learning, dialogue, and action to bridge generational and cultural divides.
Sachiko Yasui asks: “What is peace? What kind of person should I be? Keep pursuing answers to these questions.” World BEYOND War’s Peace Education Action for Impact help youth address these central questions as young people become our next critical and much needed generation of peacebuilders.
For more information about World BEYOND War and Peace Education and Action for Impact.
For more information about Rotary Action Group for Peace.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE BOARD CHAIR MEETS WITH AMBASSADOR YAMADA
In October, World Citizen Peace Board Chair Caren Stelson met with Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Shigeo Yamada at a gathering sponsored in part by Japan America Society of Minnesota at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The event brought together people from the business world and community groups interested in fostering successful relationships between Minnesota and Japan.
Board Chair Stelson presented her books for children and young adults to the Ambassador as a gift from the St. Paul-Nagasaki Sister City Committee and in recognition of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
PEACE AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT
MOSES ABOLADE, NIGERIA
On June 20th, 2024, the Peace Education and Practice Network (PEPNET) launched the pilot phase of the Peace Education for Secondary Schools (PESS) Program through the Peace Education for Secondary Schools Sensitization Program (PESSSP) at Newton National College, Mpape, Abuja. This initiative, funded by the $250 Erdahl Peace Scholarship Fund from World Citizen Peace (WCP), aimed to introduce peace education to secondary school students and promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Programme Overview
The sensitization session commenced with an interactive discussion led by PEPNET Ambassador Moses Abolade, supported by a dedicated team of volunteers. They engaged students on their perceptions of war movies, violence, and conflict. The enthusiastic responses from the students provided a foundation for deeper discussions on these topics.
Bullying Awareness and Prevention
A significant portion of the session was dedicated to addressing the issue of bullying. Students learned about the importance of managing and speaking up against bullying, with strategies provided for bullies, the bullied, potential bullies, and bystanders. This segment aimed to empower students to handle bullying situations effectively and involve third parties when necessary.
Introduction to the UN SDGs
The program also included an introduction to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To bring these goals to life, 17 students represented and voiced each SDG, with the rest of the participants echoing their messages. This activity highlighted the students’ awareness and aspirations regarding the SDGs, with particular focus on Goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 15 (Life on Land), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). The discussions revealed the students’ concerns about the high cost of food and poverty in Nigeria and their hopes for achieving these goals.
WITH GRATITUDE
We are grateful to those of you who have donated to World Citizen Peace in 2024. You are enabling our organization and volunteers to make strides toward peace in many corners of our planet. Thank you.
DID YOU KNOW?
Since 2008, every year, one million children from thousands of schools gather at a temple in Thailand to take part in “V-Star Change the World.” In cooperation with the International Buddhist Society, this project which sees students meditating side by side in absolute silence for one whole day.
Why?
For world peace, something this planet is in dire need of. Each child is a V-star, which stands for “virtuous star,” and is specially selected from their community to take part in the monumental event. The children selected to take part are given 10 tasks to complete every day for three months. These tasks include saving pocket money, helping their parents with housework and making their beds.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE THROUGH TIME
Through the years, Lynn Elling, Founder of World Citizen, kept in touch with Louis Kousin and they supported each other in establishing places for people to live out the ideals of World Citizen Peace and its Five Peace Actions. They called these places Peace Sites and today there are over 560 of them around the world.
Louis was very impressed with what Lynn was doing to spread peace around the globe with his Declaration of World Citizenship and Lynn saw how Peace Sites could fulfill his desire to encourage young people to be more involved with peace making.
In 1987 the following headline appeared in the local Cranford, New Jersey Chronicle: (Louis Kousin’s hometown)
‘Peace site’ founder passes the torch — Louis Kousin’s compelling idea to celebrate peace now managed by Minnesotan.
Louis was very pleased to have someone to take over his idea about establishing peace sites and Lynn Elling was ready to run with it. He dedicated the first Peace Site in Minnesota at the Longfellow International Fine Arts Center in May of 1988.
The program that was shared that day is a wonderful example of how each peace site creates their own expression of what peace-making means to them.
You can learn more about Peace Sites by going to our webpage.
