newsletters
December 2024
Seek peace within yourself and others • Reach out in service • Protect the environment • Respect diversity • Be a responsible citizen of the world
Benjamin Franklin: “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better person.”
Happy New Year to our World Citizen Peace community. The New Year is always a time to tap into new energy and new ideas and apply both to the work ahead. Because of you, our World Citizen Peace Community, this New Year promises to be an exciting one:
This is the year WCP looks forward to welcoming our ever-growing list of more than 2,000 Peace Ambassadors from over 90 countries. This year WCP will reach out to small groups of Peace Ambassadors internationally to engage in discussion and brainstorm how best to strengthen our connections around the world to support our Peace Ambassadors’ projects. (For more information about Peace Ambassadors go here.)
This is the year World Citizen Peace launches a new grant for classroom teachers, the Walter Enloe Peace Education Grant, K-8, offering $250-$500 to support classroom peace projects that build on community, social emotional learning, and WCP’s Five Peace Actions. (For more information about the Walter Enloe Peace Education Grant, K-8, go here.)
This is the year World Citizen Peace partners with the Minnesota Reading Association to bring a groundbreaking peace literacy and justice conference to Minnesota this August— Educate for Peace, Empower through Literacy: Cultivating a Just and Engaged Community. We are still in the planning stages but stay tuned. More information will be forthcoming.
This is the year World Citizen Peace takes a big step into its mission — Empower people to create a just and peaceful world — and welcomes all who have made New Year’s resolutions to find more peace within themselves so they can take action and share that peace with their communities. This is a crucial year that needs every peacemaker across the globe to come together to wage peace everywhere in the world for the sake of all. World Citizen Peace’s resolution is to wage peace with you.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE AMBASSADOR MICHAEL KONAN
On December 12th, 2024, the Ivorian Peace Ambassador Michel KONAN launched a peace education campaign with the students of Collège Privé Philippe Germark in Abobo one of the biggest suburbs of Abidjan, capital City of Côte d’Ivoire. It was a campaign to educate and raise awareness among students about peace. This project has been possible with the support of the generous Lowell Erdahl Scholarship.
During this activity, the youth (students) and their teachers were also immersed in the role of World Citizen Peace all over the world and in Africa to end conflicts and cultivate social cohesion and non-violence in a context where the Ivorian population has been confronted with civil war and security challenges during more than 20 years.
The youth were trained on the principles of non-violence, peaceful conflict resolution, religious tolerance, and harmonious coexistence. The session addressed various topics related to peace, including the causes of the absence of peace, the consequences of physical and psychological violence and alternatives to war and violence.
The exchanges fostered the active participation of the students, who expressed their desire to become agents of change to promote peace in their communities during this 2024 academic year and in the future.
During this session, students also used the arts, particularly poetry (You are my other Me) to express their opposition to violence and war. It has also been an opportunity to talk about ‘The Golden Rule’ as a guideline to a positive and non-violence behavior. They have also set their own Golden Rule for their school. They were inspired to stand up for peace. So, two Peace Clubs have been created to continue the campaign during this academic year; one using English and Spanish as working languages and the other using French.
The enthusiasm from these young people and their teachers made us be confident that the session had a positive impact on the entire school, with an increased understanding of the consequences of the war. We are committed to continue this campaign to grow a generation that will foster a peaceful future.
APPLY FOR WCP's WALTER ENLOE'S PEACE EDUCATION GRANT K-8
The mission of the Walter Enloe Peace Education Grant is to financially support classroom or school projects proposed by teachers, grades K-8, that enhance peace, social emotional, ethical learning and embrace World Citizen Peace’s Five Peace Actions. The deadline for applications is March 7, 2025, Friday at 5 PM central US time. Awards will be announced In April. 2025.
Dr. Walter Enloe’s career spans decades as a Professor of Education, educational leader, scholar, author, artist and peace activist. Walter was committed to fostering learning communities with a special focus on project-based learning, democratic education, peace education and activism. He was a founding faculty member of Hamline University’s MAEd and EdD programs in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The Walter Enloe Peace Education Grant was created in his memory by his family, friends, students and others who wish to support Walter’s belief in building cultures of nonviolence and peace in the classroom and throughout school communities.
You may apply online here for the Walter Enloe Peace Education Grant.
A NEW YEAR MEANS A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE
Everyone at World Citizen Peace wishes you a Happy New Year.
This year is an important one for World Citizen Peace as we promote justice and peace in over 90 countries throughout the globe. To do this we need your generosity more than ever.
With your support, we will continue to empower our diverse community of Peace Ambassadors, teachers, and partners, such as Michel Konan and Arafat Hossain.
Your commitment to peace is inspiring and we need for us all to continue to make a better and more peaceful world. We are grateful for your ongoing support. Together, we are making a tangible difference in our pursuit of a just and peaceful world.
PEACE AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT
Md. ARAFAT HOSSAIN, BANGLADESH
I am Md. Arafat Hossain, a Bangladeshi social worker, cultural activist, journalist, conservationist, author and philosopher.
I am dedicated to improving the lives of the less fortunate in our community. For over 15 years, I have been providing essential services and support to individuals and families experiencing poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, or other significant challenges.
I regularly organize a diverse range of cultural events and activities, including performances and competitions, to build bridges between communities, address social issues, and foster a culture of peace.
I firmly believe that arts and culture play a crucial role in fostering peace by bridging divides, promoting empathy, and fostering mutual understanding between different communities.
Through sports journalism and sports photojournalism, I endeavor to contribute to a more peaceful world by highlighting the unifying power of sports and showcasing the positive impact of athletes on their communities.
I am actively involved in and support environmental protection and wildlife conservation initiatives, including volunteering for various organizations and projects, and engaging in activities such as tree planting and wildlife monitoring.
I strive to raise awareness about the importance of peace and inspire others to work towards it through my writing, with the goal of fostering a more just and equitable society for all.
I use my philosophical thinking and analysis to understand and actively work towards positive transformations in society.
BECOME A PEACE AMBASSADOR TODAY!
Not a Peace Ambassador yet? Then click here and become one today! Being a Peace Ambassador is a great way to show your commitment to peace, and it is always free!
DID YOU KNOW?
Ubuntu is a Southern African philosophy that emphasizes peace, community, sharing, and mutual caring for all. A definition offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee is ” I am what I am because of who we all are.”
The most recent definition was provided by the African Journal of Social Work, which defined Ubuntu as:
A collection of values and practices that people of Africa or of African origin view as making people authentic human beings. While the nuances of these values and practices vary across different ethnic groups, they all point to one thing – an authentic individual human being is part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world.
There are many different definitions of Ubuntu. Even with the various definitions, Ubuntu encompasses the interdependence of humans on another and the acknowledgment of one’s responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them. It is a philosophy that supports peace with others and cooperation over individualism.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE THROUGH TIME
In this newsletter we continue our story about Alfred Nobel and Lynn Elling’s connection with starting a Peace Prize Festival for young people. Below is an image of the Peace Prize Festival for young people at Augsburg College.
How did Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, come to donate his fortune to promote peace? That question led to a display and discussion at the Peace Prize Festival by Gatewood Elementary students.
The answer is that Baroness Bertha Von Suttner was the first woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize and was a very good friend of Mr. Nobel.
It was she who suggested and encouraged him to use the money he made on something so destructive and turn it into honoring people who worked on promoting peace around the world.
Students were encouraged to make life size replicas of the Nobel Peace Prize Winner they chose to study. Standing next to ‘Von Sutton’ is the 1997 Nobel laureate Prize Winner from East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, who was the guest at that year’s Festival. Imagine the excitement to meet and chat with a Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
Also, note that ‘Ralph Bunche’ is peering over Bertha’s shoulder. The gymnasium at Augsburg was filled with displays and students who were excited to share what they had learned.
