The Seeds of Peace Balkans program was inaugurated in 2000 with a camp program in the Olympic Village, site of Greece’s historic games, in partnership with the Andreas Papandreou Foundation. Since that time, the Balkans program is held annually, gathering youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Croatia and Albania at the Seeds of Peace International Camp for Conflict Resolution in Maine. The recent wars between and within the former republics of Yugoslavia scarred and often shattered the families of these youth and many spent the ensuing months or years as refugees or hosts to refugees. With NATO troops now securing the safety of many, the pursuit of peace is fraught with memories of neighbors turning against neighbors and fear for security and the future.
Summer Program
The Balkans program, conducted annually at the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine, has graduated more than 200 Balkans youth. The youth are selected in a highly competitive process organized by Seeds of Peace and administered throughout the region with the help of many local and international non-profit organizations, including Open Society Initiative offices of the Soros Foundation, and US Embassy offices.
When the youth arrive at camp, they are anxious both eager and wary to meet with each other. In the camp, with shared sleeping cabins, meal tables and the challenge and camaraderie of camp activities, the youth develop a respect for one another as well as a communal spirit. In building trust and respect among these youth who have so recently known the horrors of war, the Group Challenge camp component is an invaluable tool. In mixed national and ethnic groups, the youth rely on each other as they are trained by professionals on high and low rope courses. In daily conflict management meetings, the youth are led by professional facilitators to develop the communication skills of coexistence required for the intense and enlightening discussions that lay ahead. A team of Balkan and American facilitators lead the youth through an exploration of their identities, stereotypes and perceived histories, to discussions of the contentious issues that help them understand their own perspectives and the other points-of-view. In an atmosphere of trust and respect established by the facilitators, the youth begin to look forward and consider together what steps their societies and they, as individuals, can take to build a more peaceful future for their communities and region.
Year-Round Program
Despite skepticism or resistance of families and friends, Balkan Seeds remain committed to the program’s objectives when they return home from camp. Yugoslav, Croat, Bosnian, Kosovar, Albanian and Macedonian Seeds maintain their dialogue and network of friendship through a variety of follow-up programs. They communicate daily in moderated discussions on Seedsnet, an Internet dialogue for the youth. They publish their thoughts and writings quarterly in The Olive Branch, a magazine created by Seeds graduates and coordinated by staff at the Seeds of Peace Jerusalem Center. Seeds of Peace challenges the youth to further develop their conflict management and analytical skills in advanced coexistence-skills training workshops and international conferences. Balkan Seeds graduates are active participants in Seeds Leadership Training and educational opportunities coordinated by New York staff. At camp. Seeds of Peace shows campers how to be leaders and, at home, they rise to the challenge by initiating their own conflict resolution programs that include school and community presentations and meetings of Seeds in each other’s countries.
