Seeds of Peace Camp kicks off 20th year in Otisfield
Lewiston Sun Journal

OTISFIELD | More than 200 teenagers from eight countries were tasked with a tall order Wednesday–to make the world a better place by putting aside generations-old conflicts and seeing one another as people. Then, to take those lessons home and help bring about peace.

Wednesday marked the first day of the 20th summer of the Seeds of Peace Camp.

Timothy P. Wilson, Director Emeritus and special adviser to the program, gave the teens a more modest goal. “Be the best human being you can be,” he said. “I didn’t name any ethnicities. I didn’t say anything about your nation.”

“That’s all. There’s no one asking you to do anything big,” Wilson told them.

Seeds of Peace was founded in 1993 by author and journalist John Wallach, who helped bring 46 Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and American teenagers to the camp on Pleasant Lake.

Now, the organization operates in 27 countries around the world and runs active programs in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, in addition to the Otisfield camp.

On Wednesday, 210 campers, referred to as “peace seeds,” came from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and the United States. They made up the largest group the program has hosted, and were chosen from thousands who applied.

Co-founder Bobbie Gottschalk said it was gratifying to see the camp in its 20th year. “You can’t imagine,” she said.

Wilson recalled being convinced to run the camp in 1993, when he was coaching football. He retired from the program a few years ago, but remains involved. He told the teens to learn from each other.

“The world can be a better place, but the voices who care must speak up,” he said.

The day began with short speeches from past participants from each of the eight countries who had returned as peer supports. Then, they raised the flag from each nation and sang their national anthems.

More than 50 former campers returned this summer as peer supports, counselors and facilitators. The returning “seeds” testified as to how the program changed their outlooks.

Noor, from Pakistan, said that in her country, it’s normal to believe that “hate against Indians is a way to be patriotic and is our duty as citizens of our country.” She said she left the camp with a completely different outlook, but back home people thought it “completely impractical” for her to count Indians among her friends.

Noor said her changed views were cemented during the 2010 floods that left one-fifth of Pakistan underwater. Indian friends she had made at camp campaigned for their government to send aid to Pakistani flood victims.

Seeds of Peace, in a nutshell, Noor said, is seeing “Your so-called enemy getting up to help you in your time of need.”

Gingit, from Israel, recalled a friendship she had with a Palestinian she met at the camp two years ago. “We sat together,” she said. “We connected at every level. We started singing Backstreet Boys songs all the time.”

Campers were warned that going home to a world where hate and stereotypes still exist would be difficult.

“For the the people back home, it’s just camp; nothing has changed,” said Guarav, from India. “It is your job … to make the world back home change.”

Sophia, from Palestine, told campers to remember that people in the outside world still will stereotype and hate them.

“Being in front of eyes and having them not see who you really are, but see who they think you are, based on a stereotype, is indeed one of the most hateful things that a person can ever feel,” Sophia said.

She told the new campers to defy people’s limited expectations of them.

“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the permission to do the same,” she said.

Read the rest of Tony Reaves’s article at Sun Journal »