New this year are delegates from communities across the U.S.
OTISFIELD, MAINE | Over 300 youth and educators from communities divided by conflict will attend the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield this summer.
During the first session of the Camp, 178 Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, and American youth and educators will open the 24th summer of the Camp with a flagraising ceremony on July 10 and inaugurate three weeks of dialogue, leadership development, and relationship-building across lines of conflict.
The Camp will also host professional basketball players from the NBA who will hold a hoops clinic for the campers on July 20 as part of the 15th Annual Seeds of Peace Play for Peace program.
A second camp session beginning in August will bring together 127 youth from across the state of Maine, from Syracuse (New York), and from three major US cities. The campers will tackle tensions within their schools and communities, from race and racism to immigration, policing, bullying, poverty, and education policy.
The inclusion of campers from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, represents an expansion of Seeds of Peace’s United States programming, and builds on a Maine Seeds of Peace program that has graduated over 600 high school students since 2000.
Over the past 23 years, the Seeds of Peace Camp has graduated 5,600 young leaders from communities divided by conflict as part of Seeds of Peace’s mission to inspire and cultivate new generations of leaders uniquely positioned to accelerate social, economic, and political changes essential for peace.
Media interested in covering the July 10 Flagraising Ceremony or Play for Peace on July 20 should contact Eric Kapenga at eric@seedsofpeace.org.