Memo

Date:  February 13, 2011

To: English 1311 Class

From: Meagan Montoya

RE: Creativity for Peace

Many nations exist in turmoil and in very un-peaceful ways with other nations. There’s war and fighting going on between nations that probably isn’t necessary, at all. There are quite a few different organizations that try to maintain peace within the different nations, who work very hard to try and get the nations to get along with one another, but it’s not easy and it takes a lot of work. Though there are many, there can never be enough of those organizations to help all the nations get along.  Many people believe that the best and most approachable way to peace, is through girls. Girls are the true leaders of the world.

Israel and Palestine are two of those different nations who don’t get along very well. An organization called, Creativity for Peace, focuses on breaking the religious and cultural boundaries between these two nations, through girls. Creativity for Peace is a camp for Israeli and Palestinian girls. Most of the girls at Creativity for Peace come from backgrounds such as, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Druze, and other religions. They also include Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, including Jewish Israelis. The camp works on achieving a time where the people of different nations coexist peacefully. The camp focuses on generating the next generation of female leaders who will help maintain peace throughout Israel and Palestine. Creativity for Peace has had eight successful summers of camp, with 162 adolescent girls attending.

Creativity for Peace works with girls about understanding the different nations and their cultures, and it works on the girl’s leadership skills so that they make take on roles in their communities, families, and even their countries so that they may advance and continue to keep the peace between the nations, so that they may continue to live in peaceful coexistence. At the camp, the girls room with girls from different nations, so that they can learn about how they live so that they can get rid of the judgments they may have of the other girls. The camp works with the girls so that they can develop trust and compassion within one another, within the girls from nations other than their own. They try to change the relationship that they have with the other girls, and to help strengthen Jewish and Arab coexistence within their own communities.

Creativity for Peace is a non-profit organization, and is supported by donations from individuals and private foundations. In order to help keep the peace within these nations, Creativity for Peace must remain open, so that they can continue to work with the girls from different nations. Donations are necessary, and very helpful towards working to keep the camp open. Contact with Creativity for Peace is essential if people are willing to contribute. Creativity for Peace’s website has a lot of their information, about how the camp works, what they do, how they work with the girls is all on the website; how and where to send donations is also on their website.

Movie

I thought the movie was good. And I agree with everything they said, about educating girls, or anyone for that matter. Education is really important, whether you’re a boy or a girl. The fact that that guy went and promised the girls that he’d build them a school, and then to actually go and help build the school, was really cool. It showed that he cared a lot about the girls getting an education and everything. Seeing that there were really no schools, and that to do their schoolwork, they like had to write in the sand, was like, wow kind of.  Just because, when you think of like schools here and everything, they all have enough paper, even computers to do all their work, and to see that they wrote in the dirt was eye opening, that like not everywhere do people have enough money, or the technology and stuff to like have all the stuff that we’re able to afford, and that we may take for granted sometimes. But since that man, like went and helped them out, build them a school, and gave likes school supplies and everything shows that there’s still some good people out there, willing to do stuff for other people.

Peace

When I hear the word 'Peace,' happiness comes to mind. Peace, to me means no fighting, everyone gets along, everyone's happy. Peace would be no more wars, everyone's friends with everyone, everything's good with everyone. The definition of peace is, a society or a relationshiop that is operating harmoniously, the absensce of any war or conflict. Peace is everyone working together to make the world a better place. Everyone working on the little things, like being nice to someone, or becoming friends with someone that you normally wouldn't be friends, doing little things, so that in the end, the world is a better place.