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.