The 2007 PeaceJam Northeast Youth Conference was held on March 31 - April 1 at Elms College in Chicopee, MA. 215 high school-aged PeaceJammers from around the Northeast, along with their teachers and advisors spent the weekend with , and Betty Williams, our PeaceJam Northeast Nobel Laureate for 2006-2007.
Betty received the Nobel Peace Prize for 1976 along with Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, for their work in organizing a grassroots movement of Catholics and Protestants to end the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Two ordinary people who did such extraordinary things!
During the weekend, PeaceJammers heard about how Betty Williams sees the issues facing the world today and what she is doing to address them, in part through her efforts at the World Centers of Compassion for Children International. They had the opportunity to ask her questions and talk about what is on their minds. They heard her talk about what inspires her to keep building peace in the face of great challenges, and shared what inspires them when the going gets tough. They worked in small groups (we call them family groups) with other youth to deepen their understanding of what they have been learning. They attended a workshop on topics that included how to build consensus, getting access to the media, civil disobedience, effective advocacy, fair trade, common roots of spiritual traditions, choosing a college and a major to launch your career, art of peace, songs of peace, meditation, and drumming.
Every year, we perform a service project at the conference. This year's project was to build a "Refugee Camp in the Heart of the Campus", which was then used by Elms College to educate the community in Western Massachusetts about the plight of refugees in Darfur, where massive displacement of population has taken place due to civil war, famine and natural disasters.
Photos from the conference
Betty received the Nobel Peace Prize for 1976 along with Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, for their work in organizing a grassroots movement of Catholics and Protestants to end the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Two ordinary people who did such extraordinary things!
During the weekend, PeaceJammers heard about how Betty Williams sees the issues facing the world today and what she is doing to address them, in part through her efforts at the World Centers of Compassion for Children International. They had the opportunity to ask her questions and talk about what is on their minds. They heard her talk about what inspires her to keep building peace in the face of great challenges, and shared what inspires them when the going gets tough. They worked in small groups (we call them family groups) with other youth to deepen their understanding of what they have been learning. They attended a workshop on topics that included how to build consensus, getting access to the media, civil disobedience, effective advocacy, fair trade, common roots of spiritual traditions, choosing a college and a major to launch your career, art of peace, songs of peace, meditation, and drumming.
Every year, we perform a service project at the conference. This year's project was to build a "Refugee Camp in the Heart of the Campus", which was then used by Elms College to educate the community in Western Massachusetts about the plight of refugees in Darfur, where massive displacement of population has taken place due to civil war, famine and natural disasters.
Photos from the conference
REPORT FROM THE 2007 PEACEJAM NORTHEAST YOUTH CONFERENCE
NextGen Leaders Inc.,
a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is the Northeast affiliate of the PeaceJam Foundation.
a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is the Northeast affiliate of the PeaceJam Foundation.
Coming soon...
2010 PEACEJAM NORTHEAST YOUTH CONFERENCE REPORT