“We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world - or to make it the last.”- John F Kennedy
The event that most affected my life was my participation in ‘The Seeds of Peace Camp’. The Seed of Peace summer camp is a place where many teenagers of different backgrounds and religions go to spend three weeks together interacting and socializing, learning more about each other through coexistence sessions and activities. It is located in Maine USA and the last four days were spent in Washington DC. There were delegations of teenagers from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, America, Israel, North Korea and South Korea, during the summer of 1999 - the year I attended this camp. I was a member in t he Jordanian delegation. The theme of the camp was mostly political and concerned the Middle East conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The trip from Jordan to Maine is one that I will never forget; it was the first time for me to travel alone. The plane departed from Jordan with a five-hour trip to Frankfurt. There, we spent four hours in transit, before proceeding on a seven-hour trip to Boston. The journey was exhilarating and almost liberating for this was my first taste of true independence - I was to be responsible for myself: juggling passports, tickets, flight connections and, of course, the obligatory browse around duty free.
Our arrival in Maine was very unpleasant and disturbing; it was dark and I had gotten tired from the trip. However, as I was introduced to my roommates everything began to fall into place. We were to stay in bunkers with nine to ten people in each from different delegations. The coexistence sessions started the next day. One member of every delegation was taken and grouped together. For the next three weeks we sat together for two hours daily and discussed the conflict from the differing points of view. These sessions were filled with intense argument concerning different issues including the often-hostile stances of the Israeli government and Palestinian fighters. Members from both sides tended to get furious and frustrated as the sessions became more emotional and tense. Each camper also had the choice to participate in one or more activities during the camp. I got involved in water skiing, ultimate Frisbee, basketball, and the Internet club. I learned a lot and contributed by teaching other campers what I knew through these activity hours. Four days before the camp was over we went to Washington DC in a bus and stayed at the American University We visited various museums and enjoyed ourselves. One of museums we visited was the Holocaust Museum. This had an impact on all of us as it created an atmosphere of forgiveness. It encouraged us to take a realistic view of such a grave historical event. It made us even more determined that, in this case, history should not be allowed to repeat itself, and mankind should learn from the lesson.
I learned a lot from that camp and it has effected me till this day. First of all, it gave me the courage to travel alone. I have travelled back and forth to the States several times during summer breaks to visit my relatives. I learned independence, not just the taking care of myself but also accepting responsibility. In a word, I grew up. Secondly, I learned to accept people from different cultures, religions and backgrounds. I learned to look for the good in people and to see that it is our differences that make us unique yet they enrich our lives. And this is something we should celebrate, for in so doing, we will develop further understanding on our road to world peace. I learned that despite our differences, we are all members of the human race – we are born, we live, we feel, we laugh, we cry, and ultimately we die – so we are not so different after all. Most importantly I learned to try to understand things from other’s points of views, for this is the only way we can live united. Perhaps the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt can sum up the important lesson I learnt from this journey of discovery, “We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction.” And this is the message which I now have to pass on to my fellow man.
