Books Not Bullets
When sixteen year old Muzon Almellehan fled Syria with her family to the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, worrying that her familywould marry her off as a child to a complete stranger was the least of her concerns. Yet shortly after fleeing Syria and resettling with her family at the camp, she noticed a steady decline […]
Gua Africa
He began childhood with an AK-47 in place of a family. He learned to kill his neighbors while children in other countries learned to read. Today, he leads a non-governmental organization, Gua Africa, dedicated to teaching peace, reconciliation, and providing education for South Sudan’s most vulnerable children. Recruited among 12,000 other children to fight in […]
If Peace Had Room to Exist
If peace had the space to exist, what would it look like? I work with a nonprofit organization in Portland, Maine which serves the local refugee, asylee and pending asylum seeker population from Africa and the Middle East. Our team of Community Health Workers (CHWs) serve as advocates and leaders for community members who share […]
Slim Peace
Who knew weight loss groups and peace efforts belonged in the same room? In a New York interview with Salon.com, filmmaker of “A Slim Peace” and founder of the nonprofit born from the film’s success, Slim Peace Group, Yael Luttwak describes her reasons for initiating a women’s-only weight loss group in Jerusalem comprised of Bedouin […]
The Malala Fund – Improving Educational Access for Girls
The Malala Fund, founded in honor of one of Pakistan’s most recent heroes, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani student activist who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012, will work to improve access, quality and safety for girls’ learning environments in the most remote areas of Pakistan. At present, there are 3.8 million girls not attending […]
Julia Bacha of Just Vision
“…Violent resistance and nonviolent resistance share one very important thing in common: they’re both a form of theater, seeking an audience to their cause.” Julia Bacha, Brazilian Filmmaker and Media Director at Just Vision, threw a curveball to a Ted Talk audience in 2011, suggesting that for nonviolence to grow in Palestine, it’ll take more than Palestinians […]