From 1pm onwards there were performances everywhere in the school. Dance in the gym, unplugged music and theatre in the auditorium, bands in the canteen: all absolutely brilliant. You could simply take a stroll and find something which was worth watching or listening to.

It was so cool to see how the students had taken the task to relate the theme of their works of art to peace quite seriously, but also to find how this had not hampered their creativity.

In the classroom where freestyle knitting took place, we found two boys who we asked what they found. Apparently they had not been ended up there quite voluntarily, but they took it well and did not think the knitting was too hard.

When we asked what they though about the teaching materials they said that esp. during the second phase and thanks to the guest speakers they had come to realise what the importance of the project actually boiled down to.
All that had inspired them to such an extent that they really enjoyed the day and were happy they could join in the project. It really serves a purpose, one of them said.

One of the ECL students published a school newspaper issue all by himself last minute. The theme of this particular issue this time was MasterPeace and this Day of Arts. Click here to have a look (it’s in Dutch only).

The next phase for the ECL students is the Mission Game. In this game they will go out to collect money for MasterPeace. These are exciting times:)

Ilaina Verheijen

But where to start when you want to put together a database like the one I’ve been trying to create.
I knew our collaborative partner Upact had some connections with people who have lived in focus areas. Their connections consisted of people who’ve lived in the Fillipines, Colombia, Syria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Iran. Some of these people already have a residence permit, but others are still awaiting decision and thus illegal.
I contacted these people and they were very willing to contribute in our program, because they think it’s very important that kids know their story.

I also had a very interesting meeting with Rosh Abdelfatah, he’s an artist from Syria. He fled his country when he was 13, but when the revolution started in 2011 he went back. He smuggled art supplies into refugee camps in Syria and Turkey. The goal was to get kids to draw what they’d seen. Some drawings where very shocking. With these drawings he went back to The Nethelands. He then organized an auction which was led by Alexander Pechtold (Party leader of D66, a social-liberal party). The yield was then used to buy provisions for the refugee camps in Turkey and Syria.
He was the first guest speaker at ECL Haarlem. He thought it was a wonderful experience, but was shocked by the limited knowledge of the students about the (ongoing) conflict in Syria.

Four female refugees from the Fillipines wanted to tell their story as well. I received an email from one of the team leaders at ECL which contained the following quote:

“It’s been an impressive experience. I heard from the supervising teachers that the story of 14 year old girl, Marikit, in particular had been very intense. The others were also doing just fine, even Rosh’s story before the holidays was just great!
It is just one lesson, but one that our students are not likely to forget …”

For the coming two weeks I’ve arranged veterans who served the Dutch army or were send on peacekeeping missions on behalf of the UN. Countries like Congo, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan will be the subject of these veterans their stories.

An exciting phase for our educational program!

Ilaina Verheijen

Our second school!  Another pilot, but 2.5 months after the first one. Three hundred students longing for their Christmas break, but what a day it turned out to be! This time, we selected one single venue, so after the introductory part in the class rooms all classes came to the auditorium.

We had invited Wijnand Boon, who has started his journey, on foot, too Cairo. He organises his accommodation through social media. Due to an injury, he is currently in Holland and therefore he could enthusiastically tell the students of Berlage about his journey.

Our kick-off host was Dance4Life’s Jurre, subbing for Nigerian rapper Geoffy George who could not make it because of laryngitis. But Jurre certainly put on a good show.

The highlight was definitely a performance by Sarina Voorn (as known from “The Voice of Holland), who sang Labi Siffre’s “Something Inside So Strong”. One lady, one guitarist and what a voice… Goosebumps all over.

After this wonderful performance all students took their balloons and cards with wishes on them and left the building to gather outside. Three hundred balloons were then released, a wonderful sight!

After the morning programme we moved on to the first lesson: telling life stories. Apart from regular classes, Berlage Lyceum also has transition classes, welcoming students who have come to the Netherlands directly from abroad. The curriculum is tailor-made, preparing for the second, third or even fourth grade. Some of these students have experienced quite hefty things end the sheer fact that for the first time in their lives they could tell each other about the traumatic events they had witnessed was quite emotional and created a very special atmosphere on this very last day of 2011.

The local Amsterdam newspaper devoted an article on the event:
http://www.dichtbij.nl/amsterdam-zuid/regio/artikel/2225397/leerlingen-berlage-zetten-zichvoor-vrede.aspx (in Dutch)

Ilaina Verheijen

On Wednesday 14December the Amersfoort PABO Teacher Training College got to know MasterPeace. We had drafted an educational day programme during which first and second year students got a quick but thorough impression of the four phases of our educational project.Sixteen trainers got to work with 300 students.The morning slot was dedicated to Phase 1. Inner Peace and Phase 2. Peace around you. In the afternoon Phase 3. Peace in the world and Phase 4. Just do it – Peacemasters & Masterpeaces were dealt with.

The first Phase is definitely the most tricky one, so the students had to leap with us head-first.I noticed that the students attached great value to having a practical link to the schools where they were doing their training, which in the first phase (Inner Peace) can prove to be difficult.After all, it is all about “yourself”. By talking and sharing we came up with tangible examples and inner peace turned into something that can be applied quite easily in classrooms.
The plenary session presented a cross-over from inner peace to peace around you.This type of peace is much more accessible for most people. Loitering youths (kids that hang around) was one of the subject in the discussions. This was a nice workshop where questions could be asked and statements made, in order to see how well you know each other. This resulted in a lively discussion between the group, my fellow trainer and me.

As we went along, the students got more and more enthusiastic and they told me this was something that was easily applicable in the classroom.

After the lunch break a documentary was shown on the rebellion in Syria, initiated by children.Afterwards, Bram – my fellow trainer who works for Critical Mass and, hence, knows a lot about conflicts – asked the students what they thought.They said that they didn’t know what to say and that that did not happen very often in their class.

When we told then about the next step – creating a masterpiece – ideas came up immediately. Within 15 minutes we decided on a lipdub and within another 15 minutes the song was selected. (I found myself humming for three consecutive days) One of the students had a camera, Bram appeared to have a steady hand and whizzkid Patrick took care of linking it all into one piece. At 4.15pm all classes gathered in the auditorium and the best masterpieces were presented. Our timelines slipped quite considerably, but everybody wanted to stay on until all masterpieces had been presented. The teachers were very enthusiastic, some masterpieces were fun, funny, creative and others were simply moving. It all gave a very special atmosphere, which is exactly what MasterPeace aims for. A number of masterpieces have been uploaded to www.peacemasters.nl/mymasterpeace.

We wish to thank Studium Generale HU for getting us in touch with the Teacher Training College.

Studium Generale works independently from any specific course and brings people from the entire Hogeschool Utrecht together during special activities.For more information, in Dutch and English, please see http://www.hu.nl/OverDeHU/Studium%20Generale.aspx

Mitrovica is a city in Kosovo, former Yugoslavia. The city is divided into a southern and a northern part and is separated by the Ibar river. The people of Mitrovica were separated as well during the war. Ever since the war, the Albanians have been living in the southern part of the city, whereas the Serbs reside in the northern part.

At the Mitrovica Rock School, young rock stars from both sides of the river – Albanese and Serbian youth – receive a training by experienced, local musicians. They meet each other at annual summer schools and on the internet.

Before the war, Mitrovica was the center for rock music. The Rock School uses this history to connect young people by means of their shared passion, i.e. pop and rock music. Key is to emphasize their similarities and what they have in common – their passion for music – as opposed to their differences.

The Rock School wants to connect these young people, because if you meet someone, you’ll get to know that person. Young people are often prejudiced because of what they have heard from their parents or at school or because of the war. These preconceived notions linger due to lack of contact. When these young people, who share a passion for music and play an instrument, meet each other, they will change their views. When they return home they’ll tell their friends and family about their experiences, which are mostly positive.

The Rock School wishes to merge the two locations in the future, but only when the situation allows this.

As long as the city is not ready for a collaboration between the Albanian and Serbian population, there will be two locations. The Rock School uses new media to ensure that the two locations will remain one school.On 21 September 2011, students of the Rock School gave a performance in Tivoli, Utrecht (the Netherlands) during Peace Night (Nacht van de Vrede). Students of the ECL high school have collected €1250,00 for the Mitrovica Rock School during the MasterPeace top week!

We would like to thank you for this, also on behalf of the Rock School!

For more information about the Rock School, please visit: http://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/p_poprock.htm

Nathalie Roos

The first message said: “You’re at the wrong adres to send me a card with the purpose of peacemaking. I’m in the army and I’m making a living of war. So let’s hope there will be wars on this planet, let’s say, till I reach the age of 58. That’s about the time i’ll be enjoying my retirement.”
We started debating if we wanted such a wish to be published on our website, but peace is not all about positivity. There a countries that thrive from war, that deliberately invest in war, because if there were peace the people would probably riot against the government. But this person probably doesn’t realize that the army and the United Nations also help with peacekeeping missions and Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace .

The second message was of an entirely different sort. The title: “Balloons came flying into my attic window, that coincidentally was open at that moment” The message was uploaded by a father who lost his daughter in an accident 11 years ago because of a reckless bus driver. His daughter was a former student at ECL high school and thus the balloons were a sign for him.. It were two blue balloons that came flying trough his attic window that coincidentally was open for a short time. He was on the verge of taking a business related risk and he had asked his daughter the night before if he should just take the risk or not. He concluded his message with the words: “I also hope that eventually all over the world peace will be realized. In my opinion this should not be difficult!” 

Apart from the wishes, I also wanted to write about the first lessons from our lesson pack that were taught at ECL by the teachers.
A reporter from Haarlems Dagblad interviewed our project leader, the principal from ECL, a teacher and a few students before they had started with the actual lessons.
The teacher was a bit skeptical about our MasterPeace project. He told the reporter he had the feeling the project was forced upon the teachers and students without communicating it thoroughly enough. He said that because ECL is a christian school he does not believe peace is accomplished by mankind, but by God and Jesus. He also said that sharing life stories with one and other and having to do meditation was something risky. Would the students and thus the teachers be able to handle something so very personal?

But there was a turning point!

After participating in the MasterPeace lessons a student went to the same teacher to ask him what he thought of the lessons now he had actually done them and his point of view had changed 180 degrees.
By participating he had experienced what positive impact our lessons had on the students and the teachers both. It had createdreconcilement within the whole school. Students had opened their hearts to each other. He was sure it would help create heart connections. This is what you need to create a safe and loving learning environment.

This is what happened after the first afternoon in participating in the program…. Imagine what we can do when we take this attitude into the world.
The sky is not even our limit!

Ilaina Verheijen

At first we had to determine what we wanted to do with the students, how could we make this kick-off as memorable as possible?
The idea of letting 1200 balloons fly trough the air came to mind, but would we just release them at school or could we find a way to attract more attention?
Piece by piece the contours of the day became more clear. A city tour it would be, a procession of 1200 students and their teachers.
We wanted the kids to write personal wishes on custom designed cards that would be tied to the balloons. Too take it even further we created a website were the people that would find the balloons with the wishes could surf to. By creating this website the wishes would become traceable.

The next step was music. When you celebrate something, you need music! We wanted a DJ that could stimulate a positive vibe within the crowd and we found one of ECL’s own students prepared to do this.
Richard de Hoop a professional entertainer also offered his help and Sanne Wallis de Vries a Dutch actress, famous for her impersonation of the Dutch queen decided she would join us as well.

A group of about 20 students offered their help on the morning of the kick-off to help with the balloons, the banners, the wish cards, the music, etc.

Everything went quite smoothly until we got a call from Schiphol airport saying that due to the weather (autumn, wind) they had to revoke our permit to release the balloons. That was quite a stressful moment, because finding a solution an hour before we would start the city tour is not very ease, but half an our later Schiphol called again and told us we could release 999 balloons instead of the 1200 we originally planned to release. Problem solved!

The tour was a big success, we had a really nice vibe and Sanne Wallis de Vries was very funny as Queen Beatrix!
At 12.00 the children returned to school and at 13.15 they started the afternoon program that consisted of sharing life stories. Real stories about divorcing parents, being hurt by the crisis and so on were shared. Students were hugging each other and sharing their experiences in all classrooms and afterwards all the teachers came together to share. They were deeply touched by the start of the educational program.

We have begun!

Ilaina Verheijen