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I believe that kids need someone in
their lives besides their parents, someone who doesn’t
have to care about them, but does anyway. Someone who can
accept them as they are, and convince them that they are already
worthy of respect, affection, and dignity. Someone who, while
accepting their present, inspires their future.
I believe that the incandescent joy
of a happy child transcends every ethnic and economic distinction
humankind has invented to keep us apart.
I believe that every prejudice, every
oppression, every resentment, and every misunderstanding can
be cured more quickly by mixing everyone’s children
together, making two teams, and letting them play than by
any form of conflict resolution, court intercession, or legislation
we’ve come up with so far.
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That statement, excerpted
from a submission to NPR's This I Believe series by a longtime
camp staff member, gave birth to the idea of Peace Camp. We at Susquehannock
have, for more than 100 years, created great summers for kids from
all over the country and all over the world. Summers that changed
each child's life, but in most cases, probably did not change the
world. This summer, we're going to try to reach for a little bit
more. This summer, we're rolling out a trial of what we're calling
the Peace Camp Initiative - a program run, in conjunction with the
organization Budo for Peace (BudoforPeace.org) that will add to
the Susquehannock Family a few children of Israel, and a few children
of Palestine. Athletic kids, regular kids, innocent kids.
All candidates for this program will
be selected based both on their ability to get the most out of
camp, their ability to teach, and learn from, the rest of the
campers, and their ability to then do the most for their friends,
their classmates, their parents, and their communities when they
return.
We do not expect that many of these candidates
will have the resources to afford airfare and camp fees, even when
discounts are available. |
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Your
generous support for the Peace Camp trial this summer will
make something extraordinary happen in the war-torn lives
of deserving young men and women from Israel and Palestine.
They will, at Susquehannock, experience a world without
bullets and bombs, refugees and resentments. They will,
at Susquehannock, learn to trust and value each other as
teammates, cabinmates, and friends. They will, at Susquehannock,
outgrow their inherited enmity.
These young men and
women will also, in turn, become leaders amongst their
peers, and start sowing seeds of peace and tolerance in
a land where both are scarce. |
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| Camp Susquehannock,
Aiki Extensions, and Budo for Peace hope to make 2008's life-changing
Peace Camp spots available to Israeli and Palestinian kids regardless
of their ability to pay. While Camp Susquehannock is, for its part,
offering discounts across the board, there are still significant
travel and tuition expenses the program needs to cover. The generous
support of individuals, foundations, and faith communities will
help the Peace Camp Initiative succeed. Please do your part today. you
can download the Peace Camp flyer here. |
Sponsor
a Peace Camp Delegate |
Full
Scholarship for 4 weeks & Travel is $5000 |
|
Level |
Tuition
+ Travel |
Total |
White
Belt |
150
+ 100 |
250 |
Black
Belt |
500
+ 250 |
750 |
Sensei |
2000
+ 500 |
2500 |
Shihan |
4000
+ 1000 |
5000 |
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The
ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie,
nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness
to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. (MLK
Jr.) |
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