Saturday, 18 February 2017 / Published in 2016, BL4P Peace Camps, Video

Waves of Hope

The image of Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a Turkish beach horrified us all. One year later, we invited refugee children to enjoy a care-free afternoon on another beach just a few hundred kilometres away. Their bright faces give us hope for the future of Syria, and help us to believe that one day
Wednesday, 01 February 2017 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, BL4P Peace Camps, Video

Derik | Home

In August 2016, Derik was a participant in the first BL4P camp. He’s a Syrian refugee living and studying in Turkey, and also one of the kindest, gentlest souls you could meet.  The media team – which he would later join – asked him the question: “If you could go back to a peaceful Aleppo,
Wednesday, 30 November 2016 / Published in 2016, Antakya, Local Chapters - Turkey

Building Peace in Antakya

Team Antakya, one of our BL4P local chapters, recently visited a nursing home and rehabilitation centre for the elderly, bringing smiles to many faces through music, conversations, and playing games with the residents. Turks and Syrians spreading the word together that ‘peace is possible’.  
Tuesday, 01 November 2016 / Published in 2016, Kirikhan, Local Chapters - Turkey

Spreading the Word ‘Peace’

It’s been over three months since the first BL4P camp took place in southeastern Turkey, and momentum from this groundbreaking initiative continues to build. Grassroots BL4P teams, called ‘local chapters’ are now meeting in four cities, with the newest one from Kirikhan formed this past week. The goal of each team is to continue to
Friday, 30 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, BL4P Peace Camps, BL4P Turkey, Blog, Video

Dania | Never Home

“My home was just beyond those mountains”. Dania points out to me the dark mounds of rock and dirt in the distance. “That is where my parents are, waiting to see me again”. A sad smile stretches across her face. Her hands clasp around her legs, hot denim drawn up against her chest. We begin
Tuesday, 27 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, BL4P Peace Camps, BL4P Turkey, Blog

It Was Girls’ Night

It was girls’ night at the camp. As we began crowding into one of the larger suites in the hotel, our Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi friends tossed bags of candy onto the growing heap on the floor and onto the beds, many of their headscarves and hijabs. “Let’s dance”, once of the girls shouted dragging
Thursday, 15 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, BL4P Peace Camps, Blog

Being Here is Enough

The media has given us images of the horrors of war in Syria. We have seen on our screens what has happened to millions of people whose lives have been turned into a “before” and “after” existence. We have even seen the vacant, traumatized stares from children and adults. It moves us to tears, to
Wednesday, 14 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, Gaziantep, Local Chapters - Turkey, Peacebuilding Activities, Reyhanli, Video

Peace Builders in Action

Shortly after returning home from the first BL4P Peace Camp, participants in the cities of Gaziantep and Reyhanli in southeastern Turkey met to continue strategizing about how to build peace in their own communities.  The meetings were dynamic and filled with possibilities as these newly formed Local Chapters brainstormed numerous ideas on how to reach
Monday, 05 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Participant Stories, BL4P Peace Camps, BL4P Turkey

Peace, is it Just a Word?

One of the highlights – among many – of BL4P Turkey 2016, was Creative Expression Night. Participants sketched, painted, wrote, and composed artwork, poetry, and songs to convey their stories and hearts for peace. Zubyeir, a Syrian, who like many other Syrian participants at the camp, had been forced to flee his homeland due to
Thursday, 01 September 2016 / Published in 2016, BL4P Peace Camps, BL4P Turkey, Blog, Video

The Movement Has Begun

In August 2016, BL4P hosted a peace camp in southeastern Turkey that brought together 75 young people from the Middle East and North America to engage in building a future of peace together. Participants spent the week learning and practicing five peace values: celebrating diversity collaboration conflict resolution catalytic leadership through reconciliation and forgiveness, and