Taking a Stand for Peace

Youth Coordinator, Robyn Read and Toronto youth celebrate the peace in diversity.

This summer some of the staff at Free The Children were lucky enough to attend a Peace Tree Day event where youth talked about how to create a more peaceful world, and took action to make that peace a reality.

Founded by Scarborough public school teacher Mitra Sen, Peace Tree Day is a new festival for people of all faiths and ethnicities to come together in celebration of peace and diversity—an opportunity for children and adults to explore the many diverse cultures of their community, and thus, their world. The festival inspires children to take pride in their heritage and to share it with others, while also discovering the vibrant traditions of other cultures and faiths. Young people are also encouraged to share their talents and develop compassion for others. Students work together to create new forms of art by combining elements from different cultures, which helps to raise funds for underprivileged children around the globe.

This year on Peace Tree Day, Free The Children youth coordinator Robyn Read was fortunate enough to attend the Peace Tree Stand. At this event, youth united to celebrate their diversity while fundraising for Free The Children’s Brick by Brick schoolbuilding campaign for war affected children in Sierra Leone. The day was filled with activities like dancing and drumming to music from around the world, and creating an incredibly beautiful peace tree that was decorated by everyone. The children also fundraised to support their peers overseas by selling candy and refreshments from around the world, and decorating participant’s hands with Japanese characters using Henna dye. At the end of the day, everyone who stopped to visit the Peace Tree Stand had the opportunity to learn more about other cultures and religions, and help improve the lives of children living in Sierra Leone.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace; one has to believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in peace; one must work at it.” Peace Tree Day stands as evidence that today’s youth not only believe that a peaceful world is possible, but they’re also willing to work together in order to ensure that peace becomes a reality.

As Mitra Sen and her team would say: shalom, salaam, shanty, he ping, amani, peace!

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Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.