“Peace You Have My Word” is a platform for learners to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about Peace in the world, and particularly on the African continent. This year, participants from Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Zambia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Switzerland, Germany, the United States of America and more, shared visions of peace that ranged from provocative to poetic and transformative. Many expressed deep concern about the state of the world and a strong call for justice, unity, and real change. Let's all open our ears to the wisdom of our learners, and follow them as they model advocacy and reflection.
-Estelle Baroung Hughes, Founder of Peace You Have My Word
Category: Peace Starts Small
Peace Starts Small
A daisy- small, clear and bright, blooms in between dry dirt and crumbling debris.
A child, no older than eleven, whose face is bruised and grey with fear and exhaustion, fixes her gaze on the small blossom.
She gathers hope from this tiny warrior and runs, escapes the war raging around her.
Many years later, she tells the infant cradled in her lap about the day she ran, about the day she locked eyes with the tiny flower who grew strong despite the violence and terror enveloping it.
When the infant is grown, she will stand before a council, as the child of an immigrant, the child of a runaway, a refugee.
She will tell her mothers story, of her escape, her journey, all which started because of one tiny flower.
She makes the case that children shouldn’t know peace only because a flower pushed them to flee, but should know a life free from war, free from pain and fear.
Everyone should be entitled to safety in their own home. There are no exceptions.
So you see, because of one small daisy, lives were saved, minds were changed, showing us that peace can start small, like a flower, and have the biggest impact.
Read more student submissions in the category of Peace Starts Small:
Antonin Lejeune (International School of Dakar in Senegal)
Maika Ramirez Martiarena (Ecolint: International School of Geneva in Switzerland)
Tissologo Shereena Djeta (Enko Ouaga in Burkina Faso)
Djokam Kakaping Michel Archange Bafia Government School (Cameroon)
Read more Peace You Have My Word selected submissions from the category Africa Unite and No Justice No Peace.
Uma Soleyman is a student at Ecolint: International School of Geneva in Switzerland.
