CONNECTICUT,The Noah Webster Micro Society Magnet School and the Fred D. Wish School

Well done to everyone involved from The Noah Webster Micro Society Magnet School and the Fred D. Wish School in Hartford Connecticut for their participation in The Schools International Peace Quilt project.

The Noah Webster Micro Society Magnet School Quilt above, with Ed Johnetta Miller, the schools Principal, textile students (Grades 2 to 6), a mom who comes and volunteers sitting on the floor.

Panels of  The Noah Webster Quilt below

Fred D. Wish School Quilt above and students from the Sankofa After School Program. All students have done the quilting under the supervision of Ed Johnetta Miller.

Their participation is all the more meaningful as Ed Johnetta  Miller contacted us in early November 2012 wishing to be a part of this message. Shortly after in early December a Connecticut Elementary school lived through unexplainable events where precious lives were lost.

After these events, these particular schools lived through difficult times , before  the children began work in the early part of the year on two peace quilts, one to represent each school.Great work by everyone involved.

American Flag Meaning:
The 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies of the US: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. The 50 stars represent the individual states that make up the nation. Popular history states the red of the flag represents valor, white stands for liberty or purity and blue represents justice, loyalty and perseverance. These meanings are unofficial though.

GUINEA, SOS Villages d’Enfants Guinée

How great it is to receive wishes for peace from the children of Guinea. We thank all the children from the three different schools for taking part in the project.

The first design has been created by Abdoulaye age 14 and this piece depicts friendships between the children from all over the world.

The second drawing has been done by Bob Malick Kata age 13. This drawing shows peace as living in the world with alive animals.

This third piece has been drawn by Madeleine 14 years old.   This shows peace & reconciliation in the country with all community memberships.

The fourth design from the school in Kankan has been done by Mohamed Sangaré who is 9 years old.

The fifth design has been done by a child 5 years old.

The sixth picture has been done by Maria  age  6. Very well done to them both.

The seventh picture shows how peace is communication and sharing in the family and community.

The eight piece has been created by  Issiaga Doumbouya who is 16 years old.

The final design received from Guinea has been done by Aly age 4. Very well done to Aly.

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Special thanks to Mr. Fadjmba Tounkara, National Education Adviser, and his team, for coordinating various SOS Guinea projects so children in Guinea have their voice in the young people`s message for peace. It was a very pleasant surprise to receive drawings on peace and love from the kids and children of Conakry, Kankan and N`Zerekore. We really appreciate it.

Guinea Flag Meaning:
Sékou Touré, was Guinea’s first president from its independence in 1958 until Touré died in 1984. Touré explained the meaning of Guinea’s flag’s colors in the following speech: “Red is the color of blood, symbol of our anti-colonialist martyrs. It is the sweat that runs over the ivory body of farmers, factory workers and other active workers. It is the wish for progress. Therefore red matches perfectly the first word of our motto: “Travail” (Work). Yellow is the color of Guinean gold and African sun. It is the source of energy, generosity and equality for all men to which he gives light equally. Therefore yellow matches perfectly with the second word of our motto: “Justice”. Green is the color of the African vegetation. 85% of the population are farmers living in the countryside, which is ever covered with a green coat. Green symbolizes prosperity which will surely arise from the wide wealth of soil and subsoil, and the difficult life of the countryside masses in our country. Therefore, green will confirm the meaning of the third word of the motto: “Solidarite’” (Solidarity).”

SOMALIA, Great United Childrens School and Orphanage

And great to have a second school from Somalia involved.This time we have a lovely, colourful painting from Nabadou Waa Nolon who attends the  Great United Children`s School and Orphanage.

Nabadou says,  ” PEACE = Life “.

We thank Sowda Moalin for her work in reaching this school and inviting them to participate in the project and for the valuable work herself and others continue to do in this country.

In July 2009, Ahmed Dini, a civil society activist and member of Peace Line Group, a local NGO, said orphaned and vulnerable children had borne the brunt of Somalia’s 18-year civil war

Dini said the children just wanted a childhood. “When we talk to them, they want to go to school and play football. They basically want to be children.”

There is a new phenomenon of children taking care of other children “because both parents have died and there are no relatives to help”, Dini said.

He said the long civil war had eroded the social support network that sustained Somalis.

And below in 2013, is the Somalian government doing enough to help its own people today???

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jan/16/somali-ngos-mogadishu-street-children

Somali Flag Meaning:
The blue base originates from the flag of the United Nations and it represents the blue sky over Somalia and the UN, who helped the country realize its dream of independence. The white star represents African freedom. The star’s individual points represent the five historical regions inhabited by the Somali people: Italian Somaliland (Somalia), British Somaliland (Somalia), French Somaliland (Djibouti), the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and north Kenya

Interesting Somali Flag Facts:
Mr. Mohammed Awale Liban designed the Somali flag and presented it to the government in less than 24 hours.

SOMALIA, Gowraar Foundation School

We welcome these 2 designs from Mogadishu in Somalia. This one has been created by Bahja and Hani together, ages 12 and 13.

They feel that in Somalia ” We all wish for peace because without peace is without life “

This second design has been done by Hamdi who is aged 12.

Hamdi says ” We all wish for peace because peace is good for everyone.”

“Without peace is without light” and “Without peace is without life. “

” We wish for peace because peace is the key of life.”

Thanks to Abdulkadir Halane of the Gowraar Foundation,who has helped us reach this school in Mogadishu, Somalia. We are especially grateful as it has proved most difficult for us to reach young people in this country, as it also proved for Abdulkadir. Nevertheless the children here wish for peace just like they do in every other country.

Abdulkadir explains, “Gowraar is a famous mountain located in the southern Gedo region of Somalia. it used be  an ecological place where life flourished, a symbol of peace and harmony. That same valley is today barren and unable to sustain the smallest of life due to constant droughts and political conflicts. Yet we chose this name, in the hope that we can bring back hope, peace and livelihood to the people of Somalia, whom just like the Valley of Gowraar, droughts and political conflicts have robbed them of a decent live.”

Somali Flag Meaning:
The blue base originates from the flag of the United Nations and it represents the blue sky over Somalia and the UN, who helped the country realize its dream of independence. The white star represents African freedom. The star’s individual points represent the five historical regions inhabited by the Somali people: Italian Somaliland (Somalia), British Somaliland (Somalia), French Somaliland (Djibouti), the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and north Kenya.

St. Augustinus College, The Netherlands “Displays the Quilt”

 

Thanks so much to Chantal and everyone in the St. Augustinus School, The Netherlands for the opportunity to display the Schools International Peace Quilt. We are delighted that the visit was able to coincide with the peace writing project which Chantal organised of which we will hear more about later.

Here we have a photo of Laura Oest who completed The Netherlands design to represent young people of  her country on the quilt in time for the 2012 Games. Below that again is Laura`s design.

We wish for peace because war separates people and peace unites them by Laura Oest.

The Groningen Schools International Peace Quilt (Writing project)

“We all feel very proud and honoured to have been part of this project and we, in fact, hope that this could continue with a visit of the peace quilt to our school in Groningen, The Netherlands. Globalisation plays an important role in our school and we think that the peace quilt will raise a more affective awareness in our students of the positive things we can accomplish when we all work together. We would like to do a project around the peace quilt in which we could work together with other schools in Groningen, but also with other schools abroad.“

As a follow on from Chantal Laarman’s email from The Netherlands…Chantal and Augustinus College have created a peace project with a writing element, and since the Schools International Peace Quilt will be visiting Croningen in April, the school would like to run a project alongside this visit.

Chantal already has contacts with schools from: The Basque country, Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway.

Requirements for submissions:

All students are invited to write a piece in English (essay, poem, short story, etc.) about the subject of world peace.

Possible titles:

- My wish for peace.

- What the word ‘peace’ means to me.

- What needs to happen for world peace to occur?

- How can children promote peace in the world?

- What can you do to help keep peace in your school and in your classroom?

- How I tried to make peace.

- Why this person should be honoured as a ‘peace ambassador’ here.

- What a world at peace would be like.
These written pieces will be collected and put on wall charts. Photos and small drawings will then be added (from a school contest about peace photos).

In front of the written pieces the school will put big drawings (side-view portraits) of the different nationalities that participate in the project.

Please email Chantal Laarman, to whom we are very grateful for her foresight with this project. Email your submissions to: lmn@csg.nl

If you would like your work to be included on the SIPQ site, please don’t hesitate to send it on to us.

Happy New Year and 2012 in review

Happy New Year Everyone !

From Everyone on the International Peace Quilt Team.

We thank all the supporters of the Schools International Peace Quilt Project for helping this project to reach so many children far and wide.

 

There’s no better place to search for hope than the future; a concept that gives everyone in existence a reason to live. We hope but also BELIEVE that peace is possible. With hope and belief we can achieve a better World for our children and our children’s children.

2012 Review 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 39,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 9 Film Festivals

Crunchy numbers

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 39,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 9 Film Festivals In 2012, there were 82 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 228 posts. There were 438 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 557 MB. That’s about a picture per day. The busiest day of the year was May 2nd with 427 views. The most popular post that day was School’s International Peace Quilt.

Attractions in 2012

These are the posts that got the most views in 2012. This years most viewed posts.

• 1 Countries 12 COMMENTS
• 2 About 20 COMMENTS
• 3 School’s International Peace Quilt 9 COMMENTS
• 4 Exhibitions 2 COMMENTS
• 5 ST.LUCIA’s Drawing 4 COMMENTS December 2010

Some of the most popular posts were written before 2012.

How everyone found us ?

Some visitors came searching, mostly for international peace quilt, drawing of peace, peace quilt, peace drawings, and peace drawing competition.

The top referring sites in 2012 were:

1. facebook.com
2. twitter.com
3. 36ohk6dgmcd1n-c.c.yom.mail.yahoo.net
4. mail.yahoo.com
5. patana.ac.th

Where did they come from?

204 countries in all!

Most visitors came from The United Kingdom. The United States & India were not far behind. Encouragingly, we have even had visitors from Syria to the site. Syrian children do have a voice…………

Looking to the future, we have welcomed a school in Connecticut very recently who wishes to participate in this project. This shows HOPE and BELIEF.