The Peace PeopleMairead and Kevin travelled with a group of staff from Upper Bann Institute, Craigavon, together with Gerry Miller (organiser) to participate in this international Conference in Norway.
Mairead and Kevin travelled with a group of staff from Upper Bann Institute, Craigavon, together with Gerry Miller (organiser) to participate in this international Conference in Norway. The staff of Upper Bann Institute, Betty M'Clurg, Audrey M'Keown, Geraldine M'Ivor, and Jim Crooks, Head, took part in exploratory talks with staff from Sykkylven re plans for an educational exchange programme. Jim Crooks was hopeful for the future and said that links were being established for the benefit of both schools. There were also staff from schools in Germany, Belgium and England taking part in the Conference.
Mairead helped launch the Conference which was chaired by Gerry Miller. Other speakers included the Mayor of Sykkylven, Jan Kare Aurdal, and the local Director of Education, Per Hoem.
Mairead gave a powerful talk on the need to include peace work and nonviolence as part of the curriculum. She called on the young people present to hold this vision and carry it forward in their lives and work. In her address Mairead said,
When people live apart and see each other as 'different' or not one of their own, then, when problems arise and fear increases, instead of solving these problems through dialogue, it may be that violent conflict, even civil war will break out.
It is therefore important to build trust and this can only be done by links of people to people, city to city, country to country. Building cultural understanding, peace, justice and reconciliation is hard work, but it must be done by all of us, wherever we live, so that we may as the human family, evolve what Martin Luther King called 'the beloved community'.
Russ, one of the pupils who had visited 'Fredheim' in Belfast presented Mairead with a cheque to help support the work of the Peace People.
Mairead also officially launched an international project on Cultural Diversity called Kaleidoscope Cultures. This project invites people of all ages and nationalities to present pieces of art, photography, media studies and creative writing for display in an ever- developing exhibition to illustrate the cultural diversity of the world in which we live. Full details can be obtained from the Director of Oswica, Mr. Gerry Miller at gerry.m@nireland.com
The Conference was about the internationalization of education, and its aim was to encourage and support educational and cultural exchanges between students from different countries.
Earlier in the day, Mairead and Kevin spoke to groups of pupils about the work of the Peace People, the situation in Northern Ireland and Mairead's work on the international scene.