(Editor's Note: Hannah Hyde has been an intern at the Scene for two semesters, and she's currently a senior at Belmont. She wrote this post about her experience with last weekend's PeaceJam, which took place on the Belmont campus.)
In September 2006, 10 Nobel Peace Laureates and more than 3,000 young people traveled from all over the world to gather in Denver. It was the largest gathering of Laureates in history, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the PeaceJam Foundation. What started as an idea between colleagues Dawn Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff has become an international organization advocating equal human rights for all global citizens.
Belmont University and S.T.A.R.S. (Students Taking a Right Stand), a local organization with programs in more than 50 Middle Tennessee schools and community sites, worked together for almost a year to bring PeaceJam to Nashville. There are conferences and chapters around the world — from Texas to the U.K. to West Africa. PeaceJam sponsors year-round youth programs where students create and carry out service projects in their community. After months of planning and recruiting, and with assistance from Florida State University’s experienced staff and volunteer mentors, their efforts finally came to fruition last weekend.
I learned about PeaceJam Mid-South from a friend last August. She mentioned something about a Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, and high school kids. I was intrigued but hesitant. I understood the concept of PeaceJam, but really had no idea on how it was going to be carried out. It was difficult to find college students to be mentors, and most likely just as difficult finding student organizations with kids who were willing to give up their whole weekend to do more learning. But somehow, it came together.
Little did I know that by the end of the weekend, I'd walk away with the best experience of my four years at Belmont.
