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Posted: July 31 2006,19:22 by David from
INTERNATIONAL - Fundacion Cultura de Paz |
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(may
be quoted)
Response to survey questions provided by David
Adams, previous Director of the Unit for the International Year for
the Culture of Peace to collect information concerning the opinion
of youth leaders and youth organizations on a number of issues of
particular relevance to youth and a culture of peace.
Is
your organization youth-led or primarily youth-serving? Please
explain briefly.
See answer to #1.
1. a) If
funds were available, what youth activities related to a CoP would
you like to do as an individual?
In 2001, my career
gravitated towards working with the immigrant communities in San
Diego. As a result, I secured a job with an internationally
known refugee resettlement agency as the Program Specialist with the
after school programs. The program was offered at two schools
in densely diverse areas of San Diego. When I began the job, I
was faced with a plethora of issues that the students dealt with on
a daily basis in addition to trying to succeed on an academic level.
The students were expected to learn English, deal with the
trials of adolescent development, address traumatic experiences from
the past and come to terms with the future in a new country.
It occurred to me that these students were unique, they had a
lifetime of experience and they were all under the age of
eighteen.
It quickly became apparent that many of the students
were dealing with additional emotional struggles as a result of
their past experiences. Some students would get in physical
fights while other students would sit quietly in the corner doing
their homework hoping nobody would notice them. As a result of the
language barrier, I observed body language and any other non-verbal
forms of communication to determine what additional issues these
students were dealing with below the surface. Coming from a
low context culture, I challenged myself to adapt to the high
context communication style that many of the students were
culturally attuned to.
A month after I began my position
working with youth from Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq and Afghanistan, the
United States was changed forever as a result of the terrorist
attacks in New York. The security of this group of students
was yet again compromised and the immigrant community, specifically
the Islamic community, was targeted. As a result of this atrocity, a
ripple effect of violence trickled down the generations.
Students with Islamic names were harassed and accused of
concealing the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. The cycle of
violence continued. It was during this time that I realized that I
was placed in a position that could deeply affect the lives of
children who were forced to flee their countries to live in the
United States. It was also during this time that I wholeheartedly
heard the voices of these refugee children whose fears bubbled up to
the surface as 9/11 triggered traumatic memories and swept the
safety net out from under them. As a result, I have been
committed to working with the refugee population in an attempt to
help reconstruct their sense of security and offer a renewed sense
of hope for the future. Refugees in the United States and
American - born students must increase their understanding of one
another and of the world around them in order to create a culture of
peace within the American school systems to ultimately respond as
peaceful global citizens.
The political climate in the U.S. has
polarized civil society and confused the younger generations into an
apathetic state of disinterest concerning the affairs of the world.
It is essential that young Americans learn what the cost of
war entails as well as what methods can be employed to imagine a new
culture of peace. Peace Education programs should be
established to complete this goal of creating a curriculum for
students in the secondary schools who are in a crucial stage of
development as they weigh their worldview against their life
experience.
To this end, I have focused my professional
career towards Peace Education and am currently a graduate student
at the University of San Diego pursing a masters degree in Peace and
Justice Studies. In an effort to draw from my previous work
experience in refugee resettlement and education I am working on
establishing an educational project on behalf of a refugee
resettlement agency to create a curriculum which works towards
challenging the pre-conceived notions of the refugee experience.
The curriculum will highlight issues related to history,
culture and human rights and be geared towards secondary school
students. Once the curriculum has been established,
partnerships with organizations such as the United Nations
Association of San Diego will be explored. However, in order
to formally produce the curriculum and disseminate the lesson plans
to secondary school teachers, funding must be secured to hire a
Peace Educator to work full time on this project. For more
information on the educational programming and for a complete
proposal of the project please contact me directly and I would be
happy to provide more details.
b) What non-financial support
do you need to do these activities?
" Additional training in
curriculum development for Peace Education
" Access to network of
Peace Educators
c) If funds were available, what youth
activities related to a CoP would your organization like to
do?
" Train teachers on Peace Education curricula established
and pilot the lesson plans in the school system
" Work with
students to gain support and direction in the creation and
implementation of the lesson plans
d) What non-financial
support does your organization need for CoP activities?
"
Answered in question 1b
2. a) What changes in youth
policies do you think the government/leadership in your country
should make to promote a CoP?
" Training on Peace Education for
teachers working in the school systems of the United States.
"
Increased opportunities for youth to become involved to promote a
culture of peace through their school communities.
b) What
CoP youth activities/initiatives do you think the UN should do?
"
Engage youth to promote a Department of Peace within each
country
" Offer exchange opportunities for youth and educators to
learn about Peace Education programs throughout the
world
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
3. Do you have any
suggestions or recommendations for improving youth participation in
CoP activities on any levels (UN, government, civil society)?
"
Align the U.S.A.'s educational system with the goals of the U.N. to
create a Culture of Peace.
" Promote the Department of Peace in
the United States
" Include Peace Education as a priority and
initiative within the U.S. Department of Education
4.
What could be done to improve/ensure transparency and flow of
information in promoting the CoP?
" Intercultural exchange of
peace education efforts worldwide
5. To ensure the best
possible benefit of a UN Voluntary Fund for youth and CoP, how
should it be managed/administered?
6. How can youth not
yet involved in CoP activities be reached and motivated?
7. a) Which other organizations do you know of, that
work for a CoP?
N/A
b) Would you be willing to
contact them or may we contact them with the questionnaire? Please
specify.
8. My response to this questionnaire is my
personal opinion:
Name of Individual: Katie
O'Connor
Name of organization:
Affiliated with the
following:
United Nations Association- San Diego
Office
Title: Community Service Committee Chair
University
of San Diego, California - USA
Peace & Justice Studies M.A.
Program
Title: Masters Candidate
Address:
United
Nations Association - San Diego Office
UN Building - Balboa
Park
San Diego, California 92101
USA
University of San
Diego
5998 Alcala Dr.
San Diego, California
92110
USA
Contact Person: Katie
O'Connor
E-mail: katieo_connor@yahoo.com
Telephone
and fax:
Phone: 858-945-1420
Fax:
858-273-3158
___
From: Kathleen OConnor
To: mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
Cc: una@unasd.org
Date: Monday,
July 31, 2006 11:16:27 AM
Subject: Culture of Peace
Survey
Dear Dr. Adams,
Joanne Tawfilis from the
United Nations Association -
USA, San Diego Chapter - invited me
to respond to your
survey on behalf of the
organization.
Please find the attached completed
survey.
Sincerely,
Katie O'Connor
Community Service
Committee Chair
United Nations Association - San Diego
Chapter
MA Candidate - Peace and Justice Studies
Univesity
of San Diego
Phone: 858-945-1420
E-mail: Katieo_Connor@yahoo.com
Katie
O'Connor
MA Candidate - Peace and Justice Studies
University
of San Diego
Tel: (858) 945-1420
Fax: (858)
273-3158
E-Mail: KatieO_Connor@yahoo.com
***************************
From:
Kathleen OConnor
To: mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
Date: Tuesday, August 1, 2006 11:13:48 AM
Subject:
Re: Thanks and may we quote you?
Dear Dr. Adams,
Thank
you for your e-mail! I genuinely admire the
work you are
doing to establish a Culture of Peace to
ensure a safer world for
future generations. It would
be an honor to be included in
the report. Please feel
free to use my response to help further
your efforts
and please let me know if there are
future
opportunities to support this initiative to envision
a
world free of violence.
Thank you once
again.
Sincerely,
Katie O'Connor
--- mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
wrote:
> Dear Katie,
>
> Thank you for your
prompt response to our
> questionnaire.
>
> Your
data have been entered in the database and will
> figure in
the final report.
>
> Your description of post-9/11
America is very
> telling. May we quote you in the
report, so long as
> we make it clear it is your personal
rather than the
> official response of the
organization?
>
> David Adams
> coordinator
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