“The UWC movement is committed to building peace in the world through education. Participants of the Uniting for Peace Youth Festival will come together to celebrate difference and interdependence; to learn to transform conflict into peace; and to share skills, theory, stories and idealism with other youth and trainers from across South East Asia and beyond..."
Something exciting is happening this weekend! From November 27th - 29th, the United World College Mahindra College in Pune, India will be hosting the Uniting for Peace Youth Festival. There, students from over 60 countries - India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, to name a few - will come together to learn about building peace through education. The group is large: approximately 180 participants are expected to join the various workshops and discussions, engaging with ideas about transforming violence, showing empathy, and building compassion.
Play For Peace is excited to be a part of the curriculum, and recently spoke with PFP Facilitator Aditya Vaishampayan to discuss the festival. The PFP team invited to the festival also includes Abha Jeurkar, Javeed Ansari, and Nisha Sharma. Together, the group will address important questions and provide crucial training in the PFP curriculum. Aditya will be leading a session on youth leadership. Javeed and Abha will address core values and social exclusion, while Nisha explores PFP and education. In our conversation, Aditya explained that:
"This is a focussed festival mainly to introduce these participants to how conflict can be a positive thing: something out of which learning can occur and ever stronger communities can be forged.”
When asked what his expectations for the festival were, Aditya happily talked at length! He’s been to plenty of festivals and training, and he’s always thrilled to go. But what excites him most about this particular festival is that United World College students are extremely critical thinkers. He looks forward to being challenged: “Here I believe I am going to meet people who will laugh, sing, and have fun, and then question it afterward.”
This is, after all, an opportunity for everyone to understand more about how play works: trainers, coordinators, and participants alike. Aditya hasn’t forgotten that there are bonuses to this festival either, things that work alongside positive education: this is the social aspect. He gets to meet a lot of wonderful people, participants, and staff who are already building peace within the community. To find out more about the outcome of the festival - the activities, thoughts, and feelings around it, be sure to read our following blogs!
REFERENCES 1. UWC Mahindra College (27 October 2015). “Uniting For Peace Youth Festival.” Blog. http://uwcmahindracollege.org/blog/uniting-for-peace-youth-festival/
