The Kids4Peace Photo-Video Contest: Contest deadline December 16, 2011

First you must enter
To enter our Kids4Peace photo-video contest, please submit your intention to participate by emailing one of the Kids4Peace advisors at:

advisors.kids4peace@gmail.com

Second take your pictures and submit them
Once we have acknowledged your interest, you can now work on your peace pictures and videos. Your challenge is to go into your neighbourhood with your parents’ permission and takes pictures or a short video clip of what you think peace looks like.

We’ll review your submissions and post some of them on our blog at www.Kids4Peace.ca. Once all the submissions are in by December 16, 2011, we’ll choose the winner. As well, we will also create a video of all the submissions and have a special event and showcase (time and location to be announced).

You can make you submissions using one of the following methods:

1. If it is not too big, email the file to advisors.kids4peace@gmail.com
2. Put video on a DVD or USB Memory stick and send it to us by regular mail.
3. Kids4Peace Photo contest
   5 Georgian Court
   Toronto ON M4P2J7
4. If your parents have a YouTube account, you can upload the file to “YouTube”, and send us the link.
5. If you parents have access to a “File Sharing Service”, like http://www.yousendit.com/, you can upload it and send us the link.

The contest deadline of December 16, 2011 is final. All entries become the property of Kids4Peace Canada. Kids4Peace reserves the right to include or exclude any photos or videos at its sole discretion.

We were welcomed back by our family members, Ning Benedicto, J.P Horrigan(K4P board members),and Samson (K4P 2010 camper).

We truly enjoyed our time in the  Middle East and we are very thankful to Iris Saar, Sadik Nassar, Samuel and Susan Barhoum and their families for welcoming us into their community.

We’re excited to start our community building initiative and are looking for opportunities to share our experiences with faith communities, schools, organizations, and foundations. If you would like to contact us to organize future meetings, email us at advisors.kids4peace@gmail.com.

This event was held at Holy Family Church in Reineh. We were worried that the rainstorm was going to prevent the kids and their families from coming. But, thankfully we had a great turnout! We socialized until all the kids arrived and then the meeting started. Both the parents and the kids contributed to the conversation regarding post-camp reality. They all gave us feedback on how to improve the camp; these comments we will definitely take into consideration when planning for future camps.  After the presentation of gifts and certificates the eating frenzy began – yummy taboulah and hummus! The end of the reunion was bittersweet. The kids promised to keep in touch and maintain the lessons they learned at the camp. It was a great opportunity to be able to see the kids again and meet their parents.

If you were a previous K4P camper or family member and have any comments and/or thoughts please feel free to email us at advisors.kids4peace@gmail.com.

We started our trip with sandals, shades and sun.  And now we’re under umbrellas, clouds and wet shoes – talk about a quick season change!                                                                  Despite the weather, we still managed to see how wonderful and historic Reineh and Nazareth are.  We went to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and while we were admiring the different portrayals of Mary and baby Jesus, the Islamic call to prayer was resounding in the background.

For the two of us, it was a beautiful and meditative experience.  On our way out we stopped by the local souk (local market) to pick up some postcards, and browsed the shops.

We then decided to surprise some of the K4P campers (Mary, Dima & Alaa) at The Latin Patriarchate School.  During their break they introduced us to their class and showed us around.  This school starts from kindergarten all the way up to grade 12!

Later in the evening, we decided to be adventurous and took a walk around Reineh.  We talked to some locals and stopped by a little bakery to buy some pastries.  On the way back we were caught in the rain but it was still fun trying to find our way back to the house.

On our first day in Kabiya, we toured Haifa with Sadik (Muslim Advisor), and visited local NGOs that work closely with the Arab community.  We then made our way to the Baha’i Gardens and were instantly captivated by the beauty in front of our eyes.  However, as tourists we were only allowed up to a certain area.  So, we drove up Mt. Carmel to see a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean Sea, the Port, Haifa and the top of  the Baha’i Gardens.

The following day we were in for a great adventure! We went to school with Hamoude on the school bus!  We spent the day there observing all types of different classes such as, Civics, Chemistry, Hebrew, English and Arabic.  Hamoude’s homeroom class hosted a welcoming party for us which was a great surprise.  We were fortunate enough to have the time to get to know the children and for them to get to know us.  All of the children were intrigued with what Kids4Peace is and now we’re afraid that we’ll have too many great applicants to choose from!

In the afternoon we went to a local Sephardi Synagogue to see the place and take pictures before Shabbat started because it’s forbidden to use cameras, or electricity when Shabbat begins (from Friday eve to Saturday).  The synagogue had two floors to segregate the men from the women.  The service began with Kaddish (Jewish prayer for the deceased) and we were also fortunate enough to hear a young boy reciting the Torah in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah.

After the service we walked home to help Iris prepare for the Kiddush (the Friday eve dinner).  We had a young man lead the blessing by reading prayers before we chowed down on a delicious feast!  So stay tuned for a video blog coming soon!

We’re ending the night with a hot cup of nana (mint leaves) and hot water, until then good night! Lailah tov! Tisbahoon ala khair!

Kids4Peace Canada is sending two young women, Zara Benedicto and Sumayya Daghar, to the Middle East in March 2011. They are going in order to broaden their knowledge, which will help their ongoing efforts as counsellors for the K4P summer program. They will be reporting live from the Middle East with regular posts on this blog. Watch for updates….