Cranford Review 2018

UK-US Dialogue Seminar 2018
www.seedsofpeace.org
“Treaties are negotiated by governments.
Peace is made by people.
Seeds of Peace is doing what no government can”
From Friday 4th
to Monday 7th
May 2018, we
embarked on a journey
to a Seeds of Peace
Seminar in Kent
where we participated
in dialogues (talks
where we can safely
and truthfully communicate
our views to people we have never met before.)
This required huge amounts of trust built up from
group-bonding exercises which have created
everlasting friendships between us.
Having met new people from different walks of
life, we had begun our insightful journey with
Seeds of Peace with a small introductory session
into what was meant by dialogue. We explored
different aspects of problems and political views
that affect people such as identity. We took part
in a small yet powerful exercise which helped us
understand the responsibility that weighs down
the reality of your identity being threatened. This
particular group activity helped us acknowledge
how identity was valuable when we were told to
throw away key features that made us who we were.
Following this intense session, we had engaged in
our first dialogue in which we directed common
stereotypes and stigmas towards specific groups
that made up our society. Moving further into this
powerful dialogue, many of us had experienced an
awakening in which homophobic and extremist
views came to life.
Once we had experienced dialogue, we were then
trained on how to facilitate our own dialogues.
The training had provided us with a means of
facilitating discussions that will target conflicts
affecting the world around us. Having enjoyed
the values we had learnt from the first day, we
were eager to learn how to spark dialogues within
Cranford. With professional training and sheer
passion to create change within our community,
we are going to run our own dialogue sessions to
follow up the lessons learned with Seeds of Peace.
Overall, working with Seeds of Peace was a
fantastic opportunity we will never forget and
forever cherish.
Guy Boonyarakyotin (year 10)
“Having been personally confronted as a “terrorist” as
a Muslim and” cheap labour” as a south Asian during
the identity dialogue, took me out of my comfort zone and
helped me realise how people have conflicting views and
that it is up to me to make a change”.
Ayisha Mahmood (year 10)
“Seeds of Peace has been an eye-opening experience for
me; I have learnt how to tackle and facilitate dialogue on
the controversial issues that exist in the world today and I
hope to carry these skills with me into the future”.
Anjali Bhambra (year 10)
“I have learnt to do things I never thought I would do, built
new friendships and learnt the values behind my personal
opinions and those surrounding me”.
Guy Boonyarakyotin (year 10)
“This experience is one I will never forget and I hope to
apply my newly-learnt skills wherever I go”.
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Abdulahi Awal (year 10)