Video Created by: MaryKate McCann
PLAY for PEACE’s mission is to bring together children, youth and other organizations from different communities that suffered from conflict by using cooperative play to help create laughter, compassion, and peace.
“Our focus is on the youth and how we work is as a global learning community — that we are all learning and working together to create more peaceful communities,” Sarah Gough, Executive Director of PLAY for PEACE said.
PLAY for PEACE helps train experienced facilitators to create trainers for their organization. Facilitators also teach youth members in the organizations how to produce and conduct different peace activities for individuals to enjoy. These activities help transform the youth by educating them on how they can build peace in their communities.
Lastly, they open the doors for all youth members to network between one another by participating in training programs. Their main goal is to educate children, change young lives and to transform neighborhoods.
SERES is a for-benefit, non-profit organization that helps the youth in Guatemala become leaders for positive change to help create sustainable communities. The organization teaches young people how to engage, educate, and empower others to help make their vision of a better tomorrow become a reality.
“We really need leaders to lead in situations and having an understanding of where they’re living and what is going to come along in the future years and having an understanding of how to make decisions and thinking down the road,” Corrina Grace of the SERES organization said.
“Without these leaders we are putting the community at risk. This generation is a huge opportunity to use this force to create a sustainable future.”
–Corrina Grace of the SERES organization
Youth involved in helping make a difference are those who are informed about global issues, ones who innovate creative ideas to create peace amongst one another, help engage with other youth members to become involved and connect with local, national, political and international leaders to help get their voice out.
“This center allows our youth to come together with people that want to be involved with change and are interested in doing something,” Grace said. “This place people can create real impact in terms of moving towards a more healthy striving future.”
Written by: Lia Ferrante
Video Created by: MaryKate McCann