Our youngest peace scholar who spent this summer at CISV International (formerly Children’s International Summer Villages), spoke about his experience being as a CISV participant and what he learned at this camp during our 15th Annual Interfaith Peace Day celebration.
CISV International is a global, volunteer-led non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to educating and inspiring action for a more just and peaceful world. Over decades, it has grown into a worldwide movement fostering peace, intercultural cooperation and mutual understanding. The program empowers thousands of children and young people, each year to achieve their full potential and to play an active role in creating a better world.
Founder Dr. Doris Allen believed that by creating opportunities for children of different cultures to come together, learn, and make friends, they would grow up to become ambassadors for peace.
In Rajiv’s word , “Hello! Bonjour! Namaste! Ciao!”
Every single morning at the Children’s International Summer Village (CISV) camp in Modena, Italy, this summer, I woke up to kids shouting “good morning” in ten different languages at once. There, I learned the important role that kids must play in creating a more peaceful future.
So what is CISV, and how does it relate to the International Peace Day Celebration here at the Buddhist Vihara?
CISV is a 76-year-old summer camp hosted in over 70 countries worldwide each year. Kids from across the globe gather to connect, learn about peace, and build lifelong lifelong friendships. We didn’t sit in classrooms listening to lectures. Instead, we learned vital life skills and explored real-world topics — human rights, conflict resolution, and cultural empathy by playing games, sharing meals, exercising together and listening to one another.
My favorite part was the camp’s daily “Cultural Activities,” where delegates from each country taught the rest of us their traditional foods, songs, and games. On Thailand’s night, we played their version of duck-duck-goose. One camper was sprinting around the circle so fast that he slammed directly into this huge, super tall counselor. We all thought the kid was going to bounce off him, but the counselor totally lost his balance and crashed down like a falling tree! The entire room couldn’t stop laughing together.
That was the moment I realized something awesome: even though we came from opposite sides of the world and spoke totally different languages, we all thought the exact same silly things were funny! We bonded and found peace through laughter.
Camp taught us how to stand up for each other, speak out against unfairness, and strengthen our emotional intelligence (EQ). It turned a room full of strangers into genuine friends.
“The best part is that you don’t need a plane ticket to Italy to make a difference. Listening to a classmate who seems different from you, standing up for someone being bullied, or learning a simple “hello” in another language goes a long way.”
CISV proved to me that peace isn’t some distant, impossible goal—it starts with laughing together and making an effort to understand where others are coming from.
“I was honored to participate in the 15th annual Interfaith Peace Day Celebration at the NJ Buddhist Vihara in Princeton organized by Rotary International, District 7475’s Mental Health Advocates, the Somerset County Cultural Diversity Coalition and the Friends of Nepal New Jersey.
Peace begins simply: by uniting, sharing our beliefs, traditions and backgrounds, and keeping an open mind.”
The Asha Project – works in collaboration with local and international partner organizations as well as individuals and governments, to provide HOPE and OPPORTUNITIES for the people of Nepal. We thrive at the intersection of Passion, purpose and Promise.
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