They are Kenyan, Indian, Palestinian, French, Spanish and, yes, American — and they have all been affected by terror in their young lives.
They are in the Philadelphia suburbs today, concluding a week of healing, bonding and being empowered in the annual summer camp of Project COMMON BOND, a program developed by Tuesday’s Children, a charity formed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States to help the more than 3,000 children who lost a parent that day.
Here’s the background:
Launched in 2008, Project COMMON BOND has created an international community of teenagers and young adults from 20+ nations and territories. Participants engage in dialogue on healing and community-building activities that enhance interpersonal communications and conflict negotiation skills, promote dignity, and empower them as agents for positive change in their lives and communities.
Project COMMON BOND holds activities throughout the year with chaperones who are international activists from private organizations, NGOs, universities and governmental agencies. The chaperones learn Tuesday’s Children’s Long-Term Healing Model and bring this knowledge and training back to their communities.
After attending the camp, Robert Bordone, Director of Harvard Law Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, reported:
“I sensed in [participants] a real commitment to use the skills they learned for positive change in their communities … It was a great honor … to be witness to a transforming experience to participants who have endured much but who also have much to give in building a better world.”
After visiting the summer camp, Matthew Dimmling, Co-Chairman of Tuesday’s Children Junior Board, wrote: “I felt that there was something special happening. In a world where there is a new tragedy seemingly every day, this openness and acceptance among the participants was amazingly refreshing. I left feeling excited and hopeful not only for the future of Tuesday’s Children but for the world.”
For CNN coverage, go to “Children stung by terror: Stop the hate”.