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 Project Overview | Mission Statement | Project History | Summer 2006
Compassionate Listening
The "Seedlings of Peace Summer Camp" is an annual camp held in Latinovac, a small village in Croatia, where youth from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds of pre-war Yugoslavia come together to build relationships and learn skills in the areas of Compassionate Listening, Non-Violent Communication, reflective listening and mediation, creative problem solving, and cultural awareness. The rural surroundings, supportive staff, and techniques learned in listening and communicating, combine to create a "safe container" for the participating youth to express and receive each other's views and experiences. Other skills in computer science and fine arts as well as cultural crafts and environmental awareness are also important elements of the camp curriculum. Each camp also has a volunteer work component out in the village and community. These projects foster volunteerism among the participants, provide opportunities to work and cooperate together on a common goal, and are of service to the surrounding communities.
 It has become clear that peace-building activities among youth in the region of pre-war Yugoslavia are critical to a lasting peace in the future. The existing situation of social divisions according to ethnicity after the war has left segregated youth with no joint activities and little or no contact. Hatred, prejudice, and stereotypes are still very common and even growing through a lack of contact and interaction as well as from the history of violence during the war. On a social and personal level, the hopelessness and lack of perspective is the norm. These problems are especially characteristic among the younger population who often cannot find jobs, leading to depression that contributes to a lack of initiative.
The Seedlings of Peace Summer Camp is an extraordinary opportunity to build trust and understanding for one another, the world, and what it means to have a culture of peace.
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