Tag Archives: Anatomy of Peace

by | April 19, 2013 · 12:23 am

PeacePlayers Welcomes Special Guests From Adidas

All participants at the conclusion of a spectacular event

PPI’s young leaders pose with the adidas guests at the conclusion of a spectacular event

Adidas is a key partner of PeacePlayers International, helping to serve tens of thousands of children through a variety of projects around the world. This past month, 3 members of adidas, PPI Board Member and Vice President of Global Basketball, Lawrence Norman, Global Director of Basketball, Greg Marron, and Global Category Manager, Jack Gray, visited PPI’s Middle East program to see first-hand how we use basketball with a unique Peace Education Curriculum to bridge divides between Israel’s Jewish and Arab youth. In Israel, where most Arab and Jewish youth lack any opportunities for positive interaction, PPI gives over 500 children annually the unique opportunity to play sport together in a fun and inclusive environment.

ADIDAS guests getting involved and playing with the kids

adidas guests getting involved and playing with the kids

The visitors spent their morning with PPI coaches and staff touring the Old City, learning about the ancient and complex history of the region. After a special tour of the Western Wall Tunnels, everyone headed to the Hand in Hand School to participate in a PeacePlayers Leadership Development Program (LDP) practice. Each year 24 specially selected LDP participants engage in a variety of athletic, community service and professional development activities so that they may become leaders for social change and the next generation of PPI coaches.

After introductions were made, coach Vito Gilic and curriculum facilitator Nissreen Najjar led the kids and the adidas representatives through a series of different basketball drills that demonstrated PPI’s peace education principles. For Lawrence, who also serves on PPI’s Board of Directors, this was not his first time seeing PPI’s programming in action. “I have now attended four events in the Middle East over the past five years, and watching the kids grow up in the program to become future leaders reminds me how lucky I am to be part of PPI.”

Once this activity was finished, the kids were split into three teams and each adidas guest had a chance to coach them in some competitive games. Things got intense as all the games were very close. There were even a few buzzer beaters! LDP participant, Hadas Prawer, said after the practice, “I had such a great time meeting the adidas guys. They were very nice and it was so much fun to play with them during the practice and also have them as our coaches at the end of the day. Overall it was a great day and I am so happy that they came to meet us.”

Lawrence Norman coaching his PPI team

Guest coach Lawrence Norman motivating his PeacePlayers team

Before the guests departed they stuck around for pictures and even stayed to play a few games of one-on-one with the kids. The event was not only memorable for the kids, it made a huge impact on the guests as well. After returning home and hearing the shocking news out of Boston, Lawrence wrote to the PPI staff: “Seeing what happened in Boston (my hometown) this week is yet another reminder of the hatred that exists in all corners of the globe. And the horrific event at the Marathon brought flashbacks to the three years I lived in Tel Aviv—a time when the sound of detonating bombs was part of the routine. However, what PeacePlayers is doing in the Middle East paints such a different picture…one of teamwork, warmth and optimism. There is plenty of good out there, and seeing the kids’ smiling faces this week reminded me of this again.”

PPI is grateful for adidas’ generosity and commitment to supporting our peacebuilding efforts, and looking forward to continuing our partnership. Upcoming events include a session with adidas staff at the US headquarters in Portland and then this summer in DC, when some of the same youth from the LDP practice in Jerusalem will be traveling to US for two weeks of leadership training and cultural exchange supported by the US Department of State Sport United Program.

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by | February 15, 2013 · 2:52 pm

PPI-Cyprus Welcomes 2 New Teams!

A PeacePlayers Mural announces our presence on the walls of the elementary school in Kolossi

A PeacePlayers Mural announces our presence on the walls of the elementary school in Kolossi

PeacePlayers – Cyprus is welcoming two new teams to our family of teams for the 2013 season.  Kolossi, an elementary school in a village outside of Limassol, and Aklantzia, an elementary school on the outskirts of Nicosia. Last year PeacePlayers painted a special mural with the children of Kolossi at the entrance of the school. The kids of Kolossi are very excited for an opportunity to be a part of PeacePlayers again.  Aklantzia is a new elementary school for PeacePlayers to collaborate with.  There is already such a strong interest in our program at Aklantzia that we have created 2 teams within the school.

Both elementary schools received funding through The Ministry of Education to fund the establishment of PeacePlayers programs in their respective schools. The Ministry of Education offers a limited number of grants for schools to provide activities to their students that focus on either health initiatives or initiatives that promote positive citizenship.  After having hosted a training on The Anatomy of Peace for educators, many teachers became interested in the work of PeacePlayers and our holistic approach to youth development through the game of basketball.  Our unique combination of training the youth in the game of basketball promotes physical activity and a healthy lifestyle, this combined with the life skills training we offer our participants makes PeacePlayers a great partner for schools looking to promote health and citizenship initiatives for their youth.

One of the needs identified at both schools was a sense of inclusion and diversity awareness for the young students.  In Cyprus nearly 10% of all students within the public school system are foreigners.  Inclusion and diversity awareness are two focuses of our new Life Skills curriculum and give us the perfect opportunity to test and evaluate our new curriculum’s ability to promote such values.  We will be promoting inclusion and diversity within their own team and school and reinforcing these values. Eventually, the kids from these two new teams in the south meet and play with our Turkish-Cypriot teams from the north during our monthly Twinnings.   Continue to follow our blog for updates on these two new programs!

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by | January 11, 2013 · 7:25 pm

Top Five Moments from PPI – Cyprus in 2012

PeacePlayers had a great year in 2012 and we are all looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us!

PeacePlayers had a great year in 2012 and we are all looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us!

PeacePlayers-Cyprus had a successful year filled with basketball, tournaments, camps, twinnings, leadership development programs and of course our PPI-CY participants who without them we wouldn’t be able to achieve the goals of PeacePlayers. We are really looking forward to this upcoming year, to build upon our existing programs and add new ones that will help us achieve more as a bicommunal organization here in Cyprus. Here are the top five moments from PPI-CY in 2012 in no particular order:

1. PPI-Cyprus Summer Camp Features NBA and WNBA Guests

In the summer of 2012, PPI – Cyprus held its annual summer camp for 64 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot youth for 6 days and 5 nights in the mountain village of Agros. Activities that ran through the week, included basketball training, team “survival” games, a film workshop, a workshop on leadership and Anatomy of Peace training. On the court, campers were run through basketball drills and given time to compete in games. In the classroom, they learned about leadership and the importance of volunteering, the Anatomy of Peace curriculum and other life skills for personal development. The highlight of this year’s camp was the attendance of two professional basketball stars. NBA Brooklyn Nets Assistant Coach and former NBA player, Doug Overton, and former WNBA player Shaunzinski Gortman, attended the whole length of the camp as mentors and coaches.

Doug Overton with new friends at the PPI-Cyprus Summer Camp

Doug Overton and Shaunzinski Gortman with new friends at the PPI-Cyprus Summer Camp

PPI-CY was excited to have guests from the NBA and WNBA, whose expertise in all aspects of the game of basketball, including their ability to not only play but teach, is something that PPI-CY and all of its participants benefited from. The camp had a great impact on the participants, as one coach stated, “The children from both sides of the island were interacting to the point that you could not tell we were running a bicommunal event. As they played on and off the court together, the participants seamlessly weaved in and out of their assigned teams and groups leaving no one isolated or alone, regardless of where they were from.”

2. PPI-CY & Norwegian National Football Federation team up

Norweigian Team Poses with PPI-CY

Norweigian Team Poses with PPI-CY

On October 16th while the Norwegian National Football team was in Cyprus to play a match against the national team of the Republic of Cyprus, they took time out of their busy schedule to visit PPI-CY. The Norwegian ambassador and the entire team talked and played with 20 PeacePlayers participants, demonstrating Norway’s tremendous support and encouragement of bi-communal relationships on the island.

3. LDP Weekend

Vito Gilic leading a drill at the LDP retreat

Vito Gilic leading a drill at the LDP retreat

On 17th and 18th of November coaches and staff members selected 21 promising young leaders from our program across Cyprus to be part of our Leadership Development Program (LDP). We assembled together in the mountains of Cyprus for a weekend of intensive basketball skill development, leadership and Anatomy of Peace sessions. Along with our special guest from PPI – Middle East, Basketball Operations Director and youth coach extraordinaire Vito Gilic, our coaches from each of our teams across the island joined in the weekend and had the opportunity to learn Vito’s methods for teaching and coaching youth. On the court we worked on everything from individual skill development, cooperation among pairs and full court teamwork drills. Vito taught the coaches how to incorporate different tools resulting in highly innovative and creative training sessions.

When asked what her hopes hold for the 21 program leaders attending the LDP weekend, PPI Cyprus Managing Director, Marina Vasilara responded, “Each of these kids possesses tremendous potential, the sky is the limit, we want them to be empowered to reach beyond limitations and open their minds, to realize they possess the capacity to reach great place.”

4. PeacePlayers’ All Girls Basketball Tournament in Limassol

PeacePlayers' All Girls Tournament

PeacePlayers’ All Girls Tournament

In December 2012, PPI-CY organized their first ever Limassol basketball tournament for girls. What made this tournament unique was the fact that for the first time in Cyprus youth basketball academies including Zenon (Larnaka) and Apollon (Limassol) scrimmaged against two mixed PeacePlayers teams. PeacePlayers created the two teams by teaming up Turkish-Cypriot players from Lapta (North Cyprus) with Greek-Cypriot players from Kiti and Dali (South Cyprus).

The tournament brought together 60 girls ages 12-16 years old. A fun, friendly and competitive environment allowed our PeacePlayers kids to test their basketball skills against the 2 youth basketball academies. For players on the club teams, this was the first time they had ever played on the court with a mixed team of both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot players. Anyone at the game could recognize the excitement and uniqueness of this experience, even the parents of the club teams were cheering and supporting their kids as well as the PeacePlayers’ teams.

5. Winter Tournament

In the context of the festivities for the European Commission being awarded the Nobel Prize, PPI-CY in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Cyprus organized the PeacePlayers Winter Basketball Tournament. The PPI-CY Winter Basketball tournament hosted 130 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot youth, for 3 on 3 competitions. Also present were 20 volunteers, parents and representatives of the European Commission who in collaboration with the coaches and PPI staff directed a successful tournament.

“I am delighted we support this initiative. Sport is the best way to overcome any dividing lines and to create an environment of cooperation and trust among our youth” said George Markopouliotis, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Cyprus.

The PPI-CY Winter Basketball Tournament

The PPI-CY Winter Basketball Tournament

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by | January 4, 2013 · 3:44 pm

Cyprus, in times of austerity – still… hope comes one child at a time!

Two Children Participating in a Basketball Drill During a PPI Twinning in the UN Buffer Zone

Two children participating in a basketball drill during a PPI Twinning in the UN Buffer Zone

This week’s Cyprus blog comes from PPI – CY Managing Director, Marina Vasilara. Prior to joining PPI 2009, Marina spent six years working as the Civil Society portofolio manager in human development and peace building programs for UNDP-ACT. Marina attended the Graduate School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, where she graduated with a Masters of Arts in German and European Studies.

Angry demonstrators protest as lawmakers discuss new austerity laws in Cyprus' parliament, December 12, 2012 (Reuters / Andreas Manolis)

Angry demonstrators protest as lawmakers discuss new austerity laws in Cyprus’ parliament, December 12, 2012 (Reuters / Andreas Manolis)

As Cyprus enters a new age of austerity measures following the ECB, IMF, EU Memorandum to control public debt and spending and restore the capital adequacy of most local banks – spending is at an all-time low.  Small and medium enterprises are going quickly out of business, with shops closing one after the other and unemployment figures, especially amongst the young, running at all time highs.  However, in times like these, the need for youth programs and targeted youth development that are offered at no cost are ever more needed.  As the separation line, or Buffer Zone, continues to divide our lives and our communities, the need to keep working on finding creative ways to bring our youth together to form meaningful relationships and learn about each other, outside the formal school system and always with the help and support of the parents and our coaches, is imminent.

The realization that working together we can achieve so much more and help youth come out of the vicious cycles of blame game we have been brought up in, only comes from frequent and meaningful encounters.  At PPI-CY, we find out more about ourselves and build hope one step at a time, one child at a time, every time we bring two or more teams together, every time we come together ourselves. This is what we have learned and this is what we are working towards – to enable our kids, our coaches and our parents to have the chance to meet each other at both sides of the Buffer zone on a regular basis.

PPI-CY Managing Director, Marina Vasilara, Speaking to a Group of Children During a Twinning in the Buffer Zone

PPI-CY Managing Director, Marina Vasilara, speaking to a group of children during a Twinning in the Buffer Zone

In early 2013, we will be finalizing our curriculum which we shall be sharing with educational experts for their review as well as our parents whom we want to involve even more in the running of our programs.  We are working hard on spreading the messages of the Anatomy of Peace to educators and teachers in partnership with the authorities through the delivery of seminars. As we have been overwhelmed this year by the number of children who wanted to join our teams and the parents who wanted to become involved, we are working on finding innovative ways to make that happen.  With the leadership of our Board, we are starting a new partnership with the parents and aspire that this will be the start of a great one.  We are also building on our team of 20 LDP youth – giving them the means to be innovators and leaders in their own lives, helping them see out of the box as they make decisions that affect the rest of their lives.  And finally we are working on developing a program for our alumni, who have expressed their interest in continuing their involvement in the program, enabling us also to keep abreast of their development.

At this point, I would like to thank all those behind the Bicommunal Support Program at the US Embassy in Nicosia, AMIDEAST, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and PeacePlayers International who believe in the program and continue to support it in every way possible.  Without their support we would not have the means to operate.

We start the New Year full of new energy and hopes for 2013 and PPI-CY.  Our team – Thanasi, Stephanie, Ashley, Orhun and Didem are working around the clock to make this program a sustainable operation across time that brings joy and hope to all the children of Cyprus. I want to thank them dearly for this. I also want to acknowledge all our Board members – Akis, Tarik, Orhun, Ercan, Antonis, Nadia, Takis and Idil – who believe in this mission and make it happen.  I would also like to thank…again, and again…. former International Fellows Adam and Gunnar who have spent 2+ creative years with us and will always be in our hearts.

Two PeacePlayers Teams, one Turkish-Cypriot and one Greek-Cypriot, pose together during a recent Twinning

Two PeacePlayers teams, one Turkish-Cypriot and one Greek-Cypriot, pose together during a recent Twinning in the UN Buffer Zone

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by | December 27, 2012 · 5:21 pm

PPI-ME’s Future Leaders Come Together for Weekend Retreat

LDP participants come together to celebrate another successful retreat weekend

LDP participants come together to celebrate another successful retreat weekend.

Over 30 Leadership Development Program (LDP) juniors and seniors (ages 13-18) participated in a rigorous yet exciting weekend in Kibbutz Sdot Yam at last weekend’s LDP retreat. The future leaders of the program were thrilled to be spending a few days away from home playing basketball, attending leadership workshops, participating in Anatomy of Peace workshops and of course staying up late and enjoying each other’s company.

The kids getting interactive during sessions at Wingate University

The kids get interactive during sessions at Wingate College.

The young leaders attended leadership workshops at Wingate University, which were both informative and interactive sessions in Hebrew and Arabic. The LDP participants not only learned about important qualities of leadership but also told their own stories and offered personal input regarding what qualities they believed were essential to be a positive role model. Small mixed groups were formed and everyone discussed and debated these topics constructively. After the workshop, the children also participated in fun games where they worked together for a greater cause. Each member’s religious or racial identify was never an issue, all that could be seen was a group of awesome kids having a blast and learning together while doing so. It was remarkable to see just how far these teenagers have come as both of the workshop leaders mentioned how impressed they were with the intellectual level and positive discussions that were occurring.

LDP junior Malak participating in AOP sessions

Junior LDP-er Malak participates in a creative leadership workshop.

Another highlight of the weekend was the Anatomy of Peace sessions. All of the participants were instructed to define themselves using only 5 words and then display them on their body. Religion, race and athletic interests were the most popular defining characteristics used. The teens really embraced each other’s differences and used non-verbal communication to express themselves and their identity. It was amazing to see just how much common ground there truly was between each and every participant and how compassionate and understanding everyone was to each other.

These sessions and retreats continue to mold the LDP teens to become capable leaders in their own communities and grant them the ability to teach others the valuable lessons they have learned as a result of PPI’s Leadership Development Program. As always, they will take the skills and lessons learned from this retreat with them as they continue to grow as individuals and teach others along the way.

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by | December 17, 2012 · 6:29 pm

PPI and BTB Lead Weekend Retreat for Chicago Youth

PPI Operations Specialist, Gunnar Hagstrom, leading a workshop

PPI Organizational Learning Specialist, Gunnar Hagstrom, leading a workshop

This weekend twenty young people between the ages of 11 and 14 traveled with Beyond the Ball (BTB) and PeacePlayers International  to Menno Haven, a campsite about 2.5 hours outside of Chicago. The ongoing partnership between PPI and BTB is supported by adidas. The camp participants were selected by Beyond the Ball from their middle- and elementary-school program, nicknamed “28.5.” Through 28.5, youth are given after school opportunities to refine not only their basketball skills, but also their communication skills, through drills and games. They also complete art projects that explore the intersection of sport and art—specifically movement—and give youth an appreciation for beauty and creativity. The activities generally involve the repurposing of materials, modeling the importance of caring for our environment, and get youth creatively thinking about ways to engage their community. For almost all the youth who participated in this weekend’s retreat, it was their first time spending a night away from home.

Camp participants enjoying the view

Camp participants enjoying the view during a high ropes course

At the camp, participants took part in a mix of basketball, experiential learning and training from PPI’s peace education curriculum, co-faciliated by BTB and PPI staff. BTB’s own coaches, who had been trained earlier in PPI’s methodology, led students in reflection periods each day about what they had learned. Camp participants even had the opportunity to work together to climb a high ropes corse. On the high ropes, participants pushed themselves outside their comfort zone, preparing themselves for the challenges ahead, and in PPI’s training, they gained a new language to discuss conflict, equipping themselves to confront and overcome it as both leaders and individuals.

Make sure to check in next week to see more pictures, stories and videos from the event!

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by | December 13, 2012 · 6:44 pm

Peace Is in the Air at the Jerusalem Peace League

Team camaraderie at Peace League

Team camaraderie at Peace League

This weeks blog is written by Jamie Walsh, PPI – ME’s newest International Fellow. Jamie played varsity women’s basketball at LaSalle University.

I have been in Israel about two weeks now and have already experienced two amazing events.  On Sunday I attended the annual Peace League tournament at the Hand in Hand school (the only mixed Palestinian – Israeli school in Jerusalem).   This event combines registered PPI participants with external teams, aiming to provide children who are not associated with the PeacePlayers program a chance to witness and partake in coexistence activities.  As I have learned already, this is no small feat as most children never meet the other side, let alone interact and mingle for a whole days worth of basketball!

It was amazing to watch these girls play together without any obvious divide or dissention.

It was amazing to watch these girls play together without any obvious divide or dissention.

The event featured the Hand in Hand team (Palestinian girls who study at the school), the U-16 Jerusalem All Stars team, as well as two unaffiliated teams from the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Ramot and Pisgat Zeev.  The tournament went off without a hitch as these girls competed intensely and had a blast while doing so!  As I am very new here and still learning the ins and outs of the program, it was amazing and moving to watch these girls play together without any obvious divide or dissention.  Whether the kids were playing in the game, cheering from the bench or keeping score, everyone seemed to be having a great time.  There was never a dull moment throughout the day and it was such a great way for me to experience just how significant and impactful the Peace Players program truly is.

Jamie (center) illustrates how seeing people as people helps in basketball too.

Jamie (center) illustrates how seeing people as people helps in basketball too.

Following the Peace League tournament I also witnessed Arbinger facilitators Nissreen Najjar and Renana Gal put on a remarkable session in the Anatomy of Peace methodology with a few of the teams.  Although most of the session had to be translated for me, the girls really seemed to open up and share some of their thoughts and feelings about seeing others as people regardless of race, religion or any other differences they may have.  I was fortunate enough to join in as well, sharing stories of my own about how the inner conflict of seeing others as people vs. objects can occur on AND off the basketball court.  I can’t help but feel extremely fortunate to be a part of this program that not only uses basketball to build bridges and change perspectives but also encourages the constant back and forth communication that helps to break down barriers.

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by | December 11, 2012 · 5:17 pm

PPI-SA Fellow, Kristin Degou, reflects on her first year in South Africa

My favorite part of PPI-SA, making our participants smile.

My favorite part of PPI-SA, making our participants smile.

This week’s PPI – SA blog is written by International Fellow, Kristin Degou. Kristin joined PPI – SA as a Fellow in February 2012. Prior to that, Kristin earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Keene State College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and secretary of the Biology Honors Society.

It has been roughly around a year since I arrived in South Africa for my Fellowship with PeacePlayers International. It would be an impossible task to accurately express how truly life changing this experience has been. And to sum up one year in a blog is not easy, but there are certain aspects about PPI-SA that move to the forefront when reflecting on my first year.

The first thoughts that come to mind are the special people I have met within the PPI-SA organization, and how I have learned the importance of relationships and how they make us human. South Africa has a special philosophy followed by its people called “Ubuntu” which describes the sense of human connection with others and how it defines us. Nelson Mandela explains Ubuntu as “the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; if we are to accomplish anything in this life it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.”

The PPI-SA Family inspires me every day

The PPI-SA Family inspires me every day

There is something to be said about the unselfishness of this idea and how it can impact an entire country and culture. It’s humbling to experience this idea first hand and to see it in action every day when I go to work. The PPI-SA Managing Director and Operations Manager, Marcel and Debby van der Heever, are like the mom and dad of our PPI-SA family, extending warmth and love to us all. My coworkers are unselfish and always willing to have a listening ear. PPI-SA coaches have a lot of love and pride for the areas that they coach in and I have had the pleasure of getting to know them on and off the court.  Last but certainly not least, the participants of PPI-SA will never cease to amaze me. The lack of resources they encounter does not minimize the passion they have for sport, even though under their circumstances most kids would find it hard to continue on playing. They find enjoyment and happiness in each other, and in the game of basketball, not in the material possessions they own  (although I have yet to see an unhappy face when we give t shirts and shorts for a job well done!)

PPI-SA has recently integrated Arbinger’s “Anatomy of Peace” into our curriculum, and it seamlessly fits into the Ubuntu philosophy, as the two are very congruent. The Anatomy of Peace is all about our relationships with other people and how we must see them as people and not objects. It focuses on community, and how we can learn to not only solve conflict but prevent it by finding an out of the box place, or more simply put, a place where we see the humanity of others and realize that the hopes, dreams, and fears of others are just as important as our own. Our goal in PPI-SA is to use the sport of basketball to teach these philosophies and we have been working diligently to do just that. The beautiful thing about sport is that it puts us all on an equal playing field. I have formed deep and meaningful relationships through playing basketball, and my hope is to help our participants develop those kinds of relationships through the PPI-SA family.

My time with PPI-SA has taught me lessons of acceptance, hope, and humanity. Sport has a unique and powerful way of teaching these ideas. Through basketball, I hope to continue to teach and inspire. PPI-SA   has helped me discover that I will never be done learning and growing through sport.

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by | November 26, 2012 · 2:09 pm

Blog Spotlight: PPI – ME Teens Rise Above Conflict, Get Pointers from NBA and Golf Stars

Last week in the midst of the Israeli – Gaza conflict, PeacePlayers International – Middle East continued its peacebuilding programming, believing in the power of its youth leaders to overcome the challenges of living in a country at war. This week, PPI would like to share this remarkable blog post written by PPI – ME Development Associate, Rifka Miyara.

Thank you to Arn and Nancy!

In the midst of this past week’s violence in Israel and Gaza, a group of Palestinian and Israeli PeacePlayers got together to prove that their friendships were not so easily threatened by the missiles raining down on either side of the border, and to learn a new game: golf. In two events, one a basketball clinic led by former NBA greats Brian Scalabrine (of the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls) and Will Perdue (of the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs) and the other a golf clinic led by golf legends Amy Alcott, Hunter Mahan, Sean Foley (famed golf instructor who coached Tiger Woods) and Michael Thompson, youth from East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem and Holon got to forget momentarily the recent trouble in the region. The events were made possible by PPI board member and top sports agent Arn Tellem and his wife Nancy, entertainment and digital media president of Microsoft (formerly president of CBS Television Studios), who hosted the events as part of a golf-inspired mission to Israel. Thank you to the Tellems for providing these opportunities for our youth.

In Tuesday’s event, Scalabrine and Perdue whipped members of our LDP and league teams into shape. Our kids impressed with how much they were able to keep up despite their height handicap to Scalabrine’s 6 ft. 9 in. and Perdue’s 7 ft. 1 in. statures.

PPI – ME teens got whipped into shape by NBA legends Brian Scalabrine and Will Perdue.

At Thursday’s event at the Caesarea Golf Center, Alcott, Mahan, Foley and Thompson introduced PPI kids to the game of golf, which is relatively obscure in these parts of the world. Alcott spoke of golf’s virtues, saying that it helps build patience, which is something we sorely need around here. Sean Foley warned kids that “golf is addictive.” By the enthusiasm our kids gave to practicing their swings, it seems he may have been right. At the event, which took place a day after the Israel launched its military operation against Hamas in Gaza, I was asked if we had thought about cancelling the event in light of the events, or if any kids had cancelled because of them. “No,” I answered. These were longtime participants, ones who knew enough about “seeing people as people” to be able to process these periods of violence without reverting to hatred and fear towards their fellow PeacePlayers.

Amy Alcott offers pointers to Jerusalem PeacePlayers at Thursday’s clinic.

Although veteran participants are generally able to transcend outbreaks of political unrest in the area, they still present challenges to building bridges and inspiring Palestinian and Israeli youth to hope for better. We spoke with curriculum facilitator Renana about what it was like to conduct Arbinger workshops during this time of conflict. “It wasn’t easy,” she admitted, speaking of a facilitation she conducted Wednesday evening in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, at the height of rocket fire from Gaza, and just hours after a bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv. To complicate matters, the team coach had been right down the street from where the bomb attack occurred.

How does one talk about peace in times like these? Once again, it’s not easy. Tensions were high among the girls, with some very emotional about the situation. Some girls were able to apply the Arbinger Institute’s lessons of see people as people to the political context, saying “just like our people are suffering, their people are suffering too,” while others stuck to more hawkish perspectives. “It’s hard,” agrees fellow facilitator Nissreen, “especially as an apolitical organization. When talking about seeing the other side, it’s hard not to get into politics because politics are our reality here.” However, despite the tension (and also regardless of each Beit Shemesh girl’s take on the situation), Renana said that there was unanimous anticipation by the Israeli girls to see their Palestinian twinning partners, a testament that even through the tensions, friendship prevails.

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by | November 23, 2012 · 3:39 pm

PeacePlayers – Cyprus Leadership Development Weekend

Leadership Development Program Participants

The future of PeacePlayers – Cyprus gathered together over the weekend for a day and a half Leadership Development retreat.  Coaches and staff members selected 21 promising young leaders from our programs across Cyprus to be part of our Leadership Development Program (LDP) this year.  The mission is to empower these individuals who already demonstrate the aptitude and qualities that we seek to become future ambassadors for our program within their own communities.

We assembled together in the mountains of Cyprus for a weekend of intensive basketball skill development, leadership and anatomy of peace sessions, and of course, some off the court fun as well.  As mentioned in last week’s blog, we had a special guest with us from PeacePlayers Middle East, Basketball Operations Director and youth coach extraordinaire Vito Gilic.  Coaches from each of our teams across the island joined in the weekend and had the opportunity to learn Vito’s methods for teaching and coaching youth.  On the court we worked on everything from individual skill development, cooperation among pairs and full court teamwork drills.  Vito taught the coaches how to incorporate such tools as hula-hoops, tennis balls and cones resulting in highly innovative and creative training sessions.

Hard at work on the court running through drills

Since the focus of the LDP is equipping our youth to be the leaders of tomorrow on and off the court their time on the court was combined with work inside a classroom as well.  PPI Cyprus Managing Director, Marina Vasilara, in collaboration with Board of Directors’ President, Akis Christofides, led one session challenging our youth to focus on the characteristics they sought in a positive leader and another session focused on The Anatomy of Peace.  When asked what her hopes hold for the 21 program leaders attending the LDP weekend, Marina responded,  “each of these kids possesses tremendous potential, the sky is the limit, we want them to be empowered to reach beyond limitations and open their minds, to realize they posses the capacity to reach great places.”

The spark of this process begins in the LDP weekend but is continued throughout the season as each of the young leaders returns to their team and their community and puts their refined leadership capacities to work.   As PeacePlayers coaches and staff it is our role to work alongside of these kids and encourage and mentor them as they grow and develop as players and as individuals throughout such formative years in their lives.

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