Things weren't going especially well between the seven Israeli, Palestinian and American teens hanging from cables 50 feet above the ground on the ropes course at UC San Diego recently.
Amid pleas from a course guide to form a tight circle and work together to help a colleague conquer her fear of heights, they instead drifted apart, broke into private conversations in three languages and began to lose focus.
Then, suddenly, they all burst into song at the top of their lungs, singing a catchy toddler favorite that transcends all borders: "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo …" After dissolving into laughter, they moved together as a team and gradually helped the girl cross the high wire to safety.
The Challenge Course at UCSD is an icebreaker event for Hands of Peace, a three-week teen leadership and conflict resolution program now in its sixth summer in Carlsbad, Calif. Founded in 2003 in Chicago, Hands of Peace aims to teach motivated teenagers from Israel, the Palestinian territories and the United States tools to find their voices as peace leaders, break down stereotypes and learn communications skills.
This year's 42 participants — all ages 15 to 18 — include 10 Jewish Israelis, 10 Palestinians, six Palestinian citizens of Israel and 16 Americans of Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. The program began July 10 and continues through Monday. During the program, the students presented cultural skits, painted murals, learned speech-writing skills, had a dialogue with Mexican teens at Friendship Park on the U.S.-Mexico border and listened to speakers, including Azim Khamisa, whose San Diego foundation teaches students peace and forgiveness in memory of his slain son, Tariq. Khamisa forgave the teenager who killed his son, and formed the education foundation with the boy's father.
The program's centerpiece is a series of often-heated group dialogues where the teenagers confront the political, humanitarian, cultural and religious issues that divide them. These sessions are off-limits to everyone but the youths and their session mediators. To protect their identities, the Middle Eastern teenagers use only their first names.
Sarah Heirendt, site director for Hands of Peace in Carlsbad, said many of the teenagers from the Middle East arrive each summer with biases and strong feelings about who and what is right and wrong. But as the weeks progress, they begin to open their minds to new perspectives. The ropes course is the ideal way to start opening those doors.
"Before today," Heirendt said, "they have all been sticking with their delegations, sitting together, eating together and speaking in their own languages. But being up there, blindfolded, 40 feet off the ground and speaking the common language of English, they're forced out of their comfort zones and form friendships. They become a group. The energy is always electric on the bus ride back."
