Using drawings from Iraqi children who fled to Syria to escape the war
in Iraq, American Conserve School and Syrian Al Enawi Secondary School have
published a book in hopes of raising awareness of the 1.5 million Iraqi
refugees.
LAND O' LAKES, Wis., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A U.S. high
school worked with a secondary school in Syria to publish a book that hopes
to raise awareness of the Iraqi refugee crisis. The book contains drawings
by Iraqi children who fled to Syria to escape the Iraq war.
The book, entitled Through the Eyes of Children: The Iraqi Refugee
Crisis 2008, was produced as part of the Mondialogo School Contest, the
largest international contest for school students. The U.S./Syrian team
asked Iraqi children to draw pictures that either depicted a memory or a
hope. What they collected was frightening: drawing after drawing of death,
bombs, and violence. No trace of hope was drawn.
"Little girls generally draw butterflies and princesses but these
beautiful little refugee children are drawing tanks and guns, blood,
explosions and bodies with missing limbs," said Nancy Schwartz, teacher and
Mondialogo team leader for Conserve School, Land O' Lakes, Wis. "There is a
generation of children growing up with no hope, just violent memories."
"I was shocked at how gruesome the drawings were from children either
my age or younger. I can't believe they've already lived through such
tragedy," said Kate Allen, Conserve School student team member.
Conserve School was paired with the Al Enawi Secondary School in
Yabroud, Syria for the third Mondialogo School Contest. The Syrian team
collected the drawings from the refugee children, while Conserve School's
team organized them into the book using MyPublisher.com to print a limited
first run.
The U.S./Syrian team took third place in the international contest,
which included 2,740 school teams with a total of 36,000 school students
between the ages of 14 and 18 from 144 countries. Winners were announced at
the International Symposium, held Sept. 25-28, in Beijing, China.
Only three schools from the United States were among the top 25 teams
to attend the International Symposium; Conserve School was the only U.S.
school to rank in the top four.
Being one of the top 25 finalists in this global contest is a familiar
experience for Conserve School. It has been invited to attend the
International Symposium in all three years of the contest's existence,
bringing its students to Barcelona in 2004 (with partner Pakistan) and to
Rome in 2006 (with partner Iran), where Conserve School received the Unity
in Diversity Award.
"Our country doesn't even talk with Syria yet we have worked closely
and cooperatively with our Syrian partner team," said Schwartz. "Through
the intimate involvement with the Iraqi refugees in Syria, our students got
a glimpse into another world."
Schwartz added, "We hope this project will help expand understanding
about the lives of others throughout the world. We would like everyone to
know that through dialogue comes understanding, tolerance, and great
affection."
Mondialogo is a global initiative launched by Daimler and UNESCO in
October 2003. It aims to promote intercultural dialogue among young people
from different cultures in pursuit of peace and the nonviolent resolution
of conflict.
Since its inception, it has brought together more than 60,000 students
from 140 countries, thus becoming the largest worldwide school contest in
support of intercultural dialogue.
About Conserve School:
Located on 1,200 acres of Audubon-recognized wilderness in northern
Wisconsin's Vilas County, Conserve School is a non-sectarian
college-preparatory boarding high school for top academic students, with
special emphasis on wildlife, natural habitats, outdoor sports, and
ecology. The campus features eight lakes and over 20 miles of trails for
hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It is approximately
360 miles north of Chicago and 290 miles northeast of Minneapolis.
http://www.ConserveSchool.org
SOURCE Conserve School
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Related links:
http://www.conserveschool.org
CONTACT:
Kim Schumacher, Director of Communications of
Conserve School, +1-715-547-1303,
Kim.Schumacher@ConserveSchool.org
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