peacecamp 2014

The first time I heard about Peacecamp I was really sceptic. I never thought that it is possible to get so close with people, I never saw before, in only ten days! Every one of us collected a lot of experiences about each other and each other’s cultures. We all became a big group of friends and that made me really happy because I think that friendship is the step to a world full of peace.

Now I know better to listen to other people and to the things they are talking and this very important. Listening to each other is so important and I learned about that in this camp. In the Large Groups everyone was free to talk about their thoughts and their feelings and the best thing is that everyone was listening and no one was blaming the others. This touched my heart because I thought that I already lost my hope in humanity but this showed me that there is a way to the perfect world and it lays in the power of listening and understanding.

The culture evenings were impressive and great. They showed me the other cultures and we also learned their typical dances. A magical moment for me was when we all were holding hands and dancing these dances. At this moment I felt that we are a union.

Not only the culture evenings and the Large Group were impressive for, but also the workshops we did. These brought us closer to each other and made us to become friends. They showed me different ways to know the people better and I really miss the morning sessions (Yoga).

I am really happy that I met all the great people there and now I believe in a world full of peace and friendship. Thanks to everyone who gave me the power to believe in that!

Peacecamp 2014 has been my seventh Peacecamp experience. Every year I believe I have seen and heard everything about the issues of the Middle East and every year I seem to learn more. This year was no exception in this respect. I learnt more aspects of the conflict, more personal stories and cried for more lives. It’s always a heartbreaking experience to listen to these young people sharing their eveyday lives with us, Europeans who live in a peaceful environment.
That is one of the reasons I keep continuing the project, so that Hungarian teenagers would learn to respect the freedom and peace we live in. And also to learn to listen to people who might have different opinions from us. This is not easy to learn, even for an adult but I can always be proud of students who apply for this program from these nations to learn such a hard issue in their summertime.
As I have been participating in this project for so long, I also have the experience to see several generations of Peacecampers grow up into thoughtful and considerate adults and sharing their experience and spreading the knowledge of respect and open-mindedness among friends and acquaintances.
When I introduced the project in our school a long time ago, I could hardly convince students to come along with me to Austria and take part in this experience. However, things have changed and now students come to me as early as in October to apply. The news of this sometimes painful and hard yet wonderful and uplifting experience travels fast and I’m delighted that more and more of our children are open to learn respect and equality.
Thank you.
Szilvi (Hungarian coordinator)

My experience in peacecamp was amazing. This is the first time I have been to a summer camp and for me it was extraordinary.
I didn’t know what to expect from this camp but I never thought it would be that good. I liked almost everything that was planned-Lackenhof' where we were' is beautiful, the hostel, the sessions, the free time, the show and of course the participants in the camp.
We connected to the participants from the other delegations and had a lot of fun with them.
I recommend everyone to go this camp because it is a once in a lifetime experience!
That was peacecamp for me, snir