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Where peace is in their hands

Palestinian children learn to resolve conflicts among their peers

Problem: Two boys, George and Issa, put a bug in Shireen’s hair.

Intervention: Bisan and Giselle see Shireen crying. They learn the reason. Then they bring the two boys and Shireen together for a peer mediation session on the playground benches.

Resolution: George and Issa apologize to Shireen. They promise not to do it again.

Result: Two happy boys join a soccer game. One satisfied girl now laughs with her friends.

Scenes like this—where fifth-grade students help solve their peers’ problems—are now a typical occurrence on the playground at Talitha Kumi in Beit Jala, a school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

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