Where peace is in their hands

	Advertisement:	The Lutheran is the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. More search options...
	← This month's issue: Social media: Jump in. Seafarers ministry. Lutheran group tries something very old. The lost art of storytelling. More...

Members: log in

Not a member? Join now.
Print subscriber? Activate your free membership.
"Green" congregation members: Activate your membership.
Did you forget your username or password? Retrieve it.

September 2008 issue

Home
Issues
Article Buy

Story by

Judith Sudilovsky

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.

The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.