Travel, human connection & peace

"I find traveling to be one of the best, if not the best way to promote peace in the world. Particularly if you're volunteering, staying with families, or connecting with locals on some level. I spent 5 weeks in Esasse, Ghana with a host family and couldn't imagine a better way to experience a culture. My host father walked up to me and his first words as he extended his hand were, "I am Kwabena Boateng, you are Sara, you are 18, and you are my daughter." Molly, his wife was my mother, and she treated me like her child. I ate with them, washed clothes with them, had drum circles with them, and learned the Ashanti culture from them. During the week I worked at an Orphanage and school with a class of third year students. The first day I walked in I sat down to observe a preschool class. Immediately I was rushed by more than 40 three and four year old's, reaching their hands out to me, stroking my arms, and touching my hair. These kids opened their hearts to me, a complete stranger, a foreigner, and accepted me. They taught me patience, they taught be to be grateful, they taught me simple joys, and that true happiness is found in our brothers and oursisters, in our communities. Most of all these children gave me strength and hope for the future. If these kids, who have come from so little, who are given nothing, can be optimistic about their futures, about the goodness of humanity, then I too, can believe in Peace and understanding for this world. It starts with these moments, where your life is touched by anothers from a completely different world and somehow you stop seeing how far apart you are, and discover how close and basic your beliefs, needs, and wants truly are."

"When I was in London, UK, with my school, I met a married couple from Tokyo, Japan. Their names were Nozomu and Mayumi Inoue. We become friends immediately, and again, we were two different cultures, and met in foreign city. I've told them all about Croatia, our culture, cities, lifestyle, sea... and they've found it very interesting. they knew Croatian footballers, and Croatian UFC fighter Mirko ''Cro Cop''... and nothing else, so I had to explain them where is Croatia, our famous people, food, animals, cities... I knew a lot about Tokyo, about Japan, their culture, their brands... People say that Japanese culture is very polite, that they can't say No if you please them... I took them to pub in SoHo, and we talked. I've told them that i've never tried sake and sushi, so when we got back (we stayed in same hotel), she made sushi. I couldn't say No to that, even if i didn't want to eat it. We exchanged our numbers, e-mails and home addresses. When I returned to Croatia, i got a letter from them, and pictures from summer, wedding, their festivals... right now i'm collecting postcards from whole Croatia, and I will send them once i collect them all."

"I'm a Lebanese who has witnessed the horror of different kinds of wars. However, war has enhanced my immunity to fear and helped me to cherish my love to freedom and peace. Whenever there was a truce, I used to travel to recharge my batteries. Travelling has tremendously helped me to broaden my knowledge and to achieve internal peace, i.e.; of the mind and the soul.

We were in war with one of our neighbors and I considered them responsible for our misery. In summer I went on a tour to Spain and Morocco. There we met two couples from the country that we used to have war with. When they introduced themselves and I knew their nationality my heart started thumping in my chest and I could even hear my heart beat in my eardrums. I had never had any contacts with people from that country before.

At first I tried to avoid them, till one day we sat at the same table for breakfast. We started talking about books, which is one of my weakest points, I discovered that they liked the same authors and we had a lot in common. Then, I realized that they were the most interesting people in the group. One day we were attending a Flamenco show and I didn't feel well, so I decided to return to the hotel. They refused to let me return alone even though they were enjoying the show a lot. We spent the entire journey together and I was sorry to leave them.

I realized that I was victim to prejudice. I knew that those people that I used to abhor are very humane and they have the same worries and interests as me. I felt sorry for the grudge that I nourished all these years and that had negatively affected my life. Being a teacher, I always tell my students about that story and let them see the futility of war."