The 9th International Caritas Peace Camp

The meanwhile 9th international Caritas Peace Camp for unprivileged children from the entire Middle East was held in Bikfaya in the Lebanese mountains from July 16 to August 7. This singular peace and reconciliation project has been conducted by Caritas Salzburg almost each year since 1999, this year in close collaboration with the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre.

Despite facing one or the other obstacle in previous years this camp has become a tradition and is organised by Caritas Salzburg in collaboration with local partners in a different host country of the Middle East each year since 1999. Due to the war in Iraq in 2003 and the menacing political situation in Lebanon in summer 2007 the camps had to be cancelled in both years. This year, however, fortunately nothing stood in the way and the 97 children from 8 different countries of the region were all arriving at the Lazarist  St. Joseph Technical School in Bhersaf/Lebanon on July 16,  excited to spend the next three weeks together.

While some groups were arriving from their respective home countries (Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen) the Palestinians, Iraqis and Sudanese were children of refugee families who live in Lebanon.

For many children the first journey of their lives

All of the children participating aged between 10 ad 15 years were extremely vulnerable and usually would hardly ever get the chance to travel outside their country or participate in such a programme.

The Lebanese participants for example were coming from orphanages supported by Caritas Salzburg, the Jordanian children came from three different SOS children villages and the Egyptians live in a slum near Cairo where they regularly visit the Caritas youth club. The Yemeni were children of leprosy patients who all for the first time left the leprosy village near Taiz. Many of the children had experienced war, flight and displacement as for example the Iraqi and Sudanese children, while the Palestinian children were already born in refugee camps in Lebanon.

30 volunteers took care of the children during the camp (among them Sisters of four congregations) from 12 different nations - all in all a group of almost 130 people of 14 different religious denominations. 2/3 of the participating children were females in order to counteract the common preference of males in the Middle East.

Manifold activities during the camp

Various activities as handcrafts, music and sports games and contests were organised at St. Joseph Technical School in Bhersaf where the children were accommodated. The best sports performances were even awarded  with medals and cups at the end of the camp. Since peace education is one main purpose of the project, there were also group works and workshops on subjects as tolerance, respect and friendship. Some of the workshops were conducted by a professional trainer of the Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre, this year’s partner of Caritas Salzburg.

Since many participants came from abroad and may never again have the chance to visit Lebanon, various trips were organised to discover the host country. Thanks to the support of the Lebanese tourism minister, Elie Marouni, who even personally invited the children for lunch at a restaurant in his home town Zahlé in the Bekaa plane, all tourist sights were free for the whole group. Thus the kids had the chance to visit the impressive Roman ruins of Baalbek, the cedars in North Libanon, the crusader’s fortress in Byblos and the Druse palace in Beit Eddine. More highlights were the soap museum and - to the great joy of the children - an invitation to a fun park.

Since the Jordanian participants were children from SOS children villages, the SOS children village of Bhersaf invited us all and each of the ten camp groups could join a SOS family house for the day.

Dr. Eva Maria Ziegler, Austrian ambassador to Lebanon, facilitated two visits to Aqua Park and personally visited the children at the camp site; the Yemeni ambassador to Lebanon also was paying a visit to the Yemeni delegation, which was very much appreciated by the children.

The preparation and organisation of national evenings during the camp, where the children present their culture with dances and songs in national costumes to their new friends, is another important element. The best performances  were presented to a bigger audience by the end of the camp at an impressive international evening.

The objectives of the camps were achieved

The tears when saying good-bye gave evidence of how the aims of the project were achieved, namely to overcome prejudices and to promote tolerance. The programme is set to cultivate interest in other countries, cultures, traditions and religions and to contribute to international understanding  through boarder-crossing friendships. Last not least the children can engage in healthy childhood activities and enjoy careless holidays for at least once in their lives.

The 2009 Peace Camp was co-funded by Caritas Salzburg and Caritas organisations of Holland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Luxemburg and USA. The next Peace Camp is scheduled to be conducted in Alexandria/Egypt in summer 2010.