http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/monthyupdates.htm
For those of you who are planning to attend the annual Association for the
Study of Dreams conference being held this year between June 27 and July 1
at the Radisson Hotel in Berkeley, California,
[asdreams.org/2003]
you won't want to miss either the Dreams and Peace
Trains Workshop being conducted on Monday night by Jeremy Seligson, May
Tung, and Jean Campbell, or the display of Peace Trains from around the
world. The Peace Trains will be on display in the common areas of the
conference throughout the week.
But the Peace Train Project, begun by The World Dreams Peace Bridge last
August, has been picking up steam in more areas than one. Exciting news
has reached the Peace Bridge recently from both Korea and Turkey, as
dreamers from the Bridge continue to explore ways to dream the world toward
peace.
Let me quote from a May 12 e-mail written from the original Peace Train
dreamer, Jeremy Seligson, to UNESCO in Seoul:
"Dear Mrs. Yeon,
Could you please forward this explanation to your counter-part in
UNESCO North Korea. It would be wonderful if North Korean children could
draw pictures of peace and make their own North Korean Children's Peace
Train which could link up with the South Korean Children's Peace Train and
make one Korean Children's Peace Train of it. What a good example they
could set for the adults on both sides."
Jeremy states in an enclosed article, the purpose of Peace Trains:
"The Peace Train is a dream on behalf of the people and other creatures of
this planet, and especially for the children and future generations who
will inherit the condition of life on Earth from us. It is a dream of love
and prosperity, of harmony and joy, of self-confidence and personal
security. It is a dream of a co-operative family, local and world
community, one that creates an environment for respectful settlement of
disputes. And it began with an actual dream I had on July 26th, 2002...."
Jeremy goes on to explain:
"The first trains began rolling in from children in South Korea. It was
here that the World Children's Peace Train first began, with art works
collected by my students at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in
Seoul. They went out to playgrounds, elementary and middle school
classrooms, Sunday schools, art schools, youth groups and other places to
lead Peace Train workshops, collect and construct trains together with the
children. The children made Peace Trains and at the same time received
Peace Training. They learned to express their own desires and feelings for
peace, as well as to work together with others on a project for peace, a
project which was part of a greater design, involving children around the
whole world....
"It is apt that the Peace Train begin in Seoul, Korea, because this is
perhaps the most dangerous place in the world to live, being faced with the
moment by moment threat of annihilation by the missiles and artillery of
the North Korean military, stationed just some 230 kilometers away...."
The most recent stop for the Korean Peace Train was at the International
Fair in May at the International School in Seoul, where a Peace Train
exhibit graced the walls of the gym where the fair was held. Jeremy has
also been interviewed recently for a Peace Train documentary by a Korean
journalist, who is currently studying in London.
More exciting Peace Train news came in mid-May from Ilkin Sungu in
Turkey. At a picnic, she struck up a conversation with the wife of a
childhood friend, who turned out to be the national director of the
Education Volunteers Association, a group which sponsors after-school and
summer programs for school children all over Turkey.
So excited was this new friend about the Peace Train Project and its
potential, that she immediately asked Ilkin to put together a proposal for
using it as a teaching tool within the program, and scheduled a meeting for
her with program directors during the week of May 20.
But wait. There's more. Quoting from a post sent by Ilkin to the World
Dreams Peace Bridge on May 21, "I entered the meeting room and an
EARTHQUAKE happened (fortunately not a large earthquake). I saw that they
already put Peace Train in their Summer School Program.... They are also
planning to put The Peace Train in their 2003-2004 Academic Year
Program...."
As the meeting progressed, Ilkin said, she learned that this large
volunteer organization was also planning to offer the Peace Train Project
to one of its sponsors for its annual Summer Festival.
Assuming that the Peace Train Project is accepted as the theme for this
event, Ilkin explained in her proposal for the Summer Festival:
"....Our goal will be to build the basics of 'peace consciousness' in our
own country where nearly half of the 72 million population is under the age
of 16.
" The natural geographic specialty of Turkey, as the only country in the
world being a bridge between continents will also let the Turkish
Children's Peace Train be a natural bridge between the cultures and
societies....
" Turkish children are, although they have witnessed many wars in
neighboring countries for decades, the lucky children of a country which
did not even enter the Second World War, and who grow up with a belief of
'Peace in the Homeland, Peace in the World.' They have many important
observations to tell the world children both from their witnessing the wars
in nearby areas and growing up in a country which has not entered any war
since its founding."
The Peace Train Project is not the only aspect of the World Dreams Peace
Bridge, but it is a most important and growing one. On the Peace Bridge
discussion list, the Peace Train maintains its foundation in dreams. For
example, here is one recent dream from Nick in Australia (see Nick's report
on Dreams and Healing in this issue of Electric Dreams)
Colourful Friendships
I'm on the train, near the front of one of the carriages. Two seats down,
closer to the door, I see a boy of about 4 and his roughly 30 year old mum.
She's got a punk-like haircut, but she's a very relaxed person. She goes
off, to check something, so I start talking to her son. At first, I'm just
smiling at 'the little baby', making faces and stuff. A girl about my age,
looks over at me. I catch a glimpse of inner happiness - as she watches.
Anyway the boy starts talking to me, at which I am a little surprised -
because he's so young. I decide that I should make more of an effort to
listen to children. After a little, I'm beginning to wonder where his mum
is, and notice that she's near the door. She seems to be getting the pram
ready. Laughing, I make a joke, about how she just disappeared, leaving her
poor son here with me. I'm surprised at how comfortable I feel speaking to
her.
Then the mum, starts showing me how they've decorated the train. It's very
cool, I see five little necklaces hanging from the front of the carriage,
along with these amazingly colourful fish - made from paper. It reminds me
of this origami-fish, my friend made for me. I called it a peace-fish.
Suddenly I am struck by this realisation, that this lady would be a perfect
person to tell about the Peace Trains project. I start, "Well that's really
interesting, because there's this project using artwork like this for
peace".
At this stage, my friend Jesse joins me. He adds something, saying "I like
artwork for communication". It comes across with his own particular slant
on things - ie. the use of artwork to market an idea. After this the woman
is talking about friendships, and the different kinds. I see a scene, and
in this a big roadway type thing, surrounded by buildings? on either side.
At the beginning, there is a space for 'physical friendships' highlighted,
and she points out one or two other varieties - through the depiction of
colour.
I think one of them's about friendships, which are more based on who is
popular, etc. Finally, I see an area called 'colourful', and she tells me
"Invariably, colorful's make the most of where I am".
Dreaming of peace and the interesting projects created as dreams come true
happen daily on the Bridge. Join us. To learn more about The World Dreams
Peace Bridge, go to our web site at http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org,
or join the Peace Bridge discussion group by sending a post to
worlddreams-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The World Dreams Peace Bridge is a group that uses personal dreams for public world peace. You can find out more about the WDPB at:
http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org
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