Review of Peace Tree Day 2006

June 5, 2006

For Immediate Release

Three-hundred Peace Tree Ambassadors Flock City Hall to Create Symbolic Peace Tree

On June 1st, 2006, 300 school children and educators from over 40 schools across Southern Ontario, from Niagara to Durham, flocked to Nathan Phillip’s Square in downtown Toronto carrying more than just a wish for peace in their hearts.  These children joined together with city officials to inaugurate the world’s first Peace Tree Day celebration, proclaimed by Mayor David Miller in the City of Toronto, a festival designed to transport our minds beyond the status-quo of tolerance in order to establish unity within our multicultural society. Crafted by their own hands, each child created a symbol of cultural or religious significance, and as an act of fellowship and harmony, placed it upon The Peace Tree. Side by side these symbols hung as a visual representation of ‘diversity in unity’, and throughout the day all visitors witnessed how this colourful display was swayed by the same wind, lit by the same sun, and touched by the same rain. Each participant, given the title of Peace Tree Ambassador, was encouraged to teach their family, friends, and entire communities the value of the Peace Tree project and Peace Tree Day, a festival for children of every culture, race and religion to celebrate peace and diversity TOGETHER!   In spite of the rain, the Peace Tree Ambassadors celebrated with smiling faces and open hearts, thrilled to take part in the inauguration of the festival, as they walked with pride wearing their unique and vibrant clothes from around the world. Peace Tree Day celebrations included workshops presented by children and seniors that shared literature, music, art, dance, and food from around the world.  The Peace Tree Place workshop encouraged children to utilize their skills to create mini-peace tree kits that could be sold to raise funds for children and families suffering from the devastation of war.

Peace Tree Day was inspired by the award winning film," The Peace Tree” produced, written and directed by Mitra Sen, which shares the story of two little girls, one Muslim and one Christian, who both dream of celebrating each other’s festivals, Christmas and Eid.  But at home they run into problems trying to convince their parents that it’s really all about peace.   The Peace Tree, which now stands tall in Toronto’s City Hall, was created by the children and highlights the symbols of all our cultures and faiths on one tree to reflect the beauty of the multicultural mosaic of Canada.

In order to create a climate of peace in the future, we need to see an end to the days where children are raised in the vacuum of only knowing about their own cultures and faiths. Peace Tree Day is an important festival that not only encourages children to take pride in their own heritage, but also to discover the world outside their own.  This festival aims to prove that it is time to explore and experience the diversity that exists beyond our homes in all its colours, shapes, and forms, so our children realize the importance of replacing uncertainty and fear with curiosity and knowledge. Mitra Sen, who is also a teacher and creator of Peace Tree Day, believes that “our next step is to empower children to have the belief that they too can create peace in their schools and their communities – that by embracing the beauty of every culture and faith they can create peace in our world.  This is the message of The Peace Tree”.

Today our society bears witness to the dangers of breeding intolerance.  Raising children in cultural and intellectual seclusion serves to hinder efforts to live together harmoniously and in fact may perpetuate barriers to peace. Divisions between communities and intolerance of people of diverse backgrounds are rapidly increasing with the rise in terrorism around the world.  Hatred breeds more hatred. In order to break this vicious cycle, we have to be one step ahead of the terrorists and never succumb to the fear and racism they work so hard to instill in young minds.  Instead we must heal our communities from the divisive forces that penetrate it, and teach our children from a young age that having an open-mind can truly enrich their lives and will ultimately be an impenetrable armour for society.

The school system is an essential vehicle for making these societal advancements. The Peace Tree Initiative is a simple, yet effective tool that will enable teachers to integrate cultural awareness and diversity education into their curriculum throughout the year. Embracing diversity in all its different forms at a very early age will combat any hate or intolerance the children may learn outside of school.  If children are influenced to hate, they can use the skills acquired at school to decide for themselves what is right and which path to follow.

Just as terrorists train their children to hate and influence them to live within the confines of their own world, we must now step up to the plate and teach children to love and show compassion towards people of all backgrounds and encourage them to discover the world beyond their own.  Combating closed-minded views and attitudes is a difficult job for anyone, but the time has come when we must deal with this sensitive issue and help our children and parents understand the importance of attaining a balance between their heritage and their new culture.  As Martin Luther King Jr. said so wisely, “Racial understanding is not something we find, but something that we must create.  Through education we seek to change attitudes.”                                                                                             

Mayor David Miller’s decision to henceforward declare June 1st  as Peace Tree Day marks a turning point in the city’s attitude towards multiculturalism.  It now recognizes the role each and every individual makes, particularly children, in securing a more united society.  As evidenced by the recent exposure of a terrorist cell operating in Toronto, it is clear that the Peace Tree Initiative is very timely.  No longer can those living within Canada’s borders be content with having tolerance as the mainstay of Canadian culture. As Barbara Hall, the Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission stated so powerfully at the inauguration of Peace Tree Day, “All of you have the ability to change the world, to take your tree and the love and respect and the celebration of all our differences and all our similarities to change our world. I want to thank you for recognizing in your schools, in your classrooms, in your neighbourhoods that there are issues that you can help change, and it will go from there - it will go across all of Ontario, then it will be across the country, and then children in all parts of the world will be building Peace Trees and building the respect and justice and equality that you believe in.”  It is our hope that Peace Tree Day becomes an international celebration illuminating the pathway to world peace, one city at a time.

The Peace Tree is now glowing in City Hall until Friday June 9th for everyone to admire and to embrace its message of peace, so please bring your families and your symbol to adorn on the tree and see this unique tree which has started to grow in schools, homes, hospitals, organizations and offices in Canada, America, England, Australia, India, Japan, and many other countries around the world.

The Peace Tree Initiative allows children to be one step ahead, by empowering them from a young age to be contributors in society with a mission to promote peace.  And as people slowly begin to discover the message of The Peace Tree, they will soon realize the power and the ability of this unique symbol to change attitudes, offering a new way of living together in peace.

By Wendy Victory