“(PeaceJam) gave us a platform where we didn’t have to be scared to be ourselves.” Shadae Hillsman

By Shadae Hillsman

Peacejam 2018 was held at Western Michigan Universities Bernhard Center. We had the opportunity to meet Nobel Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, participate in service projects, several different workshops, and meet people of all ages and backgrounds.

One of the most memorable things we got to do was listen and take in an inspiring speech that was given by Gbowee. In this speech, she told stories about how actions have consequences that may affect you or those around you. She told a story about a man named Do-good. (His name makes his personality self explanatory.)

The story goes…

Kids would always chase him and ask, “Do-good, what do you have in your bag?” Whatever he had he would give to the kids. Everyone in the village loved him…except one person. This woman was a parent to a child in the village. She despised Do-good, she thought Do-good was bad for the village and she wanted him gone.

So one day, she decided to make Do-good some bread, but it wasn’t normal bread. When she gave the bread to Do-good, his response was, “Thank you kind woman”. Later that day, that woman’s child was coming home from school and she saw Do-good. She said, “Do-good, what do you have in your bag?” He looked in his bag and said, ¨I have bread your mother made it for me¨. So he broke off a piece and gave her some.

Even later that day, the girl was complaining to her mother about a stomach ache. He mother asked, “What is wrong my child? What have you eaten?” Her child proceeded to tell her that she had received bread from Do-good. The woman freaked out and said, “I have brought evil upon myself.”

The moral of this story ties into a quote which is: “You do good, you do good for yourself. You do bad, you do bad for yourself.” This is one of the most inspirational stories out of her speech and I think everyone learned something from it.

During the weekend event, we also did service projects and workshops. A service project was something we could do that would help or inform the community. Our group did a PSA (Public Service Announcement). Four of the Explorers did one on Racism and Hate,  while the other two Explorers joined another group to work on a PSA on Conflict Resolution.

When we broke into other groups, it helped us meet new people and discuss serious topics with several opinion. We were asked to either make a poster or a video that would be shared on a social media platform. A workshop was more of a fun activity. We had options like African Drums, Taichi, Social Justice, etc. These were used to teach us different things and help meet new people.

We had several opportunities to meet others from PeaceJam groups throughout the Midwest during lunch, in family groups, workshops, service projects, and whole group time. Overall, we had a good time while learning and experiencing new things. I highly recommend coming because it helps you get more open when speaking to others and expressing your opinions. They gave us a platform where we didn’t have to be scared to be ourselves.