World Peace Society of Australia - non-violence and no war. Inner Peace.

Non-violence, find peace - World Peace Society of Australia

Peace Begins With Me

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher. -Dalai Lama

Berkeley Primary School, Wollongong, NSW, Australia


Mrs Duncan from Berkely Primary School and Ms Holt from the World Peace Society	The enthusiastic Year 3 class peace-makers

In August 2002, Mrs Duncan's Year 3 class read the book "Sadaka and the Thousand paper cranes" by Eleanor Coerr. This tells the story of a young girl in Japan, slowly dying from the effects of the atomic bomb dropped on her city. Sadaka knew of an old legend which claimed that health would be restored to the person who could fold one thousand paper cranes, so she folded as many as she could. Sadaka died before she could finish her task so her friends finished it for her. Mrs Duncan's Year 3 class also helped Sadaka to fold her thousand paper cranes, and explored the questions of why there was a war, why bombs were dropped, and the devastating effects on the people.

Non-violence, find peace - World Peace Society of Australia

Jane McCulloch with her drawing of Sadaka.

Erin Heufel with her drawing of Sadaka's story.

During the school assembly Mrs Duncan's class explained the story to the rest of the students, and sung the song "Let there be peace on earth" by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller.

Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me,
Let there be peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be,
With God as our Father, loved ones all are we,
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now,
With every step I take let this be my solemn vow,
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally,
Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.

Mrs Duncan commented to the World Peace Society representatives "Berkeley Primary School already encourages students to take personal responsibility for their world, recognising the importance of the school in the community. The warmth between individuals shown by all at the school is a credit to the Principal"

Non-violence, find peace - World Peace Society of Australia

Mrs Duncan's class and their Peace Memorial

Learning about the effects of war individuals encouraged the students to focus on how they as individuals could make a difference for world peace - beginning with their friends in the classroom, and following on to the rest of the school, their families, and their community. Mrs Duncan's class created a "peace memorial" composed of each students thoughts on how they could personally make a difference for peace. Some of their comments follow:

Andrew McCulloch: "Be kind to one and other. Treat other people like you want to be. We should all have peace in the world."

"Be loving and caring for other people also be friendly and be nice to everyone in the world."

Jessica Peppoloni: "Be happy. Be nice. Care for one and other. Make peace in the world. We must have peace in ourself. Care for others who might care for you."

Hope Proctor: "Make friends with people. Be kind to people. Welcome people to your school."

Hannah Haywood: "Care for each other. Don't be mean. Share your love with everyone. Peace all day, peace every day."

Jessica Bell with her letter E from the PEACE memorial.

Its all hugs and smiles in this class and in this school!

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