We Share Our Message with Delaware Students

This is Lou. She is a 9th grader at the Wilmington Friends School in Delaware. After our presentation she came up to us and asked if we would take a picture of her with this sign she made and send it to the kids in Afghanistan (Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers). We were delighted to say yes, of course.

Yesterday we spent 6 school hours with the students at the Friends School. We spoke with 9th and 10th grade classes from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. Some 11th and 12th grade students joined us whenever they heard the music playing.

We were inspired when we heard more students like Lou get interested and share their feelings. We had a lot of that. Jacob told his story 6 times yesterday and, likewise, we played all of our hillybilly peace songs over and over. We talked about how the ride began and how Jacob's brother, Jordan, made the decision to resist the Afghan war after receiving his orders to deploy. We talked about how the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers are struggling to share their message of peace in a world so easily accepting of violence. Not to mention how easy it would be for those youngsters to pick up a random Kalashnikov and join the violent anti-occupation movement. Instead, though, they choose peace.

It was these discussions about the youth in Afghanistan, Jacob and Jordan's stories, and peace songs that inspired class after class of Delaware students to stand up and raise their wrists to show solidarity. Even further, many of the Afghan kids and the Delaware kids share the same age. Very powerful.