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I had the privilege to
speak to graduate students at Both universities have
active campus peace clubs organized by the Interfaith League Against Poverty and
my presentations were being used to promote their groups and for recruitment. Attendance was good 50-70
at each event with good question and answer dialogues after. Some of the students
present were from the Northwest Frontier area where much of the violence is
occurring with Taliban in control of much of the area. These young people have a
great stake in peace, but the challenges they face are much more dangerous and
difficult than what stand before many of us. My discussions with the students
became a learning experience for all of us because the more we talked the more
we realized the complexity of the path we are on. The solutions aren't
written down clearly for us in a manual to follow that will guarantee the
outcomes we desire. The solution will have to be found through listening to each
other, especially those closest to the source of conflict, and then work
together using our "creative" abilities to produce an outcome of peace through
peace itself. It isn't going to be an
easy or safe journey, but the way we got to this point in human
history has been a tragic story of never ending violence and the despair it
causes. It is time for new
solutions to old problems. These young people who
wish to invest their future in peace is where governments need to invest their
resources, here in Pakistan, the United States and everywhere else in the world. It was a good day!
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