By Ally Tobler
We live in a violent world.
A summer camp is trying to change that, one youth at a time, with lessons learned from jail inmates.
It’s called the Alternative to Violence Project. Children ages 11 to 17 are learning about nonviolent conflict resolution, from Wind of the Spirit, a nonprofit immigrant resource center based in Morristown.
More than two dozen youths met during the first half of August at the Chatham-Summit Quaker Meeting building in Chatham.
The Alternative to Violence Project began in 1975 at Green Haven Prison in New York State. Inmates asked local Quakers to teach methods of nonviolent conflict resolution to incarcerated juveniles.
These workshops quickly became popular and spread to other prisons across the country, and now similar programs are available in churches, neighborhood centers, businesses, women’s shelters, and more. The national project is nonprofit and volunteer-based.
Claudia Sydenstricker, the youngest AVP U.S.A. facilitator at age 11, said the program has taught her how to communicate “in a more nonviolent way.”
The campers participate in games and take field trips to museums and swimming pools.
“The point of [this program] is to show us how to speak up and express your feelings and how to make that easier. And it has been a little easier because we learned about using the ‘I Message,’ and I’ve been using that a lot,” said Angie Machado, a 12-year-old Morristown resident.
“It’s also supposed to help you in life, not to tell you what to do in life, but to give you suggestions.”
The “I Message” is when someone says: “‘I feel…because…and this is what I’d like to see happen,’” explained Estefani Rosales, a 15-year-old second-year facilitator at the camp. “I think that helps with their problems because they use it a lot.”
A typical day spent at the AVP program consists of activities designed to get the children comfortable with expressing themselves and interacting with others. The aim is to boost their self esteem as they learn about solidarity and nonviolent resolutions.
Facilitators range from middle schoolers to adults.
They must undergo three levels of training en route to certification, explained Brian Iozano, who has been a facilitator for just over a year.
The first step is to take basic and advanced workshops. Then you help run workshops as an apprentice.
Sydenstricker, the 11-year-old facilitator, said camp activities include concentric circles, in which pairs of campers discuss and answer questions posed to the entire group.
An M&M game involves everyone taking a handful of candy. For each different colored M&M, participants share one thing they like about themselves.
“In the manuals,” Sydenstricker said, “they always explain the purpose behind each activity. For example, there’s this game called ‘Lots of Dots.’ We put dots on a person’s forehead, and they’re all different colors, but nobody knows what color is on their forehead. So everyone has to split into groups not knowing what color they have.
“And the idea is to show how in the world, people divide themselves into different groups and how sometimes people separate themselves from others.”
“Every facilitator does different things every day,” added Rosales. “Today, I did the Concentric Circle activity, and yesterday I ran the games. So it depends on what day and what you want to do.”
In addition to running activities, facilitators are expected to set an example.
“You have to try to be a good role-model [for the younger children],” stated Rosales. “You have to be careful with what you do.”
In the afternoon, campers do activities, from making paper to taking field trips. AVP campers have visited pools as well as museums.
“Most of the kids haven’t been to museums, so it’s nice to be able to take them,” Iozano said.
Iozano oversees many of the creative activities, like teaching campers how transfer photos to a piece of wood.
Many campers have come out of their shell, said Sydenstricker.
“There is one kid who, throughout orientation, didn’t want to participate and he was always hanging back in the shadows. And now he’s one of the people who participates the most,” she said.
It turns out nonviolent conflict resolution tastes good, too, said Machado, the camper from Morristown. “At first, I thought [AVP] was just going to be about learning lessons. But it’s actually pretty fun. And we get really good food.”
Still, the lessons are important.
The purpose of the Alternative to Violence Project, according to its website, is to train youths who are “willing to teach others and be in the front lines of change within our communities.
“Given the normalized levels of violence we live day in and day out, our youth still have the creative spirit to effect the change that is needed in our communities by developing their capacity, connecting to their own humanity and strengthening each other.
“We seek to cultivate a culture of peace and justice grounded on our common good and humanity that respects and uplifts the dignity of all.”
Ally Tobler, a 2016 graduate of Morristown High School senior, will study journalism at the University of Maryland this fall.
