(Long Island, N.Y.) Powerful words like peace and hope can seem intangible in today’s society. In order to cross the bridge from intolerance and despair to global harmony, you first need to build one. One humble man with a big heart and an acoustic guitar has begun to do just that: reach out and bring people together through international program promoting understanding through the arts, called Bridges of Peace and Hope.
That man strumming and singing his way to a sweeter world is the organization’s founder, John Farrell, an award-winning artist who has recorded six CDs of songs and stories that focus on living peacefully, appreciating the natural world, and promoting literacy.
Bridges of Peace and Hope is an international arts in education network of students, teachers and artists engaged in practicing peace, cooperation and community service to make a positive difference in our schools, communities, and around the world and aims to lead to new and deeper understandings of other people and cultures.
They are students, teachers, artists and friends who believe the vast majority of people everywhere wish to live in peace, learn about the world, and help others in need.
The organization uses school projects, community events, the Internet, and other technologies to enable students, teachers and artists to collaborate on creative educational projects that promote respect and understanding, and have a positive impact in our local communities and around the world.
Farrell, who is also the author of popular children’s books such as “It’s Just a Game,” “Stargazer’s Alphabet”, and “Dear Child” found himself positioned in the role as a peace educator and he had been connecting hands ever since.
The singer-songwriter has been performing for kids since the early 1990’s and in 2004 the State of Michigan Reading Association asked him to perform at their conference and the theme was reading and writing for peace.
“I was honored and a little surprised,” says Farrell, a father of five.
“My songs have a lot to do with encouraging children and adults to be more thoughtful and respectful of how we treat one another and to explore topics like empathy and tolerance and peer pressure. But I never labeled or promoted myself as peace education, but the fact that a professional organization viewed it that way, it helped me to focus on that direction.”
In 2005, Farrell’s oldest daughter went to school in South Africa for a semester (she is now in Cameroon with the Peace Corps), and while she was studying there, he learned there was a teachers conference being held in South Africa. He emailed the director and was invited to present at the conference.
“We Are Walking” performed by John Farrell, Kofi Donkor, and school children from the Danbury area for Bridges for Peace and Hope. This concert was held at Western Connecticut University at April 7, 2009.
“It was a life-changing trip,” says Farrell. “There’s an incredible natural beauty side-by-side with poverty. The people I met more reflected natural beauty than the poverty.”
When he returned home from South Africa, Farrell was energized and inspired to help kids through his work –all over the world. He held a meeting in his house with several friends who were teachers and expressed his desire to start an organization that can bring people together through music, writing, the arts and technology– so that we could learn more about one another and exchange cultural interests and experiences.
His bright idea to connect hands across the globe soon took shape. “It’s been slow growing, but we now have teachers in more than 20 countries who are involved,” he says.
The non-profit organization is in the application process for the 501c3 status awaiting approval and the network welcomes any kind of support or participation to continue building his bridges and supporting the connections they are bringing about, says Farrell, who has personally paid for or bartered nearly everything that has been done so far.
The goals of Bridges of Peace and Hope are to enable young people and teachers to make connections with others around the world in ways that will allow them to expand their awareness and understanding of each other, express their thoughts and feelings through writing and other forms of creative artistic expression and participate in projects that will include cultural exchanges, build relationships, and provide assistance to individuals and groups in need.
With the metaphor of a “Bridge” in mind one of the goals of the projects will be to build relationships that permit individuals and groups on both sides of the bridge to cross over and learn from and help each other. This key element of exchange is fundamental to the Bridges of Peace and Hope mission. The human exchange of ideas, artistic expression and services is at the heart of all their efforts.
Recently, 280 children from several different schools in Connecticut joined John Farrell and Ghanaian Master Drummer Kofi Donkor on stage singing We Are Walking the Bridge of Peace.
Through music, writing, creative arts, technology and community service projects, the Bridges of Peace and Hope network is already creating harmony: connecting hearts and hands across the globe–song by song.
You can find more information at http://www.johnfarrell.net
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