How many summer camps offer solar cooking, guerrilla gardening, puppetry, and a dozen lessons in ways to make the world a more peaceful place?

We’re not sure exactly, but there’s at least one hosted by Peaceful Schools International, and it runs Aug. 16- 20 at Saint Mary’s University.

The Summer Peace Camp is a five-day interactive camp for youth ages 8 to 13 created to help children better understand peace and how people can live peacefully together. The program provides an opportunity for youth to come together to explore, experiment, and experience the value of peace through creative and fun activities.

“It’s amazing to see how willing children are to become engaged in the idea of peace and what it means to them,” says Bridget Brownlow, Saint Mary’s Conflict Resolution Advisor and an organizer of the camp. “Their ideas about how to achieve peace in the world last year made all the adults in the room really stop and think.”

Saint Mary’s is a committed member of Peaceful Schools International and is delighted to host the camp for a second year, said Brownlow.

Peaceful Schools International is a respected source of support and guidance for more than 300 schools in 13 countries working to build a more peaceful world. Saint Mary’s students have volunteered to assist with the camp. The work is an expansion of their volunteer efforts in supporting conflict resolution skills for youth in schools locally and internationally.

“We’re offering children an opportunity to actively use their creativity to learn ways of making peace at many levels,” said Saidu Timbo, a Peaceful Schools International volunteer from Sierra Leone who will be one of the facilitators at the camp.