The PeaceJam South Africa Youth Leadership Conference will unite more than 400 youth, educators and community partners at Chrysalis Academy, from Saturday October 15 to Sunday October 16.
The event, titled Stand in your power, will led by Nobel Peace Prize winner and indigenous rights advocate Rigoberta Menchú Tum.
At the conference, sponsored by the PeaceJam Foundation and The Points Guy, high school pupils will engage in leadership training and large-scale service projects in partnership with local groups organised by Restoring Hope.
In 1992, Ms Tum received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work for advocating for the rights of indigenous people. All of her non-violent work contributed to the 1996 Peace Accords in Guatemala, which ended Guatemala’s 36-year civil war and gave many rights back to the Mayan People.
The PeaceJam South Africa Leadership Conference will connect South African youth, community members, non-profits, elected officials and local businesses with the nobel laureate to spark change first in Cape Town, and then into South Africa as a whole.
Throughout the weekend, educators, and adult advisors will participate in professional development sessions while students engage in workshops by organisations whose emphasis is placed on sustainable development, community building, environmental education and the prevention of gun violence.
“By combining Tum’s deep civil rights history; PeaceJam’s unique community focused programming, and youth who will participate in service projects, the event strives to create a model for community-wide civic engagement worldwide,” says PeaceJam South Africa coordinator Earl Mentor.
The PeaceJam’s Billion Acts campaign (billionacts.org) will track the impact created and create a campaign that will allow every South African to get involved. To date, everyday citizens, organisations, schools and businesses have created more than 100,000,094 Acts of Peace across 171 countries using the Billion Acts platform created in partnership with Google.
The PeaceJam Foundation has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize nine times.
With 23 years of experience around the world, PeaceJam’s mission is to create young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities, and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates who pass on the spirit, skills and wisdom they embody.
“PeaceJam achieves this mission using research-based curricula, award-winning documentaries and major events featuring public talks and service projects where students personally connect with Nobel Peace Prize winners such as The Dalai Lama, Betty Williams, Oscar Arias, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, José Ramos-Horta, Jody Williams, Sir Joseph Rotblat, Shirin Ebadi, Kailash Satyarthi, Tawakkol Karman and Leymah Gbowee,” the foundation said.
