It's simple really: PEACE! POP stands for Pieces of Peace because each of us is really one piece of peace! The
JHMS POP club is similar to other global connections clubs. Our goal is to work to better understand other cultures around the world to forward peace.
This summer we had the opportunity to participate in the festivities of Ishmael Beah's visit. For those of you who don't remember, Ishmael Beah is the author of the book A Long Way Gone: A memoir about life as a child soldier. He is now working to build schools in Sierra Leone via a non profit organization Schools for Salone. The JHMS POP club sponsered two events. First, we had Dinner with Ishmael. Students learned how to cook an authentic meal from Sierra Leone. They worked with Mary Woolens and learned many cooking techniques. They then served dinner to their parents and Ishmael Beah. He shared stories and thoughts about his life and current events. (See blog for pictures:
http://jhmspop.blogspot.com It is our hope to recreate this experience four times this year with guests from our own community!
We also had a ropes course day. Although Ishmael was not able to join us, the executive director from Schools for Salone joined us - as did Doug Walker's parents. We set goals for this year. It was ana amazingly powerful day. (See blog for pictures:
http://jhmspop.blogspot.com ) The was the day that we decided to raise $40,000 to build a JHMS sponsored school in Sierra Leone! Let the fundraising begin!