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Landmark Education Graduates Work with Youth to Cause Peace Jeff Clapp, one of the three founders of Where Peace Lives, describes his inspiration: "When I finished the Landmark Forum I got conceptually that anything was truly possible. Now I’m living that reality in my life through the work that myself, my wife Donna and my partner Jeff are doing." He continues: "Hate and fear, in whatever form they show up in, are just self-serving mechanisms that are so limiting, produce nothing, and destroy the essence of what it is to have the gift of being here on the planet. I don’t waste my time on hate or indulging in those conversations–I show others what can be created and accomplished through their words, their creativity and their hearts." Jeff Clapp knows something about hate and fear. Growing up in school, he describes himself as someone who was both a bully and bullied. Neither one gave him any peace of mind. Jeff became an artist in his adult life. Through his participation in Landmark Education, he saw that art could be a vehicle for people, particularly young people, to express themselves and connect to their community. In one Landmark program, he launched a project, 'Where Art Lives," which allowed students to create a mural about their community. Years later this project came back to him when he was brainstorming with his wife Donna, and their friend Jeff Rudy, about how they wanted to make a difference in the world. Jeff Rudy had been hugely impacted by the events of 9/11--He was a couple of days from taking a Landmark course in the Twin Towers in New York City when they were destroyed. His first thought was that the logical response was for the U.S. to bomb arab countries that supported terrorism. Through conversations with friends and through his participation in Landmark Education's programs, he saw another possibility. In front of over 400 people, he declared that he was taking on world peace. Later he met Jeff and Donna Clapp, and this vision of peace instantly connected them. When looking for a way way to take action, Jeff Clapp thought back to Where Art Lives and saw a whole new avenue for art to make a difference in the world. The three friends founded Where Peace Lives in 2006, a non-profit organization that allows students to draw murals for peace, which they then exchange with students in other states or countries. They also arrange for the students to have an ongoing dialogue with those foreign students. The projects create not just a visible expression of peace for all to see in the murals, but they also inspire students to see that anything is possible in their own lives. Students participating have spoken about how peaceful they themselves have become out of the project. This is part of the organization's intention--That peace is caused not just on a global level but on an individual level with each student, that may be dealing with bullying, school or domestic violence or other problems, just as Jeff Clapp did when he was growing up. The first murals were begun in the friends' home state of New Jersey in 2006. They were exchanged with murals from schools in Egypt and Peru. The program is now exploding, with murals underway in the Middle East, Africa and Central America. Over 50 different schools and organizations have committed to participate. In less than two years, these friends have created a radically different way to cause peace in the world
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Rishi Modi is author of this article on landmark forum. Find more information about landmark education here.
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