150 Canadian Stories of Peace – What is Yours?

Press Release (ePRNews.com) - OTTAWA, Ontario - Jun 08, 2017 - In recognition of Canada’s 150th year of Confederation and contributions to peace by its residents, we are inviting stories from individual Canadians for a book highlighting their unique ways of building peace in themselves, their homes, their communities and beyond.

An independent story selection committee will choose 150 stories for publication in the first book this year. Stories that are not included in this book will be saved for future publication.

Canada is rich with stories of individuals who have dedicated their lives and their work in the pursuit of peace, in Canada and abroad. Across cultures, ideologies and politics, we have seen ordinary Canadians step into the role of peacemakers, using empathy, deep listening and a genuine desire to do good in order to build bridges and foster a culture of peace. We have seen leaders in our communities and world stage take a stand for peace, and make decisions based on those principles, even when it wasn’t popular to do so.

It’s been said that you can’t hate people once you’ve heard their stories. Whether or not that’s true, what cannot be denied is that stories give us the sacred space to reflect on who we are as individuals and on the fabric of the society we wish to weave. Stories have the power not only to inspire and unite, but to heal divisions and transform hearts and minds. They unite us in our search for a common humanity, crossing boundaries and going straight to the deepest place of truth that dwells within us.

So, we invite Canadians (young and not so young) to tell us their personal story. It can also be a story they researched, an event they witnessed, a person they have met.

Share with us a time when you chose peace over hatred, love over fear, nonviolence over violence, non-killing over killing.

Tell us about a project that built bridges across people of differing ideologies and beliefs.

Tell us a story from your culture that inspires you to act from a place of peace.

Tell us how your beliefs helped you be at peace even when surrounded by war.

Tell us how you stopped a bully.

Submission Guidelines: The story must be true, in English or French, maximum one page (3500 characters) in Times New Roman 12. Please include story title, your name, and one-line bio.

Submit your story to 150PeaceStories@gmail.com by July 1, 2017.

You can also mail it to Civilian Peace Service Canada, 1025 Richmond Road, Apt. 2106, Ottawa, ON, K2B 8G8.

For more information, please contact Mony Dojeiji at monydojeiji@walkingforpeace.com.

The project organizers are a group of civilian volunteers who, each in their own way, has been dedicating their life work to creating peace. They are:

Evelyn Voigt and Gordon Breedyk – Founders of Civilian Peace Service Canada, dedicated to accrediting peace professionals.

Koozma J. Tarasoff – Anthropologist, author and world-renowned authority on Doukhobor heritage.

Mony Dojeiji – Pilgrim for Peace, Author, Social Entrepreneur

For more information, please visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/150CanadianPeaceStories/.