The Community Place Garden at First Street and Birch Avenue in 100 Mile House will get a little more colourful before the flowers are in full bloom this year.
Local children have been painting two Peace Poles during the past couple of weeks. Peace Poles are displayed in more than 180 countries.
Each side reads May Peace Prevail on Earth in a different language. Besides English, the two poles that will be displayed in the garden near the school plots include French, German, Afrikaans, Swedish, Tagalog, Arabic and Secwepemc.
Alexandria Peters, mentored by Elders Antionette and Elsie Archie from the Canim Lake Band translated the message.
Kimberly Vance-Lundsbye of Cariboo-Chilcotin Partners for Literacy initiated the art project to involve local children in the spirit of world peace in light of the upcoming Soup for Syria fundraiser on May 13.
Erica Henderson of the South Cariboo Early Years Centre through the Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre was keen to help with the art project and some fun activities for children at the Soup for Syria dinner.
Posts and solar light caps were donated by CGH Construction Ltd.
The youngest children were the first to put some colour on the poles with toddlers and preschoolers painting the sides orange, green, blue, and yellow outside Kindergym.
The poles then went to the Grade 6 and 7 Leadership group at Mile 108 Elementary School where they were decorated with symbols that reflect peace to the students. They chose peace signs, of course, the infinity symbol, hands, rainbows, wildlife and landscape scenes.
One student painted the saying, “Never Give Up,” a simple yet powerful message.
The kindergarten children at 100 Mile House Elementary School who painted their hands to print on the poles had a solid grasp on the concept of peace. When asked what peace means to them, a few explained that it is about being quiet and sitting still.
“With so much going on in the world, it was helpful to have these young kids bring the whole idea of world peace down to its basic level,” says Vance-Lundsbye.
“It would be a better world if we took time to be quiet and still more often.”
The Peace Poles will be on display at the Cariboo Women’s Fair on May 6-7th at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre.
They will also be on display at the Soup for Syria dinner on May 13. Tickets for the fundraiser are available at Higher Ground Natural Foods for $20, and 100 per cent of the proceeds support the group sponsoring a refugee family in Williams Lake.
