St. Francis...Quakers...Harriet Tubman...FOR...Gandhi...White Rose youth...Daisy Bates...Rosa Parks...Martin Luther King, Jr...youth of
Freedom Summer...Kent State students...Oscar Romero...Tiananmen Square students...Erik Larson...Nelson Mandela...young people today

Introduction: The "Wall of Hope" has proved to be an effective means for involving young people in peace and justice issues in a positive way and for sharing the stories of social change movements and heroes that can help inform and inspire future justice and peace discussions and projects. Small groups are a natural process to use.

Preparation: Especially if you are interested in a project of several weeks or months, it helps to lay the ground-work in thoughtful way. For example, think of ways to build on successful experiences your group has had (or have shared) with discussions, assignments, book reports, etc. on peace and justice heroes. You may want to plan several brief discussions or videos on outstanding events on the wall (e.g. the list above) to build awareness, gauge interest, and identify those in your group who could help in the project's early stages.

Some youth group leaders and teachers have begun the project by asking a few interested students to read and share brief stories about key wall heroes in the preparation stages in order to build interest and involvement. Similarly, it helps (especially if there isn't a strong response at first) to proceed in stages beginning with activities centering on figures chosen by group members. One of the nice things about the Wall of Hope is that different groups have chosen to construct walls of every imaginable length, from a medium size bulletin board to 20 or 30 feet on classroom walls, to 80 or 100 foot long installations in hallways, libraries, and gyms and auditoriums. The San Antonio Peace Center put it on their web site as "The Great Peace March" at http://www.salsa.net/peace

1. Selecting the events to be included on the wall. In our experience, the more young people themselves are involved in this step, the better: Much of the learning takes place at this stage. Yet few people, young or old, are familiar with more than a fraction of the events listed. Thus it is crucial to create a safe atmosphere for members of your class or group to explore at their own pace to build their knowledge and ownership of the project. We have found that it helps members of your group to share what is being learned with each other and with other classes or groups, e.g. giving short presentations for or leading small groups from younger classes through the wall. It also helps to use newsprint or xeroxed list) so the group as a whole can decide what will be included. 

Most groups report that selecting events was a building process over a period of weeks, e.g. looking at a quarter of the total Wall events at a time, starting with the most recent period which may be more familiar. It helps to begin with brainstorming possible events, and than passing out one page of the LPF Wall, discussing its events, and selecting ones to include. The next step can be done in pairs or small groups: gathering pictures & drawings and sharing choices with the group. As interest and involvement grows, you can fill in any gaps, e.g.: "We have more ecology and civil rights than justice or peace stories," and asking for help to identify additional events.

 2. Looking for pictures can be one of the most enjoyable activities. Here are tips from our experience: Scope out sources ahead of time, perhaps with help from several of your stronger young people, so that less experience people don't get frustrated because they run into many dead ends. Many libraries can put materials on reserve, or you can check out materials and order key books that you can't find so your groups focus on reading about, selecting, and making copies of pictures. You may want to show your group how to gauge which copy machine settings will work best for photos of differing quality (darker photos are the biggest problem, requiring a lighter setting, perhaps the "photo" setting, and enlarging 20 or 30% to capture the dot pattern in the photos).

3. Construction: the four colors we use for the wall descriptions (blue, green, orange, red) are widely available in copy centers and paper stores and help brighten the wall and portray different types of events. Select a muted color for the background of construction paper or cloth. Many schools or churches have a laminator that can make your photos and descriptions more durable (ours cost just $79); laminating helps, but isn´t essential.

4. Sharing: Which heroes are especially meaningful for your group? Have project small groups present 3-5 minute talks and lead discussions on favorite wall events for other members of your group and then for groups of children, parents, etc. Develop larger insights about how social change takes place, the role of faith, etc. Select Wall events to explore at greater length (e.g. use videos of Gandhi, Romero, Bonhoeffer, King, Peace Services, Freedom Summer,...). Don't forget to take pictures of the planning, construction, presentations, follow-up.

We are eager to help you plan and carry out a successful project, and to hear about your experience in order to share what you learn with others. Please don't hesitate to call Glen or other project member at: 206/720-0313 (1:30 to 3:30 pm is best, often later);or at 542-4436 (9-11 am); or e-mail us at lpf@ecunet.org. There are a variety of relevant materials on our website (both lpf's and other groups) lutheranpeace.org

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