Peacecampreunion 2009

my name is wolfgang hofkirchner. i was born in vienna. i’m 55 years old. in the 80ies i participated in the austrian (and worldwide) peace movement. every now and then i also wrote some pieces of text concerning international peace matters. recently i began to become interested in ways of thinking that facilitate or hinder conflict resolutions. this is because i am interested in system theory which says that there is a principle that has to be done justice to: unity through diversity.

currently i’m professor of internet and society at the paris-lodron-university of salzburg (paris lodron was an archbishop and the founder of the university). thus i’m also professionally interested in social networking tools. the big research question that puzzles me is whether or not the new web 2.0 tools that are said to foster democracy and human rights can help bring about conditions of peace too. this is what i want to explore with you.

i’m married with gertrude, a psychoanalyst (she is very helpful when i need consultation in psychological matters) and we share two daughters (at the age of 28 and 25).

2008
Bianka Bozsó (f)
Noémi Miskucza (f)
Fanni Seprényi (f)
Patrícia Pánczél (f)
Ádám Somogyvári (m)
István Csapó (m)
Olivér Koós (m)

2007
Kinga Kemerle (f)
Dóra Kótai (f)
Gábor Leidal (m)


2006
Tímea Nagy (f)

Pamina Reichmann
Rebecca Langfelder

Dear friends:
I am Silvio Gutkowski, a good friend of Evelyne and also friend of other members of the Staff.
I worked the last year in the Peace Camp and felt how important for me was as a human being.,To contribute to grow up young people, that is able to work for peaceful life.
My task in the Peace Camp is to coordinate the group event, and to promove dialogue .
In my private life I work in jerusalem in a hospital and I have my family , a nice wife 2 wonderful daughters, and a grandson. I think many times about there future and in that moments I am convinced we have to make all we can to give the next generations a world that it's fun to be and enjoy.
I like music, walking and riding bycicle, and making jokes, and laugh. I hope to see you and enjoy next july together.
Silvio

Actually, my first name is Ronaldo, but since I don't want to be mistaken for a football star earning millions, I prefer to be called Ronny. I was born in Argentina and have lived most of my life in Austria. I am Evelyn's husband, and this means to be at the peacecamp's service day and (especially) night.

On the picture you can see me at this year's "Jewish Street Festival" in Vienna, where Evelyn and I had a stand presenting the peacecamp to the passers-by. And I am wearing the T-shirt with the logo of peacecamp 2007. I promise: Next year I will be wearing the T-shirt with the logo of 2008, which you all will create right at the peacecamp's first day.

In last year's blog I described my job at the peacecamp as follows: "I will be with you at the peacecamp right at the beginning taking care of everything, and at the end taking care of nothing any more - or the other way round." To tell you the truth, this is true for 2008 as well (and will be so for 2009 and ...).

I am very much looking forward to meeting you all and having a good time.
Bye for now, Ronny
ronaldoATutanet.at

I am Evelyn. In the picture, you see me with my husband Ronny at the peacecamp stand of the Jewish Street Festival in Vienna, trying to raise money for peacecamp.

I have been living in Israel for many years and am now living in Vienna. I am a Jewish Austrian, an Austrian Jew, a Jewish Israeli, an Israeli with European roots. I know a lot about the suffering of both, Jews and Arabs, and both people's quest for an own and safe homeland. I also know a lot about the situation of the Jews and their suffering throughout history as a people without a homeland. I therefore support the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people and can also sympathize with the Arab quest for a homeland for their people.

Ronny and I are the only "steady" peacecamp-team members. We do this benevolently in our really limited spare time, aside our bread-earning full-time jobs in our professions. We have been organizing peacecamps since 2004 with young participants from Jewish and Palestinian neighbourhoods in Israel and youngsters from European countries - Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. Many people were very helpful; we would not have succeeded to realise any of the peacecamps without them. They have generously supported the peacecamp-project with time and money. We can never thank them enough for this.




Why are we putting so much of our time and energy into the peacecamp-idea? I was always concerned about wars, terror, about the Holocaust and all the man-made catastrophes that people have brought upon themselves in the course of human history. My parents survived the Holocaust, but many members of their families were murdered by the Nazis.

When I was a child, I used to dream about a world in which there would be no borders between the countries and no differences between people of different origin and religion. I dreamt about a world in which all people would be free and equal, and about countries which would be a home for all the people who would live in them and care about them.

I often thought that there is so much hatred and violence in the world because our parents and grandparents have been victims of wars, terror, violence and injustice and are full with resentment which they pass on to their children. And now the children believe that it's only fair to take revenge for what was done to their parents, and spread new violence and inflict new suffering to the new generation.

I therefore decided to offer young people of different cultural backgrounds an opportunity to meet and learn about one another, to share their pain and to make up their own mind about things that they were told by their teachers and parents.

I must admit that there is nothing that I could tell you or teach you about how to make peace in a violent world. I must admit that I do not know. That no adult knows. That most adults who have tried, have failed.

I have the hope that the young may find ways to make the world more peacecful.

I actually believe that young people are sometimes more clever, more creative and more inventive than grown-up people. Maybe they can find the answers to the questions that the grown-ups are unable to answer or even to ask.

I am very much looking forward to the reunion in spring 2009.

cu soon,
Evelyn

bohmerATutanet.at

My name is Szilvia Kneusel, I am 31 years old and I live in Budapest, Hungary. In Budapest I work as an English teacher at Szent László High School. I have been teaching at this school for nine years. I don’t only teach here but I also take part in different projects and student exchanges. I have been to Danmark and Italy with different groups and participated in an EU project with Italy.
I, myself also spent a year in the USA as an exchange student during my high school years so I experienced what it is like being a stranger somewhere.
I am married, my husband teaches French though not at the same school. We don’t have children yet so until that we enjoy being with other children/students.
In my free time I like travelling (I have travelled all over Europe, the USA and also Israel), reading, listening to music and going on excursions.

...with her husband on Massada

accompanying teacher: Mrs. Nazira Taha

I am from nazareth teaching physics in galil high school, I'm also mother for two, boy and girl, I'm intersting of nazareth folklore- dancing, singing.....

I am osnat oknin.
I'm 46 years old and live in kiryat ata, which is a city near Haifa.
I love working with teenagers. I think it makes me feel young. I also love reading and going for long walks along the beach. I have been teaching English in "carmel zvulun" for 23 years and love ...