Konawaena students give peace a chance

KEALAKEKUA — For some students of Konawaena High School, the International Peace Day event Wednesday afternoon was much more than a conceptual celebration.

“We don’t know peace. We don’t have peace. It is meaningless to us. It means so much to see such celebrating power,” said Kariem Eid, a transfer student from the Gaza region of Palestine.

The reason to hold the event was simple enough for Maianna Taylor, who served as one of the MCs and organizers.

“What better way to invest your time than in something that celebrates peace?” she asked.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was in their capital in New York that Michelle Obregon saw an exhibit on the event and decided to bring it to the school.

“I’m calling it one of the darkest summers we’ve ever had,” she said, as this was a summer of the shooting in Orlando and other violence across the nation.

So it made sense to bring it to the school, she said

The event included free food, art projects and decorating tiles for the 1001 Cranes mural. The tiles will be added to over the years, Obregon said, until the entire roof and upper walls of the entry hallway are covered.

“It’s important because we’ve all experienced discrimination or hatred in our lives. We want it to be a healthier world than it is now,” Keisha Colon said. She served as an MC and gave a speech she wrote.

That was part of the message from the very top of the UN.

“But peace is about much more than putting weapons aside. It is about building a global society in which people live free from poverty and share the benefits of prosperity. It is about growing together and supporting each other as a universal family,” wrote UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in a statement.

The event, however, was anything but somber. The face painting booth added slogans to the chests of three young men, while art projects fluttered in the air.

“”I’ll be honest, I just wanted to have bubbles,” said Obregan.