Be Like A Tree, Peace Camp 2024
I write this with a heavy heart, but also with a sense of hope and inspiration. Our theme for PEACE camp 2024 was “Be Like a Tree.” Ironically, our peace camp took place in Altadena, California, where so many of our gorgeous trees, along with so many of our homes, went up in flames. The magical, beautiful campus that has hosted PEACE camp for the past 11 years is now burned to the ground. Erie videos remain of art murals that still stand amidst the rubble.
Be Like a Tree, we decided, for so many reasons. Roots to the ground, reaching for the light, trees withstand so many different catastrophes, resilient and adaptable. The diversity, beauty, and magic of what trees provide for us and teach us is truly limitless.
At camp, multi-age groups studied different tree varieties, sharing with each other the spiritual, historical, mystical, and scientific lessons we can learn from trees. In muti-aged groups, K-12, we collaboratively created a variety of paper mache trees, presenting and sharing our learning with the camp.
Campers created Zen gardens, played cooperative games, and created conflict resolution skits. They collaboratively built natural small worlds and Andy Godsworthy inspired art.
Each day ended with a musician from the nearby Zorthian Ranch (also destroyed in the fires), who played guitar while we sang our traditional Peace Camp social justice songs.
Our social justice project was developed by one of our former campers, Amelia, who has been with camp for over 10 years and is now a Berkeley college student dedicating her life to social justice. She passionately taught the campers about planting in ways that rebuild our native soil and create habitats for local wildlife to thrive. Together, they created seedballs that they could plant throughout Altadena to support growth and life.
Ironically, Amelia’s homes were some of the homes lost in the wildfire. Living in a cul de sac, a fallen tree cut off ten families from easily evacuating. Her family and their neighbors used a chainsaw to cut through the fallen tree to support one another.
As I write these words, I am still not aware of the scope of the disaster. Several of our staff, quite a few of our leaders, and many campers lost their homes. And, of course, we lost our Peace Camp home.
However, just like a tree or a forest, we will replant, rebuild, and support one another to bring the beauty that once was Altadena and our Aveson home.
I became fascinated and mesmerized learning about trees…how they support one another and communicate in a seemingly magical way, that is still a mystery being discovered. They literally keep one another standing, feed one another, and provide the basic necessities of life for each
other. They thrive generation after generation, through catastrophe after catastrophe. And when they die, they still provide, protect, and comfort us all.
Be Like a Tree, we all must be…
I have no idea how, if, or where a Peace Camp 2025 will be…but I know from what I teach, that after death is a rebirth…
Grateful for the lessons we teach our children, and ourselves, at camp.
This article is part of our Newsletter 2025 Issue 1. See all articles.
