Education
The Interfaith Peace Camp
A week in the summer where children from every faith in Halton build friendships before anyone has taught them not to.
Building friendships and understanding
The first of its kind in Halton
The Council ran Halton’s first Interfaith Peace Camp at the Halton Safety Village in Oakville, and it was a success by the only measure that matters: the children wanted to come back.
The idea is simple. Adults arrive at interfaith work carrying a lifetime of assumptions to be unpicked. Children do not. Put them in a room together for a week and they make friends — and a friendship formed at eight years old does more for a community twenty years later than any amount of adult dialogue.
Understanding is easiest to build before there is anything to undo.
How the week works
Three things happen
Meet
Children spend the week with others they would not otherwise meet — from families who pray differently, eat differently, and dress differently from their own.
Make
Games, crafts, stories and shared meals. Very little of the week is spent being lectured at. Friendship is the curriculum.
Take it home
Children who have had a friend from another faith at eight years old do not need convincing at eighteen. That is the whole point of starting early.
The shape of it
What to expect
Details from the camps we have run. Dates, venue and fee for the next one are confirmed each spring.
Who it is for
Children of every faith, and of none
Where it has been held
Halton Safety Village, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville
How long
One week, 9am to 4pm, with lunch provided
What it costs
A modest fee per child, kept deliberately low
The next camp. Dates for the next Interfaith Peace Camp have not yet been announced. Send us a message through the contact form and we will let you know as soon as registration opens.
Everyone is welcome at the table
Children of any faith, or none
No child is asked to believe anything at this camp. They are asked to meet people, and they do.