Electric Dreams

A View from the Bridge
April 2003

Aid for Children
Kids on the Bridge

Jean Campbell


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Campbell, Jean (2003 May). A View from the Bridge - April 2003:
Aid for Children/Kids on the Bridge. Electric Dreams 10(5).






http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/monthyupdates.htm

The idea for The Aid for Children Project did not come from one specific dream, but rather seemed to grow organically, as members of The World Dreams Peace Bridge watched with horror the effect of advancing U.S. troops on the children of Iraq.

May Tung, herself a refugee from China when she was a little girl, was the first to mention the idea of helping the children of Iraq. She suggested sending not food or water, but therapeutic aids like stuffed toys, crayons and paper, which could be used to help the children deal with trauma.

It was when we scheduled the first Dream Incubation for Children in early April that the idea really took hold, when it was discovered that several people had been dreaming not just for but with the children of Iraq. And then people began to talk about how, during childhood illness or other difficulty, some stuffed toy or doll had been a cherished friend or listener to secrets told to no one else.

At the request of the group, Ilkin Sungu, who lives in Istanbul, went to the offices there of UNICEF, where she was told that there were already therapists in place and goods being shipped from Turkey to refugee camps in Iraq. The director of UNICEF's Istanbul office offered a deep discount on the types of stuffed toys, crayons, paper and pencils we were looking for as well as enthusiastic support for the proposed program. Ilkin was assured that she could personally oversee the shipments, and that even cards and pictures from dreamers around the world could be sent to the children. Thus the Aid for Children Project was born. If you would like to contribute to this project, just send a check to:

Aid for Children
The iMAGE Project
408 Elmhurst Lane
Portsmouth VA 23701
USA

or check the World Dreams Peace Bridge http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/index.htm

(Note: The iMAGE Project is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization managed by World Dreams moderator Jean Campbell. All funds designated for the Aid for Children Project will go directly to the children. All donations are tax deductible.)

Along the way to this dream-created communication with the children of Iraq, another interesting thing developed. First came an e-mail to the Peace Bridge from Jeremy Seligson's nine-year-old daughter Elloisa (Ellie) in Korea, and then another from Victoria Quinton's Australian daughter, Emily, just turned nine. Soon Julian joined in from the United States, and before we knew it, there were Kids on the Bridge.

The Kids on the Bridge program is still developing. There are plans for a discussion board on the World Dreams web site, and for dream-related and peace-related activities for the kids. But most definitely this is a first in the community of dreamers, a place where kids can have their own space for discussion and development of projects.

If your own kids are interested in dreams and peace, and might like a place to explore these with other kids from around the world, send an email to jeansdream2002@yahoo.com, or watch this space for updates.

The World Dreams Peace Bridge continues to grow. Several new members have joined the Peace Bridge discussion group in the past month, and there have been enough Peace Train activities starting around the world that a special Peace Train discussion list has been created at Yahoogroups specifically for Peace Train conductors. If you would like to create a Peace Train, you can join the list by sending an e-mail to: peacetrainproject-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

And don't forget that Jeremy Seligson, the original Peace Train dreamer, will be conducting a Dreams and Peace Trains workshop at the upcoming ASD Conference in Berkeley at the end of June. Jeremy will be assisted by May Tung and me. Other members of the World Dreams Peace Bridge will also be in attendance.

The final activity of the month of April that must be mentioned is the creation of a new word to describe what we do on The World Dreams Peace Bridge. You can do it too. It's called Da-Fu Mu Dreaming or Dreams of Big FU, meaning dreams of great blessing. The word, a combination of Japanese and Chinese, came about when Kathy Turner asked, "What do we call this kind of focused, long-term, peace dreaming we've been doing?" And a word-playful discussion ensued. Check out the Da-Fu Mu Dreaming page at Dafumu - World Dreams Peace Bridge http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/dafumu.htm

And when you dream of peace, say Dafumu!


The World Dreams Peace Bridge is a group that uses personal dreams for public world peace. You can find out more about the WDPB at: http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org