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IRIS Peace Walk

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Weathered by bright blue skies and warm sunlight, the trails along Ada Hayden Park on September 19, 2015 were flanked by tents and people of purpose. There were offerings of unique types of food, henna tattoos and also conversations eager to be shared with passersby.

The International Peace Walk, hosted by Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS), is an annual fundraiser put up in conjunction with United Nations International Day of Peace. The event aims to raise funds for IRIS’s Global Grants and Scholarships in efforts to support their YES alumni with educational pursuits and humanitarian projects that will benefit their communities back home.

The first stop of the Peace Walk was the IRIS registration booth, where participants picked up a passport to document their journey throughout the trail. Participants got their passports stamped at each booth, and if they turned it in at the end of the walk, they were entered in the running to win prize packages from IRIS!

The first stamp to collect was from the Ames Human Relations Commission booth, which was the biggest sponsor of the event. IRIS’s other sponsors for the Peace Walk included; Sam’s Club, Fareway and Hy-Vee who generously provided water and granola bars to all volunteers. 

Upon registering, participants of the Peace Walk were greeted by the fragrant smell of rice cooked in coconut milk with a side of “sambal,” a spicy anchovy condiment and “teh tarik,” or pulled tea. The Association of Malaysian Students at ISU (AMSISU) had an elaborate tent decorated with cultural knickknacks and traditional costumes of Malaysian people. Beside their tent, the trail was chalked with colorful hands with the motto “these hands are not for hurting,” voicing the purpose of Ames’ community group, ACCESS.

Iris Peace Walk

Gina, IRIS’s YES Program Assistant along with a few YES students, painted beautiful henna tattoos on the hands of the participants who stopped by the next village. Further along the trail, the Omani Students Association, clad in their traditional garments, handed out dates and sweets whilst acculturating participants with stories of their home-country. Mary, IRIS’s YES Program Assistant and a few of the YES students were nearby manning the World Trivia game, which tested the Peace Walk participants on their knowledge of the YES students' home countries, including Bangladesh, Kosovo, Gaza/West Bank, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

Halfway through the Peace Walk, participants ran into the International Student Council (ISC) from Iowa State University. ISC ran a game called “Guess The Flag,” where participants had to guess as many flags as they could in under one minute.

Village 5 was housed by Sankalp, an Indian association from Iowa State, and the Ames Public Library staff. Friendly and chatty, the students of Sankalp engaged in conversations about their culture and offered henna tattoo paintings as well as brochures. Ames Public Library had a peace sign decorating activity, which went along with the theme of the walk.

The Peace Walk was capped by a booth which offered ladies a first-hand experience in a different culture. “Would you like to try on a hijab?” IRIS intern, Hanan, alongside YES students Oumaima (Morocco), Jud (Jordan), Saba (Yemen), and Nouf (Philippines) offered tutorials on how to wear the hijab and talked about the meaning behind it. Beside them, Worldly Goods, a nonprofit that serves as an international marketplace specializing in the fair trade, had an assorted array of items from all over the world. Participants were informed about the importance of their organization’s message and how they could support their mission.

The Peace Walk was graced with almost 200 attendees and managed to raise about $1,500. There was a lot of positive feedback from the participants! IRIS is looking to make the walk an annual event and expand it into something bigger.

Original story posted on the IRIS website.


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