HARRISONBURG, Va. — What does a bike-powered ice cream maker have to do with peace and justice?
A lot, for the 47 children attending June’s Interfaith Peace Camp, a collaboration of Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Interfaith Engagement and local faith communities.
“At the heart of peacebuilding is relationship building,” notes a statement of the camp’s purpose.
With a theme of “Earth Care-People Care,” campers learned about sustainable living on visits to Jewish, Christian and Muslim places of worship, as well as the New Community Project mini-farm in north Harrisonburg.
The morning at New Community Project immersed children in aspects of sustainability that also proved fun: painting the recycling shed (and each others’ faces), shaking sand and clay on a tarp to prepare for making a cob oven, setting out cucumber plants and picking mulberries for ice-cream topping.
