Claire G.

"In this photo, I put my newly made butterfly origami from the APPM [Asia Pacific Peace Museum] on the back of my Owala waterbottle. My friend also did the same, so we thought it would be a great photo idea for this photo activity… I chose this photo because of the memory that it holds for me and my friend! Butterflies symbolize unity and peace for me, and since I put mine and my friend’s butterfly on our water bottles, that made me feel peaceful and joyful!"

Amber

"The youth were all creating “Peace” booklets on Thursday. Right during lunchtime, I captured this shot to display the mess that we worked in, yet we were able to create finished products that represented our thoughts, feelings and lessons. This image is a direct representation of peace and conflict. Although conflict, disagreements, misunderstandings, and/or chaos may be present, peace can arise from the mess, much like how the youth created finished products from the messy art supplies. Through this creating and refining process, stronger and/or new relationships can be built, understanding and knowledge can be sharpened, and solutions can be formed."

Nathan Ngai

"This photo was taken on Day 1 of the peace camp. My friends and I have been working on the puzzle before the photo was taken. The bright colours of the puzzle caught my attention during our discussion. The puzzle in the photo was a collaborative effort between me and my friends. It represents the importance of collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork necessary to build and maintain a peaceful community."

Julianne

"This photo has a lot going on. You can see a woman sitting at a table covered in art supplies… She is sitting overtop of a painting, which I interpret as either clouds or waves. I chose this photo because it immediately looked like Peace to me. It served as a reminder that everyone finds peace in different ways."

Joanna

"In this photo, there’s an unfinished puzzle piece, some markers, magazine, crayons, papers, a glue stick, a scissor, and a plastic container… It seems like two activities are going on at the same time with one being puzzles and art n craft. Even though the puzzle in the photo I took was unfinished I still took it because it was to show the progress of the Pokemon puzzle… This photo relates to Peace by friendship, working together on a 300 piece puzzle. A working progress of a puzzle will soon be finished."

Summer

"While our group was at the APPM (Asia Pacific Peace Museum), there was an activity led where we folded origami butterflies. It was a simple craft, but clearly held a lot of meaning behind it. In a separate room, visitors had folded those and wrote messages of kindness or peace beside it. We were given the chance to make these too. Butterflies are such peaceful and beautiful creatures. Maybe it’s because they feed off of flowers, which are peaceful and beautiful in their own way, that makes them seem like this. Butterflies come in so many colours and patterns – vibrant, camouflage, spotted, etc. To me, butterflies bring so much joy."

Siqi You

"In this photo everyone was together and making a zine. A zine is a self published magazine. We were making a zine on what peace was to us… I took this photo because I felt that the sense of community brought me a lot of peace and how everyone was able to work collaboratively while having fun… I chose this photo because it had the most colour and I thought it looked fun. In the photo everyone was talking and having fun creating their zine. That moment brought me peace because the whole mood of the room was very chill and easy-going."

Claire G.

"In this photo I took a picture of some cards with affirmations and my notebook of “zine”, short for magazine, as well as my friend’s camera and some collages plus my favorite GREEN marker!... I chose this photo because it relates to me a lot as a person and how it represents peace as well during my process of making the “zine” and rearranging the objects around it to be appealing to the eye. This photo relates to peace because I felt very peaceful when making the booklet/zine and arranging it to my desired position. The zine also had many things I could find in my safe space, which has perhaps 50% of my peace coming from there."

Julianne

"This is a photo I took… at the APPM [Asia Pacific Peace Museum]... When I took this photo, there were lots of people walking around… It drew my attention because I found it ironic. I thought this because I was taking a photo of what is used to take photos. I chose to take this photo because it symbolized the photography project we did this week. I think it relates to peace because I found peace in taking photos. Today, so many people rely on their phones to capture memories. I thought that this project helped me to stay in the moment. The search of peaceful places, in a way, put me at peace with my mind."

Harmony

"In this photo I see fun and joy. In this photo we were making a zine. I’m not sure how much time has passed, but I was too focused on making my zine, I reached a flow state. Although it appears as a really messy setting, it was only because we were spending time to put that we liked onto our zine that we weren’t too focused on the mess we made. This photo was taken in the youth room which I would say can be peaceful at times. The youth room is also a safe place to hang out… I chose this photo because it brought back fun memories of what I was doing and with who. This photo relates to peace because everybody is showing peace & doing what brings them peace. On my zine I put what brings me peace and I think I did a pretty good representation of what brings me peace even though I did spend a lot of time talking and observing."

Henry

"In this photo, when it was taken, we (the camp) were at the Asian Pacific Peace Museum (APPM). The person in the photo was drawing an image that was on their paper, with a pen given to them for a “worksheet”. I was inspired to take this photo because I like to draw and they were drawing something I also like. I chose this photo because to me it portrays peace in a very significant way to me. It represents peace to me because I love to draw and when I do I get so focused that everything else goes quiet and it’s so peaceful."

Toronto Peace Academy is an initiative of Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church.

Toronto Peace Academy is an initiative of