Tuesday’s Children Hosts Eighth Annual Project COMMON BOND
For the past seven years, Tuesday’s Children, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting communities affected by terrorism, has convened a unique symposium for teenagers who have lost a family member to one of these terrible acts of violence. This July, 70 young adults from all corners of the globe will arrive at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania for the eighth annual Project COMMON BOND, for which the nonprofit is working to raise $75,000 to fund.
“Project COMMON BOND helps [these teenagers] turn their personal tragedy into strength and create positive change within themselves and their communities,” said Terry Sears, Tuesday’s Children’s executive director.
Attendees will include a number of American teens who lost family members as a direct result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and during subsequent wars in the Middle East. Ages 15-20, these young adults will join a cohort of other young people who have experienced familial losses because of a terrorist attack. Teens from Pakistan, Palestine Nigeria, and 10 other representing nations will also be in attendance.
Tuesday’s Children, which sponsors long-term healing programs, offers a variety of career resource workshops and youth mentoring sessions. Project COMMON BOND is the product of extensive research on peacebuilding and therapy by Harvard Law School’s Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, which designed a corresponding curriculum for this particular age group. Family therapist Monica Meehan McNamara and the Tanenbaum Center’s Mark Fowler will implement the curriculum.
Project COMMON BOND incorporates the tenets of the Dignity Model, an approach perfected by Donna Hicks of the Weatherhead Center of International Affairs. To this end, the innovative program has combined healing with a platform for these young adults to foster international ties, promote peacekeeping and enhance intercultural understanding.
One of the foremost events of its kind, Project COMMON BOND would not be possible without monetary contributions from the public. Donations to their Crowdrise campaign, through which Tuesday’s Children hopes to raise $75,000, will fund travel and program expenses.
“Through this Project COMMON BOND Crowdrise campaign we are asking the American people to contribute to a significant international peace effort that is already helping to change the world - one community at a time,” said Sears.
To support Project COMMON BOND, which Bryn Mawr will host from July 26 to Aug. 3, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/projectcommonbond2015/fundraiser/tuesdayschildren.