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After six years of thinking about every word and every image, working and reworking every page of this inspiring story, our story has now available on Amazon. The video is of De’Ante opening the box of books from CreateSpace to see our book in print for the first time. I repainted all the images, soaking thick watercolor paper in water, to honor the power of the flood waters, dipping the paper in brown acrylic paint to reflect the mud of the flood, and dipping the paper in blue acrylic paint to symbolize when the clear sky bounces off the water. De’Ante has read his book to Kindergarten and First Grade Classes in Indianapolis. One student responded by saying “Maybe I can write a book.” We invite you to order a copy, or many copies, the week of August 14, 2017, to give Amazon a rush. And please write a review on Amazon. You can also help spread kindness by using the many ideas in our “Kids Kindness Korner” with your children, grand-children and students. Let us know what happens. Let’s flood our families, communities, country and world with kindness.

This is a collaborative drawing made by two high school Safe School Ambassadors and myself in Temple, Texas. For the last year, I’ve been a trainer for an amazing non-profit called Community Matters . Founded in 1996 by visionary educator Rick Philips, this organization makes COMMUNITY MATTER, crafting an evidence-based Safe School Ambassador Program that empowers elementary, middle and high school students to recognize mistreatment and transform it. I’ve travelled to Minnesota, North Dakota, Illinois, Texas, South Carolina and throughout California to deliver a two-day training to students who are chosen by their peers as leaders. The teachers, who also participate in the training, meet with the students on a regular basis throughout the school year to support the real-life application of peace-making skills. I am honored to be a part of such an intelligent approach, which helps the students understand that the longing for belonging is the key to stopping exclusion and having the courage to stand up for justice. Here is what high school students from Temple, Texas said about what they liked most about the training and what they learned: I couldn’t believe the honesty and respect that we had for each other. Just coming together and learning and becoming a group that is strong is what I loved. I appreciated the togetherness with people that I typically would not get to know on a deep level. I learned that I’m not alone and everyone has problems like me. That the person who is getting hurt will hurt. You can’t hate someone if you know their story. The program shows us that we aren’t alone and how much of a difference we can make in our school. It made us more aware of the internal battles our peers fight every day. I learned to put up a putdown. In order to help, you must first notice. I learned how to be a ninja to stop mistreatment. How to accept people for who they are and treat them how I wanna be treated. The most important thing I got was how to stand up to an aggressor without being an aggressor. This program has helped me a lot to be strong and ignore the people who bring me down. Thank you. It was life-changing. I hope this program thrives. I met new people I probably wouldn’t have if it weren’t for this program. I really love this training to be an ambassador. I’m so filled with knowledge and tools – I’m ready to take it to the world. I wish everyone could do this program and show how they can use their skills positively. I’ve changed in just two days. When was the last time you heard students so deeply engaged in their learning? Empowering youth with emotional intelligence and impact is how we will beat the odds.

Today I talked with a grandmother who is raising her six-foot eighth grade grandson who got kicked out of mainstream public school. I gave her good news about the focus, positive action and risk-taking that the boy was achieving in our mural for the Juvenile Probation Department, after he started out foul-mouthed and resistant. She was the second grandmother I talked with this week who is raising a grandson on her own this week That can’t be easy. “God loves you for being there,” I said to the grandma. In thinking of about the adults who don’t abandon children, no matter where they are – I say again, thank you, thank you, for the sake of the innocent children, for the sake of the Village, for the sake of all of us. That struggle dimmed, however, when I got a call from my beloved friend, Ayesha, the hospice nurse who took care of my mother the last months of her life. Ayesha suffered from a stroke three months ago, her left arm and leg becoming paralyzed, and then she had two heart attacks a month later. Her call came to let me know that the doctor had found lymphoma. What to do or say in the face of such odds? All I could do was to get a clear picture of Ayesha in her apartment and then I sent golden light, tinged with pink that surrounded her and absorbed the pain and fear. We remembered old times painting murals together in McKees Rocks and sitting on the patio in Mt. Lebanon, sipping tea. Focusing on love and fellowship aleviated the odds for just a moment. Perhaps that’s all we can do.

How do we beat the odds of negativity that we are up against? Like any sane parent and educator knows, focusing on positive behavior gets you more of it. So I want to praise a family that I consider to be much more deserving of attention than Charlie Sheen. The Medlock family in Colorado Springs should be headline news. This family has chosen to adopt five sisters in the foster care system while having raised six children of their own. They are doing the daily discipline of love, plaiting hair, providing favorite color butterfly clips and glasses, making breakfasts and helping with homework. The sparks of Shakira, Bryanne, Bryonna, Bryann, and Bryla are being nourished in their new home, where they’ve lived for a year. The Medlock’s son, Steve, who attends Afterschool University, said “I want to be the one who saves the day.” The model of this family’s generosity will save the day.

“Your visit was absolutely miraculous – you left a deep track in each child’s life here… They all are amazed and they all are keeping saying that nothing happen to them like this ever before. It is true not only for kids – it was an absolutely great moment for the Afterschool University. Thank you very much for all your energy you shared with us, for all your inspiration, and simply – “for what you are…” Anatoliy V. Glushchenko Associate Professor, Department of Physics  University of Colorado at Colorado Springs I was thrilled to be sent to Colorado by the Afterschool Universit y to “seek the spark” in 24 of their students.  My exploration, captured in colored pencil drawings, uncovered the passions and affinities of the children.  Afterschool University is using the knowledge that emerged from the creative process to craft an exciting village for their students.  They will be celebrating the success of the young people on March 5, inviting professionals in the area of the children’s sparks to celebrate learning and skills and following your path with heart.  Here are a number of the drawings I made:

by Laurie Marshall Parkland Art Project Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Florida coped with the first anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2019. There is nothing more humbling than facing the grief and helplessness that arises from the act of murder of innocent people. The shooter had gone to the middle school for three years. The staff had worried about him, but he slipped through the cracks. Many of the students who died had gone to the middle school as well. One high school student had visited, Deborah Golding, her middle school art teacher, the week before the shooting. She came to tell Ms. Golding what a great teacher she was. And then her young life was over. Ms. Golding could not contain her tears as she told me the story. Students collaborate in the painting of the rainbow that symbolizes the celebration of diversity and different sexualities. Building Peace Through Art I facilitated the 75th Singing Tree mural through the help of De Palazzo, Safe Schools Director at Equality Florida and a private benefactor. The Singing Tree™ Project is an international collaborative mural project the incorporates Peace Building Through Art, inspired by Nature. Each mural envisions healing of heartbreak and creates a shared vision of success. A Collaborative Image Dedicated to Love At Westglades Middle School, 350 art and drama students creatively processed their community’s nightmare together by making a collaborative image dedicated to love. The principal, Matthew Bianchi, was under pressure to have the middle school locked down on the anniversary of the shooting. The Broward County School District is entangled in law suits for negligence, because they failed to prevent the massacre which left 17 people injured and 17 people dead. Only one-third of the students attended school on the first year anniversary. The rest of the students were home with their families or participating in memorial ceremonies at the high school. Students working on the Parkland Art Mural Project The Lead Design Team and The Equality Club Principal Bianchi, with support from art teacher Ms. Golding, chose to have the students work together outside on the Mangrove Singing Tree of Love – expressing themselves instead of being shut inside the classroom. The Lead Design Team of the project was six students from the Equality Club – a gay-straight alliance which supports LGBTQ students. As facilitator, I incorporated the club members’ ideas for the mural, including the Mangrove Tree and its roots, a peace symbol, diamonds and stars in the sky, hanging flags that symbolize different sexualities, a rainbow earth where differences are celebrated, figures in the trees and nested hearts. The Equality Club ‘s vision served as inspiration for their school, which increased the status of this oft-bullied group. As the students worked, they spoke tangentially of the massacre. They expressed their sadness on this tragic day and how glad they were to be outside, to be together, to be using their hands, to be immersed in color, to be making decisions, to be creative, to solve problems in a finite space, to invite their classmates to add their artwork, to connect, to touch the wall, to touch the paint. Detail of the Parkland Art Mural Art Project showing the Mangrove Tree and its roots, a peace symbol, diamonds and stars in the sky, and the rainbow of different colors that symbolize different sexualities. A Symbol of Strength and Diversity Westglades principal, Matthew Bianchi, said of the project, “The mural is beautiful and a powerful symbol of strength and diversity. The painting of the mural was therapeutic to our students who are healing from the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. It will be a constant reminder of the resolve our community has.” You can see a short slide show of the process of making this tribute to love and resilience. The goal is to create soul strengthening imagery to deal with the heartbreak of gun violence and young death, transforming pain into beauty. The project strives to help prevent violence, to create a world where every child knows they belong, they have purpose, they have meaning, they are unique and they are loved.

By Laurie Marshall Students at Howard Elementary in Oakland, CA, transform their school with Create Peace Project Belonging and connecting are tools against violence. My colleagues and I at Create Peace Project in San Francisco, CA use art to help people feel they belong and are connected. As a lead artist for Create Peace Project, I am facilitating a 30 foot mural, sponsored by Young Audiences, with 220 K-5th students at Howard Elementary School in Oakland, CA. I ask the students why do you think we “create peace” by using art. The answer of the children reflect current research: “I release my negative feelings when I paint.” “I have less stress when I make art.” “Painting makes me feel peaceful.” “When I’m painting, I’m not fighting.” “When you make something beautiful, it brings peace and joy to the world.” Mr. Z and his class. San Francisco Unified School District has awarded Create Peace Project the prestigious “Dream Catcher” Award for the dozen murals that have been completed by students around the city. Hundreds of students can say “I made that!” as they witness their mark on their schools. You can see a video here of a recent magnificent mosaic project that involved 500 Longfellow Elementary School students and transformed a city block. Longfellow mosaic mural. To learn some more about Create Peace Project’s focus on decreasing bullying through the arts, check out this conversation hosted by the Peaceful World Foundation in their blog . As a guest facilitator, along with members of the No Bully organization, I encourage more dialogues about using the arts to prevent bullying. Collaboration and Creativity makes a more peaceful world. These projects demonstrate what’s possible. “I feel loved when I look at our Mural.” 2nd grader, Howard Elementary School, Oakland, California

by Laurie Marshall The students from Ukiah High School in northern California co-created this powerful image. They used Project Drawdown as a resource for the top 10 solutions to reduce the CO2 in our atmosphere. Planting trees is among the top 10. Four trees are honored in the mural: the oak, the redwood, the madrone and willow. Without trees, there is no human life. In the mural, Mother Earth holds the planet as she weeps. Her hair is on fire. An hour glass symbolizes the reality of the finite time we have to stop the warming trend before a tipping point is reached. At the top of hour glass is the pollution and burning and the destruction of the earth. At the bottom is the world where Nature is thriving, with bees and flowers, windmills and whales, coral growing and cows grazing. The butterfly is a monarch, whose population has decreased 86% in the last two years on the California coast. Windmills and solar arrays form its markings. The birds in each upper corner hold a city with wind turbines, solar arrays and roof top gardens. The madrone tree is a female figure with a gas mask on. The students wore masks during the 2017 wildfires. They lost classmates and homes. They have an intimate understanding of the Climate Emergency. The figure is pregnant with the earth. She says “No” to the rise in the temperature, the rise in emissions, and the rise in extinctions. She has a garland of flowers on her head to symbolize the power of the life force of Nature. In educating girls, more stewardship of the earth will take place and fewer children will be born. The Oak tree is a male figure. He holds a red panda in his hand to symbolize people as guardians of the animals and plants. Family planning is in the realm of men as well as women. Supporting boys is essential to create Warriors for the Earth who view all life as sacred. The human hand offers a bean plant to Mother Earth. The bean plant is wrapped around and caressing the human. The message written on the hand is “Plant-Rich Diet” and “No Food Waste” – important actions to strive for to bring down carbon emissions. The collective wisdom and imagination offering by “The Singing Tree of Climate Solutions” is a sign post of the genius of youth. They are “the brightest lights in the darkest world.” ( Alejandro González Iñárritu )

by Laurie Marshall George Washington University’s e-Co Leadership Coaching Certificate program asked the 15 participants to reflect on what they learned. I facilitated a collaborative creative process. Together they created the Banyan Singing Tree of the Beloved Community. Just as leaves convert sunlight into food and drop to the ground to fertilize the soil, the Banyan LEAVES symbolize: What service do I wish to bring to the world? Flying, soaring, swooping, gliding, flocking, pivoting BIRDS symbolize the free and inspiring movement of a coach in the world. The imagery of the birds answer the question: What is my wish for myself as a coach? Butterflies Humans begin as devouring little caterpillars. Most of us go through a stage when we have a protective outer shell while we fall apart inside without knowing that something magnificent will emerge. The butterfly symbolizes: How did the program transform me? To see the complete reflection of the dedicated coaches which unpacks the genius of the participants, click here . And may you be part of the Beloved Community you deserve.

By Laurie Marshall The 1st “Co-heart” of Certified Singing Tree Facilitators began on-line in August, 2020 with 12 people from five countries. Though we were spread around the world, we co-created The Rowan Singing Tree of Embracing Our Unknown , as practice for healing heartbreak through the Singing Tree methodology. After generating a list of over 30 issues, we focused on the uncertainty in the world, co-creating a symbol that allowed the many unknowns we face as individuals and a world to be a shared experience which we embrace together. Each participant made an image using the Singing Tree structure of a tree on the earth in space. They photographed their image and sent it to me electronically. I synthesized their work into one symbol as well as printed out their unique ideas to be included in the mural. Each participant also colored leaves with the images of their gift to the Unknown and birds with images with their wish for the Unknown. Studies from left to right by Jehanna Blondeau(CA), Gabi Lipska (Poland and England) and Cynthia Suddeth (CA) Studies by Angela Ilig (PA), Anita Khatnani (Mumbai) and Bobbie Rae Jones (CA) Completed Rowan Singing of Embracing the Unknown Co-heart 1 is now embarking on facilitating Nature-based collaborative Singing Tree murals in their communities. For example, Bobbie Rae Jones is immediately using the healing power of art. As a case worker in Butte County, CA through the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, USA , she serves the town of Paradise which was destroyed by fire in 2018. 86 people lost their lives. Just two weeks ago, 15 more lives were lost in the Bear Fire incident as fires engulfed the region again. People who rebuilt their homes lost them for a second time. The grief is too much. Bobbie Rae and I painted simultaneously on the “Embracing Our Unknown” – she in her Chico studio while I painted in my Novato studio. Bobbie Rae will be taking her version to her clients with a basket full of paper birds and leaves and colored pencils for whole families to pour their grief and love onto. Bobbie Rae Jone’s version of our collective painting Anabelle Hoffmann, who was born in Somalia and lives in London, is the founder of Heal Together . The NGO serves Somalian immigrants in the United Kingdom. She will be creating a Singing Tree to support the mental health of her community. Jeanna King-Ruppe l, a Restorative Response specialist in the public schools of Santa Rosa, CA , is partnering with the virtual Learning House public school community to co-facilitate a multi-media Singing Tree Project with 7th – 9th graders. Visual imagery, spoken word, dance, and music will be combined into a positive message. Gabi Lipska , who grew up in Poland and is living in Northern England, will be reaching out to the immigrant community in the Cumbria region. She works for NGO CDEC , the Cumbria Development Education Center. The first Singing Tree in Cumbria will be that of Resilience – working with young people in the town of Workington to envision resilience on both individual and community level in schools. Minoritized youth have faced increased racism during the past few months as they leave quarantine. The project will help middle school students find strength in handling transitions from leaving the relative safety of their family bubbles to re-engaging with peers who have seen, heard and been affected by racial tensions. Co-heart 2 of certified Singing Tree Facilitators will begin Nov. 6, 7, and 8, meeting 8 am- 11 am on Friday, 8 am 0] 2 pm on Saturday and 8 am to 11 am on Sunday, The early start time is to in order to accommodate people in Europe. Further information is available here .

I need your help in bringing Unity Through Creativity a nd the Singing Tree Project to a new, global level of impact in creating peace and hope. As one of our dear friends, commenting on this work, said, “When disparate peoples come together with a common goal, hope is created.” The Singing Tree is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. There are now over 100 Trees in the Singing Tree Forest that have included over 21,000 people. Three programs are leading the Singing Tree into the future: The 5x5 Program, linking five locales across the world in mutual support of making at least one Singing Tree a year for five years. These projects will include researchers Dr. Maureen Porter and two PHD students at the University of Pittsburgh to make a formal study of the impact of the Singing Trees on the communities. The Singing Tree Facilitators Certification Program , which is training artists and organizers throughout the world to make Singing Trees, freeing this impulse from my personal involvement while keeping the Singing Trees connected with UTC. Trainees who have completed the six-month online training become members of the Singing Tree Facilitators Guild. The Refugee Singing Tree Program, which is aimed at working with refugees in settlements throughout the world, beginning with Uganda. We have already raised $51,300 towards our $100,000 Annual Fund goal. Your gift will support us in working on the many projects we will be undertaking this year which include: The Kyangwali Refugee Settlement Singing Tree of Healing the Trauma of War , the pilot project in our Refugee Program. This will take place at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda , home to over 125,000 displaced persons. We plan to expand this work over the next three years to all 19 zones of the settlement. The bare bones budget is $17,000 to get started. Co-hearts 4, 5 and 6 of the Facilitators Training. Co-heart 4 is already underway. We are aiming for a total enrollment of 30. Many students cannot afford the full fee of $3000. Our scholarship needs are vast. Students receiving scholarships include two facilitators-in-training in Uganda and one in Fiji. The Cyprus Singing Tree of Peace, part of the 5x5 Program , will be created with our partner, Visual Voices . Eight Turkish and Greek Cypriot young artists will gain leadership and artistic skills to create a mural that will hang at the headquarters of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force on Cyprus. The project will start in January after two years of planning. We've received $13,100 to begin the pilot. |||. TheSinging Tree of Love and Inclusion at Biondi Elementary School in Yonkers, New York - facilitated by Kristin Linder-Holmes in a school for traumatized youth who have been incarcerated and hospitalized. Students in Workington England, who just completed the Singing Tree of Inclusion and Protection , part of the 5x5 Program , will be connecting to New York students to accompany them in their project. These are just highlights of the many projects we have planned. We will feature these original collaborative murals in our newsletter over the coming year. This is what your gift can do: $25 = A Set of Prismacolor colored pencils for coloring leaves and birds on a Singing Tree mural $50 = Two 8' x 4' Boards that will make an 8' x 8' Singing Tree $100 = Paints and brushes for an 8' x 8' mural $500 = 400 Posters and postcards to distribute the Singing Tree Image throughout the impacted community $1000 = 3 days of Singing Tree Facilitation with 150 students working on a Singing Tree $3000 = Full Scholarship for a Six-month Singing Tree Facilitator's Training for a deserving trainee You can make your gift here or contact me for other giving options. Your support now will help ensure that we can expand the reach of the Singing Tree Project and affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the next 20 years May the Holidays and New Year be filled with Creativity, Joy and Abundance. With Gratitude, Laurie Marshall

It’s a New Year! I am sending you a winter greeting of nourishing the roots during the fallow season. As I reflect upon the concept of Unity Through Creativity I am struck by the importance of being a Life-Long Learner in order to continually regenerate the roots of Creativity. Nature doesn't say, "I'm done adapting to reality." Nature says "How can I grow in this new situation? Where can I get nourishment? How can I give back to my eco-system?" By getting support from inspirational leaders, Unity Through Creativity (UTC) continually seeks to go deeper, wider, higher. Two programs gave us rigorous frameworks, team strength and expansive vision in 2021: Redesign Training and Shiloh Sofia McCloud's Intentional Creativit y . The wisdom of these two loving, demanding and innovative offerings are being incorporated into the Singing Tree Methodology , Facilitator Training and other UTC programs. Redesign Training provided an accountability structure for being one's word, goal-setting, radical possibility and group collaboration. The Blue Angels are the model for teamwork. These Air Force jets fly 20 inches apart at 900 miles per hour. The stakes are high and the accomplishments are thrilling. UTC partnered Redesign Training to raise $13,000 for Kids in Need of Defense through the Mahogany Singing Tree to Reunite Children with Their Families . We are also supporting Redesign Training for our Singing Tree Facilitators and Board members. Shiloh Sophia McCloud is spearheading a worldwide movement of Intentional Creativity . A community of over 10,000 women join together as a stand for Inclusion, Creativity as a Birthright and growing Feminine Wisdom. Last year I participated in Shiloh's offering called "Ritual", painting on one canvas for 13 moons, as did 200 plus other women around the world. Shiloh asks us to deeply experience our unconscious, embrace our shadow and express what is unknown. I view this self-reflection as an essential process for Peace Building. Violence so often results from unmet, unconscious needs and trauma. If these needs and trauma can be made visible through art and shared through community, healing takes place. Below is the process of my painting which is almost complete. Beginning - Three Soul Strokes Consecration Devotion The Soul Dwells in Place - Mountains Illumination The Visible Self and the Hidden Self I am now embarking on Shiloh's next offering, "Maverick". I love how she articulates this year long-process: " Create a painting that honors your disruptor, rebel-with-a-cause, badass mystic artist archetype along with over a hundred other people around the world. All WHILE cultivating radical optimism in unreasonable times." Yes, radical optimism in unreasonable times! This is the foundation of Unity Through Creativity . This is the unseen growth of the roots during the winter. This is the dandelion growing in the crack of the concrete. I treasure the nourishment from ReDesign Training and Intentional Creativity. Where are you getting your nourishment in the fallow times? I'd love to hear. The challenges ahead are daunting. Creativity, Connection and Compassion are the key to a thriving human presence on the earth. Thank you for being a part of this movement. You are treasured. You are needed. You are connected. You are essential. With Love, Laurie |||. TheSinging Tree of Love and Inclusion at Biondi Elementary School in Yonkers, New York - facilitated by Kristin Linder-Holmes in a school for traumatized youth who have been incarcerated and hospitalized. Students in Workington England, who just completed the Singing Tree of Inclusion and Protection , part of the 5x5 Program , will be connecting to New York students to accompany them in their project. These are just highlights of the many projects we have planned. We will feature these original collaborative murals in our newsletter over the coming year. This is what your gift can do: $25 = A Set of Prismacolor colored pencils for coloring leaves and birds on a Singing Tree mural $50 = Two 8' x 4' Boards that will make an 8' x 8' Singing Tree $100 = Paints and brushes for an 8' x 8' mural $500 = 400 Posters and postcards to distribute the Singing Tree Image throughout the impacted community $1000 = 3 days of Singing Tree Facilitation with 150 students working on a Singing Tree $3000 = Full Scholarship for a Six-month Singing Tree Facilitator's Training for a deserving trainee You can make your gift here or contact me for other giving options. Your support now will help ensure that we can expand the reach of the Singing Tree Project and affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the next 20 years May the Holidays and New Year be filled with Creativity, Joy and Abundance. With Gratitude, Laurie

At least 54 million Americans are over 65. How can this population, which I am a part of, use our experience to be in service to each other and the younger generations? Sage-ing International answers this question with the motto "Wisdom and Spirit in Action." I had the privilege of facilitating "The Olive Singing Tree of Evolving Elders" for their inspiring summit on Oct. 29-31st. The theme of the conference was "Growing From I to We" and included keynote speakers Michael Meade , Clyde Ford and Amikaeyla Gaston . Below is a short slide show of a few of the sessions I was able to attend. I was so impressed and moved by Sage-ing International 's self-organizing principles of Wisdom Circles, the high degree of care for all people and the use of ritual to honor the sacred. They are a community that puts into practice the values of the Sage. I close with the almost completed Olive Singing Tree of Evolving Elders, co-designed with Katia Peterson and the Sage-ing International, co-created with Lili Lopez. Let's keep growing.

Perseverance Furthers Have you ever had a dream, year after year, and it doesn't come true, but you keep dreaming it and you never give up and, 20 years later, it actually happens? Well, my dream came true on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 when 4 artists from the South of Cyprus and 4 artists from the North of Cyprus began the Cyprus Singing Tree of Peace. We met on Zoom with Dr. Katia Petersen , former Director of Education for the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the founders of Visual Voice s, Alden Jacobs and Marina Neophytou . As the Lead Design Team, the eight artists will create a Singing Tree together with the goal of then making one in each of their communities. Here we are on Zoom. Thank you, Technology. For the first time in 20 years, Katia and I combined programs that we've created and devoted our lives to - Worldview Exploration and the Singing Tree Project - with young people from Cyprus. Yes, we've been talking about doing this for 20 years. Katia grew up on Cyprus. She was 16 when the Civil War broke out. She was passed out a window just as the person who caught her was shot. In her first teaching job, thrust upon her during the war, she discovered that telling stories and making art with the children who had lost their parents was healing. This was the beginning of her career as a visionary educator, art therapist and psychologist. In January, 2020, Alden Jacobs and I met through the Rotary's Eclub for World Peace , an international team of dedicated Peace Leaders. This young Rotary Peace Fellow, now living in Cyprus, and I presented a joint session at the Rotary's Peace Conference of 2020 on Peace-Building Through Art . Here is Alden at the conference in front of a little canvas Lili Lopez and I made of flying to Cyprus. He and his partner, Marina Ne ophytou , founded Visual Voices in Cyprus. Their mission is to be a non-profit supporting youth artists from communities affected by violent conflict. They promote the creation contemporary visual art that reflects the desire for positive social change and build the space for these ideas to be shared. They brought together the eight artists, succeeded in getting funding from the Cyprus Ministry of Culture with Unity Through Creativity and made arrangements for the Cyprus Singing Tree of Peace to go on the wall seen below of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNPFIC).The mural will be on this wall, Alden and a UN soldier are measuring showing how long the mural will be. Emel Ramiz , one of the Cypriot artists, was on fire after the first session and sent her study of the Pomegranate/Olive Singing Tree right off. The Lead Design Team, Visual Voices, Katia and I will put together a vision of Peace with people from different sides of Cyprus, the world's longest occupied country. Katia and I waited 20 years for this. Cyprus has waited 50 years for Peace. Can we add momentum to bring connection over division? That is our impossible dream. And the dream is bigger: Inner Peace, Family Peace, Neighborhood Peace, International Cities of Peace, Countries at Peace, a Peaceful World. The visionary co-founder of the Rotary EClub of World Peace is Barbara Muller. I was honored to have this author/educator activist interview me on her Peace Podcast last Thursday. She also sent me a book about her deceased husband, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller who dedicated 40 years of his life to the UN. I want to end with his words: I will help this planet, with all my abilities and love, to become what it was always meant to be: a planet of God, a true miracle in the universe, inhabited by a happy, fulfilled, peaceful loving humanity, thankful for the miraculous gift of Life. I hope the fact that Katia and I did not give up for twenty years to do our work together gives you faith to hang in there with your dream. I'd love to hear your long term dream stories. With gratitude, Laurie Marshall