Mission

Peace cannot exist in a vacuum.

Despite countless treaties and agreements, the conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to take innocent lives. Despite our most valiant efforts for peace, African children are still conscripted as guerilla soldiers. Genocide, poverty, and famine leave families in desperate need of the basic tools for survival. And the gap created by pain and misunderstanding between our cultures grows deeper.

I (Sarah) recently had a conversation with a wise Pakistani man who uses sports, among other creative tools, to reduce tribal violence in some of the most hostile mountainous regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I asked him one day, “Do you mind sharing about some of the challenges you face in your work?”

He responded, “Too many times, outside agencies plant themselves in our local communities like sunflowers. They appear beautiful at the beginning – their colors are radiant, their stalks are tall and upward growing and they attract the attention of everyone passing by..."

"But as everyone knows, the sunflower, like every plant, is dependent on the sun for life. And just as the sunflower must turn its face toward the direction of the sun, the local context and specific needs are forgotten and a new direction is justified. When the sun disappears (the funding runs out), the sunflower becomes heavy and eventually dries up, dies, and withers away. The only thing left for the local community is decaying rubbish, and the damage done to our communities is sometimes unthinkable."

We believe in empowering, not intervening.

Until the impoverished and hungry take steps toward health and independence, we cannot have peace. Until preventable diseases are eradicated, we cannot have peace. Until communities can embrace the marginalized in their communities, we cannot have peace.

At Sport 4 Peace, our mission is to be the oak tree, deeply rooted in communities to support their existing, locally-owned efforts. Rather than step into a community in need, disarming the threat and bringing stability as locals stand by and watch, we teach them how they can make change for themselves and their whole society. We are standing arm-in-arm with our local partners to encourage and help them to best serve the needs of their community according to their own ideas and dreams.

And that is what we are ultimately about. We want to bring together individuals and communities - those women who are not allowed to participate, the disabled youth who are shunned by their society, the impoverished who are suffering preventable diseases due to a lack of physical and health education. And sport makes it possible.

Sport 4 Peace - it is our name, and after 20 years of work, it is our legacy.