Chapter
1
A New Friend
"The
weekly meeting of the Kindness Kids Team is now called
to order!" Ahmed typed on his laptop. In their own homes
all across the planet, the Kindness Kids tapped in their
club's worldwide web address onto their computers, pressed
ENTER, and suddenly appeared together IN Cyberspace.
After they had finished hugging each other, the kids
noticed a beautiful humming sound drifting through the
misty void. They knew exactly what it was.
Sure enough, in a moment they saw Fortuna, the Spirit
of Kindness softly gliding towards them. They had discovered
a long time ago that she had been responsible for miraculously
bringing them together. And they just loved the meetings
when she joined them on their adventures as their Cyberguide.
But even when they didn't actually see her on their
journeys, they knew she was always looking over them,
keeping them safe in cyberspace.
All the Kids ran towards Fortuna and began to hug her.
Then the Kids noticed a new kid cowering behind her,
staring with wide eyes at the cybervoid the other Kids
had come to know so well.
"Sunanda!"
the new kid exclaimed as he looked up at them and recognized
a familiar face.
"Pierre!"
Sunanda exclaimed and reached out for her friend's hand.
Pierre nervously looked around.
"It's
okay," Sunanda reassured him. "I know this place seems
strange, but Fortuna makes sure we only connect to Peace-Friendly
sites. We're perfectly safe here."
Pierre wasn't totally convinced. But he took Sunanda's
hand and stepped forward to join the others.
"Everyone,
this is my friend, Pierre, from France," Sunanda said
to the group.
"Hi
Pierre!" the kids said together.
Pierre began to forget all about his fears.
Fortuna smiled. "Pierre has something exciting to share
with you all, today," she said in her lovely sing-song
voice. "He's going to lead you all on an adventure to
learn about the Appeal of the Nobel Laureates."
Pierre's eyes widened. He still looked a little scared,
but he felt a little proud, and that made him braver.
"Enjoy
your adventure," Fortuna laughed and hugged them all.
"Thank
you, Fortuna!" the Kids all exclaimed as she faded into
the mist.
Chapter 2
A Noble Nobel Appeal
"What's
Fortuna talking about?" José asked as she disappeared.
Everyone waited for a joke to follow; José loved to
make jokes. Sure enough, they weren't disappointed.
"I
know 'peal' means ringing of the bells," José started.
"Is 'a peal of no bells' an unsolvable puzzle, like
the sound of a single hand clapping?" he giggled.
The
Kids thought it was a pretty punny joke. But most of
the others weren't exactly sure what Nobel Laureates
were or what today's adventure was going to be about,
either, so they didn't have a comeback line.
"Nobel
Laureates are the people who've won Nobel Prizes!"
Ling exclaimed.
"Oh…Like
Desmond Tutu!" Jamal pointed out.
"And
Mother Teresa," Erin added.
"Right,"
Pierre said. "Before Mother Teresa died, she and all
of the other Peace Prize winners signed a special appeal
that us Kids can help spread around the world..."
"Wow!"
the Kids said together. They loved getting involved
in important peacemaking-activities, and this sounded
like it was a BIG one.
"We
all know how hard it can be sometimes to have 'peace'
..." Pierre began. "There are ALWAYS going to be conflicts..."
"CONFLICTS
HAPPEN!" Johnny sighed.
"It's
how we deal with those conflicts that matters..." Sunanda
pointed out.
"Exactly!"
Pierre said.
"We
can fight and argue ... with neither side listening
to the other," Maya began.
"Or
we can really try to find a solution so that both sides
can win," Michiko piped in.
"A
win-win solution!" Sol exclaimed.
"Absolutely!"
Pierre said. "There are 'tools' that we can learn to
use to be more peaceful, so that we don't let our emotions
make us say and do things that get us into trouble."
"We
can learn conflict resolution..." said Ling.
"And
peer mediation..." Ahmed added.
"And
listening, dialogue, and negotiation are important skills
to learn for conflict resolution and peer mediation..."
Erin said.
"Yes!"
Pierre continued. "Education is the key to changing
our world into a culture of peace. That's why all of
the Nobel Peace Prize winners signed an appeal asking
the world's leaders to dedicate the New Millennium to
help educate kids with tools for peace and nonviolence."
"The
New Millennium sure hasn't started off on the right
foot, so far!" Jamal sighed.
"Yeah,
we need all the peace we can get!" all the kids agreed.
"Kids
are the future, and if we grow up knowing how to work
out our problems peacefully, we'll find peaceful ways
to deal with the grown-up world, too." Pierre continued.
"And
meanwhile, the grown-ups will change while we're learning
to be peaceful, too," Ling pointed out.
"Yes,
we'll help teach them!" Ahmed said, looking up from
his laptop. As the club secretary he was typing as fast
as he could to take good notes.
"We'll
all learn together!" Maya declared.
Pierre continued explaining, "So the Appeal of the Nobel
Laureates joined forces with UNESCO..."
"That's
part of the UN, right?" Michiko asked.
"Yes,
it's the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, which has its headquarters in
Paris..." Erin explained.
"That's
right," Pierre said, "UNESCO ... Hey, what's happening?!"
He grabbed onto Sunanda's arm as the Kindness Kids suddenly
found they were standing in front of a big building.
Chapter 3
A Trip to Paris
"We're
at UNESCO's website," Ahmed announced as he finished
tapping into his computer. He stuck it on standby, shoved
it into its case and draped the strap over his shoulder.
"Come on!" he laughed.
The kids strolled together down the tree-lined street
towards the UNESCO building at 7, place de Fontenoy
in Paris, France.
The Kindness Kids toured the building and then sat down
together at a cafe down the street from UNESCO headquarters.
"UNESCO,"
Pierre sighed happily, and while the kids munched on
croissants, he continued the story he had begun before
they had visited the UNESCO site.
"Together
the Appeal of the Nobel Laureates and UNESCO convinced
the United Nations to declare the first decade of the
21st century as the "International Decade for a Culture
of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World..."
"That's
a mouthful!" Ling laughed.
"But
it's a great mouthful!" the Kids chimed in together.
Pierre laughed with the kids. Then he continued. "They
worked hard to have the Appeal signed by 100 million
people all around the world for the year 2000. They
presented these signatures to the United Nations during
a special Millennium Assembly in September 2000..."
Pierre lifted his croissant up to his mouth, took a
bite, and then almost started choking. The cafe and
the street leading to UNESCO Headquarters were starting
to fade away. His eyes widened as they suddenly found
themselves sitting in the General Assembly Hall at the
United Nations.
Chapter 4
Dawn of a New Millennium
A
guard was leaning over the Kids with a wastebasket held
in his hand. "You kids can't eat in here!" he whispered
motioning for them to deposit their food in the wastebasket.
Each of the kids stuck the rest of their croissants
into their mouths and held up their empty hands innocently.
The guard rolled his eyes and checked the badges the
kids had pinned to their shirts.
"VIP
PASS FOR THE MILLENNIUM ASSEMBLY" he read. He rolled
his eyes yet again as he walked away with the empty
waste-basket.
Pierre looked down at the Badges that had somehow appeared
on their shirts.
"Wow,
we're back in the year 2000 at the Millennium Assembly!"
Pierre laughed as he jumped up from his chair. He had
completely adjusted to cyber-traveling and he was thoroughly
enjoying himself now.
"Hey,
wasn't that the President of the United States?!" Johnny
gasped, pointing at the stage.
"And
that was my Prime Minister back in 2000!" Sol exclaimed.
Each of the Kindness Kids pointed out their country's
former leader sitting attentively in the chamber.
"Yes,
the Millennium Assembly brought the most Heads of State
together in one place, ever!" Pierre told them.
They watched as the Appeal of the Nobel Laureates was
presented to the Assembly along with bags and bags of
signed pledges.
The great hall of the General Assembly started to fade
and the Kindness Kids found themselves back in cyberspace
again.
"Wow,
with 100 million signatures, you would think it would
have shown the leaders of the world that the PEOPLE
want PEACE and KINDNESS!" José exclaimed.
"Unfortunately
the world's leaders haven't listened, yet," Pierre sighed.
"But millions of people all around the world are trying
in little and big ways to make this world a better place.
And young people like me are using a kid's version of
the Appeal - called the Kindness Pledge - to help kids
stand up and say they want a more peaceful world."
The Kids were all eager to read the Kindness Pledge
so they could sign it, too.
"We
can get people to sign this for the International Day
of Peace on September 21," Michiko exclaimed.
"And
on October 24 on United Nations Day!" Ahmed added.
"And
Earth Day!" Maya pointed out.
"All
of those dates are wonderful times to hold campaigns
to get kids and adults to sign the Kindness Pledge.
But even more important than signing it and spreading
it, is living it," Pierre reminded them. "Every
kind thing that we do helps the world to be more peaceful.
We can find lots of little ways to put this pledge into
action..."
"In
our daily lives, you mean..." Johnny said, "like how
we talk and act with our families, our friends, our
classmates, and with our neighbors ..."
"And
stopping to think about how our actions affect others
and the environment," Ling added.
Suddenly the Kindness Kids saw some giant words floating
in the cyberhaze. They swam closer to have a better
look and started to read the Kindness Pledge together...
Chapter 5
The Kindness Pledge
"I
pledge in my daily life, in my family, my school, my
community & my country to:
1.
Be Kind - I pledge to respect people that are different,
and treat people and animals with kindness and fairness.
2.
Reject violence - I pledge to find peaceful ways
to work out my problems without using violent actions
or words.
3.
Share with others - I pledge to share my time to
help out in my community to make life better for others.
4.
Listen to understand. I pledge to allow others to
express their point of view; to find win-win solutions
to problems so that both sides can win; and 'agree to
disagree' if we can't come to an agreement.
5.
Preserve the planet - I pledge to practice good
environmental habits like recycling and helping to protect
the earth and its habitats.
6.
Rediscover community - I pledge to do my best to
help my family, friends and community to get along.
Just as they finished reading, they heard Ahmed's laptop
beeping -- the batteries were running out.
Chapter 6
A Kind Act A Day…
Pierre
sighed. "Is it time to go home already?"
"But
you can join us again next week for our next meeting,"
the Kindness Kids assured him.
Before they adjourned, the kids all agreed that when
they got home they would try to get their schools to
sign the Kindness Pledge.
"We'll
get our churches and synagogues and mosques and temples
to sign it..."
"We'll
get grocery stores and department stores to include
flyers in every bag for their customers..."
"We'll
write Letters To The Editor of our newspapers urging
our communities to sign the Pledge..."
"We'll
write our Mayors and Governors and ask them to declare
Proclamations urging all citizens to participate..."
"We'll
convince our communities to stop what they're doing
each day at 12 Noon and join in the universal wish:
MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH!"
But most importantly, the Kindness Kids decided to try
to find one kind thing each day that they could do to
make their daily lives more peaceful.
Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the Kindness Kids
were all back in their own homes.
"Thanks
for inviting me to join your Kindness Team," each of
the Kindness Kids saw on their computer screens as Pierre
typed from his home in Paris.
"May
Peace Prevail On Earth," each of the Kindness Kids typed
with a smile, and the adventure was officially adjourned.
Until the next cyber-meeting of the Kindness Kids Team,
of course.
Kindness
Pledge
A Kindness Kids Adventure
Story
© 1999-2014 Robert Alan Silverstein
Illustrations ©
2014 Vineet Siddhartha