On 4 o’clock Sunday, May 17, Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation will be hosting Lisa Profumo, an acclaimed educator. Ms Profumo will be speaking on “Healing Children While Building Bridges With Jewish and Arab Children in Israel” at the Westlake Village Civic Center off of Agoura Road at 31200 Oak Crest Drive.
Ms. Profumo will be describing an innovative holistic approach to education that is flourishing in major Jewish communities in Israel and is in a nascent stage in the Arab community in Israel. These methods, known as Waldorf methods, used all over the world, are also used at Mariposa School of Global Education in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. The principal of Mariposa, Jeff Lough, will be giving introductory remarks at the talk.
Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation is sponsoring Jewish-Arab twinned classes and a fledging integrated school in the Galilee using these methods. They also support a teacher-training program with educators from the West Bank.
Barnet Bain, the producer of What Dreams May Come and Homeless to Harvard, a movie nominated for three Emmy awards, says of the educational work, “It is real and it is happening now! Lisa Profumo opens our eyes to a new paradigm happening in education for Jewish and Arab children in the Middle East that heals while promoting new capacities toward building a peaceful and prosperous future.”
Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation (www.ssefoundation.org) teaches conflict resolution and other educational methods aimed at nurturing the minds and souls of Jewish and Arab children. The organization, based in Agoura Hills, was co-founded by local psychotherapist, Shepha Schneirsohn Vainstein, who specializes in trauma recovery and personal empowerment.
Says Shepha Schneirsohn Vainstein, “Current research has taught us that ultimately a tremendous emotional and physical toll is exacted on children living with the chronic stress of the ongoing conflict. The chronic stress affects their capacities for empathy and bonding as well as weakening the child’s physical health. This artistic and healing education nurtures children while cultivating independent creative thinking, cooperative problem solving and moral imagination. World renowned peace mediator, John Paul Lederach believes that moral imagination is an essential quality for peace-building.”
“If we’re going to have peace in the future in the Middle East, we’re going to need to focus on healing children today. At a time when there is so much cynicism and despair about the situation, it’s important to know about a life-enriching approach to education that is changing both Jewish and Arab children’s lives for the better.” For further information call (818) 707-2164 or email shepha@ssefoundation.org