Waikato Dio spreads peace

As the world watches the standoff between North Korea and America, Waikato Diocesan was one of the 122 schools to make a difference by participating in this year’s Peace Week, which ran from August 7-11.

The theme was Aotearoa/New Zealand 30 years Nuclear Free, and aimed at celebrating New Zealand’s 30th anniversary of the Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act 1987.

Nadia Kahan got involved with the Peace Week movement to make a positive impact within the school and to raise awareness of New Zealand’s peace making history.

“We believed it was important to recognise New Zealand’s history as a peace making nation and a world leader in nuclear disarmament, especially as this year marks New Zealand’s 30th anniversary of being nuclear-free,” Nadia said.

The message was received strongly throughout the school, as students and teachers took part in a hippie-themed mufti day to raise awareness for the New Zealand Peace Foundation.

Emma Williams of the school’s peace week team said  the idea  was “to celebrate the work  students do in their own schools and  to create peaceful, supportive communities that young people can thrive in”.

While the week held many lessons and messages for the students at Dio, Nadia wants people to know how lucky they are to be living in New Zealand.

“Take time to appreciate how fortunate we are to live in New Zealand, a country that has always supported a strong stance on peace, and that is currently ranked as second most peaceful country in the world,” Kahan said.

Nadia would like to see more people take part in the event.

“It is a fantastic way to raise awareness about peace and being such a broad term, there’s a lot of flexibility on whether you want to send a message about peace within ourselves, local community or world peace.”