2019 Activities Report
During the summer of 2019, UME implemented the fourth edition of the Oleander Initiative, bringing together educators from throughout the United States, six countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and for the first time, from South Korea to Hiroshima, Japan.
The Oleander Initiative is UME’s flagship program that immerses educators in Hiroshima’s extraordinary environment of peace. After ten life changing days, Oleander teachers emerge deeply committed to work towards a brighter future for their students.
2019 Oleander Educators with Students from Jogakuin High School
In 2019, the Oleander Initiative raised its profile through partnerships with the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo and the prestigious Keio University, the host of our opening ceremony.
Click HERE to view the full program report of the 2019 Oleander Initiative.
One of the most amazing aspects of the Oleander Initiative is our educators’ dedication to transmit their message of peace upon their return to their educational systems. Over the past four years, Oleander educators have trained over 870 additional teachers in the US and MENA region on what they learned in Hiroshima. These additional teachers have the potential to impact over 210,000 students.
Oleander Train the Trainer Workshop in Laayoune, Morocco, April, 2019
With over 50 educators attending the Oleander Initiative over the past 4 years, many of our alumni have seized the opportunity to collaborate and amplify their message for peace.
In November, 2019, 3 Oleander alumni and UME’s Executive Director worked together to spread the lessons of Hiroshima to educators at the TAELs Conference in Sousse, Tunisia hosted by the US Embassy of Tunis.
UME Director with Oleander alumni from Tunisia and the United States with US Embassy Personnel
2019 also marked a year when UME expanded the geographic reach of the Oleander Initiative. In June 2019, UME implemented a new Oleander program in Hiroshima for educators and youth workers from throughout the United Kingdom.
UK Educators and Youth Workers at Children’s Memorial in Hiroshima Peace Park
This program, implemented in partnership with the Peace Culture Village in Hiroshima and Hope in the Heart, CIC in Plymouth, UK, brought UME’s unique peace education programming to the United Kingdom during an especially tumultuous time.
Peace Culture Village logo + view of PCV facilities in Konu, Japan