The Iraq Peace and Reconciliation College Tour presentation was the first Year of Service (YOS) event held this semester on Monday, Feb. 1.
The college tour is an interactive forum aimed at building relationships between the next generation of leaders of the United States and Iraq. Mark Manning, the Executive Producer of this project, was the presenter for the first event of the YOS.
“In order to know the world you must take action; it’s not enough to just learn,” said Manning during his presentation.
The Year of Service is this year’s theme for Moorpark College. The YOS is used to acknowledge the services done by the community and to get students more involved and active within their communities.
Manning’s main goal is to minimize violence and to get American and Iraqi students to have a better understanding of one another. Manning constantly stressed that communication is the key to open up the gateway to peace. The organization needs funding for live videoconferencing and for its tour across the country. Manning hopes that as many college students as possible get involved.
So far the Iraq Peace and Reconciliation Tour has raised about $25,000 and needs a total of $50,000.
They have filmed all over Iraq and the United States jumping from state to state, city to city getting everyone’s stories and opinions. Currently, they are working on a full-length movie showing the hardships of The U.S. and Iraq during the Iraq War.
A series of movie clips were shown during the presentation. The clips started a controversy between a few students who served in the war.
Margret Syen, a 23-year-old Nursing major, who had also served in Iraq, disagreed with Manning’s presentation.
“His presentation was very one-sided; he didn’t show any of the good we did down there and how happy the Iraqi civilians were because we were there,” Syen said. “It was also out-dated. The clips were from five years ago.”
After the presentation, the war veterans and Manning debated their very separate but strong opinions.
But overall, Kathryn Adams, the co-chair for YOS, was very pleased with the presentation.
“I thought it was a really good way to open the dialogue,” she said. “Even where there were disagreements in sides, that is the beginning of understanding.”
In the end, everyone agreed to disagree.
If you are interested in getting involved with the Iraq Peace and Reconciliation College Tour, or finding out more information, go to www.globalaccessmedia.org.
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