A Special Workshop “To Promote Friendship — Be A Friend”

workshop with three consecutive sessions， two hours each， was thoughtfully designed by Stephen Smuin， Christopher Fiorentini， and William Lee — all from the S.F. Bay Area — near Stanford University.

First session was scheduled on July 1 morning； second session on July 1 afternoon； and the third on July 2 afternoon. The International Child Art Foundation’s 2015 WCF （World Children’s Festival）， held at The Ellipse in Washington DC， was hosting hundreds of international students， family members， teachers， and friends， to celebrate creativity， diversity， and unity.

This special workshop “To Promote Friendship — Be A Friend” was designed to inspire twenty some “invited students” — age 11 to 13， representing as many different countries and cultures as possible， competent in English， and serious about learning more about friendships together， and how to promote friendships in their lives ahead.

The first session was designed to create joy， optimism， and comfort zone among the participating students from these many different countries， cultures， and backgrounds. Stephen Smuin and Chris Fiorentini have the magic personalities to win the hearts and minds of the young international students， and encourage them to open up and try to find magic qualities in each other and discover the enlightening power in group collaboration. They employ artistic games that are imaginative， interesting， and enjoyable. They try to encourage new awareness， new， openness， curiosity， and confidence in these young “aspiring minds”.

The second session was devoted to brainstorming. What is friendship？ Why friendship？ How initiated？ How nurtured？ How sustained？ How important？ Personal words to describe personal knowledge and experiences. Learn different values， traditions， and expressions from different friends. Opinions？ Feelings？ Ideas？ Explore the opposites of friendship. Think of peace， war， love， hate. What can we all agree on？ What do we all essentially want？ What’s not being done？ What can we， 20 young international students do together that’s meaningful on this rare occasion？ Can we use our cameras to capture some insights？

The third session was the real Challenge： What realistically can our 20 young students do about it？ How about at least putting forth our feelings and our hopes in writing and signing together a declaration： A Declaration of Interdependence （on this July 4th week， known for the Declaration of Independence in US history） and propose the need for an international institution on friendship （and introduce the word Friendshipology）？ The students were to be divided into two groups after basic wording was agreed upon. One group was to focus on refining the statement， the more art-inclined， to design a logo and the document layout. All 20 participants were to sign the declaration and finally present the pen to Dr. Ashfaq Ishaq， who founded ICAF and created the World Children’s Festivals， 20 some years ago.

William Lee had special fans designed and produced for students， teachers， and families to take home as souvenirs. One side states “To Promote Friendship — Be a Friend”. The opposite face has “10 Dos and 10 Don’ts”. This is William’s 4-F Project — Fans For Fanning Friendship.