Varanasi is a holy city in Hinduism, being one of the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus of all denominations. According to legend, the city was founded by the Hindu deity, Shiva, around 5,000 years ago, thus making it one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the country. Varanasi is generally believed to be about 3,000 years old. More than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit the city each year.

Hindus believe that bathing in Ganga remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations.

Varanasi is one of the holiest places in Buddhism too, being one of the four pilgrimage sites Buddha had mentioned in Maha-parinibbana Sutta, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

Ananda's Concern

15. "Formerly, Lord, on leaving their quarters after the rains, the bhikkhus would set forth to see the Tathagata, and to us there was the gain and benefit of receiving and associating with those very revered bhikkhus who came to have audience with the Blessed One and to wait upon him. But, Lord, after the Blessed One has gone, we shall no longer have that gain and benefit."

Four Places of Pilgrimage

16. "There are four places, Ananda, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. What are the four?

17. Lumbini: "'Here the Tathagata was born!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

18. Buddhagaya: "'Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

19. Sarnath: "'Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

20. Kusinara: "'Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

21. "These, Ananda, are the four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. And truly there will come to these places, Ananda, pious bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, reflecting: 'Here the Tathagata was born! Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment! Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma! Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!'

22. "And whoever, Ananda, should die on such a pilgrimage with his heart established in faith, at the breaking up of the body, after death, will be reborn in a realm of heavenly happiness."

In Varanasi lies Sarnath, the site of the deer park where Buddha had given his first sermon of the Dharma.

At the railway station, a group of porters helped to carry our luggages to our tour bus waiting outside the station. The porters piled the luggages on top of their heads in addition to carrying them with their hands. A small group of very young beggars and old beggars accompanied us as we waited for our luggages to board the bus.

Along the way to our hotel (Meraden Grand Varanasi), we could see large green fields (quite a lot during the whole trip) along the road. The hotel is probably the most beautiful one among all the hotels we would stay during the trip. We would have our breakfast first before we checked into our rooms. Comparing to my usual breakfast in Singapore, I ate better breakfast and in much bigger portion for the whole trip as well. (I ate something very sweet here, didn't know what it was)

Some of us had to wait for our rooms keys after our breakfast. I followed Vera to his room first so that I could charge my mobile phone, otherwise I could not take photos. There was a breakdown in his room toilet. Vera had a special role to perform in this trip, he was the assistant to our Venerable Mudita, just like the Venerable Ananda was a personal assistant to Buddha. Vera, who is a Thai, had been a monk before for a short time. I sit down and jot down the previous day events while waiting for my phone to be fully charged. Sita knocked on the door for she had come to deliver my room key. She was our group leader and also had to make sure we are all safe and sound. Time for bath.

We had our lunch in another place, a restaurant. If my memory still serve me, I left a paratha uneaten as it was quite hard to chew. This was probably the only time I was wasteful on the food. We ate mostly vegetarian food for our whole trip other than eggs. Overall, the food we ate was quite good except that it could become monotonous for some people. I would appreciate very much that we had icecream during the trip and I had enjoyed each of them.

Steven and I went out of the restaurant after we had finished our lunch. I was still eating my icecream. I was able to buy a pen at one of the shop to replace the pen that I had brought here. Hmmm, the shopkeeper told me to throw my icecream cup anywhere so I threw it along some rubbish beside the road.

Sarnath, located about six miles due north of the ancient city of Varanasi, is renowned as the place where the Buddha gave his first teaching. The name Sarnath derives from Saranganatha, which means Lord of the Deer. Once, in a previous life, the Buddha lived here as the leader of a herd of deer and offered his life to the king in return for his release of a pregnant doe. The king, amazed and humbled by this selfless action, created the Deer Park as a sanctuary for the deer.

After Buddha's enlightenment, the Buddha went to the Deer Park of Sarnath to teach the Dharma to his five former companions: Kondañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahanama, and Assaji. In this first sermon known as Dharmacakra-pravartana (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), Turning the Wheel of the Dharma, the Buddha conveyed to his first five disciples the four noble truths, the eightfold path, and the twelve links of dependent origination. (On the No-self Characteristic)

With their realization of the Buddha's teaching, the Sangha was established at this holy place. Since that time, Sarnath and the Deer Park have symbolized teaching and transmission of the Dharma.

We would arrive at Sarnath. First, we visited the Dhamek Stupa, we circumambulated the Dhamek Stupa three times before taking our seats on the grass beside the Stupa to do our meditation. (When had I ever do meditation without feeling sleepy?) This was probably the first time I was not feeling sleepiness in meditation! , maybe bacause it was done outdoors and I was feeling the warmth and the heat from the Sun. :)

Only a small portion of the Dhamek Stupa's facing stones survive today. (photo) The stone facing is chiseled and displays delicate floral carvings of Gupta origin. The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in the Brāhmī script.

Sitting on the grass, I was able to gaze at some of the drawings and carvings on the side of the stupa facing me and I noted one which is a flower shape containing a smaller flower shape. Only the Dhamek Stupa remains today, the Dharmarajika Stupa was completely destructed, only its foundation remains. (The Stupa was mined in 1794 for materials to build the Jagatganj marketplace)

A local Indian guide explained that King Ashoka built the earlier stupas. King Ashoka built stupas to enshrine small pieces of calcinated bone and other relics of Buddha and his disciples. He had also erected many Ashoka pillars during his reign in the 3rd century BCE. It would be mainly due to him that we now had the opportunity to visit and pay our respect in these holy places. So, we had many many thanks to Buddha, his disciples, the Sangha, King Ashoka, and also many of the Kings who had protected Buddhism and such sacred sites, Sir Alexander Cunningham (a British archaeologist known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India) who had identified and preserved such sacred sites, and the famous Buddhist pilgrims like Faxian and Xuanzang who had left great accounts of their pilgrimage and had help to spread Buddhism to the East, and many of the many others. It was of immense fortune that we would be able to witness the revival of Buddhism in India and for Buddhists all over the world to be able to come to the holy places of Buddha to pay homage to Buddha.

Excavations revealed as many as four and five layers of buildings, monuments, and shrines built one over the other. In all, around thirty monasteries were found at this site. The ground plan of the monastery is similar to cave monasteries carved out of solid rock at Bagh and Ajanta.

The Ashoka pillar that was erected next to the main shrine, was broken fairly close to the ground. The once 15 m high pillar was made of Chunar sand stone. It was once surmounted by the famous lion capital with four lions facing the four directions standing on top of a Dharma wheel. This capital had miraculously survived the fall and can now be seen in the Sarnath Archaeological museum. (It is also an excellent example of Mauryan art) Today, a representation of this lion capital appears on the official flag of India. The pillar bears three inscriptions, the earliest one was an edict carved in Brahmi script at Asoka's command, directing monks and nuns to refrain from causing dissension within the Sangha.

About Dharmarajika Stupa

Sarnath map

We would bypass the Chaukhandi mound (photo) without visiting it. The Chaukhandi monument is said to commemorate the reunion of the Buddha with his five former companions, who became his first five disciples. The building was erected during the Gupta period.

At Sarnath Archaeological Museum, we could see the magnificent Lion Capital of Asoka, it also houses a rich collection of sculptures, artifacts and edifices comprising numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva images and other ancient remains. The collection of figures and sculptures were from the Mauryan, the Kushana and the Gupta periods. Prominent of them is the earliest Buddha image found at Sarnath and many images of Hindu Gods dating from the 9th to 12th centuries. It also houses the famous Buddha statue in the Dharmacakra mudra (the teaching mudra) from the Gupta Period.

We next visited the new Mulagandhakuti Vihara, which was founded by Anagarika Dharmapala in 1931.

He was a leading figure in initiating two outstanding features of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct there for several centuries, and he was the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dharma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe.

In 1891 Anagarika Dharmapala was on a pilgrimage to the recently restored Mahabodhi Temple, where the Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, India. Here he experienced a shock to find the temple in the hands of a Saivite priest, the Buddha image transformed into a Hindu icon and Buddhists barred from worship. As a result, he began an agitation movement.

The Maha Bodhi society was founded in 1891. One of its primary aims was the restoration to Buddhist control of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the chief of the four ancient Buddhist holy sites. To accomplish this, Dharmapala initiated a lawsuit against the Brahmin priests who had held control of the site for centuries. After a protracted struggle, this was successful, with the partial restoration of the site to the management of the Maha Bodhi Society in 1949.

The original Mulagandhakuti Vihara was built on the spot at Sarnath where the Buddha spent the first rainy season retreat with his disciples. Enshrined in the new Mulagandhakuti Vihara is a statue of the Buddha modeled after one of the statues unearthed at Sarnath, representing the Buddha in the Dharmacakra mudra, the gesture of teaching the Dharma. (the original statue is at the Sarnath museum)

The temple has a magnificent large bell donated by the Maha Bodhi society of Japan; on the temple's walls are exquisite frescos depicting the life of the Buddha, painted by a Japanese artist. We circumambulated the Buddha statue three times as well and made some donations to the temple. There was a stall inside the temple near the entrance. Some books were sold there, but I did not have sufficient time to check out the books.

On the way back to our hotel, when I was in the bus taking a photo on the street, I noticed a young Indian child smiling and waving at me; and so I smiled and waved back at him. After a short break at the hotel, we had some shopping at the Safari Silk Weaving Centre. Some of our fellow members bought quite a bit at this shop. Steven and I went out of the shop after a while. We would meet Sita, Vera, and the tour assistant later, they were trying out some boiled eggs at a street stall opposite the shop, and I would get invited to taste it.

We would then visit an art centre that was selling buddha statues, jewels and other arts items. The price that they sold was expensive. I bought a small wooden buddha head that cost 270 rupees as a souvenir. I ended up being the last one to leave the centre. Alice congratulated me on buying the souvenir.

Possibly, the only regret here was not going to visit the Ganges river. Initially, only three of us wanted to visit the Ganges river that was scheduled to be on the early morning on the next day. We had some chanting and meditation after our dinner at the hotel. Venerable Mudita had suggested that we should not go to the Ganges river for there is a bit of risk for the river here is toxic, and also because we would had a long journey to Lumbini. When he asked how many are going, I was the only one that put up my hand, I spotted that Vera half-raised his hand. In the end, I thought no one was going to the Ganges river tomorrow.

(view others Varanasi photos)

On the Buddha Trail in India from thezensite.

My photos at the Mulagandhakuti Vihara.

the Buddha statue in the Dharmacakra mudra

Huntington Archive of Buddhist and related art.

Buddhist art in the Freer and Sackler galleries.

It is a scene Myanmar's ruling generals are unlikely to see played out for themselves: As a convoy of trucks carrying relief supplies, led by Buddhist monks, passed through storm-devastated villages, hungry children and homeless mothers bowed in supplication and respect.

"When I see those people, I want to cry," said Sitagu Sayadaw, 71, one of Myanmar's most respected senior monks.

Recently, people who had taken shelter at monasteries or gathered on roadsides waiting for aid to arrive were being displaced again, this time by the junta, which wants them to stop being an embarrassment to the government and return to their villages "for reconstruction." UN officials said Friday that refugees were also being evicted from government-run camps.

"In my entire life, I have never seen a hospital. I don't know where the government office is. I can't buy anything in the market because I lost everything to the cyclone," said Thi Dar. "So I came to the monk."

Nay Lin, 36, a volunteer doctor at the Kun Wan clinic, one of the six emergency clinic shelters Sitagu has opened in the delta, said: "Our patients suffer from infected wounds, abdominal pains and vomiting. They also need counseling for mental trauma, anxiety and depression."

Since the cyclone, the Burmese have become even closer to the monks while their alienation from the junta grows. This bodes ill for the government, which brutally cracked down on thousands of monks when they took to the streets last September appealing to the generals to improve conditions for the people.

Village after storm-hit village, it is clear who has won people's hearts.

Monasteries in the delta - those still standing after the storm - were clogged with refugees. People went there with donations or as volunteers. Monasteries that served as religious centers, orphanages and homes for the elderly were now also shelters for the homeless.

"The monks' role is more important than ever," said Ar Sein Na, 46, a monk in the delta village of That Kyar. "In a time of immense suffering like this, people have nowhere to go except to monks."

Kyi Than, 38, said she had traveled 25 kilometers by boat to Sitagu's camp.

"Our village monk died during the storm. I felt so good today having my first chance to talk to a monk since the storm. Monks are like parents to us," she said. "The government wants us to shut up, but monks listen to us."

"Meditation cannot remove this disaster. Material support is very important now," Sitagu said. "Now in our country, spiritual and material support are unbalanced."

However, like other senior monks here he must strike a careful balance. He has the moral duty to speak out on behalf of his suffering people but he must also protect his social programs and hospitals, which provide free medical care to the destitute in a country whose government views such private undertakings as a reproof.

But, speaking at his shelter as an afternoon monsoon rain drummed against the roof, Sitagu sounded frustrated with the government.

"In my country, I cannot see a real political leader. General Than Shwe's 'Burmese way to democracy?"' he said, referring to the junta's top leader. "What is it?"

Still, a 40-year-old monk at Sitagu's camp said that "monks are very angry" about the government's recent move to evict refugees from monasteries, roadside huts and other temporary shelters, even while the state-run media are filled with stories of government relief efforts. "The government doesn't want to show the truth."

A young monk in the Chaukhtatgyi Paya monastery district in Yangon predicted trouble ahead. "You will see it again because everyone is angry and everyone is jobless," said the monk, who said he joined the September "saffron revolution" and had a large gash over his right eye from a soldier's beating to show for it.

A monk from Mon State in southern Myanmar, who was visiting the delta to assess the damage and arrange an aid shipment, said: "For the government, these people are no more than dead animals in the fields."

The interdependence between monks and lay people is age-old. Monks receive alms - food, medicine, clothes, cash to buy books - from the laity. In return, they offer spiritual comfort. In villages without government schools, a monastic education is often the only one available for children.

"There is a relationship of reciprocity between monks and the lay people," said Desmond Chou, a Burmese-born scholar of comparative religion in New Delhi. "If a fire breaks out in a Myanmar village, it is usually the monks, not firefighters, who arrive first to rescue the people."

Related:

Doctors Without Borders Providing Aid in Myanmar and China.

Anger Grows over Myanmar Aid Block.

Myanmar Disaster And The Human Tragedy of Global Capitalism.

Dalai Lama Offers Support to Myanmar Monks.

In this old, dusty village, two cousins -- Ghassan and Samer Alayan -- wearing sweat-drenched PeacePlayers International shirts sit and talk about the history of Beit Safafa. They speak of resistance and cooperation, roots and exile, the joy and the despair of everyone, on both sides, who chooses to live in this place. Both have just spent the past week running coexistence and leadership basketball camps in Israel and the West Bank.

Ghassan's father ambles up the stairs and joins the conversation.

He looks at the PeacePlayers shirts with a furrowed brow.

"This word 'peace,' " he says, pointing to the shirts. "We [Palestinians] hate this word. Peace, peace, everyone always comes talking about peace. You know the problem with this word? Everyone talks about peace. No one does peace. We are tired of hearing a word that is not real."

In August, I spent a week in Israel and the West Bank following up with a program that we covered last year: PeacePlayers International (formerly Playing for Peace). PeacePlayers is a program that, through the game of basketball, brings together young people living in communities of conflict.

Here, the main activity of PeacePlayers is the Twinned Basketball Clubs, a program that brings together Palestinian and Israeli youth on a weekly basis. The youth participate in basketball, life skills and leadership training, in addition to activities that facilitate intergroup relations and dialogue. Ideally, children begin the program at age 10 and continue until age 16, when they have a chance to become coaches and role models for the youth in their communities.

While PeacePlayers has created deep roots in Northern Ireland and South Africa, the Middle East poses unique challenges that make it harder to measure success. Still, PeacePlayers is experiencing tremendous growth in the Middle East, having worked with more than 2,000 youth. Last year, 600 children enrolled in its yearlong program, with some 40 local coaches employed and 15 interns trained.

The following are the stories of the dedicated volunteers in the region who are planting those seeds. They range from the general manager (R. C. Buford, Spurs General Manager) of the NBA champs to a former Israeli solider (Yoav Shapiro) who once raised tigers in Thailand to a 13-year-old Jericho girl who made a splash this summer in North Carolina when she was named to an All-Star team of 16- and 17-year-olds.

Each one, in his or her own way, is taking the sport of basketball and using it as a tool for peace.

---

..

While serving in the army can harden a soldier's view, it had a different effect on Yoav. "I had many chances to kill them, but I couldn't do it," he says with a pained expression. His reddhish hair is in dreadlocks, his facial hair a Fu Manchu.

"I would see them taunting us, and it made me angry. But then, after while, I began to understand why he hates us. We destroyed his neighborhood. We took his things from his house. We mistreated him at the checkpoints. Everyone, Israelis and Arabs, were behaving the wrong way."

..

Later, Yoav was a camp counselor working with 10 Israeli and Arab children at the basketball camp.

The first day was rocky. By Day 2, things began to change. After a night of movie-watching and swimming, and with competitive games on the line, the kids were starting to get along.

As the camp prepares to end, an ecstatic Yoav is bouncing around the gym. "Can you believe this? They are playing together. Passing to each other. High-fiving! If you had asked me if this was possible yesterday, I would say it was impossible. Today, everything is possible."

That evening, Yoav commits to working in the program in Jerusalem for the entire year.

"I'm not sure I was ready for this when I came," he says in a subdued voice later that night. "My family doesn't like Arab people. I didn't like them either.

"But when you see things like this, it causes you to re-examine your assumptions. Maybe I do believe that peace can still come. Maybe the problem is, we just don't know the way. Seeing basketball used like this makes me think that maybe there's a way."

---

During an adidas Streetball tournament in 1997 in Jerusalem, Ghassan's team made it to the semifinals. They lost in the semifinals, but the difficult conditions won him and his team a few admirers. Even though some fans wanted him dead, Israeli players congratulated him and his team for their play. (Ghassan Alayan, Palestinian Player and PeacePlayers Coach)

"Playing basketball, for the first time in my life, brought me some respect," Ghassan says. "I didn't forget this."

Ghassan admits that the basketball part of PeacePlayers is more important to him than the peace part -- a common reality for many of the participants.

This means PeacePlayers is preaching not only to the converted, the liberal, the open-minded children who already want peace. PeacePlayers is engaging coaches and children who might not initially be open to integration or conciliation. As a general rule, "encounter programs" suffer because the participants are self-selected to fit the program. The fact that PeacePlayers overcomes this hurdle attests to the power of sport to bring together people who otherwise would not be open to meeting and interacting with each other.

Still, given the circumstances, Ghassan remains skeptical that peace can be made via basketball or anything else.

He notes the disparities between the two groups still serve as a wall. Most of the Israeli kids play in new, air-conditioned gyms. Only two such gyms exist for Arabs in the country. The Arab kids almost always have to travel to the Israeli towns when the teams mix. The Israeli parents won't allow their kids to visit the Arab areas -- which leads to less understanding among the Israeli players about the conditions that many Palestinians face.

..

Despite the problems in making peace in the region, Ghassan has noticed changes in his kids, the Israeli kids and himself since starting the program.

"I think we've learned respect for each other through the game," he says. "This conflict is about a lot of things, but clearly a lack of respect is at the heart of it. If this program builds even a little of that, I've seen what it can do."

---

"PeacePlayers is a great opportunity to be around kids using basketball to bridge damaged relationships in areas that need some good things to happen," Buford says.

As the GM for the Spurs, Buford is known as a guy who can see the big picture. From the sound of things, that trait has helped PeacePlayers.

"Basketball is a game where all five players need to share the ball," Buford says. "If it is played with great teamwork, the sum of the parts is greater than the individual. It's a great forum for building trust. A lot of the game happens with things you can't see. Communication and trust with teammates is the key. It seems to me that the same can be said of peacemaking."

Buford's support of PeacePlayers isn't the only area in which he has given kids a chance. ..

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Khaled took the role of mentor to many of the younger players in the camp. He made sure everyone's needs were taken care of and even earned a nickname: Coach Khaled.

Khaled's leadership during the camp illustrated one of the PeacePlayers ideas that makes the program sustainable -- making mentors and coaches of the older players in the program.

With several others, Khaled will pilot the new Leadership Development program this fall.

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Another success story is PeacePlayers' new girls' program. The girls' program was launched last September as a partnership with the Jerusalem Girl's Basketball League. PeacePlayers' involvement signified the first time Arab girls were included in the league. With the support of coaches like Osnat Ginati, an Israeli women's basketball player from Jerusalem, the demand for the program has been enormous.

"I think with girls it's easier," Osnat says. "I think the biggest issue is culture. Many of the Jewish girls from the poorer neighborhoods dress in ways that the Arab girls find immodest. That's been the biggest obstacle."

..

"I was thinking that Jewish people were cold and didn't like Palestinians," Serene remembers. "But Bar was warm and cared. I think she trusted us, and that was great."

The story of Bar and Serene, says Osnat, has an important effect not only on the kids, but also on the adults.

"I think kids like that, who are willing to open themselves up, despite real danger of being rejected, inspire us all to be better," Osnat says with tears in her eyes. "Some of my family tells me I'm crazy to believe a program like this will ever work. That Arabs will never change. But I see this, and I say to myself, maybe both of us are capable of change."

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"You come here with one impression about the place and the people," Sigafoos says. (Sigafoos, Program Director) "But it's totally erased when you're here. The people are better than you'd think. The conflict is more complicated that it appears from the outside. But most of all, you just see a lot of people trying to create a normal life out of an extraordinary situation.

"My work for PeacePlayers has been so rewarding to me personally because of the challenges we face on a daily basis. It's hard to make a difference in the larger context of the conflict. We're not overreaching or deluding ourselves in that way. What we can do, as a small and passionate grassroots organization, is make a real difference in the lives of everyone we work with. PPI is succeeding and creating positive change among our players and coaches because of the talent and passion of the entire PPI staff, especially our local coaches, for change and for a better future."

---

Enter Samer Alayan, Ghassan's cousin. Not only does Samer now coach three teams for PeacePlayers, a girls' team and two boys' teams, in Beit Sefafa, he also now heads up a new program for PeacePlayers: BasketPal.

The idea behind the program is to strengthen the basketball infrastructure in Palestine. As a Palestinian, he often was embarrassed when playing against Israelis. The lack of formal coaching and facilities often left the Arab teams underprepared. Out of addressing that concern, as well as the difficulty of Palestinian teams traveling to Israel, BasketPal was born.

The program started with seven teams in Tul Karem and two in Jericho, and is expanding to Ramallah and possibly Bethlehem this year. The goal is to spread the program throughout the entire West Bank.

"If the kids can't play, the respect won't come. In fact, the stereotype that Arabs are worthless just increases." Samer says.

Samer has been beating the bushes looking for support, and he's found a lot of it from a local Palestinian company: Hadara Technologies, the Internet service provider arm of PalTel, which provides broadband services to the 7 percent of Palestinian households that have access to the Web.

"For many Palestians, the Internet is the only way to reach the outside world," says Huda Eljack, Hadara's CEO. "They are so trapped, it's difficult for them to get access to new ideas or even entertainment."

"You can't have peace if people don't have jobs," she says, "so we've tried to create as many jobs in Palestine as we can the last few years."

Her support for the program is enthusiastic. "They aren't just creating basketball players," she says. "They are building life skills and gaining role models.

"Programs like this teach kids to deal with each each and connect them in important ways. Finding the right role models in Palestine, with all of the religious and political strife in the region, is very difficult. To have the coaches develop relationships with the kids may be the most important piece of this."

The BasketPal program itself already has produced its first star, a 13-year-old Christian girl from Jericho named Natalie. Natalie might be the best player in the PeacePlayers program, boy or girl, regardless of age, religion or nationality.

Her goal is to make it to the United States and play high school basketball, with an eye toward playing Division I college basketball. She has the potential to do it, and thanks to BasketPal, she might have the chance.

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Karen Doubliet (Middle East Managing Director) is one of the few Israelis who can say she actually has spent time on the other side of the wall -- in Tul Karem, Ramallah and Bethlehem -- in any capacity other than as a solider. Now Doubliet, with a strong academic background in conflict resolution, is taking PeacePlayers to new places as well. She has been working furiously as PeacePlayers expands its programs and adds new curriculum to provide better leadership and coexistence training to both the program directors and the coaches.

"I felt I was spending too much time on history when there was a real live conflict in front of my eyes," she says. "I felt a responsibility to contribute to something I can change. It was the beginning of new path for me."

She enrolled in Bar-Ilan University to study conflict management and negotiation.

"Bar-Ilan is a religious university, and I wasn't particularly religious," she says. "But I wanted to see the religious perspective of the conflict. I felt that, in order to totally understand the conflict, you need to understand the narratives of all sides: right and left, religious, and secular. You need to understand the perspectives of your friends and your foes. The program was professional and neutral, but the life experiences of the faculty and students gave me a deeper insight into a new way of thinking about the conflict."

"It is a miracle that we are even bringing Palestinian and Israeli youth together under these circumstances, and creating a forum where coaches from both sides can work together, creating a joint future. There is no doubt that the program has a significant impact on the lives of the children with whom we work -- many of whom would be playing on the street and getting into trouble if it weren't for the program and the positive role models.

"This is a necessary part of the process. Bottom-up peace-building is a gradual process; it's about changing attitudes and opening people's minds to other possibilities. These kids won't create the political agreements that need to be made. But it open minds and prepares them for the peace when it comes. If we impact even a few kids, it may not make peace in and of itself; it's another drop in the bucket. Eventually, we'll have a full bucket."

The success has not gone unnoticed. Adidas's corporate foundation, the Adi Dassler Fund, recently awarded PeacePlayers a significant grant that will support PeacePlayers' programs in the Middle East and New Orleans.

Former President Bill Clinton mentioned PeacePlayers in his newest book, "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World," as a program that can foster communication, cooperation and leadership in the Middle East and around the globe.

The plan is to continue growing, adding a community a year as PeacePlayers receives more financial support.

More from ESPN:

2006 Chad Ford's first report from Israel and Palestine.

ESPN Mag: PeacePlayers making progress in Ireland, too.

The ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre (AWRC) (located in Sungei Tengah Agrotech Park) will occupy two hectares (five acres) and will provide a safe haven for more than 400 wild animals rescued from illegal trade, potentially including primates (such as gibbons, macaques, and lorises), marsupials, reptiles, small ungulates, and small carnivores. The AWRC will also help to end the cruel trafficking in rare species by serving as an educational facility for the public. With the assistance of volunteers, ACRES plans to use the center to generate increased awareness of the impact of the illegal wildlife trade—and to help create a more caring and compassionate society.

Illicit wildlife trafficking is rampant in Southeast Asia, with an active trade in many species of wild animals for their meat, for their body parts to be used in traditional medicines, and for supplying the exotic pet trade.

In recent years, there has been an alarming increase in the illegal trade in protected species of wild animals and plants. In Singapore, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has stepped up its enforcement efforts, leading to the confiscation of an increasing number of illegally traded animals.

The AWRC will provide such confiscated animals with an ideal environment in which to rest and recuperate. Wherever possible, ACRES will seek to repatriate animals back to reputable sanctuaries in their country of origin. However, for those animals who cannot be repatriated, the AWRC will serve as a permanent home.

ACRES undercover operations has led to prosecutions of importers, traders, and buyers of illegal trade in Singapore. ACRES operates the 24-hour ACRES Wildlife Crime Hotline, which provides a means of blowing the whistle on anyone who buys, owns, or trades in exotic species.

Public roadshows, advertisements in the local media, and talks and exhibitions at schools are all part of a strategy to raise public awareness of the impact of the illegal wildlife trade and ultimately to achieve the main aim of ACRES: to foster compassion and respect for all animals.

ACRES - Animal Concerns Research and Education Society.

Help Donate to ACRES.

Types of animals allowed to be sold in pet shops (from AVA)

Developing in your children a positive sense of self-worth is one of your greatest responsibilities and biggest challenges.

Children who have self-confidence have a feeling of internal worth that enables them to welcome challenges and work cooperatively with others. When children don't develop self-confidence, they tend to focus on failure instead of success, problems instead of challenges, and difficulties instead of possibilities. There is no single way to enhance self-esteem, but one way is to show children "unconditional positive regard." Let your children know that you care about them, accept them, and approve of them, no matter what. Your challenge is to accept your child as a person, even when you do not accept his behavior.

Honest recognition and sincere praise come from the heart and draw attention to something specific the child has done. Praise is an external source of esteem, which is helpful but not nearly as valuable and effective as internal sources that come from a sense of competence.

Showing respect for your children also reinforce your child's self-worth. You can offer them choices when appropriate, then respect and abide by their decisions. Showing confidence in your child's ability to make decisions helps build his self-esteem. Another way to show respect towards children is to explain the reasons behind the rules or adult decisions.

The most effective thing you can do to help your children feel a sense of self-worth is to help them achieve competence or an internal feeling of mastery or control. Encourage your children to make their own choices and be as independent as possible. Provide many different activities for them to allow them to explore and develop skills. Creative activities allow children to express their ideas and feelings. Group activities allow children to learn to play and interact with other children.

Children should have sufficient freedom to select the activities they want to participate in, rather than being forced by their parents. You should recognize and praise your child's effort rather than the result. Best is to encourage them to develop a sense of curiosity and have fun in exploring it.

Don't let your child's ego grow too big. Parents can only teach their children how to behave successfully only if their own behaviors are consistent and do not contradicts them.

Somewhat related: A Mother’s Wishes of Her Children - Satisfaction.