School: Saint Louis Laboratory High School
    Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines

3 students, ages 15 worked together to complete this Doors to Diplomacy project on March 16, 2012. They have participated in Doors to Diplomacy in the following year(s): 2011

Classes and Teachers: Vincent Tabor, Florida Martin, Jelsea, Vallery, Hazel

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.slu.edu.ph

1. Description of Our Team

Our team is composed of 3 members.

Vallerry, aged fifteen, is the group’s leader. She is open-minded and accepts the ideas of the other members, and also suggests her own. She was responsible for most of the content in our project, as she did most of the researching. One of the smartest people in class, she is also someone who has many goals she wants to attain. She hopes to be an engineer or a designer so she can be able to use her knowledge for other people to have better lives.

Jelsea, the oldest in the group by a few months, is fifteen years old. Although many consider her as a quiet person, she can be very talkative during group discussions. Thus, the main idea of our project was derived from her. She is the living proof of the saying “Quiet people often have the loudest minds.” She takes up photography as a hobby and wants to be a professional photographer.

Hazel, fifteen, is the group’s artist. She was tasked with creating the website’s layout and she is the editor of the other members’ outputs. Being an optimist, she can also be deemed as the motivator of the team. Because of her fascination with different languages, she wishes to be a linguist.

2. Summary of Our Project

'If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants. Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.'

The quotation above, an excerpt from a letter that Muslim scholars sent to the Pope and to other Christian leaders, says much about our goal in making this project. This issue about the seemingly unending conflict between Christians and Muslims is not something new, but it is still something that needs to be given attention. As a group, we believe that achieving peace between the two is not impossible, as long as we all work towards making it a reality. The need for acceptance and agreement among their respective followers is intensified if we realize that they make up most of the world’s population, being followers of the world’s two largest religions.

The purpose of our project is to open other peoples’ eyes to the metaphorical rift growing between Christianity and Islam, and for others to realize that, as said in the letter, the world cannot be at peace if Christians and Muslims are not at peace.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

In the making of our project, the major problem we had to overcome was limited time. Besides making our website, we also had to deal with other assignments and projects that our other teachers gave us. There were times when few or none of us were not able to initiate or attend group meetings because we all had our own affairs to attend to. Another problem was our lack of knowledge that was needed to make a website that was up to par with what should be an entry for an international contest. Nevertheless, we managed to overcome this by self-studying the things we needed to know.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

In a world where even religion seems to be a reason for conflicts, we all must learn to look beyond our differences and instead focus on our similarities. Once we have cast away stereotyping and discrimination, only then can we be sure that peace can be achieved.

6. How did your activities and research for this Doors to Diplomacy Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

This project was for our Technology and Home Economics subject. It fit into our curriculum because in the making, we were able to apply the things we have learned about HTML encoding, and then some. Not only that, but we also have come to be more aware of the different social issues in our society, namely the main idea of our project. Seeing the previous participants’ entries has also inspired us to become self-taught in other areas of web development, as our school only teaches the basics; we have learned to become independent and to not always rely on our teachers for help.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your Doors to Diplomacy project?

For us to be able to start our project we needed accurate information. To gather the information we needed, we had to utilize different books and newspapers concerning the topic, and the Internet. Other information was gained through interviews with other people, and through our own thoughts and ideas. Of course, our project would not have been completed without the use of our desktops and laptops, both in school and in our homes.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your Doors to Diplomacy project both on-line and in person.

We became the voice of the people who also want peace among Christians and Muslims. With technology as our medium, we spoke of our opinions about this “Great Divide” – the cause of the problems, its effects, possible solutions to it, and a call to action. Using modern technologies in our current time that let us express ourselves in ways that were not possible before, we used the Internet.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

The biggest impact of our project to the community is that we have made them more aware of the conflicts that are happening around us. We were able to fill the ignorance of their minds with information about the things that are happening between Christians and Muslims. We made this site in order for every person to know the conflicts happening between these two communities with different religions and join us to promote peace. In our project, we received feedbacks concerning our output; some were good and some were not. We had also received suggestions concerning the improvement of our site. When we first started our project, we hoped that it would help every Christian, Muslim and everyone involved to make our objective happen, it is to obliterate the barrier between these two religions and to help them live in peace and prosperity.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

There were a lot of people who helped us achieve and finish this project. They were there when we need help and they always give some of their time, even for just a couple of minutes, for us. They were there to encourage us in order for us to continue our project in times when we thought of giving up and thinking that we may not be able to finish it in time. Many people were there to support us starting from our families, our friends, our teachers and even our classmates. Most importantly, there was a man who never gave up on us and who always believed that we can make it. He was always looking out on us and he gives us a reason to hold on to what we were doing. He is no other than God up above who never left us alone. Even those who we did not really know were glad to help us and guide us in order to fulfill what we’re here for, to promote peace. Because of this, we would like to thank them very much for every help and everything they did for us to come up with this project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

This project has left us experiences that we will never forget. Along this project making, we met new people that have been our companions. A lot have happened and we are thankful we did this project since it has taught us a lot of things and it has left us wonderful memories to carry on. Contrary to our expectations, a lot of people like us also wanted to have a peaceful atmosphere among Christians and Muslims. We didn’t know that a lot of people have the same aspirations as us. This discovery gave us hope that maybe a lot more in the whole world would also want peace. This hope became our motivation to do our 110% in this project.

It may not have been a big impact, but this project gave us lessons that have changed us for the better. We have become better persons, in a lot of ways actually. The lessons that we have learned here have changed us, in the way we look at life and other people. A lot of realizations during this project making have made us change our outlook in life. When we started in this project, we thought we knew what we were really aiming for but sadly we were wrong. Thankfully we were wrong. Why? It’s because this project was more than what it seems, more than we aimed for and that can be seen in our project.