by Madeleine Lippey

With a Foreword by The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Foreword

“A Little Peace of Me” by Madeleine Lippey is a wonderful story that should be read to all children. It embodies the philosophy of ubuntu, which speaks to the very essence of what it means to be a person. Ubuntu is rooted in the idea of human interconnectedness; you can’t be human all by yourself, and when you possess this quality-ubuntu-you are known for your generosity. We too often think of ourselves as individuals, separated from one another, but each person’s decisions and actions can affect the entire world. When you impact your community in a positive way, it spreads out, affecting the whole of humanity. “A Little Peace of Me” does just that: it connects children across the world and reminds us that we all share the same capability to drive lasting and meaningful change.

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu – Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town - September 2012

Copyright © 2012 Madeleine Lippey - The Do Write Campaign

www.dowritecampaign.orgProceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Ubuntu Education Fund (www.ubuntufund.org), a South African nonprofit organization providing orphaned and vulnerable children with comprehensive medical and educational services. drawings by Guillaume Bracquemond

Dedicated to my wonderful father, Brian LippeyThank you will never be enough.

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so that I never have to live without you.”

Winnie the Pooh

by Madeleine Lippey

drawings by Guillaume Bracquemond

Dedicated to my wonderful father, Brian LippeyThank you will never be enough.

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so that I never have to live without you.”

Winnie the Pooh

There was a lot that Lucas didn’t understand.

Like how millions of sparkles seemed to stick to the sidewalk when he walked to the bus stop.Or why his mommy always called him “baby” when he was practically a grown man of six.

He didn’t understand how the lightning bugs in his rusty old pickle jar seemed to whistle his favorite lullabys until he released them into far too great a sky.

Or why he could sometimes feel the stars scooping up his tummy like a spoon

covered in brownie batter.

But more than anything, Lucas just couldn’t understand the whispers.They wrapped him up into his little bed in a big brick house, stroking his cheeks like cotton candy and singing “honey” and “sweetie-pie” into his ear.But every night as he began to fall asleep, the whispers just kept on whispering:

There was a lot that Victorious didn’t understand.

Like why the ground outside her house was covered in candy wrappers and empty soda cans.

Or why her mommy always seemed to have the heat of the sun caught inside her head. She didn’t understand why she could never seem to stay dry in her township hut when it began to rain.

Or why she lived in less of a town and more of a ship, rocking her back and forth to school and to home over and over again.She liked to pretend she was the captain sometimes, steering her township to a place where her mommy could get the right medicine so that her head would stop hurting her so much.

But more than anything, Victorious didn’t understand the whispers.They wrapped her up in her little bed in a little tin house, stroking her cheeks with crunched up fingers and singing “dream” and “do” in her ears.But every night as she began to fall asleep, the whispers just kept on whispering:

There was a lotthat Amir didn’t understand.

Like why his garden was covered in pink flowers

and black footprints.

Or why his mommy always wore her soldier costume,even when she tucked him into bed at night.

He didn’t understand why most kids dreamed about riding on a rocket all the way to the moon, while he often dreamed of the day they rode away from him.

But more than anything, Amir didn’t understand the whispers.They wrapped him up in his little bed in a house tugged and bitten by war, stroking his cheeks like maroony velvet and singing “shalom” and “salaam” in his ears.But every night as he began to fall asleep, the whispers just kept on whispering:

But on one night, just one night,everything seemed to stop.The stars halted their questions.The ship in the town seemed to slow down.And the rockets seemed to lose a little bit of their fire.One night, three children from three very different places had one dream.

They met at a river of chocolate milk, and drank until their bellies ached from the sugar.

They waited on a shore sewn from licorice for the whisper clouds to come,

and take them away,

and carry themacross a world free from inequality.Free from war.

The children smiled and laughed as they watched Victorious’ mother take her

medicine and finally get out of bed to bring her children to school.

They danced and sang as Amir scanned the land and saw little boys playing with toy rockets instead of real ones.

And Lucas began to catch the stars in his hands and on his flag rather than his tummy, where loneliness came and left as soon as he realized he had so much more than a big brick house would ever give him…

He had a heart.And a whole one, at that.

They weaved through clouds all night long, until the sun finally winked goodnight.

“It’s time”They heard the whispers once again.

The next morning, three children woke up. But they weren’t the same children who had gone to sleep the night before. They had seen the way the world not only could be, but SHOULD be. They had seen a world blessed with peace, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Lucas got out of bed and opened his curtains. He walked downstairs to the kitchen and heard his two older siblings fighting. He gave them each a smile and a hug and told them that he loved them. The fighting stopped.

Victorious woke early and lay next to her mother as she slept. When she began to cough, Victorious stroked her hair back and began braiding it so that her mother would be presentable for church. The coughing stopped.

Amir woke and helped his mother button up her uniform as she whistled their national anthem. He played with one of the buttons, looked into her eyes, and

said, “Be careful. Be safe. And come home.” His mother’s eyes widened, surprised at the wisdom that had come from her six-year-old son. The whistling stopped.

And for a moment, everything was quiet. Everything was pure.And for the first time, in a long time, the whispers, too, simply stopped.

About the Author

Madeleine Lippey is a sixteen-year-old Junior at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, USA. She was born in Hong Kong, and was instantly bitten by the travel bug. She has been fortunate enough to travel extensively with her family, and has a passion for all things international. Madeleine started volunteering as a thirteen-year-old in Dharamshala, India, with disadvantaged women and their children, including exiles from the Tibetan community. Upon returning to the US, Madeleine made a film about her work in India, which she posted online. She found film to be a powerful medium that would further strengthen her voice.

Soon thereafter, Madeleine was introduced to The Ubuntu Education Fund, a non-profit organization in South Africa, and offered to make a promotional film for them from a teenager’s perspective. She traveled to the townships of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and met young women and writers who completely revolutionized the way she viewed the written word. Many of these girls had been sexually abused or raped, and struggled with the HIV/AIDS pande-mic and violence in their community.

These experiences had a profound effect on Madeleine and in 2011, she established The Do Write Campaign, a 501 (c) (3) Private Foundation, as a way to promote un-derstanding among teens around the world through the exchange of creative writing and other artistic media. She set up a website and wrote and directed several other films to raise awareness among teens around the world. Through these means, she has generated support for several education and health-related charities.

To date, she has received writing and art submissions from large numbers of young people from dozens of coun-ties including the USA, China, Kenya, Korea, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Ireland, Australia, & Ukraine. In 2011, she set up a Do Write Chapter with a partner organization in Kashmir, the war-torn region between India and Pakistan, and hopes to establish a chapter in Burma early in 2013.

Madeleine planned and organized her first successful international conference for teenagers in the summer of 2012 called The Do Write Conference, in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She brought young American women to meet with their same-aged South African peers for three days of discussion on topics ranging from Heal-thcare, Domestic Abuse, HIV, Education, Women’s Issues, Writing, Art, and Digital Media. Next summer, she hopes to organize the Second Annual Do Write Conference, which will bring together young women from the USA, UK, South Africa, India, China, and South East Asia.

She also loves Japanese food, romantic comedies, junk food, and her annoying little brothers. Her family lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Madeleine has been featured in The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal. A Little Peace of Me is her first published children’s book.

One night, just one night,everything seemed to stop.The stars halted their questions.The ship in the town seemed to slow down.And the rockets seemed to lose a little bit of their fire.One night, three children from three very different places had one dream.

by Madeleine Lippey