Award Winners from Bosnia, Sri Lanka and Bremen
A Bosnian imam, a human rights campaigner from Sri Lanka and the district project called "You always have a choice" run by the Bremen's German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Comprehensive School Bremen-East and a lot of projects in the district Tenever all have one thing in common: They are award winners of the 5th International Bremen Peace Award 2011.
The Bosnian imam Vahidin Omanovic will be honoured as the Unknown Peace Worker. The former war refugee today runs a peace centre in the town of Sanski Most. A large number of people there are still traumatized even 15 years after the end of the Bosnian war. Omanovic´s annual peace camps offers Catholic Croatian Bosnians, Orthodox Serbian Bosnians and Muslim Bosnians a meeting place. Within this safe environment they can talk about and come to terms with their haunting war memories, pray together and find paths to reconciliation.
The Foundation awards a prize to Shreen Abdul Saroor from Sri Lanka for her Public Engagement for Peace and Justice. The Muslim, who was herself also driven out of her home town, has spent years using her networking skills to campaign for democracy and reconciliation between the hostile ethnic-religious groups in the north of Sri Lanka. In the region marked by hardship and the devastation of war she offers support especially for women who have become the victims of violence and social exclusion. With a mixture of engagement and empathy she encourages the women to develop an understanding of their rights and to defend them.
The award for Exemplary Organization will be given by the Threshold Foundation to the cultural "District Project OTe: you always have a choice". This project was initiated by the German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Bremen and the East district Comprehensive School in cooperation with other partners from Bremen's underprivileged district Osterholz-Tenever. Pupils from different cultures and religious backgrounds have the opportunity to practice with professional musicians from the internationally renowned orchestra and also with other artists; they are accompanied and supported by individuals and initiatives from Tenever. The young people work on highly regarded musical and theatrical interpretations and strengthen their capacity for team work and self-confidence in the process.
This year the Foundation's board of trustees faced a particularly difficult challenge in choosing the award winners. "This time we received 90 impressive nominations from all over the world", the Foundation´s Chairman of the board Reinhard Jung said. "It was the most difficult choice we have had to make so far". As well as the award winners, the Foundation also distinguishes 25 further individuals and organizations worthy of commendation in a brochure.