The Hindu Business Line : The ball's in the bag

THE US Department of State's 2005 Doors to Diplomacy Award recognises Web sites devoted to teaching the importance of international affairs and diplomacy.

This year's awards, announced in San Diego, on May 10, saw Indian students from the Ryan International School in Gurgaon, Haryana, walk away with the top honours.

Their Web site, titled All the World Is One, is "about international security by considering global realities and threats while celebrating the mutual cooperation and celebration that support diplomacy."

This wasn't an easy win, considering that competition comprised a total of 293 student teams from 39 countries, ranging in age from 15 to 18, who participated in this contest, co-sponsored by the US Department of State and Global SchoolNet (www.globalschoolnet.org) , the non-profit, Internet-based education program.

The Doors to Diplomacy Award was specially created for CyberFair, a contest that encourages students and educators to join together to build high-quality, educational Web sites on a variety of topics.

Peers and educational professionals were the judges with the final selections made by a team of State Department judges from the Bureaus of Public Affairs and Educational and Cultural Affairs. The winning sites will be linked from the State Department's youth site at www.future.state.gov.

We are the world

"This is the face of terror," says the introduction to All the World Is One (http://www.effortsunited.com/).

The face across which the legends run is eerily evocative. Truly, terrorism knows no gender or time and place. Its victims could be any one. The target, as these young people believe, is `you.'

Obviously devoted to very serious issues, the site is a clutter-free page with clear demarcations to the various sections such as Terror Trails, which explains concepts of violence and aggression. It has various subsections, such as the Interactive Tutorial Violence (http://www.effortsunited.com/violence_interactive.htm), Search for Peace and War. As the project narrative (http://www.effortsunited.com/projectnarrative.htm) says, the team had an eclectic mix of members, whose unique insight and vision, guided by team coach, Madhuri Parti, Principal, ultimately shaped the site.

The members included Rahul Mukherjee, artist and logician, Alisha (17), the perfectionist, Rewan (16 ) the go-getter, Smriti (13), the optimist, and Wishal (17), the unafraid visionary.

The team believes, "The Web of devastation goes on enlarging from violence, aggression and insurgency to terrorism and conventional wars. Ironically though, we often forget to look at the demons within, violence and aggressions have become a part of our lives. There is a terrorist within each of us and while we think of external measures to fight the threats to International Security, we forget that `the most important of life's battles is the one we fight in the silent chambers of the soul'. So let us learn to be at peace with ourselves; so that we can live in peaceful coexistence with each other."

That is probably why on the subject of war they also have space devoted to peace and also have an online quiz and counsellor to identify problems and get them sorted out.

Their problems were diverse and as the team says, "Much has been said and written about International Security. Our primary challenge lay in bringing out hitherto unrevealed aspects of the issue and contributing in our own small ways to global peace. Our `Foresight-Insight Approach' and a portal-based Web-site seemed ideal for this. Also, we adopted the adage, `Think Global, Act Local' to involve our community in our efforts."

The team says consolidating the informational database took as much time as site designing.

At the technical end, it was locating a long-term secure hosting service, "which we managed to solve by setting up a dedicated dual Xeon server. We lost a lot of time trying to stay connected and completing ftp transfers." Setting up the database-driven community was a major challenge, they say. And walking the last mile was the toughest! "Little extras add to make a big difference; encouraged by our coaches, we made sure we put in a lot of the little extras."

Rich spoils

After the hard labour, it is time for the rewards to follow. Each student member of the winning Doors to Diplomacy Award teams will receive a $2,000-scholarship and a trip to Washington, DC, where they will receive a private tour of the State Department facilities, meet key officials and participate in a special award presentation ceremony.

The coaches and schools will each receive a $500-cash award. Global SchoolNet will partner with the Washington, DC-based Institute of International Education to develop a comprehensive schedule of events for the two winning teams that come to Washington, DC, in June this year.

"We made a conscious effort to involve members from different walks of life in our project," says team coach Madhuri Parti, Principal of Ryan International School, Gurgaon.

That is clearly shown by the enormous detailing the site offers on the subject of terrorism and conflict. Ultimately, their message is simple — live in peace, not in pieces. Isn't it time the world listened?

paromita@thehindu.co.in

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