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An end to violence, the opportunity to be a kid
Story below by NBC10 and GPUAC, all rights reserved. Philadelphia, PA, August 3, 2006 - This summer, just 35 miles away from his inner-city Philadelphia home, 9-year-old Damir Williams visited a different world without gunshots, violence and fear. "There's violence back home, but it's peaceful and quiet out here," Williams reported from Camp. Williams left his Philadelphia neighborhood for a week of swimming, animals and new friends at the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition’s “Keep Kids Safe Summer Camp.” He said it helped him think different thoughts from those that haunt him every day while playing in his own neighborhood. Williams' mother, Martha Williams, is a single mother of three working for the Philadelphia Housing Authority as a carpenter. She has seen the toll that violence has had on Damir’s psyche. "His question is why? 'Why do people have to shoot each other? Why? How come you can get guns before books?' This is his question, and the most hurtful thing is that I can't answer him," Martha Williams said. Martha Williams said the camp taught her son some valuable new lessons. "If you want to be a bigger person, just walk away," Damir Williams said. That is exactly why the Urban Affairs Coalition runs the camp, to teach kids that there is a different way of life, and other alternatives, to violence in the streets. This past summer was the third consecutive year for the Keep Kids Safe Summer Camp. It is supported by the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia, a multi-faceted, city-wide initiative to deal with the causes and consequences of violence initiated by State Rep. Dwight Evans, in partnership with others. The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition is the Camp’s manager. ### |
