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"To bring peace to the world we must first bring peace to our communities. To have peace in our communities we must first bring peace to our homes. To have peace in our homes we must first bring peace to our hearts. For how can we know peace without love?"

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This is the question Adolfo Pérez Esquivel asks as he shows us around the Children for Peace Village. Adolfo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, perhaps the most important award in the world. He starrted this Village ten years ago, and it is now one of his most important projects.

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Today over 115 youth between the ages of 12 to 20 come here every week from many poor neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. They come to be with friends and role models, and to learn some really cool things. The kids helped build a lot of the buildings and pipes and stuff. In the Village, kids can get personal advice, tutoring in math and writing, and learn about computers, carpentry, gardening, and metalworking. It also has a big garden, a kitchen, and even has small pens for a bunch of bunny rabbits they are raising to sell!

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The kids also make cheese and recycled paper. Some of them are learning bee-keeping, where they make their very own, yummy honey. In the computer workshops, they are creating a magazine containing their own poems, stories, and jokes.

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"I look forward to Saturdays to come here. I've been coming here for over 2 years and have learned so many useful things," says Rodrigo, 17, as he laughs outside with his friends after lunch.

"I come here because it's fun...the teachers and my friends are like my brothers and sisters," says Claudia, an 18 year old, who has only been coming to the village for about 6 months now.

It's a Village of support, fun, and hope for the kids... and, Adolfo Pérez admits, it's a lot of fun for him, too!

Kavitha