Peace House

comes to Boone
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

Boone will soon be the center of an international peace initiative, Steve Leighton, president of the Gol Iluminado Foundation, announced Saturday at a special event at Appalachian State University’s Farthing Auditorium.

World-famous retired soccer player and chairman of Gol Iluminado Elisa Figueroa also appeared at the event.
The town has been designated as a sight for a Peace House as part of the United Nations Sport for Development and Peace Program.

The house itself will be located on West King Street on a spot currently occupied by an empty shed-like structure across from the Turchin Center. The Peace House will serve as a center providing information and education and will be one of more than a dozen such centers worldwide.

Boone’s Peace House is unique from the others, however, in that it will be the only one located in a rural area. It is also special in that it will serve as the global headquarters for the entire initiative.

Leighton has family ties to the area and said Boone was chosen for several reasons.

He said he felt it would be strategically wise to headquarter the initiative here because it would not incite the rivalry that might be instigated by placing the headquarters in one of the world’s major metropolitan areas.

He called the area a “neutral zone,” without the historical connections that other areas have.

He said the area’s “vibrant academic community” was also a draw. “Boone is like a microcosm of a big city,” Leighton said, explaining that there was a blend of students, teachers and professors from around the world, making the area like a “mini UN.”

Leighton said he was not concerned about the fact that Boone is somewhat isolated from major metropolitan areas, citing that with technology being where it is, even global organizations can operate outside of major cities with relative ease.

The initiative is focused around sports and how they can help people overcome differences and help communities recover from devastating circumstances.

Figueroa is a living testament to how sports can change a life.

He was thought to be sickly as a child, he said, but his determination to play soccer helped him have a more normal childhood and an extraordinary career as a professional athlete.

Figueroa said sports and peace are connected because they serve as a social bridge. Sports educate people and help them look past their differences.

Saturday’s event also featured a presentation of the Watauga High School Playmakers’ award winning play, “John Lennon and Me.”

Tickets to the event and a raffle helped the students raise the approximately $12,000 they needed to compete at the National Theatre Troupe Competition in Chattanooga in March. With the help of Saturday’s event, the group has met its fundraising goal.

For more information about the Gol Iluminado Foundation, visit goliluminado.org. For more about the Boone Peace House, go to peacehouseboone.org.