Amir Bergen (UWC Dilijan ’20, Russia) co-founded the Svet Peace Project with Kanstantsin Tsiarokhin (Belarus/Ukraine). “Svet” means “light,” a word shared across Slavic languages.

In 2024, with support from the Projects for Peace grant, they launched their first course, bringing together teenagers from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus during wartime for dialogue-based education. Through shared reading of literature, students practiced listening across difference and building empathy.

Since then, Svet has continued offering seminars in Eastern Europe and now works with teenagers in the United States, including youth involved in the juvenile justice system.

This summer, they are preparing their first UWC Short Course, “Many Ways to Be Human,” bringing UWC-style seminar education to students around the world.

This fall, they registered as a nonprofit and are raising $65,000 to sustain one year of full operations. They have raised $32,000 and secured a $10,000 matching donation, so every contribution made before June will be doubled.

Amir hopes to make this kind of education accessible to many more young people worldwide. If UWC education has meant something to you or your family, this is one way to extend that spirit of intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Learn more: https://svetpeace.org/
Support the project: https://givebutter.com/donatetosvetpeace