Netherlands- On Wednesday, the Peacebuilders 2000 delegation was split into three groups. Each of the groups was paired by high school affiliation: Berkeley and El Cerrito in one group, Castlemont and Fremont in another group and Richmond students in their own group.

Each of the adults in our delegation worked with the individual groups on preparing their conference presentations that they would take home to their schools. I was assigned to work with the Oakland Unified School District group (Paul Marigney and Mohammed Alarbesh from Castlemont and Larry Guess from Fremont). Our first stop was the workshop on "Children from Conflict Zones." conducted by Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF.

"We learned how young children in different parts of the world have to join the military at an early age," Marigney said. "I can't imagine what it would be like to learn how to serve in a military at such a young age." During a break later in the day, the Oakland group conducted interview with members of the Global Kids Organization from New York for the documentary film we are producing on the trip. Guess and Alarbesh fielded interview questions to their East Coast peers on their organizations background and the impact the conference had on them. On Friday, the two groups will be conducting the "Peace in the Cities" workshop, along with the Children's Peace Movement from Colombia.

"This was a great opportunity to get to know the young ladies from Global Kids before our Friday workshop," Alarbesh said. I'm already getting prepared for my presentation about some of the issues involving peace in my community in Oakland." AUP media director Jacques Bronson worked on the peace education workshops with Berkeley High's Kaylin Thornton and Perry Pugh and El Cerrito High's Andrew Gooden and Jovan Harris.

"There were so many people in our workshop, and the room was so hot and stuffy that we had to leave when the digital video camera overheated." Bronson said. "We had to get out of there because our kids had an important game to play that night against the Dutch national team." Videographer Steve Jefferson had the assignment of working with the Richmond High students, Damien Carter and Courtney Anderson. "A lot of youth here at this conference are trained peace activists who have been doing these types of workshops for a long time," Anderson said. "Today's workshops we participated in worked on initiatives by the youth for the International Criminal Court to punish countries involved in using kids in the military illegally. "When my kids spoke about AUP's position on some of the issues, they were attacked by their peers for not being polished speakers. I had to step in and explain how our guys were new at this type of activity and that this was part of their introduction to peace activism."

Academic Coordinator Tanya Davis, a former educator in the Oakland Unified School District, got her golden opportunity to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu after the South African leader's presentation to a room full of gatherers in the Global Forum. "I experienced the ultimate today when I got a change to meet Mr. Tutu," David said. "He is one of my biggest idols in all of the world. These types of opportunities only come once in a lifetime, and I got mine today. We even took a picture together in the lobby."

After our pregame dinner, point guard Perry Pugh informed me that he would not be able to suit up for the against the Dutch nationals because of a shoulder that was causing him problems. Pugh asked me if he could assist me in the coaching of the team instead. The game started out as a complete blowout, with the Dutch unable to physically compete with the more skilled Peacebuilders 2000 squad. Andrew Gooden and Paul Marigney went to work on Holland's finest, earning the admiration of the fans at the De Houtzagerij Sports Stadium. Gooden put on a dunking clinic throughout the game that brought the general manager from German professional team over to our bench at halftime.

This guy was so attracted to Andrews game that he asked if I thought he would be interested in negotiating a contract. I immediately informed him that we don't encourage any of our AUP players to consider professional opportunities until they've completed their education. When I informed him that Andrew was attending the University of Kansas next season as a freshmen, the general manger immediately changed the subject.

The game was turning into a rout by the Peacebuilders 2000 squad, so I decided that it would be best to regulate scoring output by not running up the score too badly. This meant benching some of the better players. You just don't run up the score in an international goodwill exhibition. I don't think it's a nice thing to do in this kind of situation.

After the game, I completely changed my stance on good sportsmanship when it came to the "two ball" three-point shooting competition after the game. I threw on a pair of shorts and entered the competition as Andrew Gooden's partner. The guys on the team started placing their bets on who would win. and I warned them that it wouldn't be too wise to bet against the old guy. Andrew and I made it to the finals against our team members Jovan Harris and Kaylin Thornton. We ended up winning the contest, collecting all the bets, and I gave my plaque to one of the kids in the stands.