PBHA to Stage 'Peace Games'

The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) will expand its community service repertoire this spring with a "Peace Games" festival intended to foster cooperation among Boston-area children.

The program, organized by the International Peace Games at Harvard--a committee under the tentative jurisdiction of PBHA--will teach the children how to design their own games, from role playing and puzzles to card and story games.

The festival will target 4,500 fourth to eight grade students in Boston and Cambridge public schools.

While new to Harvard, Peace Games has operated successfully for three years at the University of Connecticut, according to Francelia E. Butler, who founded the program while working there as Professor Emerita of Children's Literature.

"I needed a place with imagination and vision," Butler said. "Harvard has an enormous imagination. PBH has so many students that it could really make Peace Games world-wide."

While this year's celebration is touted as a trial run, PBHA hopes eventually to sponsor an International Peace Games on a regular basis, said Shahrayne M. Litchfield, director of the program.

The service organization would particularly like to see participants from the Commonwealth of Independent States, which sent a delegation to the festival at Connecticut last year, Litchfield said.

"It's going to take a lot of effort from many people, but as long as everyone is excited, I don't think there will be any problems," Litchfield said.

If this year's festival succeeds, PBHA may send a delegation to a possible Peace Games festival next summer in the commonwealth of Independent States, Litchfield said.

The Games are slated to take place either on campus at Harvard or on the Cambridge Common.