The global initiative to create international peace and unity is being celebrated in the Ames community, despite fewer events occurring.

Two groups have continued to host events for an international campaign called The 11 Days of Global Unity. The annual campaign, which runs from Sept. 11 through Sept. 21, was started in 2004 to promote global peace, unity and sustainability. It is celebrated in more than 60 countries worldwide.

To honor the initiative, students can make peace buttons to show support for unity this week in The Workspace at the Memorial Union. A local Ames poetry society, Third Stanza, had its annual poetry reading in honor of the 11 Days mission.

“Besides the enjoyment that our group does from working together and doing a public reading, and our tradition that is now 7 years old, I’m just getting old enough to really believe that an event like this is just, is a very good reminder to make a person sit down and think about what global unity means,” said Maggie Westvold, member of the Third Stanza.

Westvold said that global unity is about finding peace from within oneself, and then extending and sharing that peace in relationships, in the community, state, country and world. She said she supports public readings and activities that openly spread the 11 Days’ vision of peace.

In past years, the Ames community has put on several events during the week, with involvement from local churches and well as ISU faculty and staff. Yet this year, only two events are happening.

Letitia Kenemer is the fine arts and Workspace coordinator at Iowa State. She started off the 11 Days with a “peace pottery” workshop where students could make pottery and glassware with peaceful and unifying messages. This week, she is giving students the opportunity to make buttons for 50 cents promoting the same message.

To take part in the 11 Days campaign, students can make their own peace button in The Workspace at the Memorial Union during their open hours for the rest of this week.

“With what’s going on in the world, it’s always good to take a step back and hope for peace,” Kenemer said.

Dennis Maulsby, president of the Iowa Poetry Association, said he believes that ISU students should value the cause of spreading global unity.

The idea of global unity is an important one in a diverse community like Iowa State. The university has more than 8,000 international and multicultural students and more than 1,300 students who studied in foreign countries last year.

“Iowa State students come from around all over the world. And this is celebrated all over the world,” Maulsby said. “Students can come here because there is a certain amount of peace and sustainability in the world, and we should celebrate that.”

All of Iowa State’s events have been registered with and recognized by the non-profit organization responsible for leading the 11 Days campaign, WE. More information about WE and the 11 Days of Global Unity campaign can be found at www.we.net.