The opening of another summer camp in Maine Thursday was unlike any other. The campers were not Americans and did not come to the United States to learn to swim in our fresh water or taste a red hot dog.

They came here to make peace among themselves and at home.

For the past 13 years, campers – selected by their home countries based on their scholarship and leadership skills – have united to learn to coexist with one another. The program is so profound it has become an international model of conflict resolution.

The Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield opened in 1993 and, this year, the original “seeds” will be returning for a leadership summit to talk about their continued quest for peace.

Since these original “seeds” have left the camp, another 2,500 teens from 25 nations have come and gone, having learned to see the human face of people they have long been taught to hate. Is that enough to change the world? Obviously not, since we, as a human race, are not at peace.

Still, it is enough to provide hope and structure in our shared pursuit of peace.

The original 1993 camp session welcomed Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teens. Since then, these countries have been joined by teens from Greece, Turkey, Albania and Romania, among others.

In 2002, the camp welcomed Afghanis and, last year, Iraqi seeds.

Amid the despair we experience as conflicts persist around the world, there are seeds of peace planted in Otisfield. In time, if the campers remain true to their hope-filled mission, these seeds will germinate and spread.

The world may never be truly at peace, but there are teenagers now in Oxford Hills who are bringing us closer to that end.