OTISFIELD – Seeds of Peace International Camp is forging a new program this summer to build a more trusting relationship between the United States and six Arab nations.

In August, teen leaders and adult teachers from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt and Jordan will spend time with their counterparts from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and New York discussing world events and enjoying typical summer camp activities.

“Our goal here is to provide an opportunity for these young leaders to meet face to face and reach real common ground, to discuss many issues that are central to the Middle East and U.S.,” said Eva Gordon, director of program development for Seeds of Peace in a telephone interview from her New York office.

“We do so by providing opportunities for direct communication and interaction. We’re not even looking for consensus on all the issues but an opportunity to discuss the issues that they hear about in the news,” she said.

Beyond Borders, as it is called, will utilize facilitators with extensive training in mediation to work with groups of 10 to 12 teens to discuss issues they hear about on the news or, in some cases, experience first-hand.

Two sessions will bring 30 Arab youth and approximately 12 Arab educators to Otisfield to spend two weeks at the camp with an equal number of Americans. Participants will meet “face-to-face to discuss complex issues facing the global community and receive the training required to lead in all aspects of their society,” according to a Seeds of Peace statement.

The second phase of the program will reunite the same participants next spring in Jordan for a week of continued cultural exchange, leadership training and intense discussion. The group will also travel to key historical, political, cultural and educational sites in both Jordan and the United States.

Camp director Tim Wilson said his hope is that the camp’s programs dispel many of the preconceptions that are perpetrated by the media overseas. Living part time in the Middle East, he said he is disgusted by the images of American life as portrayed by television programs shipped there.

On the other hand, he is visibly proud of Maine’s youth.

During The Maine Project, kids from Portland and Lewiston come to the camp on Pleasant Lake to discuss issues stemming primarily from increased diversity in their cities and the misunderstandings that arise from it. Several youths from this program have gone on to appointments on a youth advisory council working with the state Legislature. These young community leaders also coordinate an annual appreciation banquet attended by more than 300 people, he said.

The Maine Project teens will be attending the Otisfield camp at the same time as teens from Beyond Borders.

“Maine kids do it best,” Wilson said, “They are the models for the rest of the world.”

Seeds of Peace International Camp was founded in 1993 and dedicated to teaching teenagers from areas of conflict leadership skills required to promote peace.

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