A Little Peace of Me. Written by Madeleine Lippey, dedicated to her father, Brian Lippey

1. by Madeleine Lippey
With a Foreword by The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

3. Foreword
“A Little Peace of Me”by Madeleine Lippey is a wonderful story that should be read to all
children.It embodies the philosophy of ubuntu,which speaks to the very essence of what
it means to be a person. Ubuntu is rooted in the idea of human interconnectedness; you
can’t be human all by yourself,and when you possess this quality-ubuntu-you are known
for your generosity.We too often think of ourselves as individuals, separated from one
another, but each person’s decisions and actions can affect the entire world.When you
impact your community in a positive way,it spreads out,affecting the whole of humanity.
“A Little Peace of Me” does just that: it connects children across the world and reminds
us that we all share the same capability to drive lasting and meaningful change.
The Most Reverend DesmondTutu – Archbishop Emeritus of CapeTown - September 2012

4. Copyright © 2012
Madeleine Lippey - The Do Write Campaign
www.dowritecampaign.org
Proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Ubuntu Education Fund (www.ubuntufund.org),a South African nonprofit
organization providing orphaned and vulnerable children with comprehensive medical and educational services.

5. by Madeleine Lippey
drawings by Guillaume Bracquemond
Dedicated to my wonderful father, Brian Lippey
Thank you will never be enough.
“If you live to be a hundred,I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so that I never have to live without you.”
Winnie the Pooh

6. There was a lot
that Lucas didn’t understand.
Like how millions of sparkles seemed to stick to the sidewalk when he walked
to the bus stop.
Or why his mommy always called him“baby”when he was practically a grown
man of six.

7. He didn’t understand how the lightning bugs in his rusty old pickle jar seemed
to whistle his favorite lullabys until he released them into far too great a sky.

8. Or why he could sometimes feel the stars
scooping up his tummy like a spoon
covered in brownie batter.

9. But more than anything, Lucas just couldn’t understand the whispers.
They wrapped him up into his little bed in a big brick house, stroking his
cheeks like cotton candy and singing “honey” and “sweetie-pie” into his ear.
But every night as he began to fall asleep,the whispers just kept on whispering:

10. There was a lot
that Victorious didn’t understand.
Like why the ground outside her house was covered in candy wrappers and
empty soda cans.

11. Or why her mommy always seemed to have the heat of the sun caught inside
her head. She didn’t understand why she could never seem to stay dry in her
township hut when it began to rain.

12. Or why she lived in less of a town and more of a ship, rocking her back and
forth to school and to home over and over again.
She liked to pretend she was the captain sometimes, steering her township
to a place where her mommy could get the right medicine so that her head
would stop hurting her so much.

13. But more than anything,Victorious didn’t understand the whispers.
They wrapped her up in her little bed in a little tin house,stroking her cheeks
with crunched up fingers and singing “dream” and “do” in her ears.
But every night as she began to fall asleep,the whispers just kept on whispering:

14. There was a lot
that Amir didn’t understand.
Like why his garden
was covered in pink flowers
and black footprints.

15. Or why his mommy always wore her soldier costume,
even when she tucked him into bed at night.

16. He didn’t understand why most kids dreamed about riding on a rocket all the
way to the moon,while he often dreamed of the day they rode away from him.

17. But more than anything, Amir didn’t understand the whispers.
They wrapped him up in his little bed in a house tugged and bitten by war,
stroking his cheeks like maroony velvet and singing “shalom” and “salaam”
in his ears.
But every night as he began to fall asleep,the whispers just kept on whispering:

18. But on one night,
just one night,
everything seemed to stop.
The stars halted their questions.
The ship in the town seemed to slow down.
And the rockets seemed to lose a little bit of
their fire.
One night, three children from three very
different places had one dream.

19. They met at a river of chocolate milk, and drank until their bellies
ached from the sugar.

20. They waited on a shore sewn from licorice for the whisper clouds to come,
and take them away,

21. and carry them
across a world free from inequality.
Free from war.

22. The children smiled and laughed as they
watched Victorious’ mother take her
medicine and finally get out of bed to
bring her children to school.

23. They danced and sang as Amir
scanned the land and saw little boys
playing with toy rockets
instead of real ones.

24. And Lucas began to catch the stars in his hands and on his flag rather than his
tummy,where loneliness came and left as soon as he realized he had so much
more than a big brick house would ever give him…
He had a heart.
And a whole one, at that.

25. They weaved through clouds all night long, until the sun finally winked goodnight.
“It’s time”
They heard the whispers once again.

26. The next morning,three children woke up.But they weren’t the same children
who had gone to sleep the night before.They had seen the way the world not
only could be, but SHOULD be. They had seen a world blessed with peace,
and nothing would ever be the same again.

27. Lucas got out of bed and opened his curtains. He walked downstairs to the
kitchen and heard his two older siblings fighting. He gave them each a smile
and a hug and told them that he loved them.The fighting stopped.

28. Victorious woke early and lay next to her mother as she slept. When she
began to cough, Victorious stroked her hair back and began braiding it so
that her mother would be presentable for church.The coughing stopped.

29. Amir woke and helped his mother button up her uniform as she whistled their
national anthem. He played with one of the buttons, looked into her eyes, and
said, “Be careful.Be safe.And come home.”
His mother’s eyes widened, surprised at the wisdom that had come from her
six-year-old son.The whistling stopped.

30. And for a moment, everything was quiet. Everything was pure.
And for the first time, in a long time, the whispers, too, simply stopped.

31. About the Author
Madeleine Lippey is a sixteen-year-old Junior at
Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, USA. She was
born in Hong Kong, and was instantly bitten by the travel
bug. She has been fortunate enough to travel extensively
with her family,and has a passion for allthingsinternational.
Madeleine started volunteering as a thirteen-year-old in
Dharamshala, India, with disadvantaged women and their
children, including exiles from the Tibetan community.
Upon returning to the US, Madeleine made a film about
her work in India, which she posted online. She found film
to be a powerful medium that would further strengthen
her voice.
Soon thereafter, Madeleine was introduced to The Ubuntu
Education Fund, a non-profit organization in South Africa,
and offered to make a promotional film for them from a
teenager’s perspective. She traveled to the townships of
Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and met young women and
writers who completely revolutionized the way she viewed
the written word. Many of these girls had been sexually
abused or raped,and struggled with the HIV/AIDS pande-
mic and violence in their community.
These experiences had a profound effect on Madeleine
and in 2011, she established The Do Write Campaign, a
501 (c) (3) Private Foundation, as a way to promote un-
derstanding among teens around the world through the
exchange of creative writing and other artistic media. She
set up a website and wrote and directed several other
films to raise awareness among teens around the world.
Through these means, she has generated support for
several education and health-related charities.
To date, she has received writing and art submissions
from large numbers of young people from dozens of coun-
ties including the USA, China, Kenya, Korea, South Africa,
Pakistan, India, Ireland, Australia, & Ukraine. In 2011, she
set up a Do Write Chapter with a partner organization in
Kashmir, the war-torn region between India and Pakistan,
and hopes to establish a chapter in Burma early in 2013.
Madeleine planned and organized her first successful
international conference for teenagers in the summer of
2012 called The Do Write Conference, in Cape Town and
Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She brought young American
women to meet with their same-aged South African peers
for three days of discussion on topics ranging from Heal-
thcare, Domestic Abuse, HIV, Education, Women’s Issues,
Writing,Art,and Digital Media.Next summer,she hopes to
organize the Second Annual Do Write Conference, which
will bring together young women from the USA, UK, South
Africa, India, China, and South East Asia.
She also loves Japanese food, romantic comedies, junk
food, and her annoying little brothers. Her family lives in
Greenwich, Connecticut.
Madeleine has been featured in The Boston Globe and
The Wall Street Journal. A Little Peace of Me is her first
published children’s book.

33. One night, just one night,
everything seemed to stop.
The stars halted their questions.
The ship in the town seemed to
slow down.
And the rockets seemed to lose a
little bit of their fire.
One night, three children from
three very different places had
one dream.
by Madeleine Lippey