Up with People (UWP) cast members arrive in towns and cities around the world as strangers.
![Up With People: Stand For Peace](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/11354/270941/5ababd7148e19/Up-with-People-Stand-For-Peace.jpg)
They learn and serve together with the community. At the end of the week, the international cast departs for their next destination knowing the host families and the kids for whom they performed a little better. Many who’ve sat in the audience of UWP performances report they are inspired to be more positive and serve their communities.
J. Blanton Belk started UWP in 1965 because he believed that it was young people who could best build bridges of understanding during that time of unrest.
Beyah Rasool agrees that UWP is just as powerful a tool today. When he was a cast member, he saw how participating in community action projects connected cast members with families that hosted them. Beyah witnessed how the lyrics of the songs they sang about hope, optimism, and understanding energized the audience. He felt how the workshops they conducted helped the kids they worked with to overcome bullying. He saw how planting trees in a community also builds confidence. Each serves as a step toward a more peaceful world—one audience and one person at a time.
Beyah’s first step toward UWP was to apply. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He heard about UWP from Bill Holmes, who had traveled with UWP in the 1970s. The program sounded great, but Beyah hesitated. “It took a year to finally join. I never thought somebody from my upbringing could do it.”
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Bu hikaye Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids dergisinin April 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
![Animal Central](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/11354/573579/601250703a3d3/crp_Conservationism-Tapirus-bairdii-Belize-Pharomachrus-mocinno-Guatemala-Panthera-once-Nicaragua-Atelopus-zeteki-Panama-National-animals-of-Central-America.jpg)
Animal Central
From golden frogs to big cats to colorful birds, the national animals of Central America represent the geography and cultures of the region. For a quick sampling of creatures plain and beautiful, common and rare, read on.
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31 Countries Biosphere
The Trifinio Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve is located at a spot where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras converge. A biosphere is the layer of planet Earth where life exists.
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THE LEGEND OF THE QUETZAL BIRD
A Mayan Tale retold by Pat Betteley illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
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Semana Santa GUATEMALA'S HOLY WEEK
What if Easter preparations meant dyeing sand, collecting pine needles, and staying up all night to work on an art project that you knew would be ruined the very next day? Well, welcome to Guatemala’s Semana Santa, or Holy Week.
![ME OH-MAYA!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/11354/573579/601256a317274/crp_ME-OH-MAYA.jpg)
ME OH-MAYA!
The Maya are groups of people who live in parts of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Their ancestors created a great society. At its peak, from 600-900 C.E., the Maya civilization was more advanced than its neighbors in the Americas.
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Playing Games Honduras-style
Would you play the same games in Honduras that you do in the United States? You might. Children in Honduras enjoy many of the same games North Americans do. They go fishing and shoot baskets. They play sandlot baseball—called bate (BAH tay). They fly kites and ride bikes. Their parents may go horseback riding or play golf or tennis.
![LIVING A LONG LIFE IN THE Blue Zone](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/11354/573579/60124ef506430/crp_LIVING-A-LONG-LIFE-IN-THEBlue-Zone.jpg)
LIVING A LONG LIFE IN THE Blue Zone
Most people would like to live as long a life as possible. No one really knows why some people live longer than others, but did you know that where you live can play a big part in how many years you’ll be alive? If you live in a Blue Zone, chances are that you will live much longer than people in other parts of the world.
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ATTENTION WORLD: Belize Saves Their Coral Reef
Sea turtles float in clear waters, colorful corals hug the ocean floor, and aquatic animals glide among the mangrove roots. Welcome to the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, the second-largest coral reef in the world (Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is number one). Several years ago, this reef was in crisis, heading toward destruction. But the people of Belize fought back to save their reef’s health.
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The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a 51-mile long canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
![This is Central America!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/11354/573579/601258384bbbd/crp_This-is-Central-America.jpg)
This is Central America!
It’s time to visit Central America. But first, it helps to know exactly where Central America is. Despite its name, it is the southernmost part of North America, which can seem a little confusing. It makes up most of the isthmus dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger landmasses and has water on both sides.