Foundations for Freedom Newsletter 24 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1RD, UK. tel: 020 7798 6000, fax: 020 7798 6001, www.f-4-f.org, Issue 28, June 2002
In this Issue... F4F workshop in Latvia .......... pg. 1 Slavsko Teachers Seminar ............. pg. 4 Regional Meeting in Sydak ..... pg. 2 Schools Program in Novosibirsk ... pg. 6 Special Meeting in Sheffield ... pg. 3 The Light ....................................... pg. 7
From the Workshop Leader Mike Lowe writes: In addition to talking about Latvian-Russian relationships, the workshop covered such themes as Human nature , Who am I? , Change , and The search for values . It was hard to pack so much into just a short space of time, and the programme suffered from being over-loaded. Nevertheless the outstanding group of participants worked hard and made it a success. We were lucky to be joined for some of the time by three girls from Estonia who had participated in the F4F course last September. And I was very grateful for the support of an excellent faculty, which included Paal Hermansen, a civil servant from Norway, and Anastasia Stepanova, as well as Inese Voika and Kristina Blumberga. Comments from participants included: I have learned some things about values in general, and also how to cope with thoughts, with problems. I have found out what is important to me. Now I appreciate more what I have. My family is now at the first place of my surroundings. My attitude to people has changed a bit, too. Now I am more sympathetic, understanding and helpful than I was before the seminar. I learned new ways of thinking, new ways of doing,and saying things, about the importance of truth. After this seminar my life has changed a lot and it is still changing. There were some 2-3 days when I had to get back to the real life, because this influence of seminar and all things we were thinking and talking about was SO big! I learned how to deal with a problem when people have different values and traditions and they have to communicate and live jointly. The course introduced me to a very good way of explanation of how to live to make the world better. Perhaps it will take some time for me to implement those principles, but I certainly am going to make some use of them.
Lorraine, May 2002 ......... pg. 8 Didi Asiima in Moldova ... pg. 9 Looking Ahead ................ pg. 10
In Latvia, a Symbolic Venue Inspires
Real Aspirations
Right on the picturesque Baltic sea shore lies a derelict and forgotten land of empty nuclear rocket storehouses, bunkers and abandoned multistorey houses, shaping the landscape of Karaosta, the former sealed military zone in Liepaja, Latvia. Karaosta (Warport) was set up by the Russian Tsar's army and then taken over by the Soviets. In 1994 the Soviet army left but people without jobs and starving dogs still live here today on Future St and similarly named roads. It couldn t be a more symbolic venue to discuss the issues of human values and integration between Latvians and Russians living in Latvia. Over 25 participants, mainly from Latvia, representing various NGOs and student associations, came to participate in a Foundations for Freedom workshop this March, organised by Inese Voika and Kristina Blumberga together with the international F4F team. The course took place in the former headquarters of the Tsar and then the Soviet Navy - a luxurious mansion of the past with angels looking from the ceilings and old stoves in every room, the only heating system. It quickly became our day-to-day routine to bring wood logs all the way up the stairs and start up those huge stoves in all rooms early in the morning before the R&D sessions. It s the best team-building activity I have ever ex-
perienced, said one of the participants. The building hosts now the Cultural and Educational Centre, K@2, set up by two artists and documentary filmmakers who, enchanted by the place and its people, decided to stay in Karaosta. Artistic photos, conceptual installations and objets d'art, scattered around the building created a very special atmosphere of creativity and freedom of expression, which obviously urged us to participate even more openly and freely in discussions. One day of the programme was devoted to the visits to the local authorities in the Administration of Liepaja that gave us a great insight into what is happening and how they tackle the issue of integration or unemployment in the area. Particularly it was interesting from the point of view of the EU and Latvia joining in what can be done by young people especially when they are supported by the government. It was a good journey, from symbolic ideas to reality and then to personal self , which was sometimes painful, sometimes awkward and unusual, but unique to each of us. It was not clear at that time what was happening to us and inside us, but it was difficult to go back to the normal life afterwards, where there are so many obstacles on the way to realise one s ideas. Anastasia Stepanova. 1
Report on the Regional Meeting from the Crimean Team
The Crimean F4F team has a great pleasure to inform you
F4F Regional Meeting in Sydak Did Happen! The Regional Meeting (RM) took place on 14-20 April 2002 in one of the Crimean holiday centres, "Sokol" in the town of Sydak. There were about 50 participants with the majority being representatives of F4F teams from different regions of Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, there were a few who couldn't make it to the Regional meeting, but we kept in our minds that we were a mere part of the whole, beyond the borders of the Crimean peninsula. It took us half a year to organize the Regional Meeting. It was our first big project, and we must confess that it made us pretty nervous, and we are glad that all our efforts were not in vain. The topic of the RM was "Leadership-Can I?" Now we may state with firm confidence, "Yes, we can!" and the RM can serve as an obvious sample of this statement. It was a great pleasure for all of us to get together in Sydak on the Black Sea shore, to meet our old
friends and to make new ones from Moldova, Russia, different parts of Ukraine (Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kiev, Lviv, Kherson, Kharkov, Odessa...) There were also representatives of F4F and Ukraine Support Group who came from Great Britain: Kristen Cibelli, Vitalie Cracan, and David Curtis. Just six days at our disposal, and how many vivid and unforgettable
events they contained! If we were to measure the time spent in Sydak by the new impressions we formed, we might say it was not less than a month. Now those six days can be called as "A multi-coloured Kaleidoscope of Events", because it included Scottish dancing, an outing to the Geniuses Fortress, hiking, the amazingly beautiful nature of Noviy Svet (New World), guitar songs, different kinds of games, talent show, and sketches on "Leadership", which gave participants opportunity to express skills as actors, producers, etc. You might think that the only thing we were doing at the RM was entertaining ourselves and resting, but it is a false assumption, we assure you. Each "working day" started with a "quiet time" in groups of 5-6 people. The topics for thinking and discussion were such as: what is conscience? where do ideas come from? what is harmony? what motivates us? After breakfast that included three courses (only imagine how we were fed!) we went to seminars-discussions on the following topics: Who is a leader? What is leadership? Do I see myself in the role of a leader or subordinate? To learn the material better we were offered meaningful games conducted by David Curtis, who is in professional business training. We invited Mr. Cherniy (Professor in Psychology of the Simfero-pol State University) to be a guest speaker. He conducted a few seminars on "Social role of a leader in contemporary society; psychological traits of the successful leader; the obstacles that prevent a person becomeing an effective leader". It was his first acquaintance with the "Foundations for Freedom" ideology, so we tried to pay him sufficient attention to outline the main purposes of MRA/IC. At the end
of his stay Mr. Cherniy made a proposition to develop our connection and to carry out a meeting in Simferopol State University, so that more and more young people would get to know about MRA/IC and its main principles. In the course of the RM a presentation on "F4F" was made for those participants who were new to it. We also devoted half of the day to learn about the region teams and their projects. After that meeting, we may say, the information that we drew from the "F4F Newsletter" became in some way alive to us. During an outing day all participants went off to subdue the tops of the Crimean Mountains. It was a vivid
example of teamwork, since a mountain is one place where one can check ones own abilities for coordinated work, mutual aid and support. While most of the participants were climbing the mountains, two representatives of the Crimean team together with David Curtis left for Simferopol, where they were expected by the students and professors of the Tavrida Ecological University. The atmosphere during the F4F presentation was rather hot and full of both positive as well as negative emotions. But the meeting ended up in a friendly conversation with the professors of this university who got interested in the ideas of MRA/IC. After the University we paid a few visits 2
to our old friends in Simferopol and then returned back to Sydak to our tired but inspired friends. The whole session under the title "What can we do?" was dedicated to the discussion and planning of different projects in the regions. Here are just a few of those ideas: Moldova: Seminar on "Moral Values and Ecology", cleaning of the park; Visiting Course II; Organizational Develo p m e n t Newsletter; Working on F4F website, where we would be able to "meet" and communicate with each other (as for now a few of us are keeping in touch through the Russian website at www.other.org.ua). Crimea, Ukraine: Creating a team (meetings -personal development; quiet times; watching different movies, etc). Rest of Ukraine:Creating a regional centre; Carrying out of a semi-
nar against corruption; Work with orphanage. Novosibirsk, Russia: Schools Programme; Visiting Course in Russian; Staging a play "The Ladder". Some groups gathered additionally to discuss "teamwork" (based on the experience of Moldovan team) and also the development of Internet website and the schools programme. And, at last, here are some examples of what the participants have taken home with them, according to their own words: "the gold of being with people"; "self-development"; "information about regions"; "inspiration"; "the experience not to lead only but also to be lead"; "the leader should think not only about himself, but first of all about his neighbour"; "one is either a leader or not, one cannot be a leader just a little bit"; "it is important to choose priorities and then to choose a team with the same priorities"; "leadership is a responsibility first"; "as a group there is a bond".
It was great to meet people from different regions, to share experiences, to learn about their problems and achievements. We all are different. We have different life experience, different worldview. But what is common to all of us is taht we are not satisfied with what is going on in the world, in the society. We see many problems that someone should deal with; we would like to change ourselves first and to change our society for the better. Such meetings as this Regional Meeting give us strength and encouragement to do it. So, it is not the end, but just a beginning!!!
Crimean F4F team.
Special meeting in Sheffield to launch the Ukraine Support Group Fund On Saturday the 18th May, a meeting was held in Sheffield, at the offices of John Carlisle Partnerships, in Broom Hall where the company is based. The speakers included the team that had visited Crimea as delegates at the Regional Meeting, Kristen Cibelli, Vitalie Cracan and David Curtis. Also making presentations were students representing the Learn to Lead initiative, based in Sheffield, Betty Gardiner reporting on a meeting she had recently attended in London entitled Breaking the Chain of Hate , where four Lebanese told of their struggle for forgiveness and reconciliation after the war in Lebanon. Bhav Patel led a presentation on his time in Moldova. He was joined and supported by Vitalie Cracan, with Miles and Janet Paine. Guests came to Sheffield from Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Chesh-
ire and North Yorkshire. Anthony Duigan from South Africa also managed to be involved in the first part of the day before returning to South Africa later that afternoon. The stories that were told and the enthusiasm of the speakers were quite contagious. The day was interspersed with quotes from Frank Buchman and various other notable people, and after poetry by Joan Kendall, John Carlisle rounded the day off nicely with a well sung song that fitted the occasion beautifully. The motivation for the event came from the need to launch the Ukraine Support Group Fund . This is an initiative born out of the decision by the Foundations for Freedom Committee, to form Support Groups for the different countries involved. David and Judith Curtis together with Anne Carlisle, have set up a special Bank Account
under this name, to receive donations and funds intended to help the various initiatives and needs arising in Ukraine and the region. An early example of need manifested itself recently when a conference, organised by the team in Lviv, was about to be cancelled at the last minute, due to lack of funds. A private oil company and one of the universities originally sponsored the conference on Corruption in the Education System . At the last minute, they failed to come up with the financial help they had promised. David contacted Kristen in London, who in turn recommended that he speak to Kees Scheijgrund in Holland who was attending the conference with his wife, Marina. Between the Dutch team and the new fund (which doesn t hold any funds yet!), the conference was saved by a commitment to split 3
At a Teacher s Seminar in Slavsko, Ukraine
Teachers Stand Together Against Corruption "Let us stand against corruption and bribery in our educational system". This was the title of a seminar for teachers, that took the place from the 8 till 12 of May in the camp for mountain skiing "Dynamo" in the small Carpathian village of Slavsk, some 100 km south west of the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Participatns in this seminar, that was organized by the Lviv Regional group of the international Initiatives of Change movement and "Foundations for Freedom" (F4F), came from Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Holland and Serbia. This seminar was about the level of corruption in the educational establishments, about the reasons that had caused it and also about what could change the situation. An interesting feature was that teachers from different countries could exchange their experiences. We must admit, that corruption in Ukraine is one of the worst. But that does not mean, that nothing could be changed. The leader of the seminar Kees Scheijgrond is convinced, that everything was possible to change and all participants agreed with him. For this to happen some important structural changes need to happen, e.g. in the educational system and the salaries of teachers. But the change must first of all start with the moral quality of teachers and students. - Zoryana Ilenko,Oleg Komarchuk.
The above is part of an article in the local newspaper "Postyp" shortly after the seminar had ended. When journalists Zoryana and Oleg heard about the Teachers Seminar against corruption, they decided to take part and report about it to their 60.000 readers. The rest of the 25 participants were teachers from different schools and academies and trainee teachers.
Continued from page 3...
has since graduated from her college. She teaches dance and performing arts and has created her own small charity in Simferopol. She holds regular free sessions for the street children of her home city, teaching them what she knows. Anya has been invited to work with the Australian team for a year but the airfare that she needs is a phenomenal amount of money to someone in Ukraine. She needs $1300 in total, to get there. She has already raised $300, but has recently learned that she must first travel to Moscow in order to get a
the required money two ways The Dutch team would pay half and we, in the UK would pay half. In the event, it has only amounted to $411 each. Well worth the support! All that remains is to find the money. There are many worthy initiatives to support as you can imagine. Anya, for instance, is a very lively and active member of the Crimean team. In fact, she was the joint organiser of the recent conference. She attended a visiting course four years ago and
Ages varied from students and young teachers in their twenties via a good group in the 35 - 55 age bracket to a 65 year old professor of the Arts Academy. Three professors from the Baia Mare university in Northern Romania came
all the way by bus. From Belgrade came Olivera Ivanovych (Caux Scholars programme 2000). The seminar was initiated by Oksana Kuchman and Haliena Dushko. Both young teachers were confronted with situations of corruption and bribery in the college where they teach. They wanted to do something about it. In organizing the seminar they were assisted by Tetiana Zabolotska, Yarina Kutsyna, Zoriana Borbulevych and Andriy Vovkanych. From abroad came as Faculty members Wanda Tarnawska and Krzysztof Markowski from Poland, Kees and Marina Scheijgrond from The Netherlands. The seminar was like any other F4F VC/seminar, starting each day with R&D in groups, followed by 4x90 min. sessions and in the evening Scottish dancing, games and a bonfire. Five sessions were used for basic F4F input, like "Dynamic out of silence", "Search for values", "Change the world" and "Teamwork". The actual theme of the seminar was dealt with in 5 interactive sessions, starting with "the corruption tree", followed by preparing/performing/discussing sketches, based on personal experience and concluded by a visioning procedure, resulting in the presentation of four practical projects to stand against corruption. continued on next page... Visa, as there isn t an Australian Embassy in Ukraine. This, she is willing to do. However, a chunk of what she has already scraped together will be used on this visa venture alone. She really needs our help. If anyone out there feels guided, please respond quickly. Besides all of this is the question of helping people to get to Caux. We are looking to find £5000 to subsidise the existing funds of Foundations for Freedom to meet this years need. And so it goes on. Please pray about these initiatives on our behalf. Thank you all. David Curtis. 4
continued from page 4... One session was used for presentations by two guest speakers. Zoriana Ilenko gave a talk on cases of corruption, that she had been studying as a journalist. Young politician Petro Martin presented his view how to tackle corruption and bribery in teaching. Some of the impact that the seminar made may show from what they wrote down during the final session: - At home (in Romania) I intend to do similar things both in school and in church. - I intend to reveal the subject of corruption in mass media more and more. I am going to teach people how to stand against corruption. - I am going to re-activate the PolishUkrainian club of journalists. - I will tell my students about this seminar. - Something moves inside me! - I should not just sit and think how I have changed, but share my thoughts and new experience with my friends and colleagues, - Please hear silence! Every one, who wants, can hear the inner voice. It is in everyone. - Looking inside myself for answers. The key is always there! When the time is right the doors open by themselves. - I have decided to write an article (about this seminar), stay in touch with the participants of the seminar, remain part of the team, listen to my inner voice. Kees and Marina Scheijgrond.
From the participants ... Yaryna Kutsyna, from Ukraine writes... In Ukraine the situation with corruption is really very tough.Very often it is disguised. Actually everyone faces this problem at some moment. Bribery as a kind of corruption is very popular especially in education. For me as a student it is a well-known problem. I wanted to know whether we could do something against that evil. That's why I shared the idea of conducting the seminar " Against corruption in education". During the seminar I heard different interesting thoughts about the very problem and the most relevant
thing is that we could toghether outline a plan, a strategy on how to wrestle against corruption in our environment. Sure, we can not change the world in one day, but we can change something today.Each of us should decide for him/ herself that there's no room for corruption in our life and we should stick to such a principle and show our peers the example to follow. Olivera Ivanovych from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia writes... It was certainly a new experience for me. Coming to a totally unknown country, not knowing anybody, travelling for 23 hours from Belgrade. Somebody told me it was brave. I don t know, I wasn t thinking about it. I just thought I had to be there. Thinking back on it was worth it because I made some new friends,
people so similar to mine and yet so different. Listening to the problems they have in Ukraine I realised that we have similar ones if not the same. Corruption is an ongoing problem in my country, maybe just not that transparent, meaning we are not being publicly informed on it. Seeing that the means of fighting it in Ukraine is informing and mobilisating teachers and students, as well as citizenship again made me think that we have something in common and that is the same understanding of how to deal with it. I just hope after experiencing this that we can establish some kind of connection and learn from each other s experience because we can help each other more if we share information. The darkness can always be lit with a bit of knowledge. 5
Katia, Dan, and Vitaly from YHI talking about
Schools Program in Novosibirsk Dearest everybody we know! Warmest greetings from the Novosibirsk team Youth Humanitarian Initiative (YHI).
So much I would like to tell you, but I am so pressed for time, because of the coming exams. Still the reason for my present struggling with the studies is more than a noble one - my friends and I missed classes in order to do the school s program that we have invented and that we geniunely enjoy. Initially it was aimed to prevent teenagers of 13-15 years old from taking drugs, but it turned out to be more than that, involving a lot of sharing of our prevous mistakes, talking about human relationships, making the right
Dan Kucheryavenko adds:
When we work on our school program, we speak about our own lifeexperience to the children who are at the beginning of their own ways. It is a great responsibility and I feel responsible for their future, for who they will be. After we staged The Ladder I thought how far the children can go in their future. I feel like I AM the man with the bag, who brings something good in their lives, opens the doors for which I got the keys and shows the
decision and a lot more. A group of four started this process in 2001 (we made about 10 visits to the 9th graders) and a lot of the things we had to make up the day before the visit or even on the spot. Quite a spontaneous thing, but not really suitable for those who were going to do that for the first time. So we decided to make a sort of manual for prospective trainers. Luckily, quite a big group of us has attended a trainers training seminar organized by a local UNICEF sponsored NGO that works on AIDS and drug abuse prevention. We use a lot of free printed materials kindly provided by that NGO in our work. However, putting everything on paper turned out to be quite a hard job, especially in terms of Stas Sokolov, Sasha Poltoratko and myself getting together to do it... As a result the team was in a stand by condition until we decided to break the spell by actually taking a practical step and we did it! Last Saturday we had a goodbye party with the schoolkids who really liked the fact of us coming to them every Saturday, talking, playing games.
And it s 200% mutual (actually, we sometimes joke about who enjoys the program more - us or the kids), their feedback means a lot to us. Especially now, when we made arrangements for the fall by making an introductory visit to another class that turned out to be less friendly than this one. But I hope we manage (in fact I believe we will). What I found out from my one and a half year practice of that program is that it s so very individual and has to be adjusted to each class, but there re certain things, that whichever way you put them, they ll mean the same. And it is what we want to bring to the kids (although it s really hard and we don t know if it s successful), for it underlies almost every decision they will make. Please if you have something to write, don t hesitate to do this. My email is number8@mail.ru.
way, but they should decide themselves which way to go. Their choice is very important for me. Will I be betrayed, like the Hero was? The most important thing is that I have done what I could. Maybe we do not tell them enough, but we do what nobody does in our city. And that s good, isn t it?
Courses. A lot of VC participants did the same. At that moment I didn t even know what they do and why. When we gathered we started discussing different problems of our society and I realized that we will try to solve them. Change the world, start with yourself - we were told this statement during VC and it is still in my head. I thought it was impossible - 15 people trying to fight drugs! But then we were told about the projects YHI has and each of us decided in what direction he will work. We were hot stones thrown into cold water and a lot of us went cold too quickly, so they left us. But we keep on heating the water and sharing our energy with others. As you probably know, there are people who joined us without taking part in VC. Some of them are schoolboys to whom we went the previous year, and now they help us. Just because they like the things we do. Isn t it a good result?
Vitaly Yusupov writes:
A lot of people want to know what YHI is. I joined Youth Humanitarian Initiative after passing Visiting
With Kbytes of love and virtual hugs to friends and warmest greetings (now good-byes) to those I don t know yet!!! Katia Zirianova.
6
...and it means for me just one thing - TO LIVE! Hello! My name is Julia. I m from Russia, Novosibirsk. I d like to tell you how I ve got to know about the MRA and F4F with the help of my new friends from YHI (Young Humanitarian Initiative), Novosibirsk. Now I m very proud of being near such really great people. I used to think that people like me are in the minority. I thought that there were more people, who destroy the planet and themselves, than those who understand that there are more fascinating things in this world. It was clear because, I thought, we all as human beings like to take risks, like walking along the edge. We like the idea of approaching total destruction and then at the last second doing something good to save ourselves. Thid is what we really enjoy in our hearts. It was also confirmed by the fact that everyone of us decided to be born just at this time. As for me, I m always searching the answer to the question: How to save the world? But I m lucky: the ideas that were important for me turned out to be important for somebody else. I met people from YHI. They told me about MRA, about the purposes of this organisation. What have you learned? , What are you thinking about? , How can I help you? these are the questions I d like to ask many people. When communication is on the level of such questions and you realise that we are not separate creatures, but one whole, I really enjoy it. I believed I was alone in this world with such Thoughts. But it s not so. Things my friends discuss are sometimes insane but these things are true for me too. I and my friends are very interesting people: we continually reveal enigmas, sharing the solutions with each other. We are trying to know if it works for other persons as it works for ourselves. There were two times when I recovered my sight. The first: it happened at night, I was looking at the stars. It was like a curtain in front of me. I was trying to understand what was the sense of our being and living. I was 15 years old then. The curtain disappeared and I realized everything Next time I experienced the feeling of great light, it was love for life. The light was so bright that I was imploring it to go away, I couldn t endure it any more. It was like a nuclear flare. It was so illuminating. It gave me the power, the
knowledge about who we are and what is our house, the knowledge that it s a great beauty. I realised it. This feeling is like a game. That is what we call the state here and now , pleasure, flight. And I live for this enjoyment, for this game. And this is my source of delight. It is very interesting for me. I can talk about it till dawn. I can also listen to somebody till dawn, anyone who would say: I ll open my heart and let you in. I ll share with you the things that I love deeply . I chose the possibility to be born in this time and space - in the country called Russia. It seems to me that all people are one whole. I m just an aspect of somebody. And this person, who maybe is an aspect of me, chose the possibility to be born in the country with another name in order to learn other things and to change himself and the world in another place. I like to try such feeling and tell other people about it. When I look into the other person s eyes, it s as though I m looking into mine. This feeling is very light and bright like helium - gas coming from the Sun. I know this feeling very well, though, to feel always like this I need concentration and effort. I like just to walk outside, to see different people and I say to myself: All of them are me and I am these people . To be in contact with people is a wonderful state. I m very proud of Russian people. But at the same time I see they are embittered and unhappy, they ve become unsociable, harming themselves and their relatives. I believe the boundaries of the nations are not only geographical, these boundaries are on the level of thought uniting people according to the type of their curiosity. The nation which I belong to is the nation of searching consciousness. It s a whole country with many people. But there are many other countries, and everyone is free to choose the citizenship for himself. There are, for example, countries where citizens believe that time and space are limited, that man is at the centre of all things and violence is the way to settle the conflicts. But I m not interested in it. It s boring. It s not the way for me anymore. I m really happy to realise that the ideas precious for me are important for somebody else. I can t stand some philosophers arguing about absolutely abstract things. But I just want to know what can help me to live intensively and joyfully. The activity of YHI is the most
suitable for me. I really fulfil myself among these people. Their IDEA is like a lighthouse standing on the shore. The lighthouse and people on the shore are separated by water. But the sparkling and shining path of light joins them. The glances of thousands of people, wherever they are, slide along the path on the water and everyone can see the Light. The words can be different and in different languages. The words are the path, sparkling on the water, but the Light is above the water. The Light is above the place where we stand and it spreads in all directions. The Light exists. It has Its own existence, whether we see It or not. It is by Its own way. The paths on the water are coming to everyone of us and all what we should do in order to see the Light is just to turn our heads towards It and open our eyes. I feel other people s loneliness. They are very often surrounded by people who don t understand their soul and heart. That s why it s necessary to act, to search constantly, taking away everything middling and not wasting yourself. And if you believe in yourself, if you are just as you are, you will find REAL, understanding people. The only condition is that a person should be very sincere, direct and honest in everything that he does. And what he does he should mean as much as possible. Then his activity, his work becomes perfect. Well, it was just a choice that saved the quality of my life. I feel a great power inside me. And the main thing is that being among this people whom I love very much I can act, can create, can help people doing something useful. And it means for me just one thing - TO LIVE!
Julia Grishkova. 7
Lorraine, France, May 2002
Journeying Together Through History for a New Future
After five nice and intense days in Lorraine area I am back to my studies and enjoying the sunny spring in Lu. I would like to start sharing my impressions about Lorraine by saying a big thanks to everybody who contributed to the organisation of the project (be it with time, effort or money) and took care for us (participants) during those days (host families). I am also especially grateful to our friends in Germany (Frank Buchman Gesellschaft) who made the participation possible for many of us coming from Eastern-Europe. I left Ludwigshafen for Lorraine with no special expectations about the seminar. I realised from the program that we were going to visit some places of great importance to Europe and meet people who are active at building a united community not only by common borders and flag, but also by united values, responsibilities and visions. We started the program by visiting Verdun - a place and experience I will remember forever. I realised there the lessons learned by the countries involved in the First World War and felt it should be a place for young and active leaders of world countries to visit it by all means. You get there the true feeling of the horror of war and realise
World War I Memorial, Verdun, France
the value of peace. So I was very pleased to see inside the memorial a French document stating that every school/university in France should organize visits to the place for their students. It also made me think of many other places on earth that promote the same message and should be visited by locals to keep awareness of the value of peace, compromise and reconciliation. The discussion that followed the tour left in my memory one single question: How do you define peace? Good question...I am still thinking about it. So the next day we moved from mistakes and lessons towards people of initiative and vision. The information about the life and ideas of Robert Schuman and the discussion we had with some politicians active in building the Europe of today helped me get a better understanding of how Europe works and what challenges it has. Back in Moldova that wasn t a theme for me, but my stay in Germany and the conversation we had with a German parliamentarian in France gives me information about it as a start. A lot of work is still there to be done. I also could see live the cultural differences of European countries and so realise better what we are talking about during my studies in intercultural communication in Germany. As in Verdun - you have to live it to understand it. We moved next to a region of three bordering countries and visited the house where the Schengen agreement was signed. This was a day when we could witness places or people who achieved resuts in building the Europe of today. We talked with mayors of three border towns (Schengen, Apach and Perl) and attended an evening community gathering in Apach. The final day was spent mostly on reflection and discussion on the results of the previous days. Although, due to the tight program we (participants) didn t have much opportunity to have our own hour of reflection each day, I felt it to be compensated by intense and fruitful discussions with each other during the short breaks between the official parts. Also a very positive
aspect that contributed to the success of the project, to my mind was the fact that we knew each other (more or less) from Caux 2001. So we didn t need a time of getting to know each other and could go straight to sharing what we felt, understood and realized from the official parts.
I liked those days because it made me closer to my friends, something I think is well timed after a place like Caux. I am now thinking that similar projects, done in similar ways during the year that follows a conference in Caux, with people who were in Caux, would be extremely useful to create a stronger relationship between them and might evolve in common projects or initiatives involving European countries and regions from east to west and south to north. It is because we have a common experience and understanding, we tend to keep in touch - and why not work together in future? I am also thinking about Caux / Initiatives of Change facilitating the involvement of conference participants (especially young people) in active/existing call it MRAProjects/Initiatives world-wide. So that, for example, Eastern-Europeans if interested, could work with Initiatives of Change for a given period of time, under the guidance of more experienced members in Western Europe, or Africa, or else where and vice versa. This might be a strong experience for young people both in understanding deeper MRA and being active. So all the best to us all and good luck! Igor Ene.
8
From New Civilization in Moldova
Didi Asiima writes...
Dear All, It has been more than two months since I have arrived in Moldova. I came at the end of the cold and long winter and was observing the birth of my favourite season. It is the spring here and from the window of my room I have a beautiful view of the branches wrapped in green foliage and in the morning wake up from the chores of birds singing hidden in the trees From the very beginning, the most welcoming was the warmth and readiness of people to help me around, accommodation, getting information and finally the generous invitation offered to me to live in the office of the New Civilization . I believe that the spirituality is that silver thread that links all the aspects of human existence and meditation is the tool to increase someone s Spiritual Intelligence and get into that ultimate state of pure Love and Happiness. So the great thing was that the office had a meditation room!! It is not a common thing that one NGO has a meditation room and since that is for me one of the basic necessities in the work it felt like a blessing I have been attending or sometimes contributing at the NC s spiritual evenings and I would like to mention something more about the last one that was about vegetarianism. That evening we watched the video on animal s rights and cruelty against animals and afterwards had a discussion. The discussion was impressive and dynamic since people were expressing their awareness and understanding of what they saw. But! After sometimes (please, please, do not take this personally) when I asked what
about practising it, I heard excuses like the difficulties of Moldavian culture being meat-eating oriented and traditional issues . Here I got interested and would like to say in NC I met all wonderful, intelligent and talented young people, with lot of understanding and awareness about the present situation in society and the world. I think that intellectual understanding alone is not enough. In order to create a New Civilization in the full sense of the word, we have got to live according to a formula think - say act in the same line. We may learn many lessons in our life but the real use of them comes only when we put them into the practise, when we live up to and for our ideas and dreams and make them alive and real, when we grow beyond the bondages of culture and heritage, bondages of tradition and convention, beyond the borders and our fears of being different, that we dare to create something new and realize the aspirations So the vegetarianism itself here is not the issue (although I would deep down like if more people on this world would join in!) but it has rather triggered my thoughts about the human qualities and potentials and their use. There are many issues and areas that I m interested to work on and there are too many needs in Moldova and around the world as well. So somehow (thanks to Alea) I got involved into working with elderly people I must say that this was a big surprise to many of my friends, including myself since for almost 6 years I have mainly been working in the early children s education and development and from that I
Mandala workshop led by Didi Asiima at New Civilization
have now jumped to the (aged) adult education!! It will be certainly a new experience and a new challenge too. Through Alea I have met a woman who is a president of the local club of veterans in Straseni, a smaller city close to Chisinau. The interest I had was meeting the needs of the elderly of the city of Straseni.The cooperation also came from the local government who decided to give us a school building for the purpose of the project. Since the building was abandoned, everything possible got stolen, from the floors, metal pipes to the bulbs in the ceiling. So in order to realize the project, the place will need to undergo serious renovation. The Sunrise Day Care Centre for Elderly will offer services to the poor, elderly, mainly disabled and single a public kitchen, public bathroom (the whole city of 45,000 inhabitants hasn t got a functional water system), public laundry room, social-izing activity centre, organized skill training courses and information centre on aging, women s health etc. Presently we are at the stage of writing the proposal for the project where my greatest help is Alea. If anybody else would be interested in getting involved in any ways, you are warmly welcome! I would like to thank all those who have been there for me from the time of my arrival: golden Alea (being available there 0-24), Aliosa (all around repair etc), Bhav (my all around info guide about Moldova +tips, PS didn t need to go through Lonely planet ), Chrisina ( Steiner connections ), Diana( office business), Elena I (first time in Chisinau!), Elena II (all the kindness), Natasha (my secretary), Natalie (photo business and enthusiasm), Sergio (my tooth fairy mission impossible), Slav & Vlad(urgentissimo law advice!!), Violeta( first time in Straseni!), Victor (handy & crafts). I hope that I haven t left someone out but in that case please accept my deep apology. Much Love and Light to All!! Whenever considering doing good works, do not hesitate, do them immediately, Whenever contemplating doing bad works linger and delay, so that the thoughts of performing them will wither. P.R. Sarkar. 9
Looking ahead...
Caux 2002
As many of you may have read in the last issue of the Newsletter, many of us from F4F will be working with the organizers of last year s Aims and Values conference on Service, Responsibility and Leadership (SRL) Working for a world that works, July 5th 10th (not July 5th 12th, as written in the last Newsletter). Over the past few months we have been working hard via email and a planning meeting in Budapest (March 16-17) to put together a stimulating programme of speakers, workshops, community discussion groups, evening programmes and other special events such a Historic Day to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Caux Palace Hotel. SRL will challenge us to explore and try to understand more about other perspectives and approaches in different sectors of society and parts of the world. Our aim is to provide a space where each of us can figure out how we can contribute to a spirit of cooperation and service for a world that works. For more information, contact Angela Starovoitova (angelas@ci.ukrpack.net) or the Caux website: www.caux.ch. Foundations for Freedom as a Programme will also be very active in Caux
this year. As part of our continuing work to develop leadership in individuals and to help build and sustain local teams and support networks, Foundations for Freedom will host new and some returning participants from Moldova, Ukraine, Novosibirsk (Russia), Latvia and Estonia at the beginning of the Caux summer season. Foundations for Freedom will host the participants, but we will not be organising many formal sessions outside of the main conference programmes. We will however, facilitate one-to-ones, other small sharing groups and potentially team meetings that we will encourage participants to take part in. Immediately after the SRL conference will be two days of F4F teambuilding, thinking and planning for the future (July 10th 12th). We would like to provide this as an opportunity for those who are able to be there to share what F4F has meant to them and to exchange ideas about the future. It has recently been SUGGESTED that part of F4F coordination move to Moldova to be run by several members of the Moldovan team. What do YOU think? Even if you can t make it to Caux Please feel free to send us your thoughts and ideas f4f@london.mra.org.uk or through a friend who will be there. F4F needs YOU! Kristen Cibelli.
and Beyond...
Going on eight years, F4F has developed a large and wide-reaching network. For some of you, contact with F4F began years ago. For others it started much more recently. Some of you may have been very involved in the work of F4F earlier on. Some of you are very involved right now. But no matter what your individual story and history with F4F might be, you have helped make F4F what it is today and it is up to all of us to make it what it should be in the future. One thing that many of us feel excited about is the possibility of sharing F4F coordination with East Europeans based in East Europe. How and when and where this will happen remains unclear. We need your input. Regarding current F4F coordination, since February, we have had the pleasure of having Vitalie Cracan from Moldova working with us. Gabrijela Leovic, Croation raised in Germany, will soon be joining us in June. Kristen Cibelli will leave the position of Programme Coordinator at the end of September. The role of Coordinator will be taken over in the
autumn by a Cooridinating Team. Oleg Emurati from Moldova will also join the team in September. Another step is the Training Trainers Programme this summer from August 27th to September 13th. This will take place in the UK, and will involve training in both the content of F4F courses and the skills of facilitation. We are already receiving applications from all parts of Europe and beyond. It aims to increase the number of people who can lead F4F courses, which until now has been one of the main constraints on the number of courses that can be offered. It may result in F4F ideas and material being taken up and adapted for use in other parts of the world. And hopefully it will mean that several people from central and East Europe will become able to lead courses in their own languages. None of this will be automatic or easy. It will require spiritual maturity and growth in each of us. But from where we are, it seems the right direction to move in. Chris Evans for the F4F Committee.
from the...
Treasurer
The Committee is really grateful to those who have supported F4F in recent months, which has enabled the programme to go ahead without any brakes for lack of funds. In addition, a project training NGOs in Ekaterinburg, Russia, undertaken in teamwork with a Russian consulting firm and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, is expected to be fully funded by the UK Ministry of International Development, and the Karl Popper Foundation is again making a grant to help bring new people to Caux. The summer is an expensive time, mainly because of the need to help bring people to Caux, both those coming for the first time and the growing number from Central and East Europe who know Caux and feel responsible for it. Participants themselves contribute all they can, but for many foreign travel and staying in Switzerland are far out of reach. As well as the generous grant from the Karl Popper Foundation, extra funds are needed, specially to support those who have been before and who are vital to the running of the house and the conferences. This year we are also running a two week Training Trainers programme mentioned above. F4F is offering five scholarships to take part in this programme to people from Central and East Europe, and applications are coming in. Each scholarship will amount to about £1,000, depending on travel costs.
F4F Diary July 5-10 Service, Responsibility and Leadership Conference, Caux, Switzerland July 11-12 F4F Teambuilding, Caux, Switzerland Aug 27-Sept 13 Training Trainers, UK mid to late Oct VC 1 and 2, Novosibirsk, Russia Seminar for Young Politicians, Kiev, Ukraine 10