UK Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2012

Newsletter

Autumn-Winter 2012

Severine Chavanne reports on p.3

Photo: Tom Moriarty

UK

Priority areas for action in Britain

Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global network of people committed to building trust across the world’s divides, starting with change in their own lives.

It runs programmes for social and economic justice which encourage TEVXMGMTERXW XS ½RH XLIMV S[R TEXL XS building trust in their community and country.

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by Initiatives of Change (IofC) in its UK strategy framework for the next two years.

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O UNG PEOPLE: The flagship initiative for working with young people is the School These initiatives are based on a commit- for Changemakers. This aims to ment to absolute moral standards of offer young people who want to honesty, purity of heart and motive, make a difference in the world the YRWIP½WLRIWW MR TVMZEXI ERH TYFPMG PMJI inspiration, skills and connections love and forgiveness. they need to bring their ideas to IofC advocates time for silent listening fruition. to the voice of God or conscience. We Francis Evans, Chair of are open to those of all faiths and none the IofC Management Team, and encourage people to deepen their spiritual roots in their own faith tradition. said: ‘Projects don’t have to be specifically about IofC. The In Britain, IofC works through local School for Changemakers bolsters teams across the country and through the capacity of young people to the initiatives featured in this newsletter.

It is largely funded through donations bring about change in whatever area they feel passionately about, from individuals. through the continuing relationship Please contact us at the address and mentoring offered by the FIPS[ XS ½RH SYX QSVI SV XS VIUYIWX E alumni association of School for subscription to our newsletter.

Changemakers.’

Initiatives of Change UK 24 Greencoat Place London SW1P 1RD Tel: 020 7798 6000 Fax: 020 7798 6001 reception@london.iofc.org www.uk.iofc.org Editor: Pam Jenner Design: Amira Mitchell-Karam Printing: Minuteman Press Herts EN8 7AF www.walthamcross.minutemanpress.co.uk

Initiatives of Change is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, company no. 355987, and is a registered charity in England and Wales charity no. 226334

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USTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: To enable the creation of sustainable communities IofC is hoping to encourage people to use real life stories as a resource for others.

‘In Nottingham, IofC is helping people to share their stories and the changes that are happening in their lives,’ said Francis. ‘It is people’s own experiences that are among the most valuable things they can give to others. The project will use technology such as video and social networks to spread the word quickly and effectively.’

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USINESS: In order to help build trust and integrity in the business world, IofC is organising a road show which will tour the country giving bankers and those working in financial services the opportunity to talk directly with their customers as well as organisations such as Occupy London.

‘We want to encourage a public dialogue with people working in the finance and banking industry,’ said Francis, ‘and establish what are the values and the culture that will underpin the sector in future.

IofC can play a part in bringing about a realisation of the need for cultural change. We also offer tools for change in people and organisations.’

‘Our vision is to make a difference to society in Britain. Our strategy is based on those areas where IofC can contribute,’ explained Francis. ‘These three initiatives were selected because they met a need and because we knew we had the people in the team with the conviction and skills to make a difference. All the priorities are very much people led and we aim to support and reinforce the convictions of those who want to make a difference.’

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by Severine Chavanne made a difference?’

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ccupy London hit the national newspaper headlines when it occupied the square in front of St Paul’s Cathedral for months in protest at social injustice and corporate greed.

Two members of the movement spoke recently at a Greencoat Forum about their aims and promised to continue to push for the creation of a new society.

Peter Dombi addresses the audience ‘Almost one year on from its launch, has Occupy London made a difference?’ was the question put to Peter Dombi and Tom Moriarty, when they addressed a Greencoat Forum on 9 October in the UK centre of Initiatives of Change, London.

Peter Dombi, a private investor and Tom Moriarty, a former City boss, both part of the Economics group of Occupy London, gave an intriguing insight into the aims and objectives of this controversial movement.

Moriarty said: ‘People often confuse us with a political party. Occupy is a diverse group of people and some of us will never agree. A people’s movement is about expressing a will, a desire for change, raising questions and bringing them into the mainstream, encouraging new ideas, new propositions. The question we ask is: ‘Do you think our unsustainable political and democratic system will go away on its own? Or is there something we can do?’ And through that sort of discussion we can change. Behaviour changes

come from society. Society changes society.’

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Dombi said he discovered capitalism was flawed after becoming a private investor. After 13 years working in the computer department of a leading UK department store, he discovered he could make money by investing in the stock market. ‘But very soon, I realised it wasn’t quite working as it should.

The good gets rewarded but so does the bad,’ he said Both men realised that the evolution of capitalism was leading to a very small number of very big players.

‘In the United States, 20 per cent of people own 85 per cent of the wealth,’ said Dombi.

Dombi and Moriarty joined Occupy in the first few weeks of its existence and, according to Moriarty: ‘We were immediately labelled as anticapitalists, anarchists – you know, lots of ‘ists’ and actually quite a few of us are pragmatists.’

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Moriarty and Dombi told the Forum that the Occupy movement strived to explain what lay behind the mystifying jargon used in the finance and business environment and relayed in the media.

‘We published our Little Book of Ideas, looking into the language of recession and financial markets to make this language accessible to ordinary people,’ said Moriarty.

Structured around different working groups – Economics, Corporations, Green, Democracy, Law – Occupy London makes decisions by consensus during General Assemblies, bringing together people from the world of finance as well as anarchists, communists, environmentalists, and many other groups and ideologies.

Participants at the Forum questioned the lack of leadership and the aims of the movement.

Moriarty replied that Occupy chose not to have a hierarchy and to reach

Participants discuss the issues raised decisions by consensus: ‘It’s a curious experiment this consensus thing,’ he said. ‘It allows for a certain level of independence and freedom of speech.’

Both Moriarty and Dombi admitted however that decision-making could be a slow, painful process, and that some things simply could not be agreed upon. They added that there needed to be accountability in banking and in business as well as sustainability and regulations.

Asked whether individuals within the capitalist system could change sufficiently to change the system, Dombi replied: ‘We don’t know what the key points are, which is why we are pushing buttons everywhere. People join Occupy with lots of different opinions and ideas, and nobody knows which of these initiatives are going to blossom into a flower. It will happen, it’s just about giving them space. It is a long march. Creating a new society will take a few decades. We will keep talking about it until things change.’

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The Forum was presided over by Don de Silva, Head of Programme Administration for IofC UK, who said: ‘This event takes place at an interesting time. The party conferences are filled with speeches and actions proposed to deal with the economic and financial crisis and how to regulate the banks.

‘The 2008 banking crisis devastated the lives of many people throughout the world. It has put some 30 million people out of work. Food prices have risen by 20 per cent.

‘The financial crisis has proved one salient fact that markets are unpredictable and that they behave like people do.’

Severine Chavanne is part of the Communications Team at Initiatives of Change UK

AUTUMN 2012 Newsletter 3

News from around the UK

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by Pam Jenner

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hen Rasik Vekaria joined the School for Changemakers as a nervous undergraduate, lacking in confidence, he did not imagine that just two weeks later he would be standing in front of all the delegates giving a leaving speech and that three years later he would be one of its facilitators.

School for Changemakers, run

by Initiatives of Change each year at Liverpool Hope University, encourages young people to recognise their abilities and to make changes in their lives which will ultimately benefit the wider community.

For Rasik the School has been life changing. When he took part in the first event in 2010 he was studying Actuarial Science at City University, London and he was immediately struck by the sense of family he encountered.

‘I am a learning youth and you can get struck by a lot of problems whether it is in life, education or religion,’ he said, ‘but at the School for Changemakers everything is put aside. You don’t

know anyone when you start so you have to relate to each other. We share stories and experiences and we meet people from many other religions but we don’t talk about religion and culture. Our aim is to connect and learn through each other to make a better world.

‘Over the last three years I have heard a lot of moving stories. For instance, I remember one Nigerian girl talking about how difficult life was for her in her country.

‘When I first came to the School for Changemakers I was lacking in confidence; I couldn’t explain myself very well but I have definitely overcome that now.’

This summer the school had 60 participants with 20 per cent from other countries. Rasik helped to organise teambuilding and sharing within a community group and also facilitated a workshop on the history and philosophy of Initiatives of Change. Other workshops were about community, education and the environment.

Rasik has helped lead the workshop on Initiatives for Change for two years running and this year the students surprised him by acting out the history

and principles of the organisation.

‘We thought it wouldn’t work because we felt the impact would be lost,’ he said, ‘but in fact it was very effective and we want to repeat that again.’

The effects of the School continue all year round with the alumni meeting three times a year in London.

Last year the alumni decided to make a difference to people in East London and a group of former School for Changemakers students cleaned windows for the blind and elderly, painting buildings and even read letters to an elderly lady who had just come out of hospital and whose sight was so poor she could not read them herself.

Other events have included a fund raising dinner with entertainment at Greencoat Place in April of this year, which raised nearly £1,000 towards the next School.

Rasik concluded: ‘We try to take what we have learned into our own communities and by helping others we benefit ourselves and introduce more people to Initiatives of Change.’

Rasik Vekaria (top left) and fellow participants

Photos: Getty Musiwa

School for Changemakers encourages young people to recognise their abilities and to make changes in their lives which will ultimately benefit the

wider community.

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People from all over Britain are working with IofC to bring about change in themselves and in society at large. We bring you news of just some of the work that is taking place.

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ur Common Future: The need to focus on Sustainable Communities was one of the main recommendations of the After the Riots forum, held in London in February of this year. The forum identified lack of community vision, moral compromise, family breakdown, government inaction and dwindling opportunities for people as contributory factors which escalated the riots across the country.

In response, Initiatives of Change UK has launched a Sustainable Communities programme, which is a major part of its national strategy and established a national Strategy Framework under the heading ‘Our Common Future’.

Currently, Anita Amendra is working with a youth member of the Consultative Steering Group (CSG) developing workshops for young people in events planning and management.

This initiative will culminate in a Christmas Charity event under the theme of Sustainable Communities at the Initiatives of Change centre in London in December.

Other initiatives inspired and supported by the Programme include working with the Cordoba Foundation to develop a training programme ‘Mentor the Mentors’ for young people in Britain; a charity rock concert to raise money for three major Manchester community initiatives; assisting with dialogue facilitation in Nottingham between ethnically divided Sri Lankan youth diaspora and a project on education developed by a Somali CSG member.

Creators of Peace

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Anita Amendra, Project Manager for Sustainable Communities

en women gathered at Greencoat Place over a weekend in July to experience their first peace circle. With a wealth of experience to share, we were able to offer perspectives to each other’s situations whilst listening to each others’ stories with respect and appreciation. We met again later in the summer to talk about what we had learnt and to agree actions that we would each pursue in applying the Creators of Peace (CoP) approach at personal, community and project levels.

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Kate Monkhouse, International Coordinator of CoP

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key focus of IofC’s strategic priorities in the UK is on helping to bring the values of care and moral commitment into decision-making in the nation’s economic life. This includes banking in the City of London, as well as in deprived communities suffering from high unemployment.

In June Joe Garner, the outgoing head of HSBC’s UK retail and commercial banking arm, gave a Greencoat Forum lecture, in IofC’s London centre, on his bank’s commitment to ‘leading with courageous integrity’. IofC UK has released a 20-minute documentary film of his talk and questions from the audience, including from members of the Occupy London movement.

Lady Susan Rice, managing director of Lloyds Banking Group in Scotland, was among senior British participants in the annual six-day conference on Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy (TIGE), held in Caux, Switzerland, in July.

The British-based Texan business author Margaret Heffernan gave the opening keynote address to the TIGE conference. She expressed ‘a tremendous sense of urgency’ about the need to ‘salvage our institutions from the infernal combustion of money, power and competition before it’s too late’.

Michael Smith, Head of Business Programmes at IofC

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'ER XLI 3P]QTMG WTMVMX PEWX FI]SRH # PAM JENNER put her 30 years’ journalistic experience to good use when she became a ‘Gamesmaker’ volunteer and part of the Olympic News Service team. She was inspired not only by the athletes but by the positive vibes of the people of London.

However, she asks: Can the Olympic spirit last beyond 2012?

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t was nearly midnight and I was getting ready to endure the usual antics of the drunken late-night revellers on the central line tube. But I was in for a shock. This was the start of the 2012 Olympics and London had been transformed. When the train drew in it was packed with partygoers of a different kind : families, children, the elderly, young people; all wide awake, sober, excited and swapping stories of the sports they had just seen.

For two weeks I travelled through London each day as a volunteer ‘Gamesmaker’ working with the Olympic News Service and reporting on judo and wrestling at the Excel centre. I was born and brought up on the outskirts of East London and I thought I knew the city inside out.

However, during those two weeks I experienced city life as I have never experienced it before.

Each day I would walk through packed Stratford station. Everyone smiled, everyone obeyed the somewhat confusing one-way systems, the railway staff went out of their way to be helpful and the police were so cheerful and friendly that I hardly noticed they were armed.

Like all the other volunteers I wore a distinctive uniform. I was no longer an invisible traveller. People stopped me as I waited for the DLR at Stratford to ask: ‘Do you get to keep those shoes?’ or ‘Where are you working today?’ On the way home late at night I would be asked by fellow passengers: ‘Have you had to work long hours?’ or ‘Have you had a good day?’

At the Excel centre it was my job to interview the athletes; to cover press conferences and medal ceremonies and

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to provide the world’s press with interesting up-to-the minute stories and bulletins. I heard many inspiring tales of athletes overcoming injuries, self-

ally unheard of for them to take up wrestling. She had done just that and made it to the Olympics through sheer determination.

Another young wrestler explained how the biggest triumph in his career had been to accept defeat. He had been in the depths of despair because he was unable to cope with losing but decided to look seriously at his aims and aspirations.

‘I have had lots of ups and downs,’

doubt, wars, poverty and much more to get to compete at Olympic level in their chosen sport.

I spoke to a young girl from a remote Indian village who explained that not only was it unusual for girls to be interested in sport but it was virtu-

he told me. ‘I was very lost in who I was, but God told me to get out of it. It was a very long road to get here. I learnt that I am not perfect and nobody is perfect. I now know that it is OK if I lose and this is how I look at life. Today I lost but it’s OK

because somebody won who was better. I am very happy and I hope that I can inspire others. I feel very special.

Wrestling is part of me, it is a gift. I am at the Olympics and it is bringing the world together.’

The other day I was back in London; the Olympic Games were well and truly over and I was no longer wearing a uniform. I was invisible again and the city – which seemed temporarily to have been transformed – appeared to have returned to ‘normal’. I hope though that some of that positive energy, that camaraderie,

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RISH Raval, co-director of the School for Changemakers, was one of 8,000 people chosen from 100,000 nominees to keep the Olympic flame alive in the weeks running up to the London 2012 Olympics.

house I lived in for many years and which is now an Initiatives of Change home, lived in by David and Judith Curtis. My torch run was on the same road as Betty’s old home.’

The Curtis family and friends were ready with banners as Krish ran past and as he carried the torch along the route he managed to spot people in the crowd he had not seen for many years.

Krish was nominated as torchbearer by a friend, Scott Darby, who is also active in the School for Changemakers.

Krish did not think he had a chance of being selected and so was amazed when he discovered he had been successful. ‘It wasn’t just about the run,’ he said, ‘but the fact that one was on the small torch bus for a good two hours, if not more, before and after the run, with genuine heroes – including war veterans, people who had literally rescued babies from burned buildings, had saved lives or had overcome extreme hardship and those who had raised significant sums for charity.’

/VMWL 6EZEP VYRW [MXL XLI XSVGL MR 7LIJ½IPH that interest and care for others that I experienced whilst a ‘Gamesmaker’ will remain. If it does then the London 2012 Olympics will have been a success beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Photo: Matt Godden

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Krish was a torchbearer and carried the flame in Sheffield, where he went to university. As he got off the small torch bus at the university side of the city he was greeted by deafening cheers and said: ‘I thought of my very close friend the late Betty Gardiner, whose

Krish said: ‘The LOCOG official on the bus asked us to tell our stories before we began the torch run and this was fairly moving.

‘Among the torch bearers on our bus were Robert Geldard, 85, who won a bronze in the 1948 Olympics (the last time we held the Olympics in the UK) and Lord Sebastian Coe who very kindly surprised Scott by speaking to him on my mobile phone from the bus!’

After the torch run Krish and his family watched Scott give an address at a Sheffield College awards ceremony.

‘I enjoyed a truly very lovely day,’ said Krish, ‘which is all the more special as, after 17 years in Sheffield, I am planning to move down to London for a while. What a way to end a chapter!’

AUTUMN 2012 Newsletter 7

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he entire financial system benefit from it. Care for customers is based on trust but has reflected care for employees, Garner become overshadowed by continued, which in turn led to susunsustainable activities and tainable growth. unethical behaviours, according to Joe Responding to a question from a Garner, head of HSBC in the UK and representative of the Occupy London deputy chief executive movement about of HSBC plc. bonuses and Garner spoke on large %VI [I PMZMRK SYV ZEPYIW# excessively ‘Leading in a high salaries paid to EWOW PIEHMRK FEROIV risk environment: top executives, engaging hearts as Garner highwell as minds’ in lighted the link June. He emphasised that in order to between greed and fear. break the ‘vicious circle of mistrust’, ‘The more you have, the more there must be a change in the way frightened you are of losing it,’ he said. people in business and banking think. The banking industry was currently This included the need to put cusbuilding a system in which it would be tomer care before the profit motive. easier to switch banks and customers His remarks followed the scandal of would begin to ‘vote with their feet’. banks mis-selling payment protection insurance to customers who could not

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he way in which Libya heals the wounds sustained under Gaddafi’s regime will determine the country’s future, according to Dr Peter Rundell, who headed up the team from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Benghazi and Tripoli throughout the rebellion.

Rundell was speaking in May prior to the elections in July, which showed gains for an alliance of parties seen as broadly secular. However, as we went to press, the situation in that country remained fragile.

In his talk entitled ‘From exploitation to exploration – Libya’s unpredictable path out of tyranny’, Rundell expressed confidence that the country would eventually move towards a more democratic and prosperous future. But Libya was fragile and things could still fall apart because of the inheritance of a difficult past and unhealed wounds.

Rundell concluded: ‘My biggest concern in the short term is that economic pressures will push the Government to non-transparency and that will finish its legitimacy.’

He added: ‘I don’t think Libya

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Peter Rundell (right) inspecting unexploded munitions in Misurata. will fall apart. The way ahead is very bumpy, but I trust that Libyans can find a way to heal the wounds of the past. If reconciliation can become real, I believe it will move towards a more accountable future.’

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rying to solve the world’s most critical environmental problems by convening the very governments stuck in gridlock over the last 20 years was never going to be easy, former senior official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Don de Silva told the July Forum.

7TMVMXYEP QSZIQIRXW JEGI WXEVO GLSMGI De Silva spoke about future action after Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in June this year.

He said that despite difficulties, there were positive developments and pointed out that Rio+20 was the biggest UN conference ever held, with participation from governments, businesses and civil society, as well as UN officials, academics, journalists and the general public.

One of the biggest disappointments at Rio+20, according to de Silva, was the abysmal performance of faith and spiritually-based groups who confined themselves to fringe events, not making any attempt at rising above differences to work together for positive change.

Spiritual groups had a major role to play in dealing with the moral and spiritual dimension of sustainability: addressing institutional injustice and disregard, enabling people to think beyond their narrow confines, uniting people in common action to make a positive difference in society.

As Don de Silva put it: ‘Change will come. The world’s spiritual movements have a stark choice: whether this change will be through peaceful or non-peaceful means.’

Howard Grace interviews a man who uses the arts to inspire others

Before being sentenced, Charlie had been volunteering at a holiday home for people with severe disabilities that was to prove a major turning point in his life. He met a retired police officer who had been left paralysed after being attacked whilst on duty. She told him that she had joined the police to help people and did not hate her attacker.

arts in prisons in the UK. As part of his role he edited an arts magazine for prisoners and ex-prisoners, which covered the themes of forgiveness, hope, happiness and learning. Charlie currently works part-time as an Outreach Worker at HMP Wormwood Scrubs Community Chaplaincy providing mentors to support prisoners on their release from prison.

As part of the IofC Schools Service, he has facilitated several sessions in schools with me, riveting the students with his experiences. Charlie described how his anger had erupted at the police during the riot. But he realised that the anger had been growing for years from a different source – the experience of growing up with an alocholic father. At the most recent school session he showed a short film, made earlier this year by Channel 4 TV, related to forgiving his dad and the experience of meeting the paralysed police officer. This can be seen by going to www.4thought.tv and putting ‘Charlie Ryder’ in the top right hand corner.

Charlie learned the hard way that anger and revenge are not the way to deal with injustice. Rather than meeting violence with yet more violence, Charlie now uses his artistic talents to help people and hopes his latest film will be an inspiration to others.

Howard Grace, a former teacher, was for 16 years National Co-ordinator of the IofC Schools Service. He has facilitated around 800 sessions in Sixth Forms all around Britain.

Photo: Howard Grace

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harlie Ryder was once featured as a particularly wanted criminal on a British Crime TV programme. Now he is a film-maker who believes the arts can have a huge impact on addressing people’s deeper needs.

He is currently developing a film with puppeteers called Stories of Healing about the experiences of people who have suffered trauma but are using the arts to help in their recovery. He is also presenting a one-man play later this month – see page 12.

Charlie’s journey to prison began nearly 20 years ago on 22 April, 1993. It was on that day that black British teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack .

In the backlash that followed there was a large protest against racism outside the British Nationalist Party (BNP) headquarters in London and one of those involved was Charlie, at that time a student in Scotland.

In trying to contain the protest, which turned into a riot, the police used extreme force and the way Charlie was beaten up caused him to retaliate in anger. He hurled bricks at the police riot shields.

A few months later he was watching Crime Monthly on television with his mother and a neighbour and discovered he was number three on the programme’s ‘most wanted’ criminals list. His photo was featured and Charlie was arrested the next morning.

He ended up serving eight months in prison.

Charlie Ryder (centre) demonstrates puppetry This made a deep impression on him.

Charlie’s time in prison was a very sobering experience. He kept a scrapbook where he could record his journey using letters, poems, short stories and artwork. In 2007 he turned his experience into a one-man play (and more recently a film) using puppets, masks, physical theatre, dance and silence. The play’s aim was to question people’s perceptions of prison and prisoners.

In June 2008 Charlie got a job with the Anne Peaker Centre, which promotes and supports the use of

AUTUMN 2012 Newsletter 9

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or the last 21 years Somalia has been stateless and ruled by warlords. Conflict and natural disasters have caused inestimable suffering to the population at large.

Now, however, the country is experiencing a change for the better. Piracy has diminished dramatically, and the radical Al-Qaeda-related Shabab movement is being pushed back by Somali and African Union troops. Recently a parliament, which was established by broad consent, met and elected widelyrespected candidates as Speaker and as President. Large numbers of Somalis who sought refuge abroad are returning and, despite huge problems which still exist, a positive current seems to be flowing in Somalia.

One of those who has dreamed and worked for this is Osman Jama Ali, a veteran politician, who visited Mogadishu in July. He said: ‘Now people want to go back. A complete change has

Osman Jama Ali teach people locally about the rest of the world.

‘Now you are reconstructed colonialists!’ he said. ‘You are teaching us good things. The things we learn from you we have to pass on. Through the Internet, people are more informed. It helps the sense of unity. Somalia must be united!’

‘After more than 20 years of civil war and hatred, people have put away their weapons and are accepting each other as Somalis, one nation.’

Ali was one of a group of senior Somalis brought together in Stockholm in 1994 by Somalis who had met at an IofC conference the previous year and drawn up a list of potential peacemakers. Throughout the 1990s, he and

Somali women at an Intergenerational Dialogue workshop, London taken place in the mentality of Somalis in Somalia and in the diaspora. Before, everyone was clannish, and saw other clans as not to be trusted. Now, after more than 20 years of civil war and hatred, people have put away their weapons and are accepting each other as Somalis, one nation.’

Ali said the return of the diaspora to the country was a great opportunity to

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other members of that group kept in touch annually at Caux conferences.

In early 2004, having just resigned as Deputy Prime Minister of a government in Somalia that had failed to establish its authority, he attended an Agenda for Reconciliation (AfR) meeting at Greencoat Place. This led to meetings with Somali community leaders and they created together a

charity, Somali Initiative for Dialogue and Democracy (SIDD). The charity aims to reconcile and integrate Somali refugees and enable them to return to their country and contribute to national reconstruction. Courses provided by IofC in ‘Dialogue Facilitation’ enabled divided community leaders to listen to each other in a new context. This was significant because Britain hosts the largest Somali diaspora community in the world, including a number of political leaders, and the informal economy of Somalia depends greatly on their financial contributions.

One recent contribution that SIDD made was to the formation of a consortium of UK-based Somali humanitarian aid organisations, the Somali Relief and Development Forum (SRDF). This was innovative because previously Somali organisations had been clan-based and did not work together. When local aid organisations in Somalia saw what could be achieved by cooperating, SRDF helped them create their own consortium, the Somali Humanitarian Operational Consortium (SHOC).

In Britain, a SIDD Trustee pioneered an approach to treating mental health issues among Somali refugees through the ‘Hayaan’ Project (Moving to a Better Place), which has been developed by the MIND mental health charity and the Kings Fund, initially in London. The project aims to create and train a team of ‘peer educators’ from the local Somali communities to help increase awareness of and access to mental health support.

SIDD has also mounted ‘Peace Begins at Home’ intergenerational dialogues in London boroughs, addressing a source of tension within families, where cultural and language barriers can undermine family solidarity and contribute to under-achievement and alienation.

Photo: Eric Trometer

Severine Chavanne and Peter Riddell report on initiatives in both Somalia and the UK which are bringing about positive change in a country TVIZMSYWP] XSVR ETEVX F] GSR¾MGX ERH REXYVEP HMWEWXIVW

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6IWXSVMRK 0ERH¯0MZIW¯ Peace Initiatives of Change is launching a global initiative to address conflicts and breakdowns in trust which impede land restoration (piloted as Restoring Earth’s Degraded Land). This follows a request from Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), who has visited Caux several times.

This initiative comes with a core team in place to take it forward and has great potential to link many of IofC’s initiatives worldwide. IofC will bring its core people-changing experience, not providing technical solutions but partnering with those who can.

Whereas the UN approach is ‘restore land to restore lives’, IofC’s approach complements it: restore lives to restore land.

In response to Luc Gnacadja’s call,

Global Assembly participants IofC has planned a three-tier approach: high level dialogues in Caux and elsewhere – a three-day summit will be held in Caux in July 2013; trust building initiatives at grassroots level; development of a global network to inspire, equip and connect people to tackle the root causes of the issue.

% 2I[ 1SHIP JSV +SZIVRERGI MR -RHME With thousands across industry, the civil service, management students, villagers and many others being trained each year in ethical leadership via programmes in Asia Plateau, Panchgani and elsewhere, IofC India asked IofC International to help support and expand its burgeoning work for Good Governance in India.

The various training initiatives of IofC India address governance issues at individual, community and institutional levels, aimed at building a just and sustainable society through training decision-makers.

With a model that lends itself to being replicated across IofC member countries, immediate steps will look at how to connect the IofC experienced volunteer base with opportunities in

Children earning the hand washing song at one of the school programmes in Grampari, India

India to train participants, train the trainers, support communications and the Dialogue on Democracy, build up Grampari and the Interns Programme and bolster the overall effort.

;SVOWLST JSV %JVMGE Workshop for Africa (WfA) is a campaign to build good governance and active citizenship across Africa.

The campaign aims to do three things: promote ethical leadership at all government and business levels, and train for it where feasible; partner with like-minded organisations to build platforms for active citizenship, such as helping people use their voices in civic and community bodies; work with other organisations to promote a development agenda that serves those most in need.

Plans are to select and train up to 10 people from different parts of Africa for this work, in January and February 2013. The participants would be ready to work on a programme of peacebuilding and governance training in South Sudan planned for April 2013.

Further information is available at: [[[ MSJG SVK KPSFEP-assembly-2012.

A community in a semi-arid of AUTUMN 2012 region Newsletter 11 Kenya meet with development workers

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he Global Assembly of the International Association Initiatives of Change, which took place at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux, Switzerland, this summer has endorsed three proposals for Common Action which will be taken forward in the coming year: Restoring Land – Lives – Peace; A New Model for Governance in India and South Sudan and the Workshop for Africa. Below we give brief details on each project.

Photo: Adriana Borra

+PSFEP %WWIQFP] announces new TPERW JSV EGXMSR

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new book entitled The Fullness of Life – reflections on the Lord’s Prayer for today’s world by Michael Smith, head of business programmes for Initiatives of Change UK, has just been published.

In his introduction Michael, who has been associated with Initiatives of Change for 47 years, says the Lord’s Prayer ‘provides us with a road map for living in the here and now’.

There are forewords by the Rt Revd Michael Marshall, president of The Awareness Foundation; Ann Widdecombe, Minister for Prisons from 1995 to 1997; Tony Colman, a former Labour MP who is also director of africapractice, a member of the World Future Council and an accredited local preacher with the UK Methodist Church, and James Featherby, chair of the Church of England Ethical Invest-

ment Advisory Group and author of Markets and Men and The White Swan Formula.

Bishop Marshall says in his foreword: ‘Michael shares something of his own spiritual journey and experiences through this interaction between the

way we pray and the way we live…..

It is the kind of book which not only speaks to Christians or to churchgoers but which would also speak to ‘seekers’ or to the many people who are searching for a deeper meaning to life and yet who have not connected with the worshipping and praying community of the church.’ Ann Widdecombe writes that the book should be in every school library.

Michael Smith is also author of Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy, a collection of stories and best practice in business and social entrepreneurship and of The Sound of Silence, a booklet aimed at encouraging people to take time out each day for silent reflection.

The Fullness of Life is published by Initiatives of Change UK and can be purchased at £5 a copy from books@london.iofc.org or by phoning IofC in London: 020 7798 6000.

Discount prices are available for SVHIVW SJ ½ZI SV QSVI GSTMIW

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Mr Brown Comes Down The Hill Greencoat Cinema

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Tuesday 20 November 2012 6.30pm Initiatives of Change centre, London

Wednesday 28 November 2012 6.30pm Initiatives of Change centre, London

Saturday 8 December 2012 3pm Initiatives of Change centre, London

The third in the series of classic ½PQW SJ -RMXMEXMZIW SJ 'LERKI -R XLMW play, the author Peter Howard tells the coming of Christ in a modern version. In the course of the story 1V &VS[R QIIXW E FPEGO QER ½PPIH with hate, a prostitute, a journalist, a group of bishops and men of TS[IV ERH MR¾YIRGI

Adapted for the stage by Hugh Steadman Williams from a story by Edzard Schaper and inspired by a Russian legend. Performed by John Locke, directed by Elisabeth Tooms and enhanced with drawings by Dell Williams and original music.

A oneman play putting a face to what is often the faceless idea of ‘the prisoner’.

This will be followed by a Talkback panel discussion with Charlie Ryder, Micheal Kavanagh, Acting Head of Prison Chaplaincy and Andrew ,MPPEW %WWMWXERX 'LMIJ 3J½GIV for Restorative Justice, London Probation Trust.

12

Directed

by Henry Cass.

Starring Eric Flynn, Mark Heath, Lillias Walker

Please note that this is not a children’s play but a Christmas to Easter story for adults although children are welcome.

Initiatives of Change centre 24 Greencoat Place London SW1P 1RD Tel: 020 7798 6000 VIGITXMSR$PSRHSR MSJG SVK [[[ YO MSJG SVK