Global Update No 32: August 2012

AUGUST 2012 – No 32

Human Security Forum

UNCCD, was a keynote speaker and host of the day. ‘Land degradation is about life degradation, so land restoration is about life restoration,’ he reminded the audience of 350 participants from 62 countries. Some 70% of the world’s poor The fifth Caux Forum for Human Security started on 9 July at live in rural areas, and about 1.5 billion people are affected by the Initiatives of Change centre in Switzerland with a special food insecurity, he said. one-day event on Restoring Land, Restoring Lives. The event The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, former Prime Minister and was co-organized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Foreign Minister of Australia and member of the UN Secretary Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, noted Restoring Earth’s Degraded Land initiative of Initiatives of the failures of international politics. ‘If we wait for an absolute Change International. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of global consensus to arise, we’ll be waiting for disaster,’ he said. ‘Non-governmental action, driven from below, is more important than ever.’

A few days later, Rudd spoke again with two leading Aboriginals, Jackie Huggins and Prof. Daryle Rigney, about the processes of healing springing from Rudd’s public apology presented at the Opening of Parliament in 2008 to the ‘stolen generations’. Referring to the history of other healing processes in which Caux had played a part, he said, ‘Everything is possible if we have the heart to do it. We should be inspired by this place. Never underestimate your power as civil society.’ The act of recognition, justice and healing, said Huggins, ‘was very important for our people, but also for all Australians’. A full report of (L to R) Luc Gnacadja of UNCCD, Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Coordinator of Rio+20, all the Caux conferences will be available Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, and Omnia Marzouk, President of Initiatives of later in the year.

Change International

School for Changemakers

world’. One of the participants later wrote: ‘Back home after a life-changing weekend at the School for Changemakers in Liverpool! Time to step outside my comfort zone, take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes and even failure. Time to change me as person because it’s only after I change myself, I can change the world.’

Alan Channer

The 2012 School for Changemakers summer conference took place June 22-24 at Liverpool Hope University. SfCM is a residential programme for young people who want to initiate and sustain positive change in their lives and beyond. It is a partnership between the university, Initiatives of Change and iGenius – a company that promotes social enterprise all over the world. Eighteen of the 68 participants were alumni of previous SfCM events. The participants were divided into four learning tracks: Vocation and the heart of IofC; Being a social entrepreneur; Education – the only way to bring change; Justice, integrity and the flourishing life. Later, each group presented its conclusions to the other, putting across a lively understanding of the inner changes that took place and their impact on events.

Speakers included Krish Raval (director of SfCM), Barry Crisp (head of communications for iGenius), Dr Omnia Marzouk (President of IofC International) and Dr Bob Doherty (of Liverpool Hope University, one of the pioneers of fair trading). Professor Gerald Pillay, Vice Chancellor of the university and an enthusiastic supporter of SfCM, spoke on the final day.

SfCM is a year-round programme, with the stated promise that ‘following the programme you will be part of a dynamic network of future leaders who are making a difference to the

Prof.Pillay addresses the SfCM

News in Brief Christian-Muslim teachers dialogue A second dialogue for Muslim and Christian teachers was held in Lira, Uganda, 31 May - 2 June. The theme was ‘Enhancing teachers’ roles in development, Peace building and Good governance’. It was the first IofC event to take place in the north of the country which has been ravaged by years of conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). George Milton Abura, the District Education Officer of Lira, pointed out that only 40% of students in his district have desks to sit at, and many children drop out of school because of the ‘unfriendly environment’.

The conference showed teachers and school principals how to deal with problems without resorting to violence as well as how to start small businesses.

Burundian leadership seminar

Burundian leadership seminar in Caux

Leading Burundian political figures from all sides took part in a seminar on leadership at the IofC centre in Caux, Switzerland, in June, funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. IofC has been supporting peace efforts in the Great Lakes region since 2000, and this seminar built on earlier work to facilitate dialogue and promote ethical leadership. Two former heads of state, party leaders, senators and members of parliament were among the 18 politicians who attended.

Rio+20 A team representing Initiatives of Change was present throughout the Rio+20 Earth Summit. On 25 June they held a side-event on Land and Life: Human security through sustainable development, promoting IofC’s Restoring Earth’s Degraded

Land initiative. One of the team, Don de Silva, former senior official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), later spoke at the IofC centre in London pointing out that although the original Rio Earth Summit had adopted a more radical charter, 90% of the promises made had not been fulfilled. At Rio+20 the business community was more visible than the politicians, announcing hundreds of initiatives for sustainable business. He challenged faith based organizations to play a bigger role in addressing the moral and spiritual dimensions of sustainability.

Agents for a sustainable future A team from IofC partnered with Indian Youth Climate Network, 350.org, ONergy, Switch ON and Envirohealth Matters, to run a three day workshop ‘Agents for a Sustainable Future’ in West Bengal, India, 2527 May. Over 30 young activists took part, exchanging knowledge on how to respond to environmental challenges and learning skills of personal transformation and leadership.

Somalia peace conference Four senior members of the Somali diaspora in London associated with IofCwere invited to the Second Istanbul Conference on Somalia, 26 May – 1 June, attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders.

The four are all taking leadership by getting Somalis from different clans to work together on a range of projects including humanitarian assistance to refugees in Somalia; campaigning for integrity in humanitarian aid; capacitybuilding for civil society in the country, facilitating intergenerational dialogues, mental health support in diaspora communities and initiatives against female genital mutilation.

Creators of Peace video A promotional video for IofC’s programme of Creators of Peace Circles in Canada has just been completed.

Filmed by intern Tim Hall working alongside FLTfilms’ North America

manager, Chris Hartnell, the video seeks to inform and inspire women to take part in Creators of Peace Circles.

Women in the video are some of the participants of Peace Circles held in the Metro Vancouver area over the past 4 years. You can see the film here: http://youtu.be/vxqpA5-tDlo

calendar Quebec, Canada 4 August The Citizen Project Tokyo, Japan 22–29 August Asia Pacific Youth Conference London, Uk 29 September Initiatives of Change showcase Richmond Va, Usa 9 November Metropolitan Richmond Day

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Suresh Mathew

JULY 2012 – No 32

David Vincent

Lost Boy found One of the Lost Boys of South Sudan, David Vincent now works for peace. Mike Lowe reports

Many parents worry that their kids grow up watching

too much violence on TV. David Nyuol Vincent didn’t even see a television until he was a grown man. But by then he had seen with his own eyes far too many people die violent deaths or from sickness or starvation.

He is one of the ‘Lost Boys’ of South Sudan, uprooted by war from his home and family. At the time of independence from British rule in 1956, Sudan was geographically the largest country in Africa. But war broke out immediately between the predominantly Muslim Arab north and the country’s southern populations, who were mostly either Christian or Animist.

‘The trek took months and involved crossing part of the Sahara desert where many perished from starvation or dehydration’ As a child, Vincent recalls seeing homes burned to the ground and the charred bodies of infants. At age eight, Vincent’s father took him away, joining the thousands

of refugees making their way on foot into Ethiopia.

Vincent’s pregnant mother would not have survived the journey and was left behind. The trek took months and involved crossing part of the Sahara desert where many perished from starvation or dehydration.By the time they arrived in the makeshift refugee camp of Pinyudo, Ethiopia, death was a familiar sight.

But their ordeal was far from over. Cholera and other diseases ravaged the camp claiming many more lives.

The camp was run by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) – the army of the southern forces – and Vincent, along with the other children, was taken from the camp to train as a child soldier.

He went willingly. By then he had learned to hate the Arab northerners with a fierce passion. Despite the brutal beatings that were a part of soldier training, Vincent was eager to fight. What stopped him from goingwas his small size. Joining the parade of boys to be picked for combat, Vincent stood on a stool and wrapped a blanket around himself to make him look taller. But he was recognised and refused. It probably saved his life.

After four years in Pinyudo, war broke out in Ethiopia and the camp was attacked by Ethiopian rebel forces.

Many were killed by gunfire or died trying to escape across the swollen and crocodile-infested Giloriver.

Vincent got hold of a gun and fought his way to safety, joining others who managed to find their way back into South Sudan. There they were once again targets for Sudanese planes dropping bombs. So the refugees started a long journey south into Kenya.

In the 12 years that Vincent spent in Kenya, the Kakuma camp grew to about 80,000 refugees. They built their own mud huts, and later built schools, churches and a hospital. Though safe from the war, violence would break out from time to time between the different tribes within the camp, reflecting the mounting tribal conflict between Dinka and Nuer in South Sudan. Vincent had become a skilled soccer player in Pinyudo. A natural leader, he formed and then captained a team in Kakuma which included both Dinka and Nuer players, and he determined to use soccer as a uniting force across tribal lines.

In 2004, after despairing of ever leaving the camp, Vincent was accepted for resettlement in Australia. He had been a refugee for 17 years. Now, for the first time in his life, he could earn money and had a fridge full of food. But he did not have peace.

‘I had carried the heavy burden of pain and hatred since I was eight,’ he says. ‘And I couldn’t shake it off.

When you’re plunged into a desperate situation and running on adrenaline, there’s no time to dwell on what you’re going through. All you can think about is where your next meal will come from. Once you’re in a safe place, and life is less urgent, suddenly there’s time to think. And now, images that had been stockpiled in my head flickered non-stop like a slideshow. Things I had done. Things I had eaten. Things I had seen. Things that had happened to me.Images of people dying in front of me, and of burying their bodies.’

‘Once you’re in a safe place, and life is less urgent, suddenly there’s time to think’ Hoping to find relief through helping others, he approached the National Council of Churches where he met VisierSanyü (see People Building Trust, November 2008), a former refugee himself. Sanyü put him in touch with Initiatives of Change and enrolled him in the nineday residential Life Matters course at the IofC centre in Melbourne. Part of the course involved participants sharing their own personal stories.

Vincent found it extremely confronting.When it was his turn he walked out. That night he cried for hours. But the next day he told his story. When he finished speaking several others were crying but Vincent felt lighter. ‘I had found my turning point,’ he says.

Part of that turning point was a decision to let go of the hatred he had carried. Through friends he was introduced to Faten, a north Sudanese woman living in Melbourne. After telling her his story, she cried and asked

his forgiveness on behalf of her people. They decided to bring others together, forming a group:Sudanese Youth for Reconciliation and Hope. A fragile peace had emerged in Sudan, but Vincent was convinced that unless north and south could work together, the war would continue to be fought by every generation.

‘It was our responsibility to end the cycle of violence’, he says.

With support from IofC they started having regular meetings and organized a first Sudanese-Australian youth conference.Encouraged by its success, theybegan to reach out to politicians on both sides back in Sudan.

But they also faced opposition. Vincent started receiving angry emails and phone calls, and false rumours were spread that he was being bribed by the north. Undeterred, they raised money to send a delegation to the north and south of Sudan hoping to share the experience of youth working towards peace.

In January 2011, South Sudan held a referendum on whether to separate from the north. Whilst passionately in favour of independence, Vincent and his fellow peace activists were concerned about the potential that this could re-ignite the conflict. They planned a summit which brought together about 200 from north and South Sudan in the ‘neutral’ territory of Nairobi, Kenya. Word got around to the South Sudanese government who chartered a plane to fly 20 of them to the southern capital of Juba, where they were invited to hold a similar summit.

Amidst all this, Vincent somehow found time to complete a degree from Melbourne University, campaign against racism in Australia, and was reunited with his mother, whom he had almost given up for dead. He continues to live on one meal per day, sending as much money as possible to his family in South Sudan where it supports about 57 people. In January 2012 he was appointed as one of 40 People of Australia Ambassadors by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

His autobiography, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die, was launched on 25 July, the first anniversary of the Republic of South Sudan.

‘My story is not the worst story,’ he says. ‘There are people who have had a tougher life than mine. I’d like people to think about what they can do to help change someone’s life.’

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