Bridge-Builder#7 Unity in Dversity

Bridge- Builder BB#7, Mar. 2014

‘THE COMMON GOOD & UNITY IN DIVERSITY! OBSERVATIONS AND INITIATIVES!’ A BRIDGE-BUILDER: Rev. Richard Boeke, United Kingdom A THINKER: Alexandre Lavallée, Canada A PRACTITIONNER: Miomir Rajcevic, Serbia Our Meeting at the United Nations - Alliance of Civilisations, USA INTRODUCTION: Helene de Saint Front, France NEWS: Moses Kyamaka, Uganda | Olwoch Collins, Uganda

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EDITORIAL

By Ms Violaine HACKER Common Good Forum The notion of common good - originated over 2,000 years ago in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero - has come to have such a critical place in current discussions of problems in our society. Indeed people and countries have different ideas about what is worthwhile, or what constitutes the good life for human beings.

On top of it, there are for instance ‘free-rider’ who are willing accept the benefits, but who do nothing to support the common good.

Also the culture of individualism encourage the promotion of Rights – notably Human Rights - and Freedom of the individual over the good of the community. For this reason can all human beings powerfully sustain one another?

Violaine HACKER Common Good Forum

More exactly, the common good requires an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things, a principle that is present throughout all of creation. It remains an insoluble conundrum – how to balance unity and diversity.

This issue supposes to build bridges between thinkers and practitioners. I am honored and happy to work in that respect, with more than 22 countries in the world, in partnership with the United Nations – Alliance of Civilizations. As you can read in the Declaration of the High Representative of the UNAOC, the UN is aware that the civil society has a crucial role to play.

Our project ‘Unity in Diversity – World Civil Society’ will encourage local grass-roots actions in close collaboration with thinkers and decision-makers at national and local levels. The Common Good Forum will be the French Champion.

EDITORIAL 3

By Ms Violaine HACKER Our Meeting at the United Nations - Alliance of Civilisations, New York INTRODUCTION 5

By Mrs Helene de SAINT FRONT A BRIDGE-BUILDER

By Mr Rev. Richard BOEKE

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A THINKER

By Mr Alexandre LAVALLÉE

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A PRACTITIONNER

By Mr Miomir RAJCEVIC

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IN THE NEWS

By Mr Moses KYAMAKA

By Mr Olwoch COLLINS

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In that capacity, I would like to thank very much indeed the contributors of this Bridge-Builder who help us understand the practical barriers to the Unity in Diversity.

They have the ability to develop innovative programs in different kind of sectors: interfaith seminars and projects, promotion of the philosophy and its crucial role in our daily life, or intercultural actions such like Media literacy in Serbia. Those initiatives would not be able if stereotypes constitutes barriers to dialogue (as you will read in the Introduction). I am also highly sensitive to the capabilities of our correspondents from Uganda. Indeed they show us how they can build grassroots projects even in difficult circumstances.

Thank you very much to my dear friends who help us explain the philosophy of the Common Good. And you are welcome to contact us if you want to get more details about our project ‘Unity in Diversity – World Civil Society’.

Common Good Forum http://www.commongood-forum.org Contact: violaine.hacker@commongood-forum.org 3

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EDITORIAL

INTRODUCTION

Closing Remarks by H.E. Mr. Nas-

Unity in Diversity and Sterotypes

sir Abdul Aziz Al-Nasser, The United Nations High Representative for the Alliance Of Civilizations Unity in Diversity . World Civil Society UNAOC Informal Meeting

diversity, while still remembering that we are all united as human beings. It is in this celebration of diversity that we will truly unite. Your role as civil society is imperative in this regards. (…)

“United Nations HQ, New York, 21 February 2014 Distinguished Representatives of Civil Society, Dear Friends and Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you all for joining us these past two days for a discussion which has proved to be extremely fruitful. On behalf of my team at the UNAOC, we appreciate all of your presentations which have helped us to better understand the context of your proposed initiative.

The next time we meet, we will be in Bali. We look forward to cooperating with you under the theme of ‘Unity in Diversity’ and the implications it has for stability, prosperity and security.

During these 2 days, you had the opportunity to meet with various entities of the UN.

(…) The role of Governments in fostering dialogue, understanding and collaboration among people and culture is important, but at the end of the day only the people themselves, local community and civil society can make the real difference. That is why I’m fully committed to help by all means to strengthen the voice of the civil society and to support all your efforts.

First among my staff, the team of UNAOC, presenting to you the youth program, the partnership program, media program, the educational program, and migration program. We exhibited how my office deals with cultural diversity and interfaith.

Our discussion today has given us a jump-start on that matter, as we have delved into your ideas for creating a more active NGO role in addressing issues pertaining to the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

You were also honored by representatives of member states, Algeria, Russia, Brazil, Costa Rica, specialized agencies UNESCO, International Organization “Francophonie” and some partners from DPI the UN Academic Impact and from the Academia Fairley Dickinson University, Manhattan Multicultural Counseling, among others.

In closing, I would like to welcome your initiative and offer my sincere gratitude for your attendance during these two days. I look forward to pursuing this partnership which will help build a ‘future of development and peace for all’.

It has truly been a pleasure to have learned more about the innovative ways in which an engaged group like yours can help to advance the goals and activities of the UNAOC, particularly as they relate to the UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda. (…) This, I feel, truly speaks to our theme of ‘Unity in Diversity’.

Our various inputs, influences and involvement all advance a common objective. (…) We must continue to celebrate our own and each other’s cultures. We must build connections and create conversations across cultural lines. We must cherish our

By Mrs Helene de SAINT FRONT Ovid-Group, France

We all have felt the winds of change. Many things are shifting, and, after some violent storms, it now seems the world winds are gently blowing hope. For the wind to keep blowing in the right direction, we all need to unite around this emerging global consciousness, around this common aspiration towards building a positive future for us and our children. We should focus on this common faith that we can jointly change the world.

Helene de Saint Front (HEC, School of Management, Paris) is a creative management expert with an international professional background, and a strong interest for intercultural aspects. She is now the co-founder of Ovid, an innovative organization that enable companies to effectively make the shift towards “tomorrow’s organizations”.

Combining serious games, collaborative events and cognitive science-based tools, Ovid helps organizations unlock human potential and redesign their strategy to successfully adapt to an increasingly complex world.

But being united won’t suffice. The world is facing an infinity of challenges, calling for an infinity of solutions, therefore an infinity of talents. So the more ‘unique’ we are, the more valuable we become. In those turbulent times, diversity is key. With diversity we can leverage different points of view to most efficiently solve problems. By uncovering everybody’s special ‘gift to the shift’ and unlocking our creativity we are better positioned to address tomorrow’s challenges.

Helene@ovid-group.com - http://www.ovid-group.org

What prevents us from fully tapping into this amazing potential? Mostly because of an insidious hurdle: our unconscious stereotypes against people that we perceive as ‘different’.

Simply stated, the ‘automatic’ part of our brain is the one really in charge of our decisions and social interactions. Due to many factors, including our cultural environment, we tend to unconsciously favor people that look or act or believe the same way as our local social norm - even if we consciously believe diversity is good.

So what can we do? The good news is, unconscious stereotypes can be changed. For this we need to work both three levels: personal, cultural and structural. To break our automatic negative associations related to different social groups, we need to replace them by positive ones. First and foremost we need to communicate about and build bridges between highly different social groups, cultures or generations to discover each group’s intrinsic and unique qualities. This is one of the best ways to change our unconscious perceptions and enable different people to understand and value each other.

And start working hand-in-hand towards the greater good.

http://www.unaoc.org

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A BRIDGE-BUILDER Initiative and Difficulties in the Philippines

Personal Memories

The work of Rev. Quimada continues to receive support from the IARF. His daughter, Rebecca, has studied at Meadville Theological Seminary and will be ordained in the Philippines in April 1999.

Less than a year after Rev. Quimada attended the 1987 IARF Congress, he was murdered by paramilitary. His home and papers were burned.

My experience in Japan

By Mr Rev. Richard BOEKE International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF)

My round the world trip continued in Japan, where I was greeted

by Dr. Imaoka, Unitarian Minister and High School Principal. After I climbed Mt Fuji and made a pilgrimage to the Atomic City of Hiroshima, Dr. Imaoka hosted me at a dinner with many Japanese religious leaders.

Bring together non-dogmatic religious groups into the IARF

IARF Story

Rev. Richard Boeke

I was a Southern Baptist Chaplain in the US Air Force. My last year in the Air Force, I read Albert Schweitzer, and became convinced of the rightness of his teaching of ‘reverence for life.’ As I looked at our bombers and our atomic weapons, I realized that this MADNESS must end. I left the Air Force at the end of 1958, and became a Unitarian Universalist minister.

First President of the U.S. Chapter of the IARF. Chairman – British Chapter IARF 2010-13.

Vice President, World Congress of Faiths (WCF). http://www.IARF.net The IARF was founded in 1900.

Congresses before World War I were attended by thousands including Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk who became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia.

For 69 years, IARF was an important link for liberals in Europe, North America and India. At the Boston Congress of 1969, it was transformed as Rissho Kosei kai, Tsubaki Grand Shrine, and half dozen other groups of other World Faiths joined.

When I was called to the Unitarian Church in Flushing, New York, two college students from Kenya lived with me. Partly because of this Kenya connection, I made a trip around the world in the summer of 1962. A month in Kenya and Uganda (including an interview with Jomo Kenyatta). A visit to our 200 year old Unitarian Church in Madras. Then a week in the Philippines where I was one of first American UUs to meet Rev. Quimada, founder of the UU Church of the Philippines. He brought with him his translations of the American UU Hymnbook. I realized that anyone who translates an entire hymnbook is serious. Dr. Dana Greeley helped raise money for Rev. Quimada to make mimeo copies of the hymnbook for his congregations.

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At the 36th Congress of the International Assoc. for Religious Freedom – August 2014 in Birmingham, England - 300 delegates will be together.

We start with the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCATION OF LIBERAL RELIGIOUS WOMEN (2023 August) followed by the IARF Congress with an opening ceremony featuring Karen Armstrong, author of ‘Twelve Steps to Compassion’.

This was part of Dr. Imaoka’s leadership in using his Japan Free Religious Association to bring Rissho Kosei kai, Tsubaki Grand Shrine, Itto-en, Konkoyo, and other non-dogmatic religious groups into the IARF. His efforts met success as Rissho Kosei kai was welcomed into the IARF in 1969. Tsubaki Grand Shrine joined a few years later.

Dr. Imaoka was very generous. I will never forget joining Winifred Norman in presenting an IARF award to Dr. Imaoka which was accepted by his son. The son said, ‘My father was a very bad father. He gave away everything. During the war, my mother had to hide food so we would not starve.’ The son went on to praise his father.

But his opening stuck in my mind when Dr. Imaoka died at the age of 106. I stood in line in the rain with over a thousand as we paid our respects at his home. I thought of the poem of his friend, the Japanese Christian Kagawa: ‘Penniless, for a while I can live.

But it breaks my heart To know I cannot give.’

The optimist and the pessimist look at the same world. But the optimist has more fun. On BBC radio, a story of Sir Thomas Beecham, the conductor, was told. He was rehearsing Handel’s ‘Messiah’ in Australia. The women were singing, ‘For unto us a child is born.’ Beecham stopped the rehearsal. He said, ‘Ladies, please think of the joy of conception, not the pain of childbirth.’ Then the men’s chorus came in, ‘Wonderful!’

There will be a parallel young adult programme which will join us on visits to Religious Centres in Birmingham including the GURU NANAK NISHKAM SEWAK JATHA (which famously fed 5,000 at the Barcelona Parliament of the World’s Religions).

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Martin Luther King, Jr. said ‘We shall either learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.’ The IARF is dedicated to the proposition that human beings around the world can network together as friends. In this brief article, I will tell you some of my memories of IARF networking.’

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A THINKER Philophobie ?!.. Philophobia?!...

Quebec (singers, politicians, comedians, etc.) did their ‘philosophical coming out’.

philosophique », c’est-à-dire à avouer au public qu’ils ont étudié en philosophie, notamment via les médias sociaux. À travers des témoignages qui relatent leurs parcours, les participant(e)s évoquent en quoi la philosophie leur a été « utile » et précisent pourquoi elle a encore sa place aujourd’hui. Quelques personnalités publiques du Québec (chanteur, politicien, acteur, etc.) ont fait leur « coming out philosophique ».

In addition, the Web site shares different articles about the advantages of studying philosophy, give examples of ‘philophobia”, post philosophical reflexions, invite people to give their opinion on different matters and will soon be releasing videos.

‘Ensemble contre la philosophie’ (against philophobia)

By Mr Alexandre LAVALLÉE Ensemble contre la Philophobie, Canada - Québec

‘Against Philophobia’ campaign

Le site Web partage aussi de nombreux articles portant sur la pertinence d’une formation en philosophie, fournit des exemples de « philophobie », publie des réflexions philosophiques et invite les Internautes à s’exprimer sur différents sujets. Cet hiver, des capsules vidéo y seront publiées.

Initiated by the Univeristé Laval’s Faculty of Philosphy at the end of 2013, the Web site http://www.philophobie.com (only in french, unfortunately) is promoting philosophy by joining a political cause which was strenghten by political events and student strikes that happened in Quebec back in 2012.

Ensemble contre la philophobie Lancée par la Faculté de philosophie de l’Université Laval à la fin de l’année 2013, le site Web http://www.philophobie.com promeut la philosophie en s’inscrivant dans une lutte politique qui a refait surface au Québec depuis les grèves étudiantes de 2012.

Campagne web « Ensemble contre la philophobie »

Society’s education does not only depends on institutions. It also depends on what role students think education plays in their lives.

Their conception of education has a direct effect on the way they attend classes, on their perseverance and on their level of motivation, maybe more than evaluations themselves. What is education good for? Why attend classes? What’s the point?

The reputation of studying philosophy In North America more than in Europe, university degrees are essentially understood as ways to reach a precise job – a job that is financially interesting. No surprise, programs like medicine, law, or architecture are esteemed and perceived as ‘legit”. On the other hand, programs that do not lead to any precise job, for example literature, anthropology, history and – of course – philosophy, are considered useless and not ‘legit’ at all. Those who study in these programs are usually seen as disconnected people that have no future. in Quebec (Canada), this phenomenon seems stronger with philosophy students.

Parmi les facteurs qui influencent l’éducation d’une société, plusieurs ne dépendent pas des institutions d’enseignement.

La conception qu’ont les étudiants du rôle que joue l’éducation dans leur vie, par exemple, a un effet direct sur la manière qu’ils ont d’assister aux cours, sur leur persévérance et sur leur motivation. À quoi bon l’éducation ?

Pourquoi s’en prévaloir? En vue de quelle fin ?

La réputation des études en philosophie

Philosophers: out of the cave, please!

In order to demonstrate that even if university degrees do not lead to a precise jobs, they still have some value, the ‘Ensemble contre la philophobie’ campaign (‘Against philophobia’) ask people who possess a philosophy degree to do their ‘philosophical comingout’, meaning they have to publicly admit, via social media, they’ve once studied philosophy. In their discourse, they explain how philosophy managed to be ‘useful’ in their lives and why this knowledge still has its place today. Some public personality of 8

En Amérique du Nord plus qu’en Europe, les études supérieures sont essentiellement conçues comme une passerelle vers un emploi. Les programmes qui mènent à des métiers précis comme la médecine, le droit ou l’architecture sont donc très respectés et apparaissent « logiques ». Quant aux programmes qui ne mènent à aucun métier précis, par exemple l’histoire, la littérature, l’anthropologie ou la philosophie, ils sont considérés comme inutiles et « absurdes ». Ceux et celles qui s’y inscrivent projettent généralement l’image de personnes sans avenir et déconnectées de la réalité. Ce phénomène est particulièrement vrai pour les étudiant(e)s en philosophie, au Québec du moins.

Philosophes, sortez de la caverne !

Pour s’attaquer à ces préjugés et affirmer la pertinence d’études qui ne sont pas subordonnés à un métier précis, la campagne « Ensemble contre la philophobie » invite les anciens diplômés en philosophie à faire leur « coming out 9

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A PRACTITIONNER form of the Summit through different workshops for young people and their teachers (Intercultural Interactive Multimedia Educational Technologies is a project at the Media Education Centre we are implementing during the Summit);

Fanfare for the Future Media, Information and Peace Literacy Summit

By Mr Miomir RAJCEVIC President Media Education Centre, Serbia

cultures, bringing young people together to have a voice in the future.

In August 2013 the Eight International Youth Media Summit (IYMS) was held in Belgrade, Serbia, hosted by Miomir Rajcevic, Executive Director of the IYMS, and Media Education Centre (http://www.mediaeducationcentre.eu). The Summit focused on intercultural, interactive educational technologies, media and information literacy and the development of film, TV, radio and Internet tools for communication, cooperation and positive change in society. Young people (more than 90 delegates) from 22 countries around the globe participated.

Founded by Seubert and Marshall, and organized by the members of TIME (Teen International Media Exchange at Cleveland High School), the first IYMS was held in July 2006 in Los Angeles, California. It was funded by the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation and Health Net (a health care company), and was presented by the youth media network Listen Up! and the teaching programme Learning for Life. Marshall and the Listen Up! staff helped recruit the 86 student delegates and teachers from 26 countries who would attend this extraordinary event.

Each country’s delegation to the Summit was composed of an adult advisor, a student filmmaker and a student diplomat, and they talked about issues present in almost all countries: health, women’s rights, violence, racism, poverty, environment and youth empowerment. Each delegate was assigned to an issue group. The main ambition of the participants was to describe problems, find solutions, invent scenarios based on the text of declaration, i.e. the textual explanation of each issue, and produce seven public service announcements (PSAs). This is why we call the IYMS movement Seven Voices in Time.

When the delegates arrived in Los Angeles, they shared the PSAs and research projects they had created in their home communities that highlighted their issue.

Over the course of three days, the students and teachers in each issue group visited local organizations working on innovative media solutions that inspired and encouraged the delegates.

In the last days of the Summit, students in each issue group created two videos: a PSA and a resolution for action. The delegates would use these back at home to motivate other young people to share their voices and become involved in solutions.

Summit History September 11, 2001. The first seeds of courage, cooperation and creativity that would become the IYMS were planted that day in the ashes of terror and hatred. And many more seeds were planted that same week, when Aileen Marshall from Scotland and Evelyn Seubert from the US met for the first time.

The horrible events of 9/11, fresh in their minds, brought special urgency to their mission: to create media collaborations across

TV, radio, documentary and Internet/blog/online section of the Summit work on post-production of the PSAs, post-production of outcomes of the educational platform, and “hour by hour” multimedia documentation of the Summit’s activities for final presentation and the Summit’s archives; and

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Executive Committee in collaboration with members, partners and supporters organize a series of seminars, presentations and round tables during the Summit.

As they move forward to advanced education and careers in many disciplines, the Summit delegates bring with them a passion for creating a harmonious world community that will benefit from shared creativity, cultural understanding and informed insight. These delegates will inspire others of their generation to shape the future through media and action.

turned home. They spoke out on television, in print articles and on the Internet about their experience of peaceful cooperation to achieve a peaceful future.

After Los Angeles 2006, the Summit became an annual event.

Miomir Rajcevic from the Media Education Centre (Serbia), Vahid Vahed from Cinewest (Australia), Birgitta Olsson from Film i Halland (Sweden), Aileen Marshall from the South Lanarkshire Council (Scotland), and James Gleason and Evelyn Seubert from TIME at Cleveland High School (USA) formed the Executive Committee. In 2007, eight young people were selected from past delegations to form the Youth Committee.

The Ninth Summit (FANFARE FOR THE FUTURE) will be held in Los Angeles, USA (July 14th to 27th) with the motto ‘Accomplish the IMPOSSIBLE Together’. Our goal is to include as many young people as possible from the Western Balkans Region and marginalized groups of young people (rural population, sexual minorities, the Roma population, young people with disabilities, etc.). We would like to promote (multi) media education as the best tool for development in a sustainable society (fast,

After the second Summit (Sydney, Australia, 2007) the IYMS moved to Belgrade, Serbia, and the Media Education Centre became its headquarters. The Summit has become a formal network (Since 2009 the IYMS has been registered as a charity, non-profit, non-political NGO) of organizations, educational institutions, schools and individuals willing to support the young generation in using media as a strong tool for change and for the development of peace, democracy and intercultural understanding around the world.

Empowerment of the New Media Pedagogy During the past six years in Belgrade (2008-2013), participants, media experts and teachers, the Summit’s Youth Committee, guests and visitors, and our Advising Committee have supported the development of the Summit’s activities in different sections:

understandable and exchangeable), supporting social justice in a multicultural environment and building interactive educational platforms for effective social inclusion, to help in understanding differences and to uphold the right to participate.

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International production of the seven PSAs, produced by young participants;

Note

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Group of advisers together with team of instructors at the Media Education Centre working on the educational plat-

Resolutions for action (in text and video clip formats), PSAs, documentaries, multimedia outcomes and information about all Summits can be found at http://www.iyms.eu.

Cross-Cultural Media Education Model At the IYMS students and teachers work together across cultures, religions, ethnic backgrounds and political viewpoints.

The seven PSAs and seven resolutions for action created at the first Summit were seen around the world when the delegates re10

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IN THE NEWS Distribution

From our correspondants

Ray of Hope Africa (RAHA) will conduct a survey to identify households most affected by gut perforation to first receive the Solvatten units. RAHA will establish a flexible mode of instalment payments, basing the price on each household’s monthly income. Households will pay for their Solvatten units within six months. In the spirit of sustainability, repayments will be reinvested in bringing more lifechanging technology to the community.

Timeframe for Implementation One year Targeted direct beneficiaries reaching 225 People Contribution Ray of Hope Africa (RAHA)

From our correspondant, Mr Moses KYAMAKA, Ray of Hope, Uganda About Ray of Hope Africa (RAHA)

Financial contribution; $700 (transportation of units from airport to Kasese and distribution of Solvatten units to households) Why Solvatten

RAHA is a registered local NGO, operating in Uganda since 2007 with focus on human rights and peace, health and HIV&AIDS, and economic empowerment. (http://www.rayofhope-africa.org).

The Solvatten takes only a few hours in the sun to purify the water, removing pathogens that cause waterborne diseases like dysentery, cholera, and gut perforation. The Solvatten will provide a convenient supply of safe, clean drinking water, and families will no longer need to boil water to make it safe to drink. This will save families time and money, and ease pressure on the environment by reducing demand for firewood.

Problem

Non financial contribution; training, marketing, report writing, project monitoring and evaluation Project costs

Item

Cost description

Cost unit amount

Quantity

Total amount

Product – Solvatten unit

Cost of technology

$104.00

45*

$4,680.00

Shipping and clearance

Lump sum

Wire Transfer Fee

Kasese district is located in Western Uganda. Apparently, few households in Kasese have access to safe drinking water. River Nyamwamba, a major water source for the population in the district is contaminated by solid waste disposal and leakage from Kilembe mines besides sharing the river with both animals and people. Since 2008, gut perforation disease, caused by drinking contaminated water, has become a serious health problem in the district. People have been reporting stomach complications at all three district hospitals of Kagando, Bwera and Kilembe, and at least two people have required operations each day since the outbreak.

$45.00

PayPal/other processing fee

3.3% average based on average size of project and average donation amount

Kopernik 10%

Covers Kopernik’s due diligence and project support costs

Direct Beneficiaries

$2,850.00 1

$3.30

$45.00 $288.00

$874.00

Total

$8,737.00

*Fluctuations in currency exchange rates and shipping costs may change the final quantity of technologies we ship for this project

To support the cause, visit the following link; http://kopernik.info/project/drink-up-kasese-uganda RAHA will make the Solvatten available to households affected by gut perforation, and those most at risk of illness from contaminated water. This will be based on the survey findings

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Thank you so much in advance.

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From our correspondant, Mr Olwoch COLLINS, Uganda

Until 2005, Acholiland has been in war which began in mid 1980s, encamping the entire rural population. However, it has become peaceful since though the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) is still at large, roaming the jungle of DRC and CAR. Several governments and NGOs are putting spirited efforts to have its leader, Joseph Kony, arrested and delivered to the Hague or killed altogether. America government and Invisible Children are at the forefront of this effort. Also, sending message of surrender to the fighters by dropping leaflets from planes in the jungles, and making radio announcement. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the process. All this is being done, the local population that suffered the full brand of the war wallop in absolute poverty with no hope for the future. A happy and secure future though requires engagement in income generating activities and meaningful education. This is really missing.

General state of the former war victims

Special idea As stated above, there are two prime areas that are of concern.

However, this idea covers agricultural program as it will empower the community to pay their children by themselves. Here in Uganda as general, people still use rudimentary tools for cultivation. On average, for each round of tilling, one person digs 1 acre of land in 1 month. This limits them to a small fraction of the land. My idea entains; 1. Organizing the community into small groups of few members and training them on modern agricultural practices; 2. Distribution of oxen and plough to the members of the group; 3. Availing tractors to those with large land such that, they pay only for the fuel and on credit that can be paid after the sale of produce.

Acholis are predominantly subsistence farmers even before the war. People here use rudimentary handheld tools. This is laborers and expensive in terms of time. Besides, it is not possible to produce in excess for the market which is always available. Because of other needs, one would sell the little produced and become vulnerable to famine. Another problem is the children that are orphaned by the war. They are either out of school or not attending any meaningful education. Back home, their own relatives are forcing them out of their land thus becoming vagabonds.

Conclusion

Activities undertaken by other players

that mind our plight to come for our support. Thank you for reading. I can be contacted on (Collins.lwo@gmail.com).

Acholiland is the least developed in the country, thus the natives being the poorest. It is also the worst performed region in national exams. This makes Acholis the least opportune community in the world of world of employment. If something is not done, and now, it will impact on more than two generations ahead. I therefore call upon individuals and organizations

At the end of aggression in 2005, many stakeholders were actively involved in the rehabilitation of the region. Efforts were directed in infrastructural development. The major areas these supports were directed; 1. Constructions of road and bridges; 2. Rehabilitation of hospitals and construction of staff houses; 3. Rehabilitation of schools and construction of teachers houses; 4. Sinking boreholes and construction of spring wells; 5. Rehabilitation of former rebels for integration in the community; 6. Sponsoring bright students in post primary and tertiary institutions including university.

Gaps lurking I really appreciate the efforts of the previous and current players Infrastructural development has been possible because of them. However, their efforts did not address the real needs of the war victims in real term. The perpetrators of the sufferings are rewarded with skill trainings, start-up capital and their children sponsored.

Sponsorship is also available to best performed students in national exams, which is more likely to benefit the well to-do as children of the poor are likely to go to schools that perform poorly. This is fine for their integration but what about those who lost their bread winners and would be bread winners to the war? Some lost their lifetime savings to the war while others spent their prime time idle in the camp. They do not need to live in the shadow of their former tormentors. After all, during the war, they lived in their shadow and a break is necessary. This is a time for equal opportunity without discrimination our wishes are; 1. All our children attend meaningful education; 2. Agricultural engagement that is economically beneficial.

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Common Good Forum http://www.commongood-forum.org Contact: violaine.hacker@commongood-forum.org

Chief Editor: Violaine Hacker Knowledge Manager and Graphic Design: Caroline Hacker Bauer

Credits Photos: Rev. Richard Boeke; Olwoch Collins; Moses Kyamaka; Alexandre Lavallée; Helene de Saint Front; Miomir Rajcevic

(…photos données par les auteurs.)