May 2005 Edition of the Grassroots Good News

Table of Contents:
GGN May 2005 / ToC:

1) School Conflict Management in Kenya
2) Peace Inititiatives in Ypres/Belgium
3) Winners of a Green Competition

1) School Conflict Management in Kenya
The Kenyan teacher Muigai Kimani has set up the “Centre for Conflict Resolution in Schools” in 2003 in his country. This non-profit organization - which is staffed solely by volunteers - introduces effective conflict resolution techniques to the schools.
In addition to researching the sources of violence, the centre initiates open meetings during which teachers, students and adminstrators cn express their opinion in an atmosphere of tolerance. It has also set up special “peace teams”, which help restore healthy relations between students and area residents.
Contact: ccrosscrisp@yahoo.com. Based on an article in www.odemagazine.comSeptember 2004. More reference at www.schoolmediation.com, Mai 2004.

2) Peace Inititiatives in Ypres/Belgium
The following proposal has been shortlisted within the Bremen Peace Award 2003 selection process: The town of Ypres declared itself a “City of Peace“ in 1985. Set against the background of complete destruction in the First World War, the town set up its own fund to provide financial support for local peace activities in Ypres.
Filip Deheegher (Peace and Development Service, City of Ypres) writes:
Since 1985 the city of Ypres, which was almost entirely destroyed in the First World War has been named “City of Peace“. Of the various local peace activities, the following four are particularly worth mentioning:

The “Mothers for Peace“ group was formed in Ypres at the end of 1992 with the aims of making public and condemning violence against women in areas of conflict and restoring self-confidence and self-determination in women and children through various campaigns. Since its foundation the initiative has worked together with various women’s groups in Croatia, Bosnia, Algeria, Kosovo, Rwanda and Afghanistan, supporting their work.

The international committee of the Ypres youth council has been organising a youth exchange since 1991. Young people from conflict areas take part in the exchange, including for example, young people from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Wallonia and Flanders (in Belgium). It is a particularly good idea to work with young people from areas of conflict given the tragic history of the city of Ypres.

The annual Käthe Kollwitz Peace Run has been held in Ypres since 1997. It brings to gether progressive NGOs, peace organisations, trade unions, student committees and youth organisations under a common manifesto. It originates in the history of Westhoek, the battlefield of the First World War with the countless pieces of evidence from it which have survived until now, including “The grieving parents“ by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz at the military cemetery in Vladslo. Käthe Kollwitz and her artwork condemn this senseless war and symbolise the peace concept behind the Peace Run. The Peace Run does not just appeal to all the citizens to get involved (sport being the common denominator) by running, walking, cycling or motor cycling, it also makes participants aware of the peace issue. Each year a special topic is chosen. The idea is that people are confronted with the reality through discussion forums, information points, testimonials and a cultural program.

In 1989 Ypres began a partnership with the Romanian village of Recea. One of the reasons for this decision was the notorious policy of the former Romanian dictator Ceausescu, who wanted to destroy most of the traditional villages in his country and replace them with gigantic concrete housing estates. The plans provoked a storm of indignation.
The countries of Europe were called upon to support certain Romanian villages and many towns in Belgium responded, one of which was Ypres. Ceausescu’s departure from the political stage in 1989 meant that it was possible to implement the partnership plan in a much more concrete way. The first small aid convoy left Ypres for Recea in 1990. Conditions in the village were abysmal, all the essential goods and services were virtually non-existent. Convoys with relief goods have been travelling to Romania every year since then.
Contact: vrede_ontwikkeling@ieper.be

3) Winners of a Green Competition
The Environment Magazine Ode (www.odemagazine.com) has made a contest for socially and ecologically responsible products and companies in 2004. Among the winners have been:

The best fair trade product
Green & Black’s
Chocolate is the sort of product that makes you appreciate economic globalization. There are no cocoa trees in Europe, the U.S. or Canada. But chocolate also highlights the problems with economic globalization. The price that most cocoa farmers get for their beans is disproportionate to our enjoyment of this luxurious treat. Fortunately, there are chocolate producers that consider good relations with their raw materials suppliers just as important as buoyant sales figures. Green & Black’s is one such company, whose quality was widely praised among our chocoholic readers. Over 150 small, independent cocoa farmers in Belize, the Dominican Republic, Madagascar and Ecuador help get this British company’s delicious chocolate bars onto shelves at health food stores in Europe and the United States. Green & Black’s was also the first chocolate producer to receive an organic certificate. www.greenandblacks.com

The best company
Bo Weevil
The praise we heard for this company via e-mail was overwhelming. “By investing as a Dutch company in a country like Uganda, you send out a strong signal to the local community about how social labor standards can be integrated in the corporate culture.” And: “It shows how a Dutch company can have a positive influence without making it about charity.” So Bo Weevil, the clothing company from Ermelo, Netherlands, aims to boost organic cotton cultivation in Uganda and good conditions for textile industry employees in Turkey. It sells a range of clothing to wholesalers, stores and internet shops, in addition to fabrics, towels, bathrobes and cotton. The founders of Bo Weevil, who used to work in the health food business, are following a similar path to mainstream retail acceptability. Organic food is increasingly penetrating average supermarkets, and finding organic clothing at your local shops is the logical next step. After all, you wear cotton close to your skin, and in hot weather perspiration can interact with the chemicals used in non-organic cotton. Clothing made with organically cultivated cotton is not only better from the perspective of cotton farmers—who often suffer dramatic health problems from pesticides and other chemicals—but organic cotton also feels more flexible and soft. www.boweevil.nl

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Editor: Dr Burkhard Luber
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