Scared Sacred

While this isn't "peace project", per se, I thought it worth mentioning.

"Scared Sacred" is a film by Canadian filmmaker, Velcrow Ripper, and winner of the Special Jury prize at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival.

Ripper visited the "Ground Zeros" of the World... Cambodia's "Killing Fields", Hiroshima, Bhopal..... in search of meaning in the World's atrocities. He finds, often Serendipitously, answers to questions he didn't know he was asking.

In Hiroshima, he meets a survivor who tells him of how, for the first years after the bombings, survivors were forbidden from telling their stories and treated as lepers. She tells her story, now, in a quest to give healing to others.

In Bhopal, he visits a holistic medicine clinic which "asserts the right of the expendable to live."

In Cambodia, he meets Aki Ra whom using only a simple stick, has to date decommissioned over 10,000 land mines, on his own, without a metal detector or shield.

Unfortunately, the "Scared Sacred" website doesn't seem to be up and running at the moment, but keep trying. I am sure it is worth visiting. See the film.....


Calgary Film Festival

Hello Peace

The purpose of the Hello, Peace! project is

to get large numbers of Israelis and Palestinians talking about peace again
to shift the dominant media story to "Israelis and Palestinians are talking about peace again"
to rebuild pressure on both governments to move toward dialogue and away from violence

The project is based on an automated telephone system that lets any Israeli or Palestinian simply pick up their phone at no charge and talk with someone on "the other side" about peace.

Project Love

"Project Love is a great opportunity for Canadians to act as global citizens by sending much-needed educational materials to students and teachers in developing countries. The program talks to young people about international development in terms they can understand. And it gives them a hands-on activity to help their global neighbours their own age. " 

Kits for Kids

"Each year, Canadian teachers, students and community groups get together to participate in Project Love. While learning about life in a developing country, they raise funds to buy school supplies for children and teachers who need them, and to help cover the costs of shipping.

Next they assemble the Project Love kits - each of which contains a pencil, an eraser, a notebook and a ruler. Often participants select Valentine's Day as the focal point of their activities, but many also decide to schedule Project Love around other dates.

Once the kits are packed into boxes, take them to your closest Canada Post outlet. CODE arranges to have the boxes shipped overseas. The shipping and freight is paid by CODE."

Encounter World Religions Centre

"ENCOUNTER World Religions Centre offers educational, spiritual and cultural encounters with the world's great wisdom traditions and their communities. The Centre promotes interreligious peace and understanding through experiential learning."

The Encounter World Religions Centre is offering a 7-day program, in Toronto, Ontario, in which participants can explore seven of the world's great religions.

Participants will:
·Meditate with Zen Buddhists
·Hear the Native drum and see Native dance
·Participate in a Wiccan celebration
·Share in a langar meal with the Sikhs
·Witness prayer time at mosque
·Visit a Zoroastrian fire temple
·Attend the Jewish Shabbat

Classes in the history, founders, and tenets of the various religions prepare the participants for the experiential componants of the program. There are also visits planned to the various cultural communities such as Greek Town and Little india, and several lunch excursions to ethnic restaurants.

All-in-all, it promises the be an amazing opportunity to explore and learn, first-hand, about the religious and ethince cultures of the world.

When: August 15 - 21, 2004
Where: Toronto (Base for classes will be at Bathhurst and St. Clair)
Cost: $395 (CDN)(Incl. All classes, All meals, Extensive handouts, Bus transportation to site visits)
Accomodations are also available for extra $75 for the whole week (simple dormitory arrangements with hotel style cots)

Contact Information
Telephone: (519) 822-0099
FAX: (519) 822-1236
Postal Address: 390 Speedvale Ave. E., Guelph, ON, N1E 1N5
E-Mail: encounter@worldreligions.ca

Seeds of Peace

Seeds of Peace founder John Wallach

Seeds of Peace, was founded in 1993, by John Wallach

"to provide an opportunity for the children of war to plant the seeds for a more secure future. The program focuses on Arab and Israeli teenagers from ten nations in the Middle East but has also brought youngsters from Cyprus, the war-torn Balkans and other regions of conflict to its unique coexistence program."

Seeds of Peace provides the opportunity for Arab and Israeli youth to gather and connect, in activities and programs designed to foster personal growth, as well as understanding and communication which will sow the seeds of Peace in their homelands.

"I am always trying to find the 'Seed' inside the people I meet. Seeds of Peace becomes a state of mind, a connection I try to achieve with fellow students. It is a context that allows me to encounter myself and others who help me develop my character as much as I help them develop theirs." Shouq, Jordanian

"Seeds of Peace didn't change my life - it became my life." Tamer, Egyptian

"I realize that peace is not a dream when you truly get to know who you are making peace with." Jamal, Palestinian

Deryk Houston

Road to Castle Douglas by Deryk Houston


Deryk is an artist, living in Victoria, who has an amazing gift for capturing vibrant landscapes that give one the sensation of actually moving through space.

I first came across Deryk when I was watching the NFB film "From Baghdad to Peace Country" which followed him to Baghdad in 1999 to witness, first-hand, the conditions in which the Iraqi people existed, due to the international sanctions; and home, where he began the creation of a monumental earthwork dedicated to Peace. The film moved me, and Deryk's willingness to share his talent and ideas with children is inspiring.

He has also illustrated the children's book, "Echos From The Square", written by Elizabeth Wellburn. The book is a fictional story featuring real-life cellist Vedran Smailovic, principal cellist of the Sarajevo Opera Orchestra, who played his cello for 22 consecutive days in the streets of Sarajevo to commemorate 22 people killed by a single shell. Both Vedran, and the book written about him have inspired a number of children and projects.

RFPI Links

Mediachannel

Links to hundreds of non-profit organizations, worldwide.

Common Ground Radio

Common Ground Radio is now off the air. However, archived programs are listed.

See also, The Stanley Foundation

Bustan

BUSTAN is a small, committed partnership of Jewish and Arab activists, architects, eco-builders and organic farmers promoting environmental justice and human rights. BUSTAN was created to address the environmental degradation and disappearance of the rural landscape in Israel/Palestine as a by-product of the continued territorial war and occupation. BUSTAN recognizes the economic, social and environmental impact on the land, and the people of the land.

PeaceWorks. So that Peace Works.

PPU

making a difference

The PPU is an independent organisation of individuals from all walks of life. Their shared belief is that war and violent conflict are neither necessary nor inevitable. Their shared aim is to work towards creating a just world free from war.