December 2 /Cape Technikon Commerce 4.16

The Veterans Restoration Project - Cao Dai Giao Hai Ngoai / Mr. Steven Stratford

The Veterans Vietnam Restoration Project (VVRP), a non-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO), does humanitarian work in Vietnam. It provides American Vietnam War Veterans opportunities to return to Vietnam to do humanitarian aid projects. It has arranged for one hundred Americans to complete thirteen projects to date. Seeing Vietnam begin to show signs of rebirth and learning that the Vietnamese people have forgiven the US soldiers helps the veterans to forgive themselves and to repair their war-torn self esteem.

Tjodhilde’s Church — Commitment to Build Bridges - Gardar Foundation/ Mrs. Ellen Kristensen, Mr. Finn Lynge, Mr. Oye Karl Berthelsen

Greenland’s Gift of Service to the World is a sanctuary, and a commitment to build bridges of peace and understanding between nations and cultures. In the year 1000 A.D., a viking named Leif Ericsson brought Christianity with him to Greenland on a sea-voyage which, accidentally, led to the first European discovery of the New World. In Greenland, Leif’s mother was converted to the new faith and built a small chapel, thus providing the first footprint of Christianity in the Western Hemisphere. A historically correct replica of that church will be dedicated in the year 2000, and will serve as a meeting place for Christians of all denominations – indeed, for all

people of all religions - as a center for understanding and good will.

Hope for Children - Hope for Children Fund/Rabbi Abraham Soetendorp

The project goal is to improve the living conditions of underprivileged children all over the world by means of education. Hope for Children calls on every Dutch citizen to donate at least one thousandth part of his or her yearly income. By doing so, in the year of 1999, the community can transform the symbolic turning point of entering the new millennium into a real turning point. Worldwide, there are 125 million children who do not benefit from any kind of education whatsoever. Teaching these children to read and write will provide them with a key to the world. The implementation of this initiative will be in the hands of the largest and most renowned relief organisation and supervised by Hope for Children fund. While the project originates in Netherlands, the organisers hope that it will become an international effort.

Deepankar Kenya Inter-College, India - Indian Buddhist Association of USA/Dr. Rahul Deepankar. M.D.

The Indian Buddhist Association of the USA has helped to create an all-women’s college in rural India. Located in the Gaon Uhar Pradesh of India, the school is dedicated to advancing self-esteem and empowering rural women through secondary education. The program has been on-going for the past three years.

Building an Elementary School for the Underprivileged Children of India- State University of New York, Oneonta

Beginning January 1, 2000, college students from SUNY, New York will help to build an eight-room structure for underprivileged children in Dundold, India. Money for the project is raised through charitable donations.

Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) - Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)/Mr. Richard P. Steel

The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is a worldwide association of volunteer groups offering experiential workshops in conflict resolution, responses to violence, and personal growth. It was started by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1975 in response to a request from prison inmates for non-violence training. While prisons remain a major focus of AVP work, the training is also used in schools and community institutions, such as businesses, churches, schools, homeless shelters, youth organisations, etc. The AVP program hosts workshops that nurture skills essential to a culture of non-violence: affirmation (self-esteem, trust); communication (listening and self-expression); cooperation; conflict resolution. While AVP was founded by Quakers on the basis of their belief in an inborn power for peace in everyone, it is an independent organisation that draws its participants and trainers from all religions, races and walks of life. AVP chapters are found in 40 states of the USA and 20 countries worldwide.

Victory Over Violence - Soka Gakkai International-USA/ Ms. Milina Moore

Victory Over Violence is a project of the SGI-USA Youth Peace Committee (YPC) to raise awareness about violence, it’s cause, and possible solutions. SGI-USA held 1,700 meetings in August 1999, resulting in 10,000 individuals signing a non-violence pledge. A travelling exhibit was created, along with a workbook and video, to facilitate discussion and inspire ideas about how to become non-violent. The program is being expanded to local governments, civic organisations and other religious organisations, and the YPC seeks to create a global network of youth who can speak with one voice toward resolving problems that threaten human lives.

Teaching of the Global Ethic to Zarathusthi Youth World Over - Federation of Zoroastrian Association of North America/ Mr.Rohinton M, Rivetna

The project will endeavor to teach Zarathusthi youth worldwide the Global Ethic as subscribed to by the 1993 Assembly of Spiritual and Religious Leaders of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, including such topics as: comparative religion, civics, parenting, interreligious dialogue, conflict resolution, and appreciative inquiry. It will endeavor to seek guidance from other faith traditions in the preparation of teaching materials, while encouraging them to develop their own programs.

2000 Campaign Vision: Youth and Schools - A Season for Non-violence Los Angles/ Ms. Michel Golan

In Los Angeles, where 12 youth lose their lives due to violence every week, school communities and young people can directly and immediately benefit from the teaching of non-violence in coping with the very urgent challenges that they face in their day to day lives. Our aim is to inspire and empower the next generation to become effective agents for non-violence in their own lives and communities by offering schools and community-based groups programs and resources which teach the principles and applied practice of non-violence to youth and those who serve them. The Campaign will launch with the premiere of the CNN film, Children of Peace, a work profiling five members of the Children’s Peace Movement in Colombia (currently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize). SNV-LA is inviting 800 youth from throughout LA to the West Coast premiere, followed by an evening of dialogue with filmmakers and members of the Children’s Peace Movement.

Project: S.H.A.L.O.M. (Students Holding Hands Across Lines of Multiculturalism) - Elm Place School/Ms. Suzanne Greenwald

Israeli and American students – dedicated to tackling problems of intolerance that exist between cultures, religions, and races – share concerns, problems, and ideas over the Internet. Together, they have developed and will implement solutions that make

a difference.

A Low-Cost Institute of English for Adults - Inter-Cultural Research Center/Fr. Lucien F. Cosijins

The Inter-Cultural Research Center aims to promote English as a second language for Sri Lankans order to enable them to communicate with people of different communities both within and outside the country. To effectively achieve this goal, it strives to develop tools and techniques that could give adult Sri Lankans a proficiency in the use of the language in as short a time-span as possible, and (taking into account the low-income situation of the majority) at as low a cost as possible. In response to Sri Lanka’s present economic uncertainty, ethnic conflict, and regression in educational standards, Dr. Fernando (the head of the Department of Western Classical Culture, Kelaniya University for nearly twenty years) created this Center in 1984 as an Institute of English for adults. Classes were conducted at first for a student-body of about 25 in a car-garage renovated for the purpose. Now a two-story building provides room for a daily attendance of around 600, with participants who range from twenty to sixty

years old.

When Racism Becomes Law - Council of KZN Jewry, Human Rights Forum/Mrs. Paddy Meskin

A two-part exhibition: one covers Anne Frank and the Holocaust, the other the Apartheid era. The programme for young people presents the lives of Anne Frank and Nelson Mandela and examines how they were influenced when racism became law. The programme began just after the '94 South African elections and has been used throughout KZN - from Newcastle to Port Shepstons. It promotes human rights, democracy, decision-making and voter education.