PRESS COVERAGE 2003-2004
PRESS COVERAGE 2003-2004
False Bay Echo, 23 September 2004
St James Primary School's Grade 4, 5 and 6 pupils on the Themba Edutrain on their way to Butterfly World. On the train they learnt about peace, respect and behaviour.Edutrain teaches Kalk Bay learners about peace and respect
Staff Reporter
The Peace, respect and butterflies was the name of all games when pupils from St James Primary School in Kalk Bay took a trip to Klapmuts on the Themba Edutrain last week.
Over 100 Grade 4, 5 and 6 pupils boarded the Edutrain to reach their final destination of Butterfly World in Klapmuts.
The train trip coincided with International Peace Day held annually on September 21, and was aimed at teaching pupils the importance of peace, respect and behaviour.
On their way to and from Klapmuts, the pupils were educated about peace and respect through workshops and games offered by the Quaker Peace Centre.
Said the Centre's researcher and information officer, Martin Struthmann: "When young people learn about peace it is a good start to their development. Many children grow up in a very violent society and I think we need to make them award that there is an alternative to using violence."
He said teaching children about peace, respect and behaviour was a way for them to contribute to world peace.Grade 6 pupil, Desiree Williams, 12, said: "I enjoyed learning about respect and peace, and the games we played with the peace alphabet. I leant I need to respect others no matter who they are and what they do. I also learnt that I need to make peace with my friends even when they did wrong stuff."
Another Grade 6 pupil, Leslie Paulse, 11, said: "I enjoyed learning about peace and hearing stories."
Leslie further committed to helping his mother to "wash dishes and pick up papers in the school grounds."
Akhona Ntozonke, 12, also in Grade 6, said she enjoyed learning about peace and respect and also learning how to care for other children.
The train has a classroom set-up with trained educators said Grade 5 teacher, Shireen Simons. "Many of them had for the first time learnt about what causes conflict at home, in communities and even in schools.
"I think this trip gave them the opportunity to think about ways of solving conflict in a better way, and also relate to their classmates in a better way," said Mrs Simons. She said it was important to equip children with strategies to deal with conflict.
For more information about the Themba Edutrain contact 449-2180.
Southern Suburbs Tatler, 23September 2004
Holding Hands for Peace
Karen Kotze
The Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray organised a “human chain around Rondebosch Common” on International Peace Day on Tuesday September 21
Schools in the area took part with Grade 10 and 12 pupils all holding banners and carrying balloons. The groups of supporters gathered between 7:30a.m and 8:30a.m, intending to form a circle around Rondebosch Common, but far to few people arrived in time for the deadline.
Acting Director of the Quaker Peace Centre Derek Daniels said that the small groups assembled on Park and Sawkins roads had been told that many school buses had been ensnared by the early morning rush hour traffic. The human chain was in support of the peaceful and safer South Africa, with citizens and visitors to the country alike calling for an end to violence, crime, rape and abductions, and calling for human security for all.
In 1981 the United Nations general Assembly resolved that September 21 would be an annual occasion for the whole world to observe a dayof peace and non-violence, to unite the global community and shift human consciousness.
“We are almost accustomed to hearing about incidents of violence and unrest, and that is a terrible thing to be aware of. We want people to remember that they have a choice always, and that every person counts, and every one of us can make a difference,” Mr. Daniels said.
Operations Director of the Quaker Peace Centre Anthea Nefdt said various schools and organizations had been extended an invitation to line the Rondebosch Common with their banners in a sign of solidarity, with everyone holding unto the hope of a peaceful world.
“The aim for 2004 was to inspire more than one billion people across the world to become involved and elevate the day and the thoughts which created it becoming the biggest event in history,” said Mr. Daniels.
And while in the early stages, this local expression lacked numbers, they had great heart! The Herschel and Rhodes students present sang and shouted “We want peace” and waved to passing motorists with heartfelt enthusiasm, and were occasionally rewarded with a hoot or a smile back.
Southern Suburbs Tatler, Thursday, 24 June 2004
Pollsmoor Youth Day bash
The Pollsmoor Choir entertains the Pollsmoor residents and their guests for the day on Youth Day, Wednesday June 16. Jason Davids, a volunteer at the Quaker Peace Centre, with Assistant Director Eric Mouton of Pollsmoor Correctional Facility
Staff Reporter
In prison, a public holiday is usually just another day to get through. But this year Wednesday June 16 saw Pollsmoor youth celebrating Youth Day with their peers from Hanover Park, Netreg, Vygieskraal, Delft and Langa.
The event was an initiative of the Quaker Peace Centre and Friends Against Abuse. The 100 hundred Pollsmoor residents were indistinguishable from the 150 non-residents as they donned coloured sports jerseys and participated with great enthusiasm in soccer, rugby, volleyball and cricket matches and a tug-of-war. The atmosphere was festive with loudspeakers blaring out the latest pop tunes, groups of young men dancing on the grass and hundreds of spectators leaning out of their prison windows to watch and contribute to the noise level.
Antonio van der Rheede of the Quaker Peace Centre said the aim was “to bring together youth from Pollsmoor and youth from various communities to help integrate them offenders back into society”.
This is part of an ongoing Quaker Peace Centre initiative where young men from Pollsmoor participate in life-skills and trust-building workshops. The purpose of the workshops is to establish ongoing relationships with the young participants and to equip them with the skills to participate in community activities upon their release from prison.
As part of the broad initiative of integrating young offenders back into society, there is a drive to remove the stigma attached to having spent time in prison. At Pollsmoor on Youth day the talk is of "residents" not prisoners and officials not wardens.Chris Malgas of Friends against Abuse summed up this transformation as a move away from the “lock them up” approach to one of normalising the offenders and “making them a part of our society”.
Certainly the celebrations at Pollsmoor appeared to go far in achieving this aim, if only for the morning. The sports day did not feel like it was taking place in a prison. There were no guns or intercoms and, while there were fences on the periphery of the field, these seemed far away from the action.
Gareth Boois, one of the residents, who has another 11 years of his sentence to serve, said “I feel free on a day like this, like we’re out: I feel like we’re at home at a Sunday soccer day”.
Another resident, Craig Buchanan, when asked what his impressions of the day were, exclaimed “It’s great but I’m desperate to speak to women!”.
And where were the young women? When asked, the organisers replied that trying to control the interaction between young men and women residents who are usually separated would have clouded the purpose of the day.
This became clear when, towards the end of the day, the (mixed) Pollsmoor choir lined up at the side of the field to sing and all the men left their games to ogle the women of the choir.
Attempts by the young men to talk to the female choir members were cut short and the men sternly reprimanded by the girls’ chaperone.
Play resumed as the women left, but only until lunchtime when residents were escorted back to their cells and their prison routine.
Was it time well spent? Deon Mayer, a resident who has served three years of his five-year sentence, believed so.
“Being around so many normal boys makes me feel I won’t make my mistakes again,” he said.
Athlone News, Wednesday, 29 October 2003
Keeping the peace in Manenberg
Simone September
Manenberg community workers completed a course on finding peaceful ways resolving conflict in the area.
The 20 community workers, among them, two pensioners, graduated from the Mediation Skills Training Project, organised by the Quaker Peace Centre (QPC).
Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the Down’s Community Centre in Maneneberg, QPC mediation facilitator, Mlungiselei Dywili, said: “Mediation is seen as much fairer way to enable conflicting parties to talk together and come up with a non-violent solution on their own.
“It is constructive, in that friendships are restored and peace is achieved. Justice can also be restored.”
Mr Dywili was assisted by the QPC ‘s Angle Adams, Nokuthula Mbete and Georgina Mbambo on the three-month long project.
He said that being a mediator is a positive achievement for the 20 community workers.“You can build peace and with the help of a mediator, one can communicate with each other without suspicious.
“This is a skill that will be relevant to all your lives, and it is cost effective- you only use your mouth and heart to resolve conflicts,” said Mr Dywili.
The training project included mediation skills, self-awareness and assertiveness, listening and communication skills, group work, gender awareness and basic human rights.
Mr Dywili said that in light of the crime-infested area in which the participants work,
Mediation is a “ tool ” that could be use to combat the violence which persists in the Manenberg community.
He added that the Quaker Peace Center is also looking at establishing a constant mediation service where people can discuss their differences.
“You will be amazed at how many violent fights can be avoided, with the help of a mediator,” said Mr Dywili.
Southern Suburbs Tatler, 4 September 2003
Staff of the Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray held a silent march for victims of violence last week.Silent march for peace
The staff of the Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray took part in a silent march for victims of violence on Wednesday August 27.
Martin Struthmann, project leader at the Quaker Peace Centre, said the march was held in silence because words could not express the impact violence and hatred have on their victims.
Anthea Nefdt, the centre’s operations director, said women are the main victims of violence.
“The level of violence against women is unacceptable. Women fulfill different roles in society- they are leaders and peacemakers who initiate things in their communities, and rolemodels and care-givers to children,” she said.
“They cannot fulfill their roles when traumatized and living in the climate of violence.”
Mr. Struthmann said men should acknowledge rights women enjoy in our new democracy.
“Men may be unemployed and may feel challenged by opportunities taken up by women, but they need to deal with these changes non-violently.
“Men need to contribute to peace-making the same way as women,” he said.
Southern Suburbs Tatler, Thursday, 24 July 2003
Peace
course participants visiting Robben Island ... Dominic Ng'andu (29) from Zambia, IbrahimAli, 28, and Sherika Wallace-Ali, 24, both from America and Maxwell Madzikanga, 33, from Zimbabwe
Quaker Centre offers peace course to young people
Staff Reporter
The Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray is offering a peace course course to young people from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Lesotho, South Africa and America. The course is run in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee and is the first in a series of nine courses offered over three years.
Martin Struthmann, of the Quaker Peace Centre, said the aim for the participants is to form a network that challenges policies in Africa and America towards democracy, peace and prosperity in Africa. “Participants gain skills in fundraising, public speaking, conflict resolution and project planning,” he said.
Maxwell Madzikanga, 33, from Zimbabwe said he gained some strategic thinking how political parties can work together. “A vision for prosperity is needed and conditions of peace are necessary for it to succeed," he said.
Dominic Ng’andu, 29 from Zambia and Hoolo Nyane, 23, from Lesotho said they acquiredleadership skills on the course. “It is important to have a vision for Africa’s future,” Mr Ng’andu said.
Ibrahim Ali, 28, from America said that he will lobby the government after he returns home. “I will let people at universities, colleges and faith-based organisations know how policies of the World Bank and IMF affect people in Africa,” he said. He feels that people from different faiths should work together to solve problems.
Sherika Wallace-Ali, 24, also from America, echoes his sentiments and adds that the course broke down a lot of barriers. “The course challenged stereotypes participants had about Afro-Americans,” she said.
The peace course participants visited Robben Island on Sunday July 20. Martin Struthmann said the visit enabled them to gain insight into the conditions people lived under during the apartheid years. “The guides shared with them the values the political prisoners cherished during their time on Robben Island and about the reconciliation process that has been accomplished in South Africa,"he said.
Vukani, Thursday, 27 February 2003
Pensioners graduate after mediation course
Zine George
There’s nothing as wonderful as graduating at 55, “ said Feziwe Apleni who is among a group of 24 pensioners who were awarded certificates at Luyolo Community Centre on Tuesday, after attending a three month mediation skills workshop.
“I’ never had formal school nor have I dreamed of receiving any certificate in my entire life. I’m privileged to graduate in my retirement years. This suggests that life really begins at 40,” said Ms Apleni, a mother of eight.
Ms Apleni and the group of 24 Guguletu Garden Project, which produces vegetables to sell to the Guguletu Community.
“We were working on the vegetable project when Quaker Peace Centre (QPC) told us about their mediation workshops,” said Ms Apleni.
“We grabbed the opportunity and thought of the problems we would be able to solve in our communities if we had these skills,” she said.
“There are problems all over, at our homes and within society at large.
“It was high time that we took responsibility and we thought that the best way to equip ourselves for such a major challenge was to go for this training first,” said Ms Apleni.
The 12-session workshop which was held at the Lutheran Church in Athlone once weekly is an initiative of QPC, a non-profit NGO working in the fields of peace and development.
“ I gained a lot about life skills during this workshop,” said Ms Apleni.Before you even move out of your home to solve the neighbours’ problems, one is equipped to solve dispute in your own households”, she said.
The group was taught the importance of listening impartially during a conflict, what to say and what not to say when resolving it, and the steps to take when things get out of control.
QPC started in 1980s and was formally established in 1988 out of concerns of the Western Cape’s monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends called Quaker who were concerned about poverty and gross human rights violations under apartheid.
Currently the centre has 25 full-time employees representing the diversity of Cape Town’s population who are supported by contract staff and volunteers.
“We specialised in conflict resolution, intercultural work and peace education,” said Mlungisi Vincent Dywili, trainer and fieldworker for the mediation skills training project. It provides several community based projects including peace education, conflict resolution and mediation training.
“It is envisaged that these graduate mediators will work with the police by referring cases that they can not mediate like murder, rape and robbery,” said Mr Dywili.
“The police will be expected to do likewise when they are faced with cases that need mediation. By doing that they will be forging a partnership for integrated response to the level of crime,” he said.
Athlone News, Thursday, 19 February 2003
Volunteers at a work camp in Harare, Khayelitsha, in March last year taking part in a house building project.Working for peace by breaking through stereotypes
Toni Stuart
The Quaker Peace Centre has been running workcamps in South Africa for the past five years, bringing together people of different cultures and faiths in an effort to create peace by breaking through stereotypes and generalisations.
The idea of a work camp originated in Europe after World War One, when some people came together to discuss how to create peace between nations.
They realised they needed to practically show that people from different nations can work side by side and so decided to rebuild a village in France that had been destroyed during the war.
The idea grew from there and now, 85 years later, workcamps exist in about 100 countries.
Martin Struthmann of the Quaker Peace Centre in Mowbray says: “The idea of peace is paramount to the whole movement and that’s why we offer intercultural (camps) so that people from different backgrounds can get to know each other.
“People confront their won prejudices through working with people from other backgrounds and cultures”.
The Quaker Peace Centre runs at least three workcamps annually for young people between the ages of 18 and 35.
For three weeks, 12 to 16 young people live together in an environment away from city life.
At workshops they discuss topics such as prejudice and perceptions, not only among different cultures but also between men and women.
Community projects are an integral part of the workcamps where the volunteers do practical work together to help an underprivileged community.Through doing these projects, volunteers not only help others in need, but also learn to make decisions in a group and work constructively with people from other cultures.
Mr Struthmann says that many South Africans come away from the camps with a new perception of foreigners.
“I think people have learnt to appreciate their peers from other countries and to respect their customs and cultures and see them as individuals and not as stereotypes from a particular country,” he says.
He says that the camps also disolve the myths that foreigners have about South Africa.
“ The foreigners don’t realise how hard the rural life in South Africa is.
“ They are also amazed that we have modern supermarkets and that they can be so close to an informal settlement.
“Workcamps give foreign volunteers and opportunity to meet ordinary South Africans and to go to places where they normally wouldn’t go.
“And to experience some of the challenges ordinary South Africans have in their daily lives”.
Throughout the year, the Quaker Peace Centre also runs weekened workcamps.
One will be held from Friday March 14 to Sunday March 16 at Maryland Centre in Hanover Park.
Volunteers will spend the weekend h ouse-building project with Habitat for Humanity and will lay bricks at a low-cost housing project in Khayelitsha.
The weekend work camps are exclusively for South Africans, giving them an opportunity to learn about a different community and do voluntary work in another community that they would not otherwise be able to do.
The camps are open to anyone.
Phone Mr Struthmann at 685 7800 of e-mail workcamps@qpc.org.za
