<DIV>Keep it up Adam!<BR><BR><B><I>2 % Human <adam@diamat.org.uk></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>Dear Councillors / Lists,<BR><BR>I've had a lot of feedback now and would like to submit a partial answer <BR>to this question ...<BR><BR>>> Can we crystallise what we expect to achieve to improve the<BR>>> humanitarian situation with this initiative? [1]<BR><BR>... for it is this question that addresses the task at hand.<BR><BR>Any question answered by one person alone, or by one group of people, <BR>can only ever be partially correct ... and I ask therefore that you <BR>spend some time thinking about how your own experiences up until now are <BR>relevant to this answer.<BR><BR>My take on how to start with this initiative would be to establish <BR>effective communication channels between us and the survivors. I <BR>understand that internet connectivity of high quality is supplied to <BR>this region via satellite link. Most of this connectivity is presently
<BR>requisitioned by the military no doubt, and no doubt shall be returned <BR>to civil use as and when the region stabilizes.<BR><BR>It would be helpful if a mobile or static satellite unit could be <BR>requisitioned and placed in Fallujah at a suitable location, at a <BR>hospital, a college for example. I understand that our council is <BR>chronically under funded and may find it difficult to allocate anything <BR>other than a nominal budget to this initiative. However, I would inform <BR>the council that such a unit is now of nominal value and could be gifted <BR>from redundant civil / military supplies. The same can be said for the <BR>computers and ancillary ICT infrastructure required at that location.<BR><BR>The installation of the above mentioned infrastructure would be the easy <BR>bit of the jigsaw to fit; then would come the difficult task of matching <BR>the needs of that City with what we have to spare, and with what we have <BR>in abundance.<BR><BR>How to fit these
pieces together can only be ascertained via dialogue.<BR><BR>Our council is responsible for the supply a wide spectrum of health, <BR>civil and recreational services. Its work force is multicultural and <BR>diverse. I would suggest that the council encourages volunteers from <BR>across its workforce to partake in this dialogue. [2] The wide range of <BR>experiences of such a group together with this group's knowledge of our <BR>City, its people and its existing communities would provide, I suspect, <BR>a fertile ground for creative and inexpensive solutions.<BR><BR>I theorise that it is by dialogue alone that the journey to a lasting <BR>peace in this region will begin. Further, I theorise that it is by <BR>dialogue alone that we ourselves will gain a better understanding of the <BR>unfolding events.<BR><BR>"Do not cry, do not laugh, but understand" ( Spinoza )<BR>------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Fallujah Reality
Pictures<BR><BR>http://img111.exs.cx/img111/52/jazeeraapril.jpg<BR>http://img63.exs.cx/img63/9226/jazeeraseptember.jpg<BR>http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/<BR><BR>The stories, songs and comedy of any region commonly contain vastly more <BR>information about its residents, than that contained in the most <BR>independent and complete communiques.<BR><BR>It would be foolish to think that any of the stories originating from <BR>Fallujah could be anything other than tragic, at least in the short <BR>term. However we should remain hopeful that the survivors can be <BR>provided with a peaceful existence through the intervention of ourselves <BR>and others.<BR><BR>In February 1993, I traveled to Romania for 3 weeks on an analogous <BR>humanitarian mission. On this occasion the project was lead by students <BR>from the Art Schools of Sheffield, Brighton and Wolverhampton <BR>Universities née Polytechnics. Our mission was to obtain invites, <BR>permits, accommodation etc. for a larger
party of 25 who were to travel <BR>there later that year. The later party's mission was to decorate some <BR>more of Romania's many orphanages.<BR><BR>1993 was the third year of this initiative; in the visits of the <BR>previous years, the group had concentrated their efforts on the <BR>orphanages to the south of the country and to it's midlands. Our mission <BR>in 1993 was to take this initiative to the north, a place at that time <BR>barely scratched by external civil intervention.<BR><BR>On arriving in Bucharest we spent the first three days meeting with <BR>representatives of the various aid agencies as a brain picking, <BR>information swapping exercise. We were unable to gather much new <BR>information from these meetings but gained expressions of support, <BR>permission to travel and provisional contact information for orphanages <BR>in a northern region of Romania called Iaşi [3]. The temperature in <BR>Bucharest was 5 below zero and as we journeyed by slow train to Iaşi
the <BR>temperature gradually fell to - 15 C.<BR><BR>My companions, being artists, amused themselves, each other and the rest <BR>of the travelers with charade-type-games and everyone kept themselves <BR>warm with an admixture of commradary and plum brandy. We arrived in Iaşi <BR>city in the small hours of one morning and we were greeted by two art <BR>students from the university.<BR><BR>We spent the next week and a half traveling around the region with these <BR>two local lads and got on with our mission; setting up invitations and <BR>the like for the later parties.<BR><BR>Some of the orphanages, the ones nearer the City, were already well <BR>supported: Enough staff and food, although the food was poor and very <BR>hit and miss; hardly any fruit or fresh veg. The orphanages were spartan <BR>but functional and welcomed our offer of help with open hands and <BR>smiles. The later party returned there within a few months and painted <BR>murals on the walls. They involved the kids
in lots of stuff and, from <BR>what I could judge from the photographs, did a lot of juggling.<BR><BR>The lads took us to one particular orphanage out in the sticks that <BR>contained a very different experience. This orphanage was housed in a <BR>damp stone building which held three rooms of orphans; each room held 40 <BR>children aged between 18 months and 3 years. Fuel delivery to this <BR>orphanage was scarce and the lady doctor in charge of the orphans had <BR>fabricated temporary double glazing to the windows from polythene <BR>sheets. Heat in the main was provided by wood-burning and lighting in <BR>the main from car-batteries.<BR><BR>As we entered the rooms the doctor switched on the candle and the <BR>children came to life and sounded ... not recognisable words ... more <BR>groans and squeals than anything else with their hands outstretch over <BR>the bars of their cots desperate for attention, desperate for stimulation.<BR><BR>People who care for kids in their day-to-day
responsibilities will be <BR>able to understand the sheer lack of hope generated by such a scene. <BR>Where do you start when you want to help in this kind of situation ?<BR><BR>Well, I'm glad that my comrades were artists and knew how to juggle. We <BR>attended each room and their show began, and in to each room my mates <BR>brought at least one joyful experience to those kids in cages.<BR><BR>The doctor had to leave the building; I knew how she felt and I followed:<BR><BR>"Don't let my mates upset you" I said to her. "They irritate me also, <BR>but they mean you no harm."<BR><BR>She cheered ever so slightly.<BR><BR>"I can't do anything here." she said "I can't even make the children <BR>smile !"<BR><BR>"You are keeping them alive ..." I rebuked "... and that is something."<BR><BR>She shook her head and motioned that I follow her to an out-house.<BR><BR>"I need vitamins" she said "I need up-to-date information about <BR>tuberculosis" she said "I need the water in this well testing
... and I <BR>need to know how to swap these shoes for supplies"<BR><BR>In the out-house, under lock-and-key, were stacked box after box of Niki <BR>training shoes.<BR><BR>Where do you start when you want to help in this kind of situation ?<BR><BR>One establishes communication channels.<BR><BR>What is generally required is these missions is information and that we <BR>have in abundance.<BR><BR><BR>What did you do in the War ?<BR>----------------------------<BR><BR>I've been reading about the unfolding events in the Ukraine and I wonder <BR>how much the culture of this region will come in to play ? We should all <BR>be aware by now that the world is fully integrated and significant event <BR>is rapidly following significant event in this new millennium. I think <BR>we should expect this in our new information age.<BR><BR>On a night of rest back at the Iaşi art school, the students screened <BR>the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood. The sound-track was rough and <BR>it had Romanian
sub-titles. I, as was my want, concentrated on getting <BR>drunk and talking non sense to anyone who would listen. You probably <BR>won't have guessed it, but I do tend to ramble even still.<BR><BR>At the end of the film, a discussion sprang up between the artists <BR>concerning the many variants of Arthurian mythology and it's many forms <BR>and adaptations. Well, artists will tend to talk about these things ... <BR>and being an engineer, I drifted off-topic ... and instead went to talk <BR>to one of the lads from Iaşi who had taken us to see the nice doctor <BR>with the abundant supply of training shoes.<BR><BR>He was looking downright, if not downleft fed up.<BR><BR>"What is *it* Sandor ?" I inquired.<BR><BR>"It is nothing; it is nothing" he replied.<BR><BR>5 minutes passed.<BR><BR>"What is it Sandor ?" I asked. "Is it the kids ?"<BR><BR>"No, it is nothing" he replied<BR><BR>"What is it then ? Is it something you've done Sandor ?" I asked.<BR><BR>"Yes; but it is nothing" he
replied<BR><BR>I paused.<BR><BR>"What was is it Sandor ?" I asked<BR><BR>"It was the War" he replied<BR><BR>I paused.<BR><BR>"What did you do in the War Sandor ? I asked<BR><BR>"I should have stopped it sooner." he replied.<BR><BR>For the next day and a half I unpicked this statement with Sandor and <BR>his classmates.<BR><BR>He did have a very real part to play amongst others in an outcome. The <BR>context of his actions would I feel appear be alien to our culture, but <BR>the concept is not ... In a nut-shell, all that he did, when push came <BR>to shove, was argue the toss with his work mates about which way to push.<BR><BR>The reason why he was *so* fed-up, was that he'd not done it sooner.<BR><BR>Do not cry, do not laugh, but understand.<BR>We live in the present and the present is well out of hand.<BR><BR>Well you have to laugh don't you ?<BR><BR>"Sandor." I said "Better late than never mate, better late than never."<BR><BR>He finally lifted his eyes to meet mine.<BR><BR>I
have a painting of his at work. The security guards at Bucharest <BR>airport took the string that secured its wrapping, I suspect they sold <BR>it on the black market.<BR><BR>How do we fit the pieces of this Jigsaw together ?<BR>---------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>"What's it like where you live Adam ?" Sandor asked me later.<BR><BR>I told him many things and many stories, none of which I would be <BR>ashamed to repeat openly and again the context is of little relevance.<BR><BR>In a nut-shell I told him this: all nations develop in history, they all <BR>exhibit the same tendencies to a lesser or greater extent. They are all <BR>reflections of each other; they are reflections of memories of passed <BR>nations; and they are reflections of imagined nations ... However, I <BR>stated in confidence, the *form* of nations do evolve.<BR><BR>It was the first time I saw him smile.<BR><BR>"Darwin ?" he said, and on reflection I had to say maybe.<BR><BR>Just as the
photographs of our planet taken from space has shaped the <BR>popular consciousness of people world-over with respect to the oneness <BR>of our planet, I theorised that the political groupings of our existing <BR>nations would overtime converge and evolve in to a more elegent structure.<BR><BR>He laughed.<BR><BR>"Darwin ?" he said<BR><BR>"Maybe" I admitted.<BR><BR>"How do you come up with such theories ?" he asked<BR><BR>"I spent too much time in libraries as a kid, whilst I should have been <BR>practicing snooker"<BR><BR>A joke unfortunately that was lost in translation :)<BR><BR>I've rambled enough ... we have the option to choose to extend a hand of <BR>friendship to a region that in my humble opinion needs it ... and at the <BR>same time learn more about a region that we are supposed to be helping.<BR><BR>How we fit our own experiences and our own dreams in to the bigger world <BR>pattern will no doubt be based to a large extent on our existing <BR>positions and whatever dreams
we may hold for a different, and hopefully <BR>better pattern.<BR><BR>How ever we fit our dreams together will no doubt be evidenced by how <BR>well we are able to communicate with each other and work towards <BR>convergence.<BR><BR>--<BR>The Jigsaw Puzzle<BR><BR>[1] --------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>NOTICE OF MOTION RE FRIENDSHIP LINK WITH FALLUJAH<BR>Proposed by Cllr Jillian Creasy<BR>Scheduled to be heard at Full Council 01/12/04<BR><BR>This council<BR><BR>1. Deplores all acts of aggression and terrorism;<BR><BR>2. Notes the loss of civilian life and destruction of the infrastructure <BR>in Fallujah;<BR><BR>3. Wishes to express its sympathy and solidarity with all people of good<BR>will in that city who are now faced with rebuilding it.<BR><BR>This council therefore<BR><BR>4. Requests the Chief Executive to investigate the possibility of <BR>forming a Friendship Link with Fallujah and to report back to Full <BR>Council in two months'
time;<BR><BR>5. Requests the Chief Executive to send a copy of this motion to the <BR>Prime Minister and Sheffield MPs.<BR><BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Two wrongs don't make a right :<BR>http://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/ssf/2004-November/000233.html<BR><BR>The White Rose : <BR>http://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/project-fallujah/2004-November/000000.html<BR><BR>[2] Time spent by such volunteers could be deemed to be vocational <BR>learning and converted in to formal qualifications as appropriate.<BR><BR>The council may wish to consider forming partnerships for this <BR>initiative with the local hospitals, health trusts, universities, <BR>colleges etc.<BR><BR>[3] Iaşi : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iasi<BR><BR><BR>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:<BR>sheffield-anti-war-coalition-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk<BR><BR>If you find that you are receiving a lot of emails from this list, you can use a filter to
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