Peace Sprouts

Working to seed VPP Gardens for this year's International Peace Day I attended Spiritual England's third national conference Peaceful Schools at the Quaker House in Euston, London.  The Peaceful Schools movement works with head teachers (principals) and other educationalists sharing tools to create safe nurturing schools utilising such practices as Philosophy for Children and other innovative programs - cultivating children as directors as well as participants of their own learning process and as peace ambassadors in their families and communities.  Two of the many powerful speakers were Rev Annie Blampied, an Interfaith Minister, who talked of her personal journey as an activist and teacher, and Laura Daniels, the Head Teacher of Woodheys Primary School in Manchester - who works with Peace Mala in Wales focusing on a school ethos of global citizens - her school having won awards on environmental awareness - with a Zen garden, a unique artist created labyrinth, and twin school programs in South Africa.

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Cultivating the summer season towards this year's International Day of Peace (four months from today) - the Shift Network- in partnership with The Culture of Peace Initiative, Pathways to Peace, The Peace Alliance, The Global Peace Initiative of Women, and International Cities of Peace are aligning to creatively broadcast and demonstrate emerging peace in a rising global culture via the Summer Of Peace.  To me, the current economic crisis demonstrates how we really are in this together and the SOP seeks 'to serve as a catalyst to help humanity reach a tipping point where cooperative problem solving, rooted in inner Peace and compassion for others, becomes the norm. It is through this evolving Culture of Peace that we can unleash the creativity of the human spirit to address global issues together.'

'The Summer of Peace 2012 will bring the vast array of different paths to Peace together under one umbrella to acknowledge, celebrate and accelerate this emerging Peace movement. Utilizing modern technology, especially social media, The Summer of Peace 2012 will create a global platform where the individual faces and voices of Peace can form a collective symphony of Peace. Together, this emerging wave of Peace can serve to inspire potentially millions of people with tangible ways to cultivate Peace in themselves and in their families, communities, country, world and with the natural environment.'  The opening ceremony with speakers and performances takes place in Oakland, California, USA.

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Elsewhere - blooming out of the historical Canadian Tulip festivals (which developed after World War II to honor the protection of the Dutch royal family in Canada during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands) the World Tulip Summit - an initiative of varied artists and horticulturists - are cultivating the tulip as a symbol of peace - strong international friendship.  The tulip, originally from Turkey, has a long dramatic history from the historical Dutch tulip mania [a speculative economic boom/bust - sound familiar?] to its current development as a symbol of peace and global unity.  

The Chair of the World Tulip Summit Society, Michel Gauthier, is also the Director of the International Peace Garden Foundation.  The founder of the Foundation, Paula Savage, organised a gift of 4,000 tulip bulbs from Canada to the United States, in 1990, thus creating the first International Peace Garden of the Foundation - which has grown to over 20 countries on five continents. [Beautiful photos at the website!]

The Fifth World Tulip Summit is composed in two parts - the first section as part of Floriade - the large horticultural exposition held once every ten years(!) in the Netherlands - Part One is opened by Princess Margriet [the member of the Dutch royal family born in exile/protection in Canada during the war as mentioned above] - Part Two takes places in neighboring Antwerp, Belgium where the first tulip bulbs arrived via Turkey 450 years ago. The program is linked here.

International Peace Garden Foundation logo

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I planted the Valentine Peace Project to bring out this nexus (harvest?) of forward thinking education, ambitious horticulture, and the evolving peace movement and artfully move forward the 21st century conversation - for the currently fragile at the same time strengthening - global culture and community.  The message from the UN for the International Day of Peace 2012 is sustainable peace - which makes me think of their University which 'seeks to achieve and promote a better understanding of three of the most pressing issues on the UN agenda: global change, peace and security, and development.'  This particular UN University is located in Japan which brings this blog entry now from the UK, to the US, the Netherlands and Belgium to Japan.  This demonstrates the flowering world movement on issues of conflict and peace that affect all of us wherever we live.  * * *

Elements of Valentine Peace

Valentine's Day Evening - Piccadily Circus London - spreading VPP roses and poems

On a tube platform - OccupyValentine.com

Six percent of children in Ecuador according to UNICEF are victims of child labor at a flower farm.
 Participating in Fairtrade builds new models in trade.

"What's done to the children is what's done to society" (The Buddah) 

 "It's possible to make money in a way that is not destructive, that promotes more social justice and more understanding and lessens the suffering that exists all around us,"  

(Peace activist and buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who will be at the Royal Festival Hall)

14 February Children's Imagine Festival - Royal Festival Hall - London's Southbank Centre

Roses arrive to the New Covent Garden Market from Fairtrade certified Luxaflor farm in Zimbabwe via Global Flower Trading in the Netherlands:

"Producers may have more influence on retailers than they think. In February, Max Havelaar Netherlands signed an agreement for distribution of Fairtrade roses with Jumbo supermarkets.  Showing great initiative, Itai Khulupi from Luxaflor Roses in Zimbabwe, wrote a letter to the Jumbo manager responsible for flowers in which he explained the impact Fairtrade has on the lives of flower farmers in Zimbabwe. It is this letter that prompted the deal.

The retailer committed to converting its entire product line to Fairtrade roses. In signing this agreement Jumbo, a leader in the processing and distribution of roses, is paving the way for other flower retailers to follow suit.

The letter is an excellent example of how producers in Africa can open doors and increase their own product sales." 

 (From Fairtrade Africa)

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Trafalgar Square, London

14 February Flash Mob Meditation at Piccadily Circus
(The current Flashmob Meditations of London described by Guardian journalist here)

Sharing VPP poems and flowers post-meditation.

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"How come we play war and not peace?"  (Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes)

VPP Amsterdam Coordinator Elena Kratvanchenko leads a team of dozens of participants including musicians to spread some community spirit 14 February on the streets and canals of Amsterdam. 

Making a paper flower to spread with a poem from the VPP website at McKinley Elementary in Santa Monica, California, USA.

 

 

 

Students of LaShawn Moore at McKinley Elementary School have participated in the Project for five years.  

This is her story from Year One:  

For the Valentine Peace Project, we were required to assemble our own poems. Last year, the poems came tied to the flowers for us. Being the teacher that I am, I decided, why not have 6 and 7 year olds roll up the poems, and tie the ribbons. As we worked to get the job done, Daisy commented, "This is like being in a place where they make stuff." "You mean like a factory?" I asked, "Yes," she said with a smile. Before I knew it, the kids had decided they were Oompa Loompas, and I was Mrs. Wonka. (You may remember that we read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the beginning of the school year.) As we worked on rolling, taping, and tying 100 poems, it became apparent that some of us were better at certain things than others. 

The beautiful thing is those kids who may have found themselves challenged by the pre-existing jobs, created new jobs for themselves, in order that they could still contribute to the process. Throughout the whole process, there was no arguing, no disagreements, no put downs of any kind. In fact, although we began working at 3 separate tables, we all ended up working together at one table by the end.

It is hard for me to verbalize the magic that I feel sometimes happens in room 105, but today was certainly one of those days where I could see and feel it and want to try to share a bit of that with you. 

Oh and by the way, after the 100 poems were packaged and bagged, the kids wanted to do more! :-)

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A thoughtful paper flower to give pause at a busy Los Angeles shopping mall.

A rose of economic justice from the heart of Zimbabwe to the streets of London. 

A poem and hearty laugh on the canals of Amsterdam.

Elements of VPP *  February 2012

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Looking forward to the International Day of Peace 2012 and peace bulbs from the Netherlands for Valentine Peace Poetry Gardens - community, art and the work of sustainable peace.

Flower Power Evolution

The popular Cargo Bike or BakFiets of Amsterdam

"I gave flowers to strangers in the streets of Amsterdam for the first time in 2008, after I met Federico. His passion rubbed off and handing out the flowers was such a great experience! You surprise people with such a selfless act. Some people are suspicious, "What do you want in return for something I'm getting for free?!" But most people are grateful and walk away happy, with a beautiful flower and a poem about peace. When all the flowers are handed out, you bike through the city and see people walking around with VPP flowers everywhere! I do not like Valentine's Day, it's such a commercialization of real love. Giving flowers to people on this day seems to me the perfect antidote - love is about giving and not expecting something in return. It makes me feel good to participate, so I also get something out of it!" 

(Participant Peace Educator Pieternel de Bie)

To join Coordinator Elena in Amsterdam contact info@valentienpeaceproject.org

 

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“The day of peace and happy is here.  When you have secret admirers and do not feel fear. Hearts are drawn pink and red.  The soldiers are now safe in bed. . The world reflects back digging deep down inside . . Where light and dark combine so well  . . Cupid is here living with love . . The chocolates in the sun start to melt. The doors are open to a whole new store .  . You miss the people that changed your world before.  The past is gone, things you must live without.  At times you thought your life was a doubt . . Spread the care and feel for others.  Treat everyone as your brothers. Through dust and rain you ride the train.  Away, away, away, peace is everywhere.”  

(Valentine's Day, Justin Ruder, Paul Revere School, Los Angeles, CA, USA)

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14 February 2011 - Amsterdam - Sharing Fairtrade Roses and VPP poems in English, French, Spanish and Dutch

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"Why the Valentine Peace Project?  What for?"

 

Daniel Dancer's Art for the Sky

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Because We Can  . .

Bring Peace to Love on Valentine's Day;

Connect art and community; 

Transform the flower industry; 

Increase economic justice in trade;

Build a better world through the artistry [and agriculture!] of peace.   

 

"The purpose of activism and art is to make a world in which people are producers of meaning, not just consumers."   

Rebecca Solnit, The Untold History of People Power

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"What is breaking through out of what is breaking down?"

Barbara Marx Hubbard

Join Us this Valentine's Day!  Occupy Valentine's Day! info@valentinepeaceproject.org OccupyValentine.com 

Change Pollen

Today all people are challenged to be instruments for this new age, this new creation.  Without a New Creation, which means a new heart and a new consciousness in people and in new social structures, humanity will exterminate itself and put an end to twenty billion years of providential art and history.  We humans, for whom the planet has indeed become a global village, are required to create a new civilization that is worthy of our dignity as royal persons and our responsibility as divine co-creators.  If we do not create a global civilization where peace and justice reign and where the spirit of delight and celebration can be made to happen, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.


Matthew Fox 

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"You had asked me quite a while ago for a poem for the VPP.  When I was in my twenties, poetry was the center of my life, and I published quite a lot. Recently I have plunged back into that art, so I am keeping my promise at last and sending you a poem I wrote that was inspired by one of the quotes on your website."  TJ

THE FIRST FLOWER BLOOMED

Trebbe Johnson

The first flower bloomed on Earth

around the time the last dinosaur

died. Even the most unbending

pragmatist has to admire the whimsy.

Those lumpish beasts, rough drafts

for life on the blue planet, lumbering

for millions of years among green ferns,

grasses, great pines on feet the size

of truck tires, at home, no doubt,

but appearing in retrospect

always a little out of context. Suddenly,

some cosmic emergency flared out

of the stars and the whole world changed.

Now a new population began to emerge:

beings that didn’t have to move to thrive and,

swaying with grace, cast their future

wildly into the world with seeds, able

to invent the most excessive colors,

whimsical shapes, scents seductive

to insects, gaining ground until,

millennia after the experiment began,

someone arrived to laugh with delight.

VPP Amsterdam - February 2008

VPP Peace Day 2011 Images

Fairtrade Kenyan Roses and Poems for the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) to share in The Hague

Words of Peace - Poems submitted to the Project to Share in London

"We don't get to Argue today?

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Southbank Centre, London

Searching for the Words by David Krieger (Santa Barbara, CA, USA)

For You

A Gift for Peace Day

I Have a Poem by Walter Keyombe (Nairobi, Kenya)

[Excerpt]

I have a poem for peace to the world

A poem that’ll spread the message with its fires

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A poem that’ll sail on the oceans, seas

And lakes.

A poem that’ll transform many faces from sadness

To joy in the season of revolt

A poem that’ll fly above the moons, stars

And suns.

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I have a poem for peace to the world

A poem that’ll never accept dictatorships

But democracy to embrace integrity and equality

A poem that’ll victoriously shine in the midst

Of darkness to steer the world for light

A poem that’ll challenge the axis of conflicts, hunger

And war.

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I have a poem for peace to the world

A poem that’ll fight for my rights, your destiny

Against poverty and violence

A poem that’ll take its paths on the clouds

Of machinations with tribalism

To bring back reconciliation within the dust

Of bloodshed of massacre

A poem that’ll call for the struggle

Against the tyrants holding the oppressions

And discrimination towards culture

A poem that’ll condemn child trafficking, slavery

And child soldiers.

I have a poem for peace to the world

A poem that’ll curse child labor,

And early marriage on the rise

A poem that’ll condemn and break all arms, bullets

And bombs to justice that prevails

A poem with the vision to the mission

Against inhumanity, IMPUNITY

And injustice.

Yes!

I have a poem for peace to the world

A poem!

Like Martin Luther King had

A Dream.

All Tomorrow's Flowers

Rose March - Oslo, Norway

Roses of Peace, Historical Testimony and the 30th Anniversary of the International Day of Peace

Roses in Norway have become the symbol of love and community after a survivor of the Utoya massacre stated “when one man can show so much evil, think how much kjærlighet (love and caring) we can show together.”  Amnesty International chose roses as the appropriate symbol [also the logo of the Labour party] in organizing the largest gathering in Norway's history.  And they've left their mark as a healing reminder ever since.

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The Other 350

350 is the number for parts per million of Carbon Dioxide which are deemed safe for humanity - at present it's almost 392 - considered dangerous - and the awareness of the 350 number through stunning visual actions created the largest movement of simultaneous action in the history of the planet.  But 350 also denotes another - perhaps quieter marker which I desire to point out - the 350th anniversary of the Peace Testimony - a historical point when a group of members of the Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers) in England wrote and delivered a Declaration to the King of that time Charles II: "All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny, with all outward wars, and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever, and this is our testimony to the whole world."  To mark this occasion which launched the long passionate commitment to the work of peace by Quakers in the world - there are a series of events, workshops and a Peace 350 workshop pack - to reflect from 1661 to 2011 what it means to live this testimony today. 

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Two hundred years ago people in the US didn’t identify as Americans first.  They identified as Virginians, Georgians, or New Yorkers.  Now everyone is American first and a New Yorker or Virginian second.  It’s just another small leap to identify oneself as a citizen of the planet first and an American second.  And then we make that how we interact with other countries.   Captain Paul Chappell

30th Anniversary of the International Day of Peace

The United Nations announced that 21 September 2011 is the 30th Anniversary of the International Day of Peace instituting a day to 'commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace'.  The Day has gained strength and visibility by Jeremy Gilley in the UK (Peaceoneday.org) giving the day a singular fixed calendar date and Melvin Weiner of the US (Cultureofpeace.org) recently organising its listing by major international calendar distributors.  In the Netherlands this year- the city of Peace and Justice, The Hague, hosts the United Network of Young Peacebuilders - in a week of activities from workshops to concerts and on the day itself a creative flashmob.  The VPP is the 'surprise element' for the Day with hundreds of Fairtrade roses together with poems/reflections on peace from around the world- to be distributed by singing members in the historical station.  This year marks the first Playing for Change Day (on 17 September) - musicians playing in public places around the planet in support of music education and peace.  On the evening of 21 September in London the O2 Arena hosts Peace One Day's celebratory concert.  And in a community action during the day at the Southbank Centre volunteers of the VPP will share international poems and statements of peace to visitors and locals alike.

Take time this September to reflect on your stand as a world citizen.  As one friend pointed out world news is daily news now - whether that's the latest developments of the Arab Spring, the tragedy in Norway, the riots in England or the devastating hunger crisis in East Africa - this is a time to reflect and move- on the power of love and peace.  By beginning to view ourselves as participants on the global stage as well as peacemakers in our hearts, homes and communities these problems are not just 'out there' but calls to action and compassion.  To stand for the positive as Thich Nhat Hanh states- "people are dealing too much with the negative, with what is wrong. ... Why not try the other way, to look into the patient and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom."  This echoes the Norwegian's statement above and is a call to all of us in these times of change, economic collapse and challenging tragedies to remember our significant blooms of peace.

Student shares her VPP flower peace poem (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Student creates a paper flower World for the project (Chicago, USA)

                                    World Peace Rose Gardens  (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)