Peace Foundation News and Events June to August 2008
1.   Media that Matters Short Film Festival for youth - June 27th at the Film Archive2.   New Zealand student winner in international peace poster competition
3.   Gift to Preserve Peaceful Culture - Maui Solomon
4.   Schools Peace Week - August 4-10
5.   Job opportunity - Peace Foundation National Director
6.   Welcoming Mayra Gomez to Wellington Office
7.   Una McGurk to Hiroshima and Nagasaki youth events
8.   Peace Foundation library and resources
1.   Media that Matters Aotearoa - Short Film Festival for youth (of all ages)
6pm Friday June 27th at the Film Archive.
Corner of Ghuznee and Taranaki Streets
Don't miss this exciting festival of short (5-8 minute) award-winning films on peace, disarmament, non-violence, non-discrimination and sustainability. Films include:
- Bystanding - Winner of the War and Peace Award.
- Rapping at Fear - a 13-year old uses rap to transform violence in a Colombian barrio. Winner of the Speak Peace Award
- Massacre at Murambi - can we prevent genocide in Darfur? Winner of the Global Justice Award
- Global warming - from the perspective of a 12-year old
- Post no bills - visual pollution caused by advertising.
- Tiakina o Tatou Awa - Outlines a community's attempts to restore the life-force to their local river.
- I'm not a boy - Julie Joyce is transgendered. Winner of the Empowerment Award
- Ashray - HIV youth in Bombay. Winner of the Global Health Award
Films will be followed by discussion lead by youth activists and peace advocates including Peace Foundation's Una McGurk and Alyn Ware. For more information contact Will Watterson This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit Media that Matters Aotearoa
2.   New Zealand student winner in international peace poster competition
Congratulations to Wilson Chun Hei Chau from Auckland who is one of the international winners in the competition Students for a Nuclear Weapons Free World, which has been organized by the World Federation of United Nations Associations. Wilson's poster uses powerful images to depict security issues of the 21st Century - poverty, environmental problems, civil conflicts, terrorism and energy needs - and the fact that nuclear weapons cannot solve these security needs.
Wilson will join the other winners in the essay, poster and video categories in Geneva for an international conference on Students for a Nuclear Weapons Free World in mid July 2008. Guest speakers will include contest judges Dr Hans Blix (Sweden) and Alyn Ware (Aotearoa-New Zealand).
3.   Gift to Preserve Peaceful Culture - Maui Solomon
In Gift to Preserve peaceful culture, a Dominion Post article on June 25, Maui Solomon (Vice-Chair of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust and Peace Foundation Wellington Committee Member) describes how the $6 million awarded to Moriori by the New Zealand government will be used to revive Moriori culture, identity, language and heritage. That heritage includes a peace covenant that was adopted by the Moriori in the 18th Century and which was reaffirmed in 2005.
The Peace Covenant was maintained despite severe aggression and prejudice against the Moriori by Maori and Pakeha colonizers which led to a population decline from 2500 in 1791 to about 100 in 1900.
"Although our Moriori ancestors suffered terribly, their legacy of peace lives on," says Maui in the article. "It is a legacy which has emerged from a long darkness into the light to inspire not just Moriori but people everywhere. Me rongo (in peace)."
Maui has been instrumental in a recent initiative to establish a Peace and Conflict Studies Centre at Otago University and in establishing a link between Moriori peace education initiatives with the new centre.
4.   Schools Peace Week - August 4-10
Schools' Peace Week is a national week designed especially to help schools educate students about peace issues. Peace education is about helping students to understand and manage conflict in their own lives and from a greater perspective learning how peace is fostered both nationally and internationally. In 2008 Schools' Peace Week will run from 4th-10th of August and will incorporate several important dates which provide possible themes of focus:
August 6 - Hiroshima Day
August 9 - Nagasaki Day
August 9 - International Day of Worlds' Indigenous Peoples
Other themes for Peace Week activities include non-violence, conflict resolution, nuclear issues, human rights and disarmament. There are several ways in which peace activities can be incorporated into the classroom:
- Peace performances such as: concerts, speech contests, poetry
- Watch or make your own peace videos
- Create peace posters or origami cranes
- Create a peace path or garden
5.   Job opportunity - Peace Foundation National Director
We are seeking an outstanding leader with a real passion for peace in all walks of life to become the Peace Foundation National Director. The National Director will ensure the Peace Foundation's continued viability and influence as a voice of tolerance and reason, promoting the peaceful resolution of conflict.
The Peace Foundation offers innovative and award-winning programmes services and resources that are used in many schools, homes and communities to teach and develop skills for better communication, co-operation and non-violent conflict resolution. The Peace Foundation also organises public education events and bestows awards which recognise those who are actively contributing towards reducing violence in our society. It is a recognised leader in the promotion of peace, nonviolence, disarmament and development at national and international levels.
Applications and enquiries to Maurice Ellett at Signium Executive Search International Limited This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 09-309 0886.
6.   Welcoming Mayra Gomez to Wellington Office
The Peace Foundation Wellington Office welcomes Mayra Gomez to the part-time position of Global Communities Coordinator. Mayra will be working on a number of interesting initiatives including Ministries/Departments for Peace, Peace Cities, International Peace Day, Parihaka Day, Matariki Peace Prayer, indigenous issues and disarmament for development.
Mayra is originally from Bolivia, but has worked around the world on peace and justice issues. She holds a masters degree in Pacific International Affairs from the University of California in San Diego, and has also studied Human Rights and Latin American Studies at the University of Sorbonne, Paris. She has been active in the adoption and promotion of the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and involved in the effects of uranium mining on indigenous peoples. She has also worked on collective intellectual property issues with the Noongar nation in Perth, Australia, and in Bolivia as the International Media Liaison for the Bolivian government.
Mayra is also working out of the Wellington Office for our partner organisations Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.
7.   Una McGurk to Hiroshima and Nagasaki Youth Conferences
Una McGurk, the Peace Foundation Wellington Office Youth Programmes Coordinator, will represent the Peace Foundation at international youth peace conferences in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6 and 9 this year commemorating the nuclear bombing of those cities in 1945. The conferences are being organised by the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. Una will use the opportunity to speak about youth peace initiatives in Aotearoa-New Zealand and also to learn about youth peace initiatives and perspectives from Japan and around the world.
Una will integrate information and perspectives from this trip into a youth peace website which she is developing for the Peace Foundation and which will be launched later this year.
8.   Peace Foundation library and resources
The Peace Foundation Wellington Office holds a range of peace and disarmament education resources for lending or for sale. We invite you to drop into our office to view the resources and chat with our friendly staff about our resources, services and upcoming events. Lachlan MacKay, our office librarian and resources coordinator, is cataloguing our lending library and resources so that information about them will be available online in a couple of months. In the meantime you can see some of the resources available from the Peace Foundation Head Office and the Wellington Office at Peace Foundation Resources.
