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| Valentine's Day Evening - Piccadily Circus London - spreading VPP roses and poems |
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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)
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| 14 February Children's Imagine Festival - Royal Festival Hall - London's Southbank Centre |
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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 |
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| 14 February Flash Mob Meditation at Piccadily Circus (The current Flashmob Meditations of London described by Guardian journalist here) |
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| 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. |
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Making a paper flower to spread with a poem from the VPP website at McKinley Elementary in Santa Monica, California, USA. |
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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.
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