Category : Member Area

Plants for Peace team has two new recruits, sisters Margaret and Joan. They helped out in Goulburn this week with the plants that are in transit to South Coast.  Together with Rita, they sorted, counted and identified as well as pruned and re-potted those that needed some TLC.  Margaret and Joan have good plant knowledge and were able to identity some that I was not sure of. 

We are grateful to Michael who is now doing regular trips between Sydney and Goulburn and liaising with Mahesh to bringing a load of plants with each trip. 

The community of Moruya are awaiting our next delivery as they already have plans in place to take the plants on to surrounding communities.

Another exciting development is our new collaboration with Foundation for National Parks to source and deliver site-specific plants to areas where needed.  

Margaret documenting and Joan pruning.

2pm on 23rd May 2021

To be held on-line.

https://meet.google.com/toc-drbs-pvn

Join by phone‪ (AU) +61 3 8594 9946‬ PIN: ‪768 561 055‬#

More phone numbers

Members are invited to attend the 2021 AGM of International Volunteers for Peace Inc.  You do not need to register to attend.  The formal requirements are acceptance of minutes of the last AGM and the 2020 finance, followed by reports from office holders in the present committee (available beforehand through the website) and Elections for the new Committee. 

There will be opportunities to put your thoughts or queries to the outgoing committee. If you wish to express an interest in becoming more involved in IVP please put your name forward for the new committee either at the meeting, or contact me on admin@ivp.org.au.  

The Peace Fair later in the year; and the prospect of revival of volunteer projects post-lockdown gives an opportunity to shape IVPs progress over next months.  IVP in its eventful years of existence has affected the lives of many Australians who have come in contact with it – at one of the actions close to home, or as volunteers placed at workcamps overseas. We warmly welcome reconnection with workcamp volunteers, or activists from earlier days. It might be too that you now have time or opportunity to resume the journey or encourage others to set out.

In peace

Stephen Horn

For the 2020 IVP Committee  

Publicize this opportunity to volunteer at the Goulburn Show.  See attached poster. Please

• forward the poster to your friends and networks
• print out and put it up in your local library, corner shop, university or community noticeboard
• tell your friends or enroll yourself

Thanks you

IVP team

We hope to meet you there!

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

We are doing a big effort to not spam you after the amazing events that went on during the #nuclearban treaty entry into force celebration!

Go to our Flickr to give a look to the actions that took place around the world: https://www.flickr.com/photos/icanw/sets/72157717990472613/

The monster fire season 2019-2020 saw many million hectares of bush and farmland burnt up and down Australia’s east coast, causing massive losses in wildlife and sweeping damage to natural landscapes made vulnerable through sudden loss of ground cover. Cities were enveloped in a pall of thick yellow smoke throughout January; Lasting health impacts are yet to be fully understood. Direct damage from fires devastated the life of numerous small communities – destruction of farm buildings, fences, and private and public property. At the human level the task of recovery has been slow – people have had to build from the ground up their livelihoods and their health; communities have been a hub for this recovery stepping up months ahead of promised government assistance. 

Through fortuitous circumstances IVP was able to quickly put together a project to bring surplus garden plants, regularly discarded from wholesale nurseries, to affected communities as a quiet gesture of solidarity. First delivery was in July to a coastal village that had been cut off for weeks by fire the previous January – images from the time show residents retreating into shallow water of the nearby lake; to a backdrop of burning bushland. 

The 70 plants we brought disappeared quickly and were gratefully received. We have been working since to reach other communities – supplying several hundred plants to a cluster of small communities further inland, partnering with the local council, and planning to extend our deliveries to coastal areas further south. 

Even though it is approaching a year since the fires, attention to re-establishing a garden from scorched earth and weeds, delayed while makeshift accommodation arranged, can be a link on the path to restored mental health, and revived communities. Our action rested on willing cooperation from one of the largest wholesale nurseries – who supply city garden centres. The rescued plants are tangible ingredients in psychic healing for people who have lost homes and possessions; and communities coming to terms with a succession of calamities: 4 years drought, then fire, then storms then pandemic. The bush fire experience has exposed the sober virtue of walking with people – not just the drama of survival that makes the news, but the months and years for confidence to return.

If you would like to help with this project, please get in touch with David at placements@ivp.org.au or Stephen at admin@ivp.org.au

IVP will be represented at the IVCO conference with Rita Warleigh giving a presentation highlighting 100 years of SCI and our work in the area of climate change and climate justice.  

https://www.ivp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/IVCO2020-Flyer-1-1.pdf

Dear member,

International Volunteers for Peace invite you for the

Reunion and celebration of 100 years of SCI

Peace Festival

Sunday 20th September: 2pm to 8pm
107 Project, 107 Redfern Street, Redfern

What’s happening and why? SCI is 100 years old in 2020. This is an invitation to a reunion for IVP members and a celebration of IVP’s contribution to peace. Meet old friends, exchange memories, be inspired by what is happening in the field of peace.

But wait, there’s more! The Peace Festival will be a public event and many other peace groups will join us with stalls and exhibitions, movies, speakers. The Nobel Peace Prize medal will be on display. There will be activities, music and refreshments. An fantastic exhibition celebrating peace will be on display at the same venue from 20th Sept to 4th Oct. More details will be provided on the IVP website closer to the date including a detailed program and booking information.

How can you help?
Put it in your diary and commit to being there.
Get in touch to offer assistance and help shape the event.
Renew your membership before or at the event.
Make a donation towards the event.
Volunteer at the event. Help out with refreshments or with your event management or marketing skills.
We are making a big effort to contact all previous IVP members and need your help with that too. Please spread the word to anyone you know who was once associated with IVP as well as your friends and networks.

COVID-19 restrictions may impact on the event and if necessary we will postpone it, but the event will go ahead. A decision on postponement will be made in the next few weeks.

Organised by: International Volunteers for Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (NSW), who both celebrate 100 years in 2020, and the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network.

Participating organisations: International Campaign Against Nuclear weapons, SEARCH Foundation, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition, Pax Christi, PEN Sydney, Marrickville Peace Group, The Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education, Pace e Bene, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Teachers Federation, Wage Peace, United Nations Association of Australia, Peacifica, Quakers.

Contact: raisingpeace2020@gmail.com

103A Goldsmith Street,
Goulburn NSW 2580
Australia
E: admin@ivp.org.au

ASIAN VOICES- A TRIANNUAL NEWSLETTER

NVDA Annual Report 2019

SCI Annual Report 2019