Hello everyone, With this SD Network eNews we welcome September and send you the following news from the Susila Dharma network 1. Updates on the August SD Conference 2. New SD National chairs, Jakarta Post, India NGO Summit, the White House and more… 3. Reaching Out: Marking World Day and SD goes to university 4. Volunteer Story: A Frenchwoman in Ecuador 5. From the Office: new staff, research project and SD latihans Warm wishes from the SD office team! 1. Annual Susila Dharma Conference — England Thank you to all who came to England for the Annual get together — all of you who work for Susila Dharma and others who are interested in finding out what we are doing! In addition to the three sponsored delegates from Colombia, DR Congo and India, 13 other SD nationals were represented: our co-hosts for the meeting SD Britain, as well as Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, and the USA. Proxy votes were received from Chile and Australia. Congratulations first to the 3 Directors elected to the SDIA Board – Lawrence Leetz from Netherlands, Haris Wolfgang from USA and Arnaud Delune from France who was elected for another term. We send out many thanks to Ariana Susanti and Bardolf Paul, both from Indonesia, who finished their terms on the Board this year. The members approved 3 important resolutions that will guide the SD Network —a Mission Statement, Guiding Principles, and a Donor Bill of Rights. (Download the resolutions in PDF format). There were networking meetings, country focus presentations from Colombia, DR Congo, Indonesia and India, project presentations from YUM/IRDN in Indonesia and ICDP from Norway, and many kedjiwaan support sessions. The next international SD meeting will be at Amanecer, Colombia in July 2008. Mashud Darlington, Chair Subud Manchester—Thank You 2007 “In the gathering our members from Israel and Lebanon were willing to meet together despite their obvious unresolved pain, and our veteran members from Coombe Springs days were shown our appreciation for all their pioneering work. So, we can inhabit a parallel life of human values in a materialistic and violent world; but can we change it? It seems in small but important ways, we can. In India, through the Mithra Foundation, and the Anisha and Sradha projects 239 children are attending school, and going on to the state higher education programme, with the prospect of far better lives than could have been expected without Subud's help. Computer classes are given, and 25 women's groups have been formed. There are also micro-credit projects, organic agriculture, and health and sanitation programmes up and running; and so much more than can be mentioned here. In Portugal, a school started for ex-colonial refugees has been so successful that the local middle classes want to send their children there. These presentations were only the tip of the iceberg of Subud's international human welfare work in Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe. We can realistically say that we have made a difference and through SDI we have changed people's lives.” 2. News from the Network New SD Chairs Congratulations to Polly Skerratt who was elected new chair of SD Britain in August and many thanks to departing chair, Laura Lesley, who has served for many years. Laura is currently on the Board of SD International. Congratulations to Ethan Harris who was chosen as chair of SD Chile and takes over from Lorenza Gallardo. Bardolf Paul makes a difference in different way Article from the Jakarta Post by Patrick Gutensperger August 23, 2007 “It is hard to imagine a less likely partnership for making a positive difference in the lives of villagers in Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo . Bardolf Paul, a Canadian expatriate and one-time commercial designer, is quietly working deep within the Kalimantan jungles to improve the lives of the Dayak villagers. The partnership, supported and funded by Kalimantan Gold, a London and Toronto-listed exploration company, is the result of an unexpected synergy between a unique corporate viewpoint and a man with an unusual capacity for living his vision.” Download the article on Bardolf here India Civil Society Summit "On the 15th of August 2007, India celebrated 60 years of freedom from British Rule. India now claims superpower status as a nuclear weapons state and nearly double-digit economic growth. In contrast to these signs of progress we have the dubious distinction of being on the wrong side of other indicators of human development—maternal mortality, female infanticide and foeticide, and deaths due to preventable diseases to name several. India's progress is uneven: while she is developing world-class technology and services; she also has the world's largest number of poor and illiterate people. For many, freedom, in its true sense, is yet to dawn. For these people, the struggle continues. It is in this context that The India Civil Society Summit was organized by a group of NGOs (including Mithra) and other Civil Society organizations. It took place from August 24 to 26 at Ambedkar Bhavan, Millers Road, Bangalore. The summit was a celebration of life, survival, resistance, and the continuing struggles for freedom against increasing odds. It provided a space for dissent and voicing issues, a space for celebrating differences and a space speak of ongoing struggles for freedom." Download the article on the India Civil Society Summit here. ICDP affects attitudes towards war in Colombia In Bogota, Colombia, a pilot project which adapted the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) for use with 100 families of ex guerrilla fighters has recently been evaluated as successful. As result ICDP Colombia is currently in process of signing a new contract with the Colombian government for a project which will reach 150 new families with young children . An interesting feature of this project is that the ICDP promoters will be people selected from the families trained during 2006. The task of ICDP will be to assist them and support their practical work with new groups of families. An ex guerrilla thanks ICDP: “It is only recently that I demobilised and I did it primarily because my daughter was suffering abuse by her step father. I was planning to kill him and that was all I could think of until I came to this programme, which changed the way I perceive the world. The mother gave me my daughter and now I look after her; my daughter means everything to me, she is the reason I live. I thank this programme because I did not know how to be a father. Now I have received tools; and what I have managed to put into practice has already given me results. I now know there is great love I can give.” Asociacion Vivir goes to the White House Mariana Eliana Garzon Galarza, the Executive President of Asociacion Vivir (Eliana), was invited by the US Government to participate in “The White House Conference on the Americas”, which was presided over by the US President, George W. Bush, and the First Lady. This meeting took place on Monday July the 9th at the White House. Congratulations to Q-Fund From Chellie Kew: “Thank you! Without your continual support our newest addition at Chimoza would not have happened. Last year The " Fund helped over 35,000 individuals in five different countries. I am totally exhausted. This year we are focusing exclusively on our World School. A community school where the entire community benefits.” For more information on the Q Fund see http://www.qfund.org 3. Reaching Out Help SDIA to Prevent Child Abuse on November 19th: SDIA is one of 781 international and national organisations from 128 countries to join the World Women's Summit Foundation's coalition to observe and promote the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse on November 19th, 2007. Many of our projects are already involved in the prevention of child abuse through their work as educators and caregivers to families and communities. For those who would like to be more involved, consider:
If you would like to hold an event or activity to mark the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse, SDIA has a few posters to share. Contact us soon at info@susiladharma.org Kumari Beck presents SD activities as examples in university courses: “I just wanted to pass on the information that I have been following up on the Development Education front at my Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in BC. In 2005, I represented SDIA at a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) financed Global Education Curriculum for a course on campus. Since then, I have volunteered my time to do the same workshop for the same course. CIDA provided $500 to SDIA for our participation in 2005 to get it off the ground. "I have also used SDIA as the featured illustration in a course I taught on Intercultural & International Education and I've been invited to do guest lectures for other courses on the same topic.” Thanks Kumari for incorporating the SD stories into your teaching! 4. French Volunteer writes about Asociacion Vivir Mathilde Dybowsky spent 5 weeks volunteering in Ecuador and wrote this story about her experience. “Meeting Eliana helped me to understand. She is a woman with contagious energy, unlimited motivation, a holistic vision and who is totally committed to her work. What is more she has trust in the people and does not work with her head alone, but also with her heart and her whole being. She has vast experience, is very enterprising and is not afraid of changing structures.” Download the full article with photos about Mathilde's impressions. 5. From the Office Research project on Governance and Development Through the auspices of the WSA and the generous support of the Guerrand-Hermes Foundation for Peace (GHFP), a survey on "Governance and Development" is underway, and we are looking for any relevant experience within Subud on this topic. If you feel you have a project, an activity, or some experience that might be of interest, please contact Frederic Richard at f.richard@inode.at, Rosanna Hille at rosanna.hille@telus.net or Bardolf Paul at bardolfpaul@gmail.com . We would be happy to send out some information on the project, if you want to find out more. Just let us know you are interested. Many thanks. Office Changes: SDIA is losing Simon Bland as SDI Office manager and administrator. After 13 years of loyal service, Simon is moving on to new challenges and adventures as he travels the continent in his VW van. Read a special tribute to Simon. Many thanks Simon for helping SDIA get to where it is today! At the same time, Cassidy Sterling of Concord, Massachusetts (USA) will be taking over the information management functions previously performed by Simon. Cassidy will be contacting many of our SD projects and nationals over the next few weeks to bring contact and project information up to date. He can be reached at cassidy@susiladharma.org In Montreal, we would like to welcome Samuel Chapleau (samuel@susiladharma.org) to the team. Samuel will be taking over as our bookkeeper from Rafaela Alvarez. Rafaela is going on maternity leave. Samuel has been bookkeeper for Subud Canada, SD Canada and Subud Quebec for many years. We are grateful to him for sharing with SDIA his extensive experience in bookkeeping and financial management. SD Latihan At the request of members, the SDIA Office proposes a schedule for an international SD Latihan to help and guide us in our efforts as individuals, committees and projects to achieve our common mission to relieve human suffering and promote just and sustainable development in the world. We therefore propose the following schedule, to coincide with the World Latihan times. Oct 6, 2007 WORLD-SD LATIHAN: 23:00 (New York), 20:00 (Los Angeles) Oct 7, 2007 WORLD-SD LATIHAN: 3:00 (GMT), 4:00 (London), 5:00 (Paris), 10:00 (Jakarta), 13:00 (Sydney), 16:00 (New Zealand) Nov 4, 2007 WORLD-SD LATIHAN: 10:00 (GMT), 10:00 (London), 11:00 (Paris), 17:00 (Jakarta), 21:00 (Sydney), 23:00 (New Zealand), 5:00 (New York), 2:00 (Los Angeles) Dec 1, 2007 WORLD-SD LATIHAN: 20:00 (GMT), 20:00 (London), 21:00 (Paris), 15:00 (New York), 12:00 (Los Angeles) Dec 2, 2007 WORLD-SD LATIHAN: 3:00 (Jakarta), 7:00 (Sydney), 9:00 (New Zealand) If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to info@susiladharma.org SDIA is now launching its year end fundraising campaign. It is our goal to eliminate the $30,000 operations short fall by the end of his year. Stay tuned for more information on how to support the core funding of your international Susila Dharma organization! |
