|
|
|
| Port of Call-London-United
Kingdom,June 17th and 18th |
 |
| The SPACE dance team in action ・on a hot London summer's day? |
As Paul Clifford, our English peace educator onboard
working with the International Students said, in the UK there are
four seasons, and one should be prepared for all of them in a single
day. Thus our surprise when we arrived in London, the 11th stop on
this 37th world cruise, to one of the most beautiful days (and highest
pollen counts for the allergy sufferers) we've encountered on this
entire cruise. While the usual selection of tours to visit London's
history were offered, most noteworthy were the events put on by Peace
Boat groups to promote a landmine campaign and introduce the London
NGO community to the Peace Boat organization. On the second day Peace
Boat delegation made up of the International Students, staff and guest
speakers made an interesting, though less than thrilling, visit to
the offices of the Foreign Ministry. |
|
 |
| Trying to show people that its possible to enjoy sport and think about those who, for the existence of that devil's weapon the landmine, are not able to |
Setting up for our first event in London's Leicester
Square, a Landmine Campaign performance by the SPACE Dance Team and
our musical guests Koh-Tao, our first impressions were made by the
beauty of the day, diversity of the people and sky-high prices of
everything around us. The groups performed while other Peace Boat
participants introduced the campaign and our specific goals to curious
onlookers around us. One, we aim to raise awareness about the 6-10
million landmines in Afghanistan and, especially in this time of the
Korea-Japan World Cup, that there are many people who cannot play
football or any other sports because their land is too dangerous.
Two, working with the Afghanistan-based NGO OMAR (Organization for
Mine Clearance and Afghanistan Rehabilitation), we are trying to raise
$50,000 needed to clear a 70 x 140 meter area of land in Jalalabad,
Afghanistan and build a football field with goals and bleachers. By
the end of the event, we'd managed to collect around $400 from the
generous onlookers. |
|
 |
| Our Great Leader, holding a sort of Peace Boat pep rally for NGO representatives, demonstrating the spirit and personality of this peculiar organization from Japan |
Back at the ship, preparations were in full swing
for an evening reception to introduce Peace Boat to local NGO's for
our first ever stop in London. About 80 representatives from different
NGO's dealing with issues from Peace Education to local government
participation to the environment came onboard for a presentation on
the Peace Boat organization, Japanese culture performances, dinner
and mingling on the Neptune Deck until the wee hours of the night.
Hopefully in the future we will be able to use new networks for cooperative
projects and larger, more developed and effective campaigns. |
|
 |
| More exciting than a photo of the Peace Boat delegation in
a meeting with the Foreign Ministry is a photo of IS coordinator
Jasna discovering that just finding the Ministry offices is
an adventure in itself |
Our stay in London finished with a visit to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the International Students and a selection
of Peace Boat staff and guest speakers. IS Sandra from Bosnia remarked
that although the buildings were pretty impressive and hospitality
warm, trying to get provocative or enlightening discussion from the
ministry representatives about British foreign policy or arms exports
to places like India, Pakistan or the former Yugoslavia was, as could
have been expected, as enlightening as talking to the building itself.
Others used the next day to walk about the city and take in the many
sights, statues, squares and winding cobble streets lined with pretty
Victorian style ornate stone buildings filled with people from around
the world. |
|
 |
| Like the conquering of Mt. Everest, we did it because it's
there |
Unlike most places though, our departure on the
second day held a much anticipated, sure highlight for us all. As
we pulled out of our surprisingly small canal berth into the River
Thames, rather than turn toward the ocean, a pair of tugboats swiveled
us up river towards the center of the city. There, in an experience
that must be of the rarest variety and the bane of rush-hour commuters
we turned around yet again in front of London's famous Tower Bridge,
watched the span open, backed in under the bridge and let it close
again for about a half-hour before passing back through with a splendid
sunset behind us. |
|
| Peace Boat's
37th Voyage |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
