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| What is the US up to in the world today? - Charles
Overby - Oct 26 |
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| Dr. Charles Overby |
In his first lecture, Dr. Charles Overby, a World War II veteran turned peace activist, criticised the current direction of American politics, using a series of satirical slides comparing the Bush administration to Orwell's totalitarian state in the novel, "1984." Dr Overby, whose life experience includes flying as a B-29 combat pilot during the Korean War, working for the US Congressional Office of Technological Assessment and lecturing as a professor at Ohio University's College of Engineering, described how the slaughter of the Korean War was, for him, an earth-shattering awakening to the barbarity of US foreign policy. With America's current annual defense budget standing at $350 billion (seven times greater than the entire UN annual budget), Overby spoke of how the US goverment is sitting in the pockets of the weapons industry and big business. Referring to America a "Land of mass-hypnosis" in its blind support of the "War on Terrorism." Dr. Overby identified himself as a patriot, one protester working to change the direction of US policy and bring the public to an awareness of what is happening in their name world-wide. He concluded by calling for his government to operate as if they believe the "self-evident" truth quoted in the constitution that all men are created equal. |
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| Peace Appeal - Oct 26 |
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| Passenger Hitomi dances an appeal for peace |
As protests unfolded worldwide against US-instigated plans to attack Iraq, Peace Boat participants afloat off the coast of Ecuador clustered on deck to stage their own appeal for peace through personal testimonies, dance, theatre and song. The fog, deadening voices and cutting off views of land, seemed to emphasise the feeling of isolation being on the boat at times brings, or to signify the state of ignorance many of us choose to live in. Guest speaker Dr. Charles Overby affirmed the necessity to find non-violent means to resolve conflict, followed by Takayoshi Fukuyo, who spoke of the difficulty of judging and acting without information. While recognising that often atrocities are committed while the public remains blind, he stressed our personal responsibility to stay informed and voice our stand against violence. Organiser Paul Mason expressed his hopes that, on an individual level, participants would continue to think about how to create peace around them and reminded them that, in the words of Noam Chomsky, collectively "We have the power to choose a different path". In a final song, a flood of passengers burst to the front, linking hands to sing a message of hope, coming together in one voice to swell the global call for peace. Wind whipping up their hair, skies darkening to herald a storm and the drumbeats of Tomoekai hardly seeming to reach beyond the closest swells, though some passengers might have felt their actions to be insignificant, by protesting with others the threat of yet another war, its attendant violence and suffering inflicted on innocent civilians, such gestures of solidarity, however small on the world stage, remain very significant. |
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| Creating a Town From Slums - Villa el Salvador -
Juan Tokeshi - Oct 26 |
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| Slum dwelling in Villa el Salvador, illustration by Juan Tokeshi |
Architect and university professor Juan Tokeshi introduced the history of Villa el Salvador to the present day, a former slum in the outskirts of Lima that is renowned for its urban development model and high level of local mobilisation. Located in a desert area on the Pacific coast, the district is part of the urban sprawl stretching for twenty-five kilometres either side of Lima, much of it illegally occupied by families seeking employment in the big city. Villa el Salvador, focus for Peace Boat's exchange and study programmes in Peru, was first settled in 1971, yet in just one generation has been transformed from a shanty-town of temporary dwellings to a carefully laid out municipality equipped with a water-treatment centre, hospital, police station, schools and arts centre. The town is divided into three zones, agricultural, industrial and residential, with housing blocks grouped around a central open square to create smaller urban communities. Tokeshi, a specialist in housing projects, illustrated through slides the evolution of slum territories and the reasons behind their existence in an area devoid of natural resources. He also spoke of the appearance of residents' organisations and NGOs, first created to improve standards of living through road maintenance and overseeing water supplies. Community-based initiatives have gradually expanded their activities to encompass town planning, housing and local education projects in a developmental model lauded throughout South America. |
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| Peace Boat's
39th Voyage index |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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