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Peace Foundation launches
Neil and Ken Patel from the NZ Indian Association accompany Kaumatua Sam Jackson as he gives a karakia at the Gandhi statue. On 2 October, the 140th anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday, the Peace Foundation launched the Wellington Peace Heritage Walk – which links peace-related sculptures, trees, memorials and historic sites in the Wellington Central Business District, Botanic Garden, waterfront and in Parliament grounds.
Photo: Peace Foundation Wellington Office Director Alyn Ware launching the Wellington Peace Heritage Walk Over 300 people visited a number of the Wellington Peace Heritage Walk locations as part of the opening events for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. These included the Gandhi statue, Pou whenua Wai-titi landing marker, Sonja Davies memorial, Kate Sheppard women suffragette garden, Hiroshima bomb figure, kauri tree honouring the United Nations disarmament programme, Nagasaki camphor tree, plaque with Hone Tuwhare poem, Hiroshima peace flame, Peacemaker sculpture, Hiroshima peace tree, Wellington nuclear-free city sign, Parihaka memorial and the Antarctica monument. At each location, the Peace Foundation organized appropriate people to introduce the sites. At the Gandhi statue, Ken and Neil Patel from the Wellington Indian Association laid a garland around Gandhi’s neck and lit a diya at his feet while kaumatua Sam Jackson gave a karakia to launch the walk. Ratilal Champaneri, President of the NZ Indian Association, spoke about the significance of Gandhi’s life and works for peace.
Photo: Honouring Sonja Davies memorial tree Pou Whenua is in the background Graham Kelly, former MP from Porirua and NZ High Commissioner to Canada, and Rosemary Barrington from the Sonja Davies Peace Award Trust
Margaret Arnold from the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) and United Nations Association spoke at the Kate Sheppard Women Suffragettes Garden about the struggles for women’s rights in New Zealand – the first country to extend the vote to women. Kate Dewes and Alyn Ware spoke at the Hiroshima plaque about their work with Hibakusha (survivors of the nuclear blasts) and mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to promote a nuclear-weapon-free world. This includes work with Mayors for Peace
Photo: The Topp Twins perform at the Oct 2 Peace Concert Over the lunch-break at St Andrews-on-the-Terrace, a church promoting diversity and peace, we were treated to a Peace Concert featuring the Topp Twins The Topp Twins also rallied the crowd to support US President Obama’s campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, noting that New Zealand has led the way on this issue. “People think that Obama is ahead of the curve with his plan to ban the bomb. Wake-up! We did it 25 years ago.” Alyn Ware closed the concert with a sing-a-long to his up-beat blues song “Aotearoa Nuclear Free Zone”. Dame Laurie Salas, former President of the United Nations Association of New Zealand, spoke at the kauri tree honouring the United Nations disarmament programme. She relayed her experiences promoting nuclear disarmament at the United Nations – the leadership that has been taken by New Zealand on nuclear disarmament and the need to continue working at the UN for the complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.
Photo: Hiroshima Peace Flame Barney Richards from the Peace Council spoke at the Hiroshima Flame about the annual Hiroshima Day commemorations that were part of the campaign to make New Zealand nuclear-free, and which continue every year in order to educate people about nuclear weapons and disarmament. Alyn Ware spoke about the Hone Tuwhare poem “No Ordinary Sun” an excerpt of which makes up a poetry plaque in the Peace Garden. The poem, which is studied in New Zealand schools, was written by Tuwhare after he saw the devastation of Hiroshima following the atom bomb in 1945. At the Nagasaki camphor tree Kanae Tsuji, a peacemaker from Japan, read out a letter from Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue apologizing for not being able to make the opening of the Peace Walk in Wellington, and extending his very best wishes for it. Alyn Ware, who travels to Nagasaki often for disarmament work with the mayor and peace organizations, described how the tree was grown from a cutting from a camphor tree in Nagasaki that survived the nuclear explosion.
Photo: The Peacemaker sculpture by Chris Booth Chris Booth, sculptor of Peacemaker, flew down from Kerikeri in order to be able to introduce his sculpture to the peace marchers. “The Peacemaker is part of a trilogy of peace sculptures the other two being the Gateway sculpture in the Auckland Peace Heritage Walk and the Rainbow Warrior Memorial at Matauri Bay, which includes the propeller from the Greenpeace vessel now resting in the bay.” “The three sculptures were all constructed from basalt rocks retrieved from the ocean, where the pounding of currents had rounded them into harmonious peaceful forms. The intent of each very different work was to accentuate the feeling of holism and to express a conviction for peace and harmony among humankind.”
Photo: Kereru Pounamu leading waiata at the Parihaka memorial Sam Jackson, a kaumatua from Parihaka and also from Wellington, gave a karakia at the Parihaka memorial. He also spoke about the nonviolent campaign led by Te Whiti and Tohu to resist land being stolen from Taranaki people. He noted that the stones on the memorial represented the Parihaka men who had been arrested, brought to Wellington and then shipped down Dunedin to be forced into slave labour because of their resistance. Many of them died from the cold and harsh conditions. Kereru Pounamu, from Waitaha, led us in some waiata in honour of the Parihaka people. The visit to the Antarctica Monument included speeches by former Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control Matt Robson, Tamsin Falconer from the Antarctic Society, Argentinian actress/director and explorer Victoria Manno and Kate Smith from Operation Peace Through Unity (OPTU). The monument highlights the 1959 Antarctic Treaty which established the first demilitarized and nuclear-free zone in the world. OPTU, Greenpeace and the World March for Peace and Nonviolence used the occasion to launch a campaign for Peace at the Poles – promoting demilitarization, environmental protection and the establishment of peace parks at both poles. There are a number of other sites which are included in the Wellington Peace Heritage Walk brochure, but which we did not have time to visit on the opening day due to other activities on the day including the launch of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence in the morning and the lunch-time Peace Concert. These include the Wellington Peace Capital Plaque, Body to Soul steps and Te Aro Park.
Launching the Peace at the Poles campaign at the Antarctica Monument on Mount Victoria The Wellington Peace Heritage Walk brochure includes information about all the sites as well as a map indicating their locations and a suggested walking route to visit them. Please contact the Peace Foundation Wellington Office for a copy.
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World Peace March to start from most peaceful nation on earth! Scoop – NZ June 5 Mundo sin Guerres (World without Wars), an international organisation working to prevent war and promote non-violence, has decided to start a 90-day World March for Peace and Non-violence www.worldmarch.co.nz in New Zealand, the country recently affirmed by the Global Peace Index (GPI) as the most peaceful nation on earth. The World March will start in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday 2 October and then travel through 95 countries culminating in Argentina. Thousands of concerts, festivals, forums, and demonstrations are planned to coincide with the march worldwide. Rafael de la Rubia, founder of Mundo sin Guerres and the international spokesperson for the World March says “We chose New Zealand because it is the first country to grant women the right to vote, to legally ban nuclear weapons, and the first and only country to establish a Minister for Disarmament, so we are pleased at the recognition now given to New Zealand by the Global Peace Index.” See World Peace March to start from most peaceful nation on earth! Did You Know?
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