NEWS RELEASE
FROM: UK CPT/ Ekklesia
Date: 12/10/04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wanted: Christians for Conflict Situations
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is seeking people who will join their 2005 delegations which will enter conflict situations around the world, including Iraq, the Middle East and Columbia.
CPT, based in North America, and who also recently launched in the UK, is a faith-based organization that sends teams of 4-8 trained peace workers to conflict areas around the world.
These teams seek to provide a violence reduction presence and especially to support civilians who put at risk by armed actors. They're work involved human rights documentation, accompaniment and training.
CPT also regularly sends larger delegations to visit conflict areas as a way of raising awareness. These delegations give participants an opportunity to hear the stories of those affected by the conflict first-hand. Delegates also have an opportunity to learn more about the way CPT and other peace organizations work in these areas.
CPT is seeking participants who are interested in human rights work, committed to nonviolence, and willing to participate in team worship and reflection.
The delegation experience culminates in a nonviolent public witness that challenges violence. Delegates should have plans to share about the trip upon return to their home communities and congregations.
Members of the teams must provide their own financing, covering the round-trip airfare from a designated U.S. or Canadian city (except as noted for the Kenora delegation), all on-ground travel, two meals a day, simple accommodations, and all honorariums and delegation fees.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is now seeking applicants for all of its 2005 delegations, as follows:
COLOMBIA: January 27-February 9, May 24-June 6, July 12-25, September
20-October 3, 2005. Participants will meet with human rights workers and church leaders in Bogota, travel to the industrial city of Barrancabermeja where CPT's long-term team is based, and spend time in the countryside where paramilitaries and other armed groups threaten the lives of displaced people. Cost is $1800 U.S.
MIDDLE EAST: February 15-27, April 5-17, May 24-June 5, July 26-August 7, September 13-25, and November 22-December 4, 2005. As the "Roadmap for Peace" seems further and further away from implementation, delegates will witness the reality of day-to-day life in the West Bank. They will meet with representatives of Israeli and Palestinian peace and justice groups, then join CPT Hebron in their work of violence deterrence, human rights documentation, and challenging the structural violence of the Occupation through nonviolent public witness. Cost is $1800 U.S.
KENORA/ ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG (GRASSY NARROWS, ONTARIO): November 12-21, 2004; February 18-27, May 20-29, August 5-14, and October 7-16, 2005. In 1999, the Ontario Government approved a 20-year plan allowing a corporate logging company to continue clear-cutting forest on the traditional land-use area of this First Nations community. A blockade since November 2002 challenges the violators of the community's traditional lands. In nearby Kenora, relations between native and non-native residents are tense. Delegation members will learn about Aboriginal rights and environmental concerns, monitor human rights, and serve as a nonviolent presence at the camp and in Kenora. Participants should be prepared to camp under rustic conditions. Cost is $300 US ($400 Cdn). Delegates arrange their own
transportation to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
IRAQ--tentative dates: February 19-March 5, April 9-23, May 21-June 4, September 12-October 1, November 19-December 3, 2005. As Iraq continues to suffer under unstable and difficult conditions, delegates will meet with representatives of nongovernmental organizations, fledgling Iraqi civil society groups, the U.S. military, and others, to assess the current situation. They may visit hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches, and will talk with Iraqis whose loved ones have been detained by U.S. forces or under the previous regime. Based primarily in Baghdad, the delegation may
travel to outlying areas. Cost is $2000 U.S.
For more information or to apply, contact CPT, (PO Box 6508, Chicago, IL 60680; phone 773-277-0253; fax 773-277-0291; e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
See CPT's website at: http://www.cpt.org/ for more information
