[ PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR NSW + QLD CONTACTS !!! ] http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=34620&group=webcast
Truck 'Sunshine' to Bougainville - PLEASE DONATE !!! by Mathew Davis 5:16pm Sat Sep 6 '03 article#34620 phone: 0418 335 864 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wetlandecosystems.com.au/index.php?page=82 Wednesday night, a big yellow truck named "Sunshine" rolled into Sydney, at the end of the second day of a long journey to Bougainville. [..] You can help in a number of ways... [ PHOTO 1: This truck will soon be shipped to Bougainville. Workers from the RACV put in over 150 hours restoring it. ] (article 1) MEDIA STATEMENT, 4 September 2003 Bougainville Truck Last night, a big yellow truck named ‘Sunshine’ rolled into Sydney, at the end of the second day of a long journey to Bougainville. After 25 years of a quiet life pottering around the paddocks of a family farm in South Gippsland, 'Sunshine' has been restored and is on its way to a new life in the jungles of Bougainville, carrying with it a load of donated tools, clothing, school books and medical supplies. After a decade of war, the Bougainvillean people have returned to their villages, their gardens and their lives. But for a generation of young people, peace is new experience. They enter it having missed out on an education, on a chance to develop practical skills in areas such as building and agriculture, and without the ability to support themselves and participate as full members of the community. Many of these young people took part in the fighting. An hour south of the town of Arawa, in the Daantanai valley, the elders of ten different villages have come together to build a new school for these young people. It will be a place where they can gain new skills and opportunities, a new basis for self-esteem and standing in their community. Under the supervision of local elders, the young people are building the school themselves, logging and milling the timbers from trees near the school site and raising money to equip the school by growing cocoa in the valley's rich volcanic soil. Before the war, Bougainville was famed for its quality cocoa which commanded high prices on the world market. But these young cocoa farmers do not have a vehicle to transport their produce down to the wharf, from where they could ship it directly to overseas customers. Instead they must sell it at a low price to agents who travel out to the villages. The world price for cocoa has climbed over the last few years, and with a suitable vehicle they would be able to fund the school and pay themselves a reasonable income. So 'Sunshine' is on its way to Townsville to catch a boat to Bougainville and start a new life as the village cocoa truck, where it has the potential to transform peoples lives. Over the next month, as 'Sunshine' is driven up the east coast of Australia we would like help in raising $5000 to cover shipping costs and to give some money to the new Daantanai Open Learning Centre on Bougainville. Wetland Ecosystems, an environmental restoration company, will match any contributions. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, please deposit monies into the Bougainville Freedom Movement cheque account - Account No. 2212-1002-9038 at any Commonwealth Bank. For more information about 'Sunshine' the Truck and the Daantanai Open Learning Centre please visit http://www.wetlandecosystems.com.au/ or contact: Mathew Davis phone: 0418 335 864 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks. You can help in a number of ways: --------------------------------- By making a donation towards the $3500 we still need to raise. By contacting local media about our trip and arranging interviews with newspapers, or television and radio stations along our route up the east coast of Australia from Sydney to Townsville. By finding local businesses or organisations in your area who would like to sponsor us, even for a small amount. Shipping the truck is expensive. Because we are charged by volume rather than by weight, we want to fill the back of the truck up with useful items that are needed in Bougainville these include: Clothing: particularly shorts and t-shirts Tools: hand tools, rechargeable power tools Medical supplies: bandages, sutures, things with no expiry date, not pharmaceuticals. You could collect these items in your area and arrange for them to be somewhere on the Princes Highway for us to collect. --- For more info on Bougainville and the Bougainville Freedom Movement, check out http://www.eco-action.org/bougainville/ -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
