Amid pouring rain one day, and in brilliant sun the next, dozens of people gathered at the proposed Robertsville uranium mine site in Algonquin territory on the weekend of 25-26 October to pray for the land.  The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation had called for the universal days of prayer, from people of all faith traditions, to express once again their opposition to mining exploration by Frontenac Ventures Corporation (FVC) on their lands.

On 17 October, in response to the government's failure to appear, 150 miners from different villages and communities in Southern Bolivar marched to Cartagena and occupied the headquarters of the Secretariat of Mining.  They were prepared to stay there until the government rescheduled its meeting with them in Santa Rosa, and demanded that it do so by 20 October.  The miners promised that if the government did not respond, 10,000 people would march in Barrancabermeja.

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Nov. 05, 2008

Pray for the Algonquin and Six Nations people engaged in protracted and frustrating land rights negotiations with Canadian officials while still trying to live their lives and support their families.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

Imagine the scene: a group of children walking to school.  Some of the older children are jostling and pushing each other, joking together; the younger ones are walking quietly, hand in hand.  It could be a scene from almost anywhere in the world.  

But this is Palestine, under Israeli military occupation.  The children are Palestinian.  Two Israeli soldiers walk in front of the small group and an army jeep follows behind.  
 

This morning, I walked to the Indian Ocean and made salt in defiance of the British Occupation of India.  This morning, I marched in Selma; I stood down tanks in Tiananmen Square, and I helped tear down the Berlin Wall.  This morning I became a Freedom Rider.

Today’s Freedom Riders are sailing small boats into the Gaza Strip in open defiance of the Israeli Occupation and blockade.  This morning, I arrived in Gaza aboard the SS Dignity, part of a Free Gaza Movement delegation of twenty seven doctors, lawyers, teachers, and human rights activists from across the world, including Mairead Maguire—the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Members of the Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraqi Kurdistan visited an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp near Zharawa on 31 October 2008 and saw fifty families from nine surrounding villages living under deplorable conditions.  The families had to flee their villages because of aerial bombardment and shelling by Turkish planes from the north and Iranian missiles from the west.  CPTers heard bombs in the distance while visiting the camp.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is recruiting Peacemaker Corps applicants for trainings to take place in the United Kingdom and Colombia in 2009.  The UK training could include people from all over Europe.  The Colombia training could include Colombians who have participated in CPT delegations as well as other Colombian nationals who have spent time with the Barrancabermeja-based team on which both North American and Colombian CPTers have served since 2003.  For both trainings—the first that CPT will conduct outside North America—CPT needs ten applicants by January 2009.

The day after the election may be a downer for people like me who found the adrenalin of this election season seductive.  Mornings will continue to dawn and the progression of late fall to winter will continue.  Eventually I will remember that a few things may be different, but a lot stays the same.  A nation that controls half the world's military might, a global economic crisis, an impending world food crisis, and serious environmental challenge are looming in front of every one of us.  Unless I have a longer view, I may fall into a very long depression because so little has changed. 

November 12-15, 2008 Bluffton University’s theatre department will perform Whatever Kindles, a fictional docudrama exploring the everyday experiences and struggles of members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).  Written by playwright and CPT reservist Tricia Gates Brown, the docudrama takes its title from the words of St. Theresa of Avila, “Do whatever most kindles love in you.  It features seven fictional CPT workers and an ensemble of supporting characters that share their experiences in Canada, Columbia, Iraq and Israel/Palestine through direct address to the audience and short vignettes.  The play premiered at George Fox University in Oregon during the fall of 2007.  A free script is available at http://www.cpt.org/resources/books#7.

3 September
Janeth Foronda Torress, a government official in Criminal Investigations, met with CPTers Nils Dybvig and William Payne to request information related to four crimes of homophobic violence she is currently investigating…

16 September
The Barrancabermejan youth organization Legion of Affection, which had received death threats from a paramilitary group the previous month (see August 2008 Update), held a well-attended press conference in response to those threats.  The young people described the nature of their work, how they respond to threats with courage and humor, and concluded by performing a cultural dance.

In the afternoon, two men went to the home of a leader of the Women's Popular Organization (OFP), asking where she was and insisting they knew how to find her.  Because of this potential threat, the following day CPTers Jenny Dillon and Stewart Vriesinga accompanied this leader to her meetings in the region.