For A Change articles from June 2002

For A Change archives from June 2002

Northern timeshare. (Ear To The Ground).(Norwegian finds polar bear inhabiting his holiday cottage)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... For most Scandinavians, opening up their holiday cottages might entail some cleaning, or perhaps dealing with mice. In Northern Norway it can be more exciting, as Trond Olsen discovered on returning to his holiday cottage on the remote northern...

God is back. (Ear To The Ground.(Swedish journalist feels free to talk about his religious beliefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In this most secular of lands, it was encouraging to read an article the other day by Goran Skytte, a wellknown Swedish journalist. In the early Nineties, he said, he had been afraid to take up questions of faith in his popular TV interview...

Apology to minority. (Ear To The Ground).(Bishop of Lulea apologies for churches' actions against Sami people in Sweden)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Speaking to the Sami Parliament recently, the Bishop of Lulea in northern Sweden asked their forgiveness for the churches' actions or silence towards Sami people in the past. `God has given us the ministry of reconciliation,' he said. `Truth...

Power of the pen. (Ear To The Ground).(Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Recently I watched the funeral of Sweden's largest selling author, Astrid Lindgren, who is best known for her children's book, Pippi Longstocking. Attended by royalty and government, it was a tribute to a lady deeply loved in Sweden and...

Goldfish and xylophones. (Ear To The Ground).(sorting recycling)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Our local council promotes an environmentally friendly rubbish sorting system, of which in general I approve. In a fever of efficiency, it has now produced a booklet to help us decide in which of eight or nine places we should put every...

Breaking the chain of hate. (From The Editor's Desk).(Lebanese Christians and Muslims meet in Bradford, England to spread message of ending hate)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In Europe, this spring saw the rise of populist right-wing, anti-immigration parties in elections in several countries. In France, the National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen came second in the first stage of the Presidential elections, only to...

Children of Chernobyl's fallout: sixteen years after the world's worst nuclear accident, Kenneth Noble visits the children who are still suffering as a result. (Lead Story).(Cover Story)
June 1, 2002... I sit at lunch with three teachers and two scientists in the village school of Yurovichi in south-east Belarus. The teachers are all widows. One lost her husband, aged 46, to cancer. The other husbands died at 50. Nothing can be proved but the...

My path to healing: only some 200 children from the 1,500 sets of twins and triplets used in medical experiments in Auschwitz during World War II survived. Eva Mozes Kor was one of them. In June 2001 she addressed a symposium at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, which nearly 60 years before had been in charge of the experiments. (Forgiveness).(Transcript)
June 1, 2002... We print extracts: Fifty-seven years ago my twin sister and I were used as human guinea pigs in medical experiments in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. In the last 20 years I have made contact with many of the other survivors of...

Planting the seed of reconciliation: we may need our enemies for our own healing, maintains Trevor Williams, the Director of Corrymeela, the reconciliation centre in Northern Ireland. He talks to Faustina Starrett. (Northern Ireland).(Interview)
June 1, 2002... Few of us in Northern Ireland are qualified to write even a footnote on managing an effective peace process. Yet, as broadcaster Martyn Lewis comments, `Everywhere there is war there are people trying to build peace.' The harrowing events in...

Faith in diplomacy: throughout the highs and lows of a long diplomatic career, Archie Mackenzie has always striven to put service ahead of ambition. Campbell Leggat and Kenneth Noble tell his story. (Profile).
June 1, 2002... If former British ambassador Archie Mackenzie told you that he had seen the Loch Ness monster as a boy, you would believe him, for he has made honesty a hallmark of his distinguished career. But he confines himself to a bare account of the...

Letting in the light: Mary Lean is transported by the work of a man whose art was his message. (Bookmark).
June 1, 2002... The 60-mile St Cuthbert's Way footpath ends up on the island of Lindisfarne off the north-east coast of England, the home of the 7th Century Celtic Christian saints, Aidan and Cuthbert. As we arrived in St Mary's Church, at the end of our...

Painting a brighter future: what has political freedom meant for the arts in Russia? Natalia Pankova, Chair of the Russian Arts Foundation of Nizhny Novgorod, talks to Anastasia Stepanova. (Artst & Values).(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2002... `We have a beautiful but very hard task--to create goodness by means of the language of art,' says Natalia Pankova, the Chair of the Russian Art Foundation, a non-governmental non-profit organization, which promotes artists and culture in...

From Utopia to reality in Latvia. (People: making a difference).(Kristine Briede and Carl Bjorsmark transform Karosta, a former military base into a center for art and culture)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Right on the picturesque Baltic Sea shore lies a derelict and forgotten land of empty nuclear rocket storehouses, bunkers and abandoned multi-storey houses, shaping the landscape of Karaosta, the former sealed military zone in Liepaja, Latvia....

Borrow a youth. (People: making a difference).(Borrow a Youth program in Kampala, Uganda)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... It was the end of a hot and long day in Kampala, Uganda, and my energy and enthusiasm were fading. We climbed the steep stone stairs to the third floor of the building and entered a small office, where we were greeted by a smartly dressed young...

Cleaning up the arms trade. (Newsdesk).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The arms trade accounts for 50 per cent of all corrupt international transactions, stated a report launched by Transparency International (TI) in April. The arms industry is worth $40 billion a year--and the `commissions' (or bribes) it...

A life I never dreamt of theatrical success didn't make Vendela Tyndale-Biscoe happy. Nor did drugs and partying. (Turning Point).
June 1, 2002... As a teenager, Vendela Tyndale-Biscoe lived the fast life of the 60s and dreamt of success on the stage. But when she finally made it, at the age of 24, she felt `dead inside'. She grew up near Gothenburg, in southern Sweden. When she was...

Life after Enron. (Webbsite).(effect of Enron scandal on American politics and business)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... For weeks the collapse of the Houston energy giant, Enron, competed with the war on terror for headlines. While the company's top executives made millions selling stock as Enron headed down, thousands of their employees, not knowing what was...

Doors to serenity. (Reflections).(meditation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Lord, grant me the courage to change what I can the serenity to accept what I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference. To me, life is about finding the balance between the three aspects of this Serenity Prayer. The...

The war against fear. (Guest Column).(learning from differences between Christianity and other religions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A little while ago, I made a visit to Mount Athos, in Greece, to make a programme for BBC radio about that ancient centre of monasticism--one of the holiest places of Orthodox Christianity. After a complex process of permits and passports and a...