Day 2: Continuing Seminars & Next Steps

Day 1: Opening Panel & Seminar

AWWA Co-Director Edie Hartshorne opened the conference with a performance of Japanese koto music. Then the opening panel of guests, including... gave talks about the state of various Central American countries' efforts to de-militarize.

Opening Celebrations

In addition to the exhibition, there were some wonderful performances by children, including a shadow puppet show, poetry, traditional dance, and music. Sandra Ribas, AWWA Costa Rica Coordinator, even felt inspired to give an impromptu dance performance!

In Memory of Cranes

As part of the prep for the conference, organizers created many paper cranes at UCI to welcome participants. They are in memory of a little girl in Japan who was injured by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and vowed to make 1000 cranes before she died as a prayer for peace.

Young Visions of a World Without War

I had the opportunity to curate this wonderful exhibition of children's work from Nepal, Costa Rica, Italy, Poland, and Germany at the Ministry of Culture in San Jose, Costa Rica. The paintings asked very simple questions --questions such as "What is peace?" "What is violence?"
...and "What would our world look like without war?"



Other pics:


Lily, an American student and volunteer.



Ruth helped coordinate the logistics for the conference--and was its facilitator, host, organizer extraordinaire.

4.26.07: Pre-Conference Ramp-up!

Photo: Catherin getting in touch with the bush.

Greetings from San Jose!

Here's an update on the AWWA Crew's adventures thus far.

The Crew: Edie Hartshorne (Co-Director), Catherine Margerin (Filmmaker), Vigali Hamilton (Artist), Paloma (Videographer), Christina Shaheen (AWWA First Grip), Minette Mangahas (Artist, Educator, & AWWA Second Grip)

We have been engaged in preparations for the First Conference of Women for the Abolition of Armies in Central America by the Year 2020.


Photo: Minette getting ready for action.

For more info in Spanish, visit: http://www.abolicion2020.org/programa.htm

Wed. 4.25
A.M.
We met with the core organizers from the University for International Cooperation (UCI), Amigos Para La Paz, CEPPA, A World Without Armies, and other supporters at the UCI. Logistics were hammered out for each day, duties delegated, connections made.

We held a Press Conference where we screened Catherine Margerin's short film "Hope" and answered questions from the media.

P.M.
Then we paid a visit to the Univeristy for Peace (about 1 hr outside San Jose) to attend a forum on CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) where Senior Rodrigo Carazo was speaking with other guests. CAFTA is a hot button topic in Costa Rica right now because of the devastating ramifications it could have on local efforts to protect the environment, raise the status of women, and support indigenous communities.






Then, after a very full day, Edie Hartshorne and Vigali Hamilton went to perform music at the Carrazo's residence!