Readers' emails

OneWorld UK welcomes your emails. Write to us at uk@oneworld.net. Please keep emails for publication short. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

Dea Birkett writes....
Writer and broadcaster Dea Birkett features OneWorld in the Recommendations section of her website where she describes our new OneWorld Events in London page as a "fantastic listings guide to all the human rights events in London"

exclaiming OneWorld
March 24, 2005 This community is great!!!
Thank you ONEWORLD for making the world truly one!!
Great people Indeed!!!
Henry Ekwuruke

Tsunami promises
January 2005 I've just read Anuradha Vittachi's article of the 10th Jan, "Keeping our promises for the tsunami", which I really enjoyed- a reasoned piece and I agreed with all the points and sentiments expressed.
many thanks for reading,
Hardwin Jones

Tory instincts
January 2005 Just found your website and it sums up so much of what I think and feel. Used to be an active Tory and still have many 'Tory' instincts.

But I have come to undstand that my aspirations can only be met when others - wherever they be - can also match theirs. Why should my enrichment impoverish others!

In other words, I would never vote for 'general' tax rises on principle, as governments don't spend it that well. BUT I would vote for more of my money (via personal giving or direct taxation) for advancing developing countries, getting people out of poverty. I think th Tory party is waking up to that now - thanks to guys like you who have been saying this stuff for years!
Adrian Yalland

Poverty and education
26.7.04 My country Honduras [The Honduran intifada] has always been poor - the second most in Latin America, after Haiti, so our past governments haven't done a good job so far. Our elected authorities haven't done anything to solve the biggest problem of all ... that is our education and the poverty of our people. That is where the problem reigns, and until we decide to help and do something about it we will never come out of the debasing situation in which we are now.
Julio Aguirre, New Jersey, USA

Catalyst ... responsible trade
20.7.04 Great work. Your site is a valuable resource and an important catalyst for public pressure. equop is a fair trade organic clothing company that as well as providing stylish ethical clothing for the humanitarian and environmentally conscious, seeks to bring the concept of responsible trade and living to the unconverted. We have created a brand that proves that responsible trade and profit are not mutually exclusive and acts as an example to irresponsible corporations and businesses. Readers can visit our site at www.equop.com.
Alex Lambie, equop - seek balance

South Africa: formulating solutions
3.5.04 As a South African and a development economist, I congratulate observers like Paul Kingsnorth (The globalisation of South Africa) who continue to expose lack of progress in poverty reduction in South Africa and remind policy-makers that such issues should remain at the top of the agenda. However, Kingsnorth's commentary, like most others, repeats what we already know and fails to provide concrete recommendations. The challenge is to start formulating solutions to the country's problems.
James Thurlow, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA

Oral testimony
28.4.04 Anuradha Vittachi's very interesting article Media for All in 2015 addresses some of the issues that make doing oral history with people in marginalised societies so crucial. The Panos Oral Testimony Programme trains local people to do oral history within their own communities.
Recent projects have addressed issues of resettlement and mountain-dwelling communities, with workshops in India, Peru, Pakistan, Lesotho and Poland. More information about the programme, including testimonies, summaries and commentary, can be found at www.panos.org.uk.
Caitlin Cook, Oral Testimony Programme Intern, London

Haiti
20.4.04 I just read your article regarding Haiti and I must say you have captured the essence of Haiti and its people very accurately. Thank you.
Craig Clift, Healthlink Inc., Texas, USA

Needed
16.4.04 Congratulations. OneWorld UK looks great and is badly needed.
James Corre, Students for Development, Oxford

Britishness?
13.4.04 Mosques in the UK have been dragged into the politics of creating 'moderate Muslims and promoting Britishness. The Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality recently said the term "multiculturalism" was no longer useful. Pleading for greater tolerance (not understanding or acceptance) of Muslims, he said, "We must call them British." CRE grants will now go to groups promoting Britishness.
The CRE has also supported the call for mosques to give sermons against terrorism. The implication is that Muslims in the UK are not so much independent individuals responsible for their own actions but a communal group controlled by places of worship or community leaders.
In criticising Muslim youth, the national picture is largely ignored. Provision for British youth has repeatedly failed to match their wider needs, interests and aspirations, leading to disaffection and high crime rates. Yet there seems to be a view that Muslim youths are driven in undesirable directions because of an identity crisis or the radical persuasion. Little account is taken of the weaknesses of British society and institutions.
Husain Akhtar, London

Liberty loving peoples
17.3.04 The news and opinion in this site confirms the notion that the US needs to withdraw from the UN and deal with individual countries on a unilateral basis. Hopefully a few liberty loving peoples will want to join coalition of freedom and independence.
Janet and Gene Earl, Tennessee, USA

Great work
5.5.04 Thank you for the great work that you and your team have done in creating the OneWorld UK web edition. I've just joined, and it looks terrific. I have immediately found something of interest to my organization.
Jonathan L. K. Reiber, London Editor, Church Publishing, Inc.

Congratulations
1.3.04 Congratulations on the launch of a very informative and professionally produced site.
Jan Cylwik, London