Donald Groom Peace Committee The Donald Groom Peace Committee works for a nonviolent world — Envisaging a World Without Weapons: While a world without weapons seems inconceivable at the moment the Committee seeks and works for such an end. The vast scale of military spending globally is an enormous waste. It causes huge damage and diverts resources from the great needs of human health, education and social welfare, and from caring for the environment.Engaging in the Australian Campaign Against Arms Trade (ACAAT www.acaat.org)
The Committee is strongly opposed to the current emphasis on military solutions, and is especially concerned at the ready acceptance of these solutions by political and community leaders. Nonviolence is not readily accepted by many people and for many it takes continual practice and effort to establish nonviolence in their own lives. The Committee sees such practice at an individual and community level as essential if we are to move major groups and international conflicts away from violent and military responses.
Awarding the Donald Groom Fellowship: The Donald Groom Peace Fellowship is a grant which enables individuals to work on projects for nonviolent social change. Over 24 people and projects have been supported over 28 years (1975-2004) |
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PEACE COMES WALKING
THE LIFE OF DONALD GROOM, QUAKER PEACE WORKER by VICTORIA RIGNEY Donald Groom was born into a family of conscientious objectors during World War I and worked in interesting places at extraordinary times: Spain during the civil war, India before and after Partition, and Australia during the Vietnam War. Although he lived in friendship and collaboration with such visionaries as Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave and Martin Luther King Jnr, this is not a portrait of a saint. Victoria Rigney shows us a complex personality, a 'Hindu Quaker' who undertook his own walk in the wilderness, as he struggled to find personal and global peace. To order: Email, or write to: Donald Groom Peace Committee PO Box 1529 Atherton, Queensland 4883.
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Donald Groom Fellowship Holders1975 Marjorie Sykes - first Donald Groom Fellow. Visited SE Asia and Australasia and spoke about Asian perceptions and concerns. 1975 Lilla Watson - Aboriginal activist who published a booklet "Minority Groups in America : Their Struggle and Ours" after spending 6 months in America meeting with American Indian, Negro and other groups David Martin for work at Kendall River. Jann Bennett - travelled to Philadelphia to spend 9 months with Movement for a New Society, and who shared her experiences widely in Australia. Charlotte & Stuart Meacham - AFSC workers in SE Asia who produced booklet Listening to Aborigines. 1976 Ibu Gedong Bagoes Oka - Translation into Indonesian and distribution to schools in Bali of Mahatma Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth . 1978 Peter Jones - Concerns in non-violent change, nuclear issues, aborigines and land rights. A program balancing media talking, writing research and action, with workshops and working for Race Relations and Friends Peace Committees. 1979 Rosemary Morrow - Research on non-violent actions (NVA) in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, resulting in her document Pax Pacifika. 1980 Rachel Bloomfield - Having learnt non-violence training at the Philadelphia Life Center, she established network of skilled NVA trainers and ran workshops on non-violent social change in New Zealand. Also she wrote a book "People Organising for Power" which documents NVA campaigns from New Zealand. 1981 Diana Pittock & the Melbourne Non-Violence Training Collective. Worked to build a non-violence training network around Australia, which was used as preparation for actions at Frankland River, Pine Gap & Roxby Downs, and worked with other groups. 1985 Noriko Toyama - Japanese peace-worker and anti-nuclear activist who travelled for 6 months through Australia and New Zealand to learn about our ways of tackling these issues. She worked with peace groups, and spoke to schools, colleges and at conferences. 1986 Joanna Hayter - Former co-ordinator of PND in Perth, who visited Japan and stayed with Noriko and her friends for 3 months, to develop closer relations between Japanese, New Zealand and Australian peace movements, especially on issues such as Indigenous Rights and Nuclear dilemma. 1987 Penny Duckworth - Visited India and shared her experiences widely with friends and the public. Gracelyn Smallwood - Aboriginal activist. 1988 Anne Pattel-Gray - To assist her ability to empower aboriginal women at grass roots level. 1988 Sulak Sivaraksa - Thai Buddhist peace and social justice leader who toured Australia talking about issues in SE Asia. 1990 Erwina Darmajanti - Environmental activist who worked for the Pesticide Action Network in Indonesia, and toured Australia to learn more about environmentally sound farming practices, including permaculture. 1992 Swati Desai - Sarvodaya worker from Gujarat, India who toured Australia to talk of her work with tribal people and to explore a broader perspective of social justice and equality. 1993 Simon Weber - Sponsored to visit centres and individuals involved in mediation in North America and Europe to extend his Australian experience. 1994 Niramon Prudahorn, Thailand - visit cancelled 1995 No fellow appointed. Pamphlet re-written and printed 1996 Victoria Rigney - Researched and wrote the Biography of Donald Groom 2001 Support for Non-Violence training by Peace Brigades International for people intending to work in Aceh and East Timor. 2002 Jason McLeod - Partners for Peace in West Papua 2005 Louise Cook Tonkin - Conflict in Aceh |
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