Photo: Ndbele
Village Home – South Africa
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Friends and family around the world, wherever you are
In your homes, in public spaces, at your favorite bistro, pub, disco,
On a beach, on a mountain top, in a sacred space, in the rain or the
sunshine
or even in your car, on a bus or a plane
I invite you to join me in celebrating my 65th birthday
March 21, 2007
Let’s begin DANCING FOR DARFUR on that day!
Lluch Alcari - Mallorca
Please consider dancing to at least five of your favorite tunes either at
home or with friends anytime from March 21 through March 25. For those of
you who do not like to dance, even clapping your hands or jogging to your
favorite rhythm and blues is a welcome alternative. Even better, organize
a party!
I am interested in the purchase of Solar Cookers (and miscellaneous
cooking items) for refugee women and
invite you to view the following video on this initiative:
Choose your connection
to view
KCET – Life and Times – Solar Cookers for Refugee Women
Refugee women are under threat of rape when they leave the refugee camps
in search of firewood. A simple solution for avoiding this brutal abuse,
outside the camps, at least, is to provide solar cookers to women so that
they do not have to leave the camps for fuel. In addition, providing the
raw materials to make one’s own solar cooker, contributes to women’s
empowerment as well as to their health and safety.
Darfur Peace and Development Organization – Women’s Center Project
Solar Cooking Project information available on this web site
The KoZon Foundation (Stichting KoZon) is a Dutch NGO
that is working
introducing solar cooking in Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Solar Cookers International
Desert Wind – Sahara – Tunisia
ALL DANCES will help to make this purchase and delivery happen!
Here is a guide to foreign exchange equivalents for you to consider
as a basis for determining your donation.
Universal Currency Converter
Pledges of $1.00 CDN/dance
I suggest a minimum pledge of the equivalent of $5.00CDN/person
The total of our collective contribution will be posted on this web site
after March 25, as well as any photos (take digital pix please!) and
statements you may wish to share. I would love to know what you have
chosen as your favorite dance music!
Let’s share the sounds that lift our souls and our feet!
I’m going with Latin, R&B, Afro-Cuban, North African Groove and of course,
The 60’s!
Sometime in late April, I hope I will be able to have confirmed the
organization, the method of payment and the manner in which our
contribution will be sent. Please be sure to revisit this web site as we
update it throughout the end of March and into April. Anyone who has
experience in coordinating this type of payment procedure – your expertise
is welcomed. And please, do not send me any birthday gifts!
I am looking forward to hearing from you all!
Please feel free to forward this to all your friends! Everyone is welcome.
Thanks for coming to my virtual Celebration! Enjoy Dancing!
E-mail your pledge information, photos and statements
DancingForDarfur@yahoo.ca
Dollarton – British Columbia (1947) | Bedouin Tent – Southern Tunisia
WHY MARCH 21st?
Natalie Beth
First Day of Spring
11:10 AM - Vancouver
March 21, 1942
As a child, I always loved March 21, not just because it was my birthday,
but this date was also a celebration of the first day of spring. Several
years ago, I discovered that this day is also known in other circles as
the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
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“We must combat all
forms of intolerance by celebrating the diversity and the
differences that enrich the human family. But we must work to reduce
the differences that are imposed, rather than chosen, that speak of
deprivation rather than fulfillment and that fuel the xenophobic
discourse about the relative merit and desert of individuals based
on stereotypical attributes attached to their race, religion or
ethnicity.”
Louise Arbour
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
Background of 21 March
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is
marked every year on 21 March with activities led by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, New York and
at the field-presences. The theme for his year's commemoration is Racism
and Discrimination: Obstacles to Development.
On March 21, 1960, in South Africa, in what is known as the Sharpeville
massacre, 69 demonstrators were shot and killed during a non-violent
protest against apartheid .The United Nations chose this date to draw
attention to the continuing fight against all forms of racial
discrimination. Through resolution 2124 (XXI) of 1966, the General
Assembly appealed to Member States that, in combating discriminatory
practices, education and culture should be directed, and mass media and
literary creation should be encouraged, towards removing the prejudices
and erroneous beliefs, such as the belief in the superiority of one race
over another, which incites such practices.
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