Foundations for Freedom Newsletter24 Greencoat Place, London., SW1P 1RD, UKtel: 020-7798 6000, www.f-4-f.org, F4F@london.iofc.orgIssue 30 August 2003

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In this issue...Reflections on Caux 2003 1-2 Action for Life Line 7-8Love is enough - Ildze Slanke 3-4 News from the Treasurer 8Oz Experiences from Anya and Cristina 4-6 F4F diary 8

When I arrived in Caux, it was darknight, and all I could see was the backof the Mountain House. Onthe next day, when I openedthe windows, I could notbelieve my eyes. I thoughtthere is a picture in frontof me, but no, it was allreality…

Being in Caux for threeweeks, I experienced themost wonderful summer ofmy life. I met my friendsthere and other veryinteresting people that arevery dear to me now, andthis was even more amazingthan the nature around us.I found there the energythat I was looking for solong.

Finding myself in the middle ofunimaginable beautiful nature and

surrounded by people withopen hearts and minds,this made me feel totallyfree and pure. I feltfreedom and purity in mythoughts, in my actions,in my soul.Now, being back at home,

I feel that something ischanged in me. Theexhaustion and tirednessare out of my body andsoul. Thanks to everyonefor giving me the chanceto come to Caux thissummer …

Cristina Gherasimov(Moldova)

How we were making all our way from Siberiato Switzerland was a real nut house taken out fora ride. From the personal perspective the firstreal shock for me was that all of a sudden I real-ised that the whole idea of YHI (as I had had itin my head) was a pure il- lusion. No doubt it wasuseful, but not at all painless. Any critical situation in a team is fraught withrevealing many surprising things, and this wasn’t an exceptional case.

What my soul really desired was Solitude. Solitude was what I was runningto. I wanted it like never before, and like nothing else in the whole world. Atypical introvert which I am, for so many months I had been surrounded so closelyby people I loved, that I felt I could no longer bear it, and I felt as if love hadgone and there was no strength in me left to keep loving people and wanting to bewith them.

When we finally made it to Caux after all our trouble, we were ever so wornout that I’m even not sure I was able to say hello to the people I had so wantedto see, and react adequately to what they were offering me. Once I entered CauxPalace I got surrounded by friends. But still, the first strong feeling I got inCaux was fear. I was bringing the whole suitcase of fear with me: fear of losingall that I had so laboriously gained through all these months, losing my sweetesthopes and dreams because Loneliness wanted me and I wanted Loneliness; fear of not

CAUX 2003

Photo Ward Vandewegee

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“Nothing is clear yet but I have some ideas...”

loving the people I came with, of my own non-pure motives and egoism.And then there came love... unbearable love, which no heart, including my

own, is capable of containing. The love I had was like waves... since last winter.Walking along the street crying unable to stop. Dashing around your room andpraying for someone to take at least a piece of this love and beauty back to whereit’s from, because it’s more than you can bear. This feeling came back to me andit was stronger than fear, but fear remained. I was afraid of the dark corridors,desperately afraid of the castle. This is strange - there’s hardly any other placewhere you are treated with such understanding, warmth, and friendliness as inCaux, that’s without doubt, and the memories are more often warm and gentle. Butthis fear, aroused from the depth of my soul, is like a domestic ghost, like alittle mirage of mine, which I silently gaze at with my inner sight.

I came home with the desire for solitude, which I hadn’t fully satisfied. Iwas struggling to respond to people asking ‘well-and-so-how-was-it?’ stuff, andforcing myself to answer emails. The love that I nearly thought was killed issurviving its renaissance. I’m staring and staring at its face, and can hardlyrecognise it, so greatly it has changed. Having overcome my fears, and having gonethrough THREE waves of complete disillusionment (one in Caux, two after, and Iguess tens yet to come), which implied a strong belief that the IC/F4F/YHI thingis over for me, and all personal things, which are connected with these three aredrawing to a close too, this new love of mine now looks pretty tired and pale.

What conclusions did I make from the whole Cauxexperience? In the first place, Caux proved tobe no paradise, but a very real place where veryreal things are happening. Secondly, I finallyrealised that there’s no world, in which everyonehas been given a present and becomes shiny happy.What I loved about Caux was that it’s not aboutpaying compliments; it’s very honest with you, as it’sthe home you create for yourself and people youcare for. It’s great responsibility, as it’sa pure reflection of what you are, and every littlething you do, say, in the Main Hall will resonatesomehow in the Sal Du Lac, because it’s such awhole interdependent thing, which you createyourself every second of your stay there. Caux is whatyou do and how you are. It won’t give you more than you give to it, but no moreit’ll take. It’s adequate. It’ll be just what you’ll make it, and no way anydifferent.

I realised that if we go to Caux again, it must be a team of 2 or 3, stronglycommitted, with similar motivation, a distinct vision of what this trip is aimedto achieve. What hurt me most was that I had thought that if a person doesn’t feelthe spirit, or there’s something wrong with them and they need help, they would goto Caux, and in this resort of spirit they’d be cured, and higher truth would comedown on him like a blessing, and so on and so forth. What I discovered was that ifa person feels no spirit in the swampy soils of the native Siberian lands, they’reMUCH LESS likely to get it in Caux; Caux is no resort, and no mental hospital forthe sorrowing; it might be the greatest step of development, or a complete wasteof time and force if you initially got nothing inside that would respond to itsmagic.

The LUFF that I unexpectedly could no longer feel towards YHI all of a suddenprojected on the whole F4F Regional Network. Suddenly it stabbed me like a pin inthe heart, right like it was many centuries ago, that fresh, chilly and bitter-sweet October 2002, for YHI. I recognise exactly this very feeling of being themost generous giver and a humble beggar at the same time, (continued on page 8)

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Ukraine’s future...

“Where there is life, there is ac-tion” (Surinder Gupta, the former di-rector of the MRA/IC Centre Asia Pla-teau).

Action forLife had been ajourney in for-merly unreachableheights and depthsof human hearts,a beauty only po-ets can describe,a daring to beoneself.

Now when it isall memories,every moment ofthe adventureshines in brightcolours - whetherit is a dusty mainstreet of PhnomPenh (the capitalof Cambodia), go-ing by unstablemotorbike to workand enjoying threedrops of rain dur-ing a usual hot(+40 C degrees)day, saying morn-ing and eveningprayers togetherwith a friend ina shared room,learning from the energy and wisdom ofnatives of the polluted and overcrowdedBombay.

There are many valuable lessons Ac-tion for Life taught me. Here are justsome:

· If you share, you enrich yourself andothers - it brings people closer andgives a feeling of belonging

· Love is enough. The saying had beenwritten on a torn poster on the wallof an Indian villager’s room with cow-

dung floor. Harmony was binding theonly breadwinner of the family, thewomen and the children. Nothing wasmissing.

· One should al-ways try to havepeace. I will neverforget the way anIndian maid broughta glass of cold wa-ter – that momentit seemed there hadnever ever beenwars in this World.

· Fear is a liar.Fear is a poisondamaging thepresent in the nameof the unknown. Itwas through thecare and wisdom ofgroup-mates manytimes we attackedfears – through do-ing what we fearthe most (likewriting letters ofapology, sortingout differenceswith a friend, dar-ing to speak up tothe audience).

· I should alwaystry to be ready to

do what God wants me to do. Often Ikeep remembering an old Muslim gen-tleman from Bombay, Abdul KaderChoudhary, whose silk printing fac-tory, inherited from his grandfathers,had been burned down during the Hindu- Muslim riots in 1992. A friend cameto him and said: “Build it all again”.And so he did in spite of bitterness,pain, exhaustion, distrust in peopleand events. The question is “Are youready?” after meeting Mr. Choudharyand tens of other people, who AREREADY, during AfL I learned that Ihave to be ready too. Every day.

LOVE IS ENOUGH

· Service is joy. There is a poem by Tagore written on the wall of the AsiaPlateau kitchen (MRA/IC centre in Panchgani), which says “I dreamt of a life asjoy. I woke up and found that life is service. I started serving and discoveredthat service is joy”. So many times during Action for Life this proved to betrue: the joy of putting together sessions, presentations, conferences; givingeach other and total strangers a listening ear. One of my authorities in termsof service is Komalam George, the head of the housekeeping team in Asia Plateau.She is up first and leaving last, but still her eyes are always shining, herjokes are funny and the meals prepared under her leadership put most restau-rants in the shade.

· There can never be too much respect for the other person, no matter to whichculture he or she belongs. Respect – meaning – non-judgement, interest, seeingGod’s child in the human being.

This all might sound a good or not that good a theory. But as we all know – F4Fand MRA/IC is about practice. That’s the most challenging. Action for Life hadgiven us a clear view of how beautiful the soul is, how high it can fly, and – howmuch souls of other people have suffered. Now when we know it – the knowledge hasto be implemented, the conviction given has to be used.

So simple! Action for Life prepared us to do what we have to – should it beordinary or unique. It gave a map to find the way, courage to do what is right,a fellowship always to rely on, and a conviction that everyone has a God giventask, and no-one else can do it for us. “Life is a daring adventure or it isnothing at all” - Mike Brown

Ildze Slanke, Editor of Baltic Business News (Latvia)

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About 17 hours in the air and we are in Sydney. I still find it difficult torealize that we are at the other end of the earth, somewhere down under. There arealways a lot of things that remind me that I’m in a distant continent - all thesekoalas, possums and parrots around - but I still can hardly comprehend thedistance between Ukraine and Australia. But what I really feel is the differencesof the cultures and lifestyles and this is a remarkably interesting experience.

Vegemite for breakfast and Lamingtons for dessert are definitely not thethings that remind me of Ukraine, and after a few months enjoying the taste of foodI’ve never tried before I begin to dream about borsch and spend much time tryingto find buckwheat.

In Australia it is hard to find anybody who is not passionate about thebeauty of this country. Watching waves at the ocean, kangaroos in the bush andmeeting people from every nation, I would say this is the paradise on Earth.Unfortunately nothing is perfect in this world and Australia has its own troubles.What I really appreciate is how Australians cope with their problems. We visiteda school in Melbourne and one of the students said that the biggest problem in hercountry was apathy. Do you know what I felt about this comment? I felt ashamed notfor Australians or Australia, but for my own country, for my people and myself. Iwonder how many people in Crimea think about disciplined usage of water, relatedto draughts and shortage of water in our reservoirs? How many people would pay

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public transport tickets, if there wereno collectors? Australians treat streetdogs better than we treat people inneed. They understand that if they don’tcare for the place where they live,nobody will do it. The very simple thingand at the same time difficult is to beaware that “we ” consists of many “I”sand that can be more difficult to un-derstand for us, Eastern-Europeans, hav-ing lived under 70 years of communismand under the dictum “initiative willbe punished”. Australians have anotherproblem; they often forget that eachindividual is part of the society. Bothcountries are in need of finding a bal-ance between the two pronouns “I” and“We”, but this is another story. Peoplehere are not afraid to take initiativeand they do not always find support forwhat they do, but at least the govern-ment does not impede or create obsta-cles to doing what Australian citizensthink is worth while. They are not afraidto apologize for mistakes made centu-ries ago. The shame of Australia re-lates to the way the children of Abo-riginal people were separated from theirparents and taken from their land. Itseems a long time ago but the wound of the Aboriginal people’s hearts is stillthere. It is amazing how many people understand this and are eager to say sorry toindigenous people who need this kind of recognition and acceptance of the wrongsof history. Attempts to heal the past help to learn and prevent us all of makingthe same mistakes in the future. This encourages me to learn more about thehistory of my country. We also have people who are the victims of the mistakes madein the past and who think that the people in the community don’t want to acceptthem as equals and it is not so important whether it is true or not, it is moreimportant that they feel that way.

I always find travelling is an interesting and at the same time challengingexperience, it is a great opportunity to learn from people and to have a chance toget a perspective on my own country from a distance. The experience of living inAustralia is very helpful for me and I’m sure that for some Australians to come andlive in Ukraine would also be a valuable experience. So, welcome!

Anya Bondarenko

Anya wrote about the country we are now in and the differences between thisland and Ukraine. I will continue where she left off and write about the home weare now living in as well as the initiatives we are engaged in here.

The place where we stay is called Armagh, which is the Australia-PacificCentre for MRA/IC in Melbourne. It also serves as a community house, where peoplewho share similar ideas and goals live together, and search for ways, in whichthey can use their lives to make the world become a better place. Over the years- since 1956 - it has been a home for many people from all over the world, but Anyaand I are among the first Eastern Europeans to spend time here!

Living in a community is a lot of fun, but is not always easy. It often brings

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Smile of the month!

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to the surface our weaknesses and limitations, things that we always found hard toaccept about ourselves, and personal issues we were reluctant to let others see.It is also a place in which we can experience constant growth. Community is in someways like family, so those who live in Armagh are called “the Armagh Family”,which today consists of 10 members, but the house-count always keeps changing.

Armagh is graciously hosted by Rob and Cheryl Wood (an Australian couple intheir fifties) and Fetu Paulo, who is from Samoa and cooks the most deliciousmeals! Anya, myself and a girl from Korea - Jisun (who will be joining Action forLife in November) - are here as MRA/IC co-workers. This basically requires ouridentification with, and commitment to, the aims and values of MRA/IC, as well asaccepting the lifestyle of the community we live in. Included in this is - fullparticipation in all the aspects of its life: meetings, entertaining guests,domestic duties, outreach activities, and taking personal initiative with a spiritof readiness to learn, grow and change. Besides us the Armagh household alsoconsists of 5 other young people from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China (threeboys and two girls) who study and work in Melbourne.

Many of you would at least have met Mike Lowe,who was actively involved in F4F during the pastyears. Currently he is living in the same propertyof Armagh with his wife and two sons, just nextdoor to us. Among other things we do a weekly book-study together and have had the chance to get toknow each other better.

The activities at Armagh are conducted by adiverse network of people and are basically fo-cused on relationships, community building, andconflict resolution. Australia is one of the mostmulti-cultural countries, developing trust and con-fronting fear, which are essential to positivecommunity relationships. One major initiative thathas this as its focus is “Open Homes - Open Hearts”.It aims to provide opportunities for people of allbackgrounds in Australia to reach out to those ofdifferent cultures and faith traditions.

In July Anya and I took part in the residen-tial Course for young adults called “Life Mat-ters”, which aimed to train the participants inleadership, spiritual development, finding a senseof personal identity, life purpose and responsi-bility. We also took part in facilitation andteam-building training programs - and on severaloccasions since have had chances to apply in prac-tice what we learned.

Apart form our life in Armagh, Anya and I areonce a week doing voluntary work at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre and I findit quite eye-opening. This experience made me realize again and again how muchothers and I should appreciate the fact that in our countries at present there isno dictatorship, no torture and oppression, no war.

I often wonder about my path and my meaning in life. What is my calling? Thisis still not totally clear to me.

...Eventually I thought how to sum up my experience here in a couple of wordsand the answer that came was that it’s “learning about Life”. And I am verygrateful for the lessons I learn!

Cristina Cojocaru

Fun times...

g o i n g u p !

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Katia Zirjanova, a law graduate, working as an interpreter and having beeninvolved with the F4F-inspired NGO Youth Humanitarian Initiative (YHI) in Novosibirskfor 4 years (Russia):

“Dream carefully, dreams tend to come true…” This,indeed, is a slogan for this past year of my crazy life,for so many things I thought about and dreamt of se-cretly and quietly (sometimes not) in the dusty cornerof my brain started to happen to my awe and amazement…Action for Life 2 being one of them… Frankly speaking, Istill cannot quite believe I am going to be part of it,and fundraising is yet a big challenge to overcome thatdoes give ground for reasonable doubt, plus AfL is achallenge by itself - it goes without saying. But thefighting spirit I have discovered in myself lately canonly get happy about challenges… And it did show inspring when I decided to apply.

Back then, my poor decision-making qualities weretopped with the ‘instinct vs. reason’ situation. This

was when, on one hand, there was a possibility to go to work in Italy for a year,with the prospect of highly essential financial independence, etc (although I wasnot going to give up my work with YHI / F4F/ IC anyway) and, on the other one, wasAfL. Deep inside I knew I would follow my inner longing and passion for this kindof work and choose the latter... So I did. I am trying not to have any expectationsof the program and really plan to follow the facilitators’ golden rule to ‘trustthe process’, but, what I do hope will turn out of it, is the upgraded me that willhave more to offer to people around. And I am thankful to God and people for thetrust invested in your humble servant (particularly for the financial help offriends, old and new back in Caux).

Zoriana Borbulevych, foreign languages student (Lviv, Ukraine):

So, why Action for Life then? Have you ever had a feeling about something thatyou wanted to do, some course you wanted to take inyour life, and wondered how it might happen? And thenafter you had half forgotten about it and focused onother things, you suddenly met someone or read some-thing or went somewhere that led you to the very opportunity you envisioned?

Now, that is what usually happens to me! And such opportunities feel destined,as though some unexplained force has guided my life.

The Universe is energy that responds to our expectations. People are part ofthat energy too - so when we have a question, other people or opportunities showup that have the answer. I strongly believe that Action for Life will bringtogether both people with questions and people with the right answers, people whowill have so many things to talk about.

I want to discover ...what I am meant to do.

From this issue on we start a new column dedicated to the stories of those from Eastern Europe taking part in Actionfor Life 2. This issue will help you understand why some of them decided to take part in the programme and what it is

that they expect from it. You can find more information about the programme at www.afl.iofc.org

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News from the Treasurer...

F4F Diary

Dear Reader,We would like to thank everyone who hascontributed to making this issue of theF4F Newsletter. If you think that some-one else you know should get this news-letter or if you have any suggestions,please contact the editor Oleg Ermuratiat oleg@london.iofc.org. Thank you.

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Watch out for the next issue inNovember-December 2003!

The news that USAID has not acceptedour funding application has caused somedisappointment. Wouldn’t it have beengreat to have had a secure source offunds for the next five years! But itwas not to be, and maybe we should ac-cept that it was not meant to be. With-out it, we may be short of money, but weremain free to follow whatever coursesof action seem right, with no need tosatisfy a pre-arranged plan.

How we raise enough funds, and fromwhere, remain two of the vital questionsfor all of Initiatives of Change’ work,affecting every part of the world. Justat the moment, many of those who plan towork with Action For Life 2 are “in thehot seat” from this point of view. Theyeach need to raise large sums, and willneed our prayers and support.

Looking at Foundations 4 Freedom’sbudget for the next six months, thereare real needs, but we have been inworse positions many times. We expect tospend some £28,440 up to the end ofFebruary. With what we already have, andwhat IC-UK has promised to pay as match-ing funds, we can muster £22,900 towardsthis. Luckily, IC looks as if it is in aposition to pay the matching funds, sowe are left with a prayer target of£5,533.

Chris Evans

We are all looking for more fulfil-ment in our lives. And I found thisfulfilment in my IC experience (so dif-ferent, but so encouraging). Looking backat the last three years I now feel thisexperience has been worthwhile. Yet Ialso feel the urge to move on. I hopefor a kind of renaissance in my own (orour ‘human’) consciousness. I want todiscover something new about our life onthis planet, about what our existencemeans and what I am meant to do. I feelthe time is right to let more peopleinto my life, to hear their life-chang-ing words and to discover my personaljourney.

Ilze Gutmane, communications and pub-lic relations student (Latvia):

The Action for Life programme seemsto be an amazing adventure, experiencewith different peoples and cultures withthe background of understanding. And oneof the reasons why it seems to be theright place for me now is because I wantto share my thoughts and experience, fearsand ideas to improve. I believe thateveryone can make their dreams come trueand also share this belief.

...(continued from page 2) but now on abit larger scale, a new level maybe. Itry to avoid extremes, I feel so earthlyand sceptic, but a new sense of love isshining through my apathy, my disappoint-ment and disillusionment, enchanting me,and I’m thinking how good we all are,and what a gigantic difference we canmake all together…

Tatyana Sokolova aka LoLa (Russia)

4 September - F4F UK committee meeting

2 - 11 October - Changing Course 32 in Novosibirsk(Russia)

20 October - F4F UK committee meeting

24 - 30 November - F4F Course in Kiev (Ukraine)

February 2004 - F4F Regional Meeting in Moldova