Signs of the Times Exerpts from a news bulletin of the Coalition for Peace and Reconciliation. Women weaving the world together We will eagerly take this project... after twenty-three years of war, genocide and the suffering that this country and specially women have endured it's time for a new beginning. We want to show the world the determination we, as Khmer women, have to contribute to a global peace. Sochua Leiper, director of Khemera, thus pledged before an Asian-Pacific conference on women that Cambodian women would coordinate a project symbolising the experiences and unity of women the world over, to be presented at the UN Conference on Women. In September 1995, tens of thousands of women will travel to Beijing, China for the Fourth UN World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace as well as the parallel NGO Forum 1995. "Women of the world, our lives interwoven in the global village are planning to link our diverse heritage to our common future with a woven ribbon. This ribbon will be of thousands of pieces from every village and corner of the world and be taken and stitched together at the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. In every part of the world, weaving is a skill possessed by women and an activity undertaken to generate income. More than this, weaving is an expression of our lives, our love and our aspirations. The 20km ribbon will be a symbol of this unity, the vision of Weaving the World Together." The women of Cambodia, chairing this global project and preparing for Cambodian women's participation in Beijing, launched Women Weaving the World Together at the annual Cambodian Water Festival. The Cambodian Women's Network for Peace, Amara, organized the event under the auspices of Cambodian NGO federation Ponleu Khmer. From November 16-18 approximately 1000 women from all twenty-one provinces; including hill tribe women and disabled women, gathered in Phnom Penh for "Cambodian Women Celebrate Together: Water Festival 1994." They brought panels woven from materials indigenous to each area, which were carried in procession to Wat Phnom. There they were sewn together into a banner of over a kilometre long. To join this global project, contact: Khemera, National Road 5, Mittapheap Village, Russey Keo District, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tel/fax 855 236 0134. Women Confronting Violence With the success of the November Women's Festival behind them, women organizers are now calling upon the networks they established to continue the work just begun. Several activists participated in a national conference on family violence in December, followed by a regional seminar which drew up a Declaration on Domestic Violence and a plan of action to be presented at the Beijing conference. Two recent studies were presented at the conference, including one from fifteen local women's and human rights groups. One researcher, in Phalay, noted that the real cause of such violence is Khmer culture, which says "husbands are the kings of the home" and "domestic violence is an internal family matter." In addition, local human rights groups report that "Cambodia is now finally part of the [child sex] trafficking scene." Although accurate figures are hard to obtain, some report that twenty to thirty young women are kidnapped every month, many of them as young as twelve to fourteen years. One girl was recently sold for $150. Most of the women are sent to brothels in Bangkok. Shante Sena at Work "The shameless, continued destruction of forests throughout the country is indeed cause for deep concern. According to Buddhism, the forests and the environment are of great importance for all beings. All beings must coexist in harmony, mutually dependent on one another... The destruction of the forest is indeed akin to destroying our own lives, our future" wrote Ven. Kim Teng, announcing an upcoming seminar on Buddhism and Forest Preservation. The Shante Sena (Peace Army) in Svay Kieng province replants and protects trees on 500 hectares of land, educates villagers on environmental issues, and engages in rural development projects. In February, it will host a seminar at Wat Prey Koki, in Chantrea district. Representatives of local and international NGOs, Buddhist clergy, experts in fields related to community forestry, and local government officials will attend this pre-conference meeting of the annual conference of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB). "We hope to provide a forum to enable Cambodian NGOs to exchange ideas and learn from one another's recent experience... we must also cooperate with and learn from the experiences of our neighbours, as we share the same environment." One special group of participants at the Forestry seminar will be village representatives in Trapeng Kok district of Takeo. Recently they signed a contract with the government giving village committees control of 500 hectares of land, "taking land out of government hands and giving villagers the responsibility of managing and protecting it." With assistance from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), they have already replanted 400,000 new trees. Cutting firewood in the area has been banned for three years. Each commune is authorised to patrol sections of the land, and teams guard the forest from illegal firewood cutting and cattle grazing. Ven. Ngeth Ngen, together with other abbots from area temples who have been involved in the project, is also organizing a two-week forest meditation retreat in March. The monks organized a similar course last September, hoping to encourage meditation while demonstrating another use of the community forest. They are also trying to secure another section of land for a meditation forest. Shante Sena in training Ven. Ngeth Ngen was one of thirty participants of a five day workshop in nonviolence at Turtle Wat in Battambang, led by George Lakey and Karen Ridd. The workshop focused on the Peace Walk and also included general nonviolence training. Participants were Dhammayietra peace-walkers, as well as members of various local women's and human rights NGOs. Evenings were spent training ten nonviolence trainers and preparing a curriculum for pre-walk trainings, to be conducted in various provinces prior to this year's Dhammayietra in May. Participants drew on experiences from previous walks to develop the curriculum, as well as that of the trainers. One highlight of the training was a mock walk around the village with preordained 'trouble makers'. "Role playing is so simple and fun, yet good preparation for when the situation is tense," commented one participant. These exercises took place at the scene of Dhammayietra III's most difficult days, during the height of 1994's dry season fighting. A few kilometres down the road from this Wat, villagers are already 'on the run' from this year's round of fighting. We Must Never Forget "Now our situation is improving but we are distressed to see that some of our neighbors are still being oppressed." The Cambodian Action Committee for Human Rights called on then Foreign Minister, Prince Norodom Sirivudh to express deep concern "on behalf of the Cambodian people" about the human rights situation in Burma and the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Foreign Minister was encouraged to bring up the issue during his scheduled meeting with the Burmese delegation at the UN General Assembly. "We have benefited from other countries generosity and we should be generous ourselves," said Finance Minister Sam Rainsy as he sent $10,000 to assist the relief operations in Ruanda. "We should never forget that even if we are in trouble, even if we are unhappy, there are people more unhappy in the world." "Do not deprive others of life... Give to those who need", Ven. Nichidatsu Fujii, Founder of Nopponzan Myohoji.