In 2000, knowing nothing about the Internet, suffering from chronic back trouble, knowing my days of working, where bending and lifting was required - were over.
I decided to set up a website, intending to sell indigenous products, given my over 30 year involvement in this area.
I found an amazing guy in England, Christopher, a self-taught webmaster, who offered to teach me his craft. But, alas, I quickly acquired the name Drongo, from the many mistakes I made.
Meanwhile, networking with people around the world, I found Yahya Sayed, from Afghanistan, a young graphic arts student now in Pakistan. Yahya had made a very powerful short film about Afghanistan. He wanted to make one of my poems into a film.
July 17th 2002, I wrote that poem - One Mind One Voice; sent next day to Ofir Nafkar, a musician in Israel whose father comes from Baghdad. Ofir had contacted me just two weeks before, after visiting my website. In the middle of recording his latest album he stopped and composed the music, then sent it on to Yahya, who in the middle of exams, made the film.
Our message to the world, spread quickly via Internet. Within three weeks President Jacques Chirac had contacted me.
Also Arsenio Rodriguez from a group which includes two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Oscar Arias and Betty Williams, and people like Deepak Chopra, Noam Chomsky, singer Ricky Martin and Astronaut Franklin Chang, invited me to join their Global Strategic Alliance, now being set up. My roll to help set up a Global Children's Alliance.
12th March, I came up with an idea - HOPE, Hand of Peace Exchange, launched on the 18th at Djarragun indigenous college at Gordonvale. Children asked to send two handprints to Stratford Post Office, with self addressed envelope. One print will be kept to be part of HOPE exhibition; the other will be exchanged with another child's handprint from around the world. Details can be found on website.
Today less then three weeks since conception, HOPE is in Israel, Japan, Korea, Hawaii, Afghanistan, Pitcairn Island and so many other countries.
A motion to support HOPE passed in the Australian Senate 26/3/2003.
One Mind One Voice poem is now in Canada with Zeeza a Jazz/ Soul singer making it into a song, we meet two week ago.
This is the Family of Humanity and the Power of the Internet.
If you would like to be part of this amazing journey by way of projects, sponsors, volunteers, or just want news of HOPE, please e-mail Kerrybowden@onemindonevoice.org
Kerry Bowden founder of One Mind one Voice and HOPE projects
PS: Caitlin say
"Send someone you know my
Huggy hug, beats sending a bomb any day."
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