Quaker Peace and Service Aotearoa/New Zealand
Contact address and phone number for QPSANZ:
Quaker Meeting House
72 Cresswell Ave, Christchurch, New Zealand
Contact Phone (03) 980 4884
QPSANZ is expected to further Friends' Peace Testimony, both in its negative side - opposition to war and violence - and in its positive promotion of human cooperation. At present most energies go into the positive side: for aid and development projects with overseas partners - see photos below.
But we have not forgotten the traditional "Peace Movement" opposition to all war, militarism, weapons and preparation for war. In 2009 our commitment to nuclear disarmament saw us grant the Loxley Award to Alyn Ware, the Wellington-based campaigner for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, and write to all MPs on this matter. One of our members is active in the work against uranium weapons (a ban in NZ would add momentum to international moves).
Quakers from Aotearoa/New Zealand involved in service activities:
Sandra Jones helping prepare grains at Hlekweni, Africa
Tony Maturin inspecting a well at Hlekweni, Africa
Sandra Jones helping carry stones for a village dam in Dabane, Africa
The farm at Hlekweni, Africa, highlighting the dryness of the climate
Local Peace Grants
QPSANZ's "Local Peace Grants" try to boost the morale and the finances of small groups in NZ seeking to strengthen peace, cooperation and understanding, often on the grassroots level (inspired by the local/global thinking of Maggie Glover, the English-born peace artist who has settled here).
Local Peace Grants application forms can be found below, the maximum per grant is $500. Applications close on 30th April and 31st October. The grant is open to all.
Local_Peace_Grants_Advert.doc [34KB]
Local_Peace_Grants_Application_Form.doc [45KB]
Loxley Award
The Loxley Award has been established to assist New Zealanders, Quakers or non-Quakers to undertake a study programme or project of their choosing, in New Zealand or abroad, which promotes understanding of peace, justice and environmental issues.
Some notes on the Award Recipients so far:
2008 - Ruth Greenaway
Ruth Greenaway of Auckland was the recipient of the Loxley Award for 2008. Ruth undertook an oral history project interviewing women in New Zealand from Middle Eastern countries, and women from New Zealand who have lived in Middle Eastern countries. The project was aimed at offering a deeper understanding to New Zealanders about life in that region. Ruth intended that the information collected would form the basis of stories for a series of radio programmes, as well as being available for other researchers.
Ruth also furthered her religious education by participating in a course of study at St George’s College, Jerusalem later in 2008.
Alyn Ware with Costa Rica President Oscar Arias
Alyn Ware and Laura Chinchilla (President-elect of Cost Rica) discuss PNND
The award for 2009 was to Alyn Ware who is an accomplished peace activist on the international stage. Alyn's project was to do research in Costa Rica and the USA on the abolition of nuclear weapons, and the alternatives to war. Alyn is a member of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, which was established under New Zealand nuclear-free legislation.
For more information on his work, see the following Press release:
2009 Loxley Award Press Release.pdf [37KB]
2010 - Anna Parker
Peaceful Relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand
The 2010 Loxley Award for peace projects has been granted to Anna Parker.
Based in Dunedin, Anna is a relatively young woman of Pakeha and Maori ancestry. Yet her impressive credentials include an internship with WILPF in Geneva, community development work in Bougainville and Dunedin, and several years tutoring in Peace Studies at Canterbury.
Anna's project is to do original research on the Treaty of Waitangi today, seeking to "explore the influence of Te Tiriti on peace-building and relationship-building within organisations." Central to the project will be a series of interviews with key informants about how various understandings of Te Tiriti are informing individual practice and group process and assisting in cooperative relationships. (One can hardly claim that the mainstream media are informing us very well about positive Treaty-based models).
Anna's work will be written up as an MA thesis for the new National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Otago University. As such, it will include a theoretical part reflecting on issues of language and power. Yet Anna can certainly be called a peace practitioner. The QPSANZ committee shares her hopes that her project will "strengthen New Zealand's collective peace story" and "contribute to a small but growing body of work that explores the unique lessons of our own nation."
For further info on the Loxley Award, download the file: Loxley_Awards_Information.doc [33KB]
Application forms for the Loxley Award are available from qpsanz@quaker.org.nz