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Writings about war, old and new
Conflict in UkraineAt the time of writing the situation inUkraine is still fluid and unfolding. Our hearts goout to all those people caught up in the conflict.The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP),based in Odessa, is active in tackling the grassrootssprings of violence, and training people to respondto potential conflict situations in peaceful ways.Friends House Moscow is funding their work thisyear with essential running costs. In addition to agrant in January, we were pleased recently to makea supplementary grant to enable them to extendtheir work further.AVP facilitator Alla Soroka wrote an articleabout their work in February with the protestors inMaidan Square, Kiev. This was shortly after thefirst killings when emotions were running veryhigh. The article was published in The Friend (U.K.)and Friends Journal (USA) and is available to read onthe FHM website.AVP Ukraine is working in four mainlocations: Kiev, Lviv (in the west near Poland),Odessa (on the Black Sea in a Russian-speakingarea), and Dnepropetrovsk (in the Russian-speaking east). Work in the far east around
Newsletter Summer 2014
Дом Друзей в МосквеFriends House Moscow
Donetsk is currently ruled out for security reasons.Meanwhile Friends World Committee forConsultation, Europe and Middle East Section(FWCC/EMES) is supporting a visit to Ukraine oftwo Russian-speaking Friends, one from Moscowand one from Talinn. They hope to talk withindividuals and organisations to hear views on thesituation and what needs to be done; to work withthose contacts to defuse tension; and to talk tointernational bodies concerned with avertingconflict. We hold our Friends in the Light as theyact under their concern.
Motherland Monument, Kiev
New publications in Russian
Among our publications this year are twothat are intimately concerned with warfare and itseffects. Christ in Catastrophe (Pendle Hill,1949) is byEmil Fuchs, a former Lutheran pastor and Professor
of Religious Studies who became a Quaker and apacifist. Despite being persecuted, he survivedHitler's Germany and World War II without losinghis faith.Our online Russian version was well reviewedby The Russian Journal, an online journal thatreports thoughtfully on politics and culture. It alsofeatured on Baznica, a popular Protestant websitein Russian. Links to the reviews and an Englishtranslation can be found on the FHM website.Another new translation, this time also inprint, is The Generals and Twenty-first Century War(2010) by Brian Walker, published by WestmorlandRegional Meeting in the north west of England. Itrecords the assessment made by many seniorgenerals, acting and retired, as to the value of waras a tool of diplomacy in the modern world.Continued on page 2
Friends House Moscow supporting social tools for our deepest values
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Supporting large families in Dzerzhinsk
"Good to have Many Children!"In Russia there is a long tradition of large families. Theywere celebrated in Soviet times, but today it has becomeunusual to have many children. At the same time Russia isfacing a demographic crisis with long-term population decline,high death rates and falling fertility. As part of its efforts toreverse the situation the government has paid attention tosupporting large families, but help is patchy and basic, and theystill face a hard life with a variety of problems.The city of Dzerzhinsk is home to more than 600 familieshaving 3 or more children. Analysis of the work of variousorganizations and agencies shows that the majority ofDzerzhinsk’s larger families need information and advice, bothin how to navigate the legal system to take up opportunities,and also in family psychology and parenting skills.A pilot project funded by FHM was run this year to givesocial, psychological and legal support to large families. Theproject aimed to improve their confidence, independence inproblem-solving, and integration into modern society. Familysupport was carried out within a “Large Families Club”framework with a tailored work plan for each family.10 to 12 families attended regularly throughout theprogramme. In addition to a course led by psycholgists, 11professional legal consultations were carried out with mothers.Children also participated in the programme and got a positiveexperience of conflict resolution among siblings.
As a result of completion of thisproject a system of support for largefamilies has begun to operate in thecity. As well as the practical aid,increased public recognition can helpto give moral support. It is hoped thatthe work will help to prevent familybreakup and reduce the risk of childabandonment.
“Glory to Heroic Mothers!”Vatolina N. N., 1944 (www.sovietart.me)
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Continued from page 1400 copies of The Generals have been printed inSamara and are being distributed from there andMoscow. The publisher, Vitaly Adamenko (who alsoedited Christ in Catastrophe) is the distributor ofAlternativschik, the newsletter for conscientious objectorsthat is one of FHM's regularly supported projects.
