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:: Portable Libraries Training Workshop in Vietnam August 3 &4. GVF staff in Vietnam, including Le Ly Hayslip, have just completed the first of a series of literacy and Portable Library trainings which will help train over 150 teachers, librarians and administrators from 50 schools in literacy education techniques and Portable Libraries use... >>
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2006 Bridge of Peace Awards Celebrates Courage and Nonviolence
On hand for the festivities were Academy Award winning film director Oliver Stone, West Wing’s Martin Sheen, along with GVF founder Le Ly Hayslip, and former Bridge of Peace Award recipients Ron Kovic, June Pulcini, Lowell Blankfort, PeaceBoat of Japan representatives and others.
Following a VIP reception with honorees, presenters and special guests, everyone settled down in the large hall for an “inviting of the bell” and reading of the Five Contemplations by the monks and nuns of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Deer Park Monastery in Escondido. A hush fell over the room as the bell reverberated three times. Then the contemplations were read out, “This food is the gift of the whole universe…the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work…” setting the tone for the honors to be bestowed throughout the evening.
Then Beth Karas of Court TV and Le Thi Hiep, the actress who portrayed Le Ly in the movie Heaven and Earth, took the stage as the evening’s MC’s. Welcoming everyone, they invited Le Ly up to officially begin the evening’s festivities. Le Ly’s short remarks emphasized how far Global Village Foundation, and the work in Vietnam, has come since she first started her journey 20 years ago. She also reminded people of how much work there is still to do before that country is truly able to stand on its own.
The next presentation was a short documentary film about Global Village Foundation, From War to Peace and Beyond, introduced by filmmaker Reuben Aaronson. Using historical footage of the Vietnam war, along with interviews with Le Ly Hayslip, Oliver Stone, Vietnam veterans and others, the film tells the story of Le Ly's and GVF's history of humanitarian efforts to heal the wounds of war and bring understanding and friendship between the people of the United States and Vietnam. The film is a 10 minute "pilot" for a longer full-length documentary to be produced in the next couple of years as funding is secured. This short "pilot", however, has already won an award at a recent documentary film festival, and is available as a gift, with a $100 donation or more to GVF. For more information on how you can obtain the film, CLICK HERE >>
Following Dr. Duffin, film director and Bridge of Peace Awards co-host Oliver Stone took the stage in his trademark orange and dragon-motifed corduroy jacket. A clip from Sandy Northrop’s PBS documentary Assignment Hanoi, showing scenes from Peterson’s remarkable career was then shown, before Peterson took the stage to heartfelt applause from the many Vietnam era guests in the audience.
Sheen then called Marla’s mother, Nancy Ruzicka to the stage, along with Sarah Holewinski, Director of the organization Marla founded, “Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict” or CIVIC Worldwide. Nancy began by saying “If Marla was here, which she is, she’d have us all standing up and hugging each other.” At which point, literally everyone rose to embrace those at the seats next to them, as Martin Sheen embraced Nancy Ruzicka on the stage. It was a very touching moment, which left many wiping tears from their eyes, and a fitting tribute to a young woman who could lobby Washington Senators (a $25 million compensation fund for civilian victims of US and Coalition troops bears her name) as well as she could salsa dance. Then the hall went dark, as a short and beautiful documentary on Marla’s life was shown, ending with her funeral in Lake County, California. There was a long silence at the end of the film, folded by thundering and sustained applause.
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Over 300 people filled the Sheraton LAX Hotel on March 23rd to celebrate the lives of five international peacemakers, including Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh, former POW and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson, humanitarian activist Marla Ruzicka, nonviolent communication educator and author Marshall Rosenberg, and Iraqi doctor and peace activist Dr. Waqar Al-Kubaisy.
Out in the crowded lobby were handmade artifacts for sale and auction from Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere, including a special display of tiny carved boats made by the children of the “Sea Gypsies” of Thailand and brought back by Global Village supporter Nampet Panchpani-Michelsen.
As the tasty dinner of polenta and vegetables (for the vegetarians) or stuffed-chicken breast was served by the polite and scurrying tuxedoed waiters, the stage suddenly erupted in a flash of bright colored green costumes, peacock feathers, and elaborate headdresses of the “Peacock Dancers” of Wat Thai Buddhist Temple of Los Angeles: a dozen children in dazzling costumes and equally dazzling Thai faces and smiles, the children moved eloquently and ceremoniously through the dance-story of "Yaran in Pursuit of the Peacock" from the famous Thai epic by King Rama ll. The skill and professionalism of the dancers left the audience thrilled, and amazed that such a young group of dedicated dancers could perform so beautifully. A true high point of the evening!
The first award of the evening, the Bridge of Peace Award, was presented by Vietnam veteran and Buddhist monk Claude Anshin Thomas, who gave a moving introduction to Thich Nhat Hanh by recounting his own story of transformation and healing from the killing fields of Vietnam to healing and reconciliation. (Powerfully recounted in Anshin Thomas' autobiographical book, At Hell's Gate : A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace) He then presented the Award to Thich Nhat Hanh, represented by the monks and nuns of Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, who appeared on behalf of Thay (“teacher”, as he likes to be known), who was on retreat in France at the time. The monks and nuns read a statement from Thay, emphasizing the importance of working for peace in these troubled times, and thanking GVF for its efforts to promote peace and reconciliation. Then the six brown-robed Western and Vietnamese monks and nuns sang a song based upon one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s poems, titled Recollection, from his collection of poems, Call Me By My True Names. 
Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication was then presented with the Nonviolence Award by Michael Nagler, who is founder of the Peace and Justice Studies at University of California, Berkeley, and author of Is There No Other Way? The Search for a Nonviolent Future. Professor Nagler spoke of his long friendship with Dr. Rosenberg, and how Dr. Rosenberg’s work had given the world a way to think differently and act differently with our language of everyday life. Upon taking the podium to receive his crystal earth statuette held in a hand-like vase, Dr. Rosenberg spoke of the origins of his work with Nonviolent Communication, starting in his childhood days growing up in Detroit, to present work that includes countries throughout the workd, from Rwanda to the Balkans, the Middle East to Los Angeles and Iowa, helping thousands of people learn a language of nonviolence, compassion and reconciliation. As a bonus, everyone at the BofP Awards received a copy of his latest book, Speaking Peace in a World of Conflict.
Next up was Dr. Waqar Al-Kubaisy of Iraq, whose award was presented by Alison Boehm of PeaceBoat Japan/USA. She recounted how Dr. Kubaisy had helped Peaceboat deliver hundreds of wheelchairs and hospital beds to war-torn areas of Iraq. Upon receiving her award, Dr. Kubaisy recounted the horrific days of the beginning of the Iraq war, and later, the ransacking of her home and kidnapping of her husband and her present exile in Syria. At the end, she repeated a sad and moving account of the number of members from her own family who are dead or seriously injured as a result of the war. Her presentation was preceded with a clip from the film “Caught in the Crossfire”, Michael Manning’s harrowing first person video account of the siege and destruction of the city of Falluja in Iraq, by U.S. and Allied forces.
At this point, Dr. Ralph Duffin, GVF Board Member and recently returned from Vietnam, spoke about his recent experience with a group of dental professionals in Vietnam, and how deeply moved and affected he was by the poverty and suffering and kindness of the people in the villages of Vietnam. He told of helping hundreds of Vietnamese children and adults etc, and spoke of how GVF’s projects are concretely helping remedy those problems on a village by village basis in VN. He also spoke of his personal dream of a Dental Health Education Project in Vietnam, and how money collected that evening would help initiate that project.
He told the the story behind Pete Peterson’s remarkable journey from Vietnam combat pilot, to POW for seven years in then North Vietnam’s notorious “Hanoi Hilton”, to U.S. Representative, and finally his appointment as the United States’ first Ambassador back to post-war Vietnam in 1996. As Stone quoted from Peterson's confirmation hearing, "I want to heal the wounds between the United States and Vietnam. It's a tragic history that we've shared as two peoples. No one can change that, but there is a great deal we can do about the future. And that's why I'm in Vietnam. ”
Peterson spoke of his own life and the opportunities that he had been given to help bring peace and healing to a war torn and scarred land, a land that he too, had helped bring great suffering to. He also spoke of our current and very urgent need to find diplomatic and peaceful means to resolve international crisises and tensions, rather than immediately turning to military and options of force, and he spoke of the danger of our country losing its moral authority amongst other nations if we continue to pursue a path of force and war over diplomacy and understanding.
Coming to another highlight of the evening, if such can be said of such an amazing group of honorees, Martin Sheen strode to the stage to begin by quoting from Indian Nobel Prize laureate and poet Rabindith Tagore. He then spoke about the need for moral leadership in our nation, and to recognize the true cost of war to our country and the world, noting the sacrifice of American veterans to defend our country, and that such lives should not be wasted. He then spoke about the amazing young life and courage of Marla Ruzicka, who lived out her heart and compassion in the streets of Iraq, and paid the ultimate price when a car bomb took her 28 year old life in April of 2005 while working with civilian casualties in Baghdad.
A fitting end for an evening recognizing the very real human courage that it takes to change the world. The kind of courage that it takes to become a “Bridge of Peace” into a new world founded on love and compassion rather than exploitation and war. The kind of courage that each of us carries inside. All we need to do is act on it, as Marla and these other courageous peacemakers have.