5.9.08 | Mines to Vines

Rotary Club of San Francisco and Roots of Peace "Mines to Vines" event hosted by actress Diane Baker of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

5.9.08 | Mines to Vines

Rotary Club of San Francisco and Roots of Peace "Mines to Vines" event hosted by actress Diane Baker of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

Transforming the Seeds of Destruction into Seeds of Hope

Spring 2008
Issue 4
Copyright 2008Roots of Peace

Over 400 guests gathered in Rome, Italy, for a special fundraiser organized by Ms. Flavia Taggiasco, Roots of Peace European Director, and Princess Homaira Wali, grandaughter of the late King Zahir, as a benefit raising euros to replace the scourge of landmines with schools and soccer fields in Afghanistan.

April 18, 2008 - Rome, Italy

Over 400 guests gathered in Rome, Italy, for a special fundraiser organized by Ms. Flavia Taggiasco, Roots of Peace European Director, as a benefit raising euros to replace the scourge of landmines with schools and soccer fields in Afghanistan.  Earlier that same the morning, I was literally walking in boots through the mud riddled minefields of Croatia—located across the Adriatic Sea—where thousands of landmines remain silently planted in the earth poised to blow the limb off of an innocent child or farmer as they walk through the growing green grass sprouting in Spring 2008.  Over a decade after the Serb/Croat war has ended, these “seeds of hatred” remain planted firmly in the ground until the world realizes the global solution—removal.

 Overwhelmed by the spirit of generosity, I stopped for a moment to think “how” I actually met this incredible woman, Flavia Taggiasco, CNN Producer, who has volunteered her time, talent and treasure to raise the visibility of Roots of Peace to an international level among her colleagues.

Just months before on October 3, 2007, Flavia coordinated a private audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at The Vatican, so that I could personally appeal to Cardinal Renato Martino and Cardinal William Levada regarding the importance of planting “peace and justice” only after landmines are removed from the earth.  On this special evening in Rome, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI was ironically in the United States on a special mission to proclaim the importance of “faith, hope, and love”—important ingredients for planting seeds of hope of former war-torn fields.

The laughter of the children at Dragalic School located near the Bosnia Herzegovina border was a priceless “return on the investment” of demining.

 Now, five years later, Flavia’s deep commitment has come to fruition with her role as Roots of Peace as European Director, as she brings in her stature as a highly recognized media professional sincerely supported by her personal circle of friends who have joined her mission in support of planting the roots of peace on earth.   In closing, I am reminded of the inspirational words by Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has…”

Rotary Club of San Francisco

Heidi Kuhn, CEO & Founder, Roots of Peace

 Our trip to the Rotary Club of Zadar took us “full circle” as we initially visited this same club in January 2000, where Ms. Ann Laurence, Rotary Club of San Rafael, presented a check for $1000 to begin our partnership which ultimately helped to demine the village of Bibijne—again, through funds raised by Miljenko Grgich following the 25th Anniversary of the Paris Tasting in the Napa Valley. The U.S. Department of State joined us on this initial mission introducing Rotary.

 Our fellow Rotarians introduced us to the University of Zadar, where the Dean of Agriculture spoke of the need to rejuvenate the wine industry—especially where the zinfandel grape originated.

The sunshine of the coastline faded as the raindrops began to fall, as we entered these mine riddled fields which were virtual ghost-towns held hostage by the planting of landmines.  As we approached the Roots of Peace site funded by Grgich, we were astounded to see that it was adjacent to the University of Zadar demonstration field—a living tribute to our vision of MINES TO VINES—as there was a living library of grape varietals planted on former minefields!   Rows of newly established varietals of merlot, shiraz, sauvignon, cabernet, mali plavic, posnic, and other small sprouts of grapevines were visibly emerging from the trellis vines, as they were planted just one year ago.  It was at this moment that we realized that our partnership between Roots of Peace, The Rotary Club of San Francisco, The Rotary Club of Zadar had now grown to a new level of excellence, as the University of Zadar (UOZ) would oversee the professional development of our Grgich/ITF funded MINES TO VINES vineyard located adjacent to the land.  We pledged the support of Rotarians to help build the UOZ agricultural field operation site.  Suddenly, “hope” was in the air as a ray of sunshine permeated the clouds…

 Driving down the panoramic Croatian coastline, we were invited to attend the United Nations Mine Action Service demonstration located near the coastal village of Sibinek.  Once again, remote areas outside of the tourist destination deserve the attention of global citizens to raise the necessary funds to make Croatia the first mine-safe country in the world—a vision which is possible if the world comes together.  The various demining machines were on display in the fields, as we witness their remote controlled devices with the slogan from Do-king “Place a machine in the field, not a man.”

The personal stories captured on camera from brave Croatian leaders such as Dr. Dijana Plestina, wife of the former Prime Minister to Croatia, Ivan Racan, Ambassador Bradtke, U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, General Marko Ratcic, CROMAC, UNMAS, ITF, The Rotary Club of Sibinek, The Rotary Club of Zadar and many other ordinary citizens who inspired us to keep the Rotary Wheel going forward, as we strive to plant the roots of peace on earth…

April 1, 2008 |

To celebrate New Years in Afghanistan, a planting ceremony was held recently near Kabul in the Parwan Province near Charikar. Roots of Peace was there to participate in the ceremony.

Roots of Peace presence was felt in this planting ceremony as it provided 600 different types of tree saplings for the Parwan Province.  Additionally, Mir Shah Mir mentioned Roots of Peace during a brief speech for its participation in the ceremony.  Many more thousands of trees will be planted in the upcoming years throughout Afghanistan under various programs Roots of Peace has embarked upon. Refer to the Programs tab on our home page for more details.

Pictures below are from the ceremony to celebrate the Afghan New Year and the beginning of the spring season.

Heidi Kuhn, CEO & Founder, Roots of Peace

The backdrop of Exeter College in Oxford, England--famous site for the filming of the Harry Potter Dining Room--was a dramatic setting to convene the gathering of the Skoll Social Forum 2008. The ambiance dovetailed with the sense of global vision derived from the 50 plus Social Entrepreneurs personally selected worldwide by Jeff Skoll, co-founder of eBay and CEO of Participant Films, who waved his magic wand amidst a diverse group of "uncommon heroes seeking common good." The result of the week was spell binding for all those had the unique pleasure of entering the invisible walls of a "new" world gathered to network innovative ideas focused on cultural change and an infusion of 'hope' into our world today.

With a vision to "Invest, Connect and Celebrate," The Skoll Foundation coordinated their initial meeting at the Rhodes Scholar Hall--an internationally recognized educational icon where photos of Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton hung from the walls, as our humble group of extraordinary "change makers" gathered to debate subjects destined to intertwine NGO's and change the world. Within our Skoll burlap sacks were innovative new books intended to inspire our minds such as "Forces for Good." During the last several decades, a cadre of social entrepreneurial nonprofits have created extraordinary levels of social impact. These pioneers are the vanguard of a growing civic sector--a segment of the U.S. economy now valued at more than $1 trillion. Such public/private partnerships are operating in a "grey space" and are playing an increasingly important role in shaping our world. The traditional setting of Oxford University combined with the mystery of Harry Potter was a brilliant forum to intertwine both worlds.

March 26-28, 2008

Heidi Kuhn, a 2006 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, will attend the Skoll World Forum, an international event attracting about 750 delegates from more than 35 countries.

Skoll Foundation Website 

Heidi Kuhn, a 2006 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, will attend the Skoll World Forum, an international event attracting about 750 delegates from more than 35 countries. The Forum convenes social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, policy makers, corporate representatives, financiers, philanthropists and students for three days of plenaries, panel discussions, workshops and academic presentations. For more information, visit the Skoll Foundation website.

The 2008 Rachel’s Network Annual Meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. on March 10-13, 2008. Heidi Kuhn, CEO, has been invited to join this distinguished network of women conservation funders to be an instrumental voice for the environment. The focus on the media’s influence and furthering public awareness and understanding of the environment and “how” women are making their mark will be the subject of discussion at The National Press Club and tour of the Newseum. Roots of Peace has worked with UNEP and other major media outlets to ‘pioneer’ the issue of landmines as an environmental concern as we seek to establish alternative agricultural economies in war-torn countries by turning MINES TO VINES. 

Rachel's Network Website

San Francisco Examiner - Each week, The Examiner showcases an advertising campaign by a local company. This week, Organic Inc. is highlighted regarding their work with local philanthropic organization Roots of Peace.

Feb 18, 2008 3:00 AM by Staff, The Examiner

Each week, The Examiner showcases an advertising campaign by a local company. This week, Organic Inc. is highlighted regarding their work with local philanthropic organization Roots of Peace.

Client: Roots of Peace

Job: Redesign of Roots of Peace web site (www.rootsofpeace.org)

Agency: Organic Inc.

Leadership team: Tom Tully (group director of technology), Bill Camp (general manager), Angela DiPietro (associate creative director) and Daniel Turman (associate creative cirector).

The plan: Organic will provide for a total redesign of the existing site, creatively and technically, to allow for more relevant content given Roots of Peace’s expanding programs. The new site also provides easier updating of site content, blogging and interfaces to social-networking platforms such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.

The theme: Growth, transformation and a deep-rooted connection to the earth as key visual metaphors for the site.

The concept: Implementation of the core creative themes overlayed by integration with social networking and blogging capabilities to bring Roots of Peace a creative, expandable platform from which to support its increasing international presence.

Tom Tully

Age: 48

Position: Group director of technology

Education/background:

» Boston College

» VP of technology at Digitas Inc., Boston and San Francisco

» VP, technology director at Modem Media, San Francisco

» MIS manager/Internet services manager at EF Education; Stockholm, Sweden, and Cambridge, Mass.

What drove your development of the concept? The direction taken involved merging the core creative themes with technically scalable platforms for future growth. Using the earth metaphor, we designed elements showing plants springing to life as users make contributions to the site. User interaction with areas of the site (such as the Wishing Well and donation pages) shows how individual contributions can result in positive changes to environment, economy and communities worldwide. Technically advanced yet simple to use content-management systems and blogging software were chosen to allow for easy updating of new and existing content. To provide for additional global awareness, functionality was integrated with external social-networking communities such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. Organic also provided print and art materials to support offline events such as The Harvest of Hope Fundraiser held recently at Copia (American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts).

See the full article at The San Francisco Examiner.

Roots of Peace expands land mine removal focus to schools, sports fields

Washington -- American students as young as age 5 are among those now contributing actively to Afghanistan’s recovery from war and land mines as they raise funds through Roots of Peace to build schools and playgrounds to benefit their peers on the other side of the globe.

The Roots of Peace Penny Campaign raised $20,000 through school and community outreach. Recently, it used some of the funds to finance completion of a 10-room school in northeast Afghanistan for 260 Afghan boys and girls in an area that slowly is being reclaimed from the presence of land mines. The school is one of four in the country that the campaign has helped.

Founder Heidi Kuhn said the idea behind the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign was to ask for the smallest money denomination so that every American child -- from Harlem in New York City to Oakland in California -- could participate. She told America.gov February 10 she was inspired by the Latin motto -- E Pluribus Unum (from many, one) -- that appears on U.S. coins.

“So from many pennies of children, come one vision for education and fair play on former mine fields,” she said.

She founded Roots of Peace in 1997, inspired in part by the late Princess Diana’s work to eradicate land mines, as well as Kuhn’s experience as a cancer survivor. The organization has been a long-time partner of the State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (RWA) located in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which has provided $200,000 to help Roots of Peace’s main mission of converting former mine fields into agricultural land.

The United State s remains the top financial contributor for land mine safety and eradication, providing more than $1.2 billion since 1993. (See “U.S. Still Top Financial Contributor to Humanitarian Mine Action.”)

ROOTS OF PEACE PENNY CAMPAIGN HAS WIDE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Kuhn said many American mothers easily can identify with the plight of mothers in Afghanistan and other war-torn areas when they consider the dangers faced by the children.

“You kick a soccer [football] ball out of bounds and there is a grave consequence. When they think their mom or dad isn’t looking, off they go to fetch the only ball in the community, and off goes a limb,” Kuhn said, adding it only takes eight pounds (3.6 kilograms) of pressure to detonate a land mine.

“Each one of my children weighed eight pounds [at birth]. So I really approached this from the heart of a mother.”

Hundred of schools across the country got involved in the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign, and Kuhn said the wider communities also were motivated, recounting that even some homeless people in the community, who often receive charity themselves, had mobilized to collect pennies on behalf of Afghan children.

Contributors not only have given money to build schools and safe places to play football, but also have provided educational supplies.

The Afghan children “need just the basics,” she said. “We got the Napa Valley [California] Sheriff’s Department, the police department, everybody was out collecting pens and pencils and tools for these kids.”

This sturdy 10-room school was built with 1 million pennies ($10,000) from American children. (Courtesy of Gary Kuhn, Roots of Peace)
Kuhn said children everywhere can relate to football and the effect land mines have on everyday activities such as playing outdoors and walking to school. They also understand the importance of building bridges across cultures.

On February 8, Marin County , California, students, on their own initiative, established the Peacegram program as part of the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign, choosing to forgo the 25-cent Candygrams they normally would receive for the Valentine’s Day holiday and use the money instead to fund the establishment of more Afghan schools and football fields.

“To give up your candy, that’s a pretty big thing for a little kid,” Kuhn said, but children that young, ranging from 5 years old to 12, understand what is at stake. They “get it from the heart,” Kuhn said.

When Kuhn, her daughter, Kyleigh, and California television news anchor Cheryl Jennings traveled to Afghanistan in 2005, then 16-year-old Kyleigh saw children in a village near Bagram forced to study in tents. She made the goal of raising money to build them a school.

Kuhn returned one year later with Shamim Jawad, the wife of Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Said Tayeb Jawad, to lay the cornerstone of the new school. She said the grateful Afghan students, who named the school in Kyleigh’s honor, were surprised to see them again.

“The tradition in Afghanistan [is] people come and do a ‘look-see,’ but they never come back, and here we came back to these same kids with not only a look-see, looking around, but we laid the cornerstone [for the school] in the cement,” she said.

Shamin Jawad also was instrumental in helping Roots of Peace secure a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council to complete work on Mir Bocha Kot School’s football field as well as a safety perimeter wall and in obtaining football uniforms and equipment.

KUHN BELIEVES AFGHANISTAN WILL CHANGE THROUGH EDUCATION

Despite Roots of Peace’s accomplishments in Afghanistan, Kuhn worries that “this window of opportunity is narrowing,” to provide hope because the country continues to face severe challenges.

She said her organization is seeking to build hope “from the ground up” with a special emphasis on Afghanistan’s rising generation.

“I think it has to be done genuinely and I think it needs to be done aggressively,” she said.

Roots of Peace, which also currently funds projects in Croatia and Angola to reduce the risk of land mines, now is looking for a fifth school to build in Afghanistan. Kuhn hopes that number eventually will expand to 50 or 100 schools.

“This is how Afghanistan is going to change,” she said, “though education.”

 See the America.gov Article

U.S. State Department Article

Roots of Peace Builds School on Former Afghan Battlefield with Contributions from American Students

The U.S. Department of State salutes Roots of Peace, a non-governmental organization that turns minefields into productive farmland, for building a new school on a former battlefield near the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. The project was funded by 1 million pennies ($10,000) raised by American students through the “Roots of Peace Penny Campaign” (http://208.69.124.129/programs/penny-campaign/).

The school originally consisted of a few tents serving just 50 pupils after fighting between the Taliban and Northern Alliance destroyed the original building. Today, a new, sturdy 10-room school, certified by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education, accommodates over 260 boys and girls (see photos at www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/100089.htm). Prior to construction, landmines and explosive remnants of war were cleared by The HALO Trust (www.halotrust.org) from the building site and from an adjoining plot of land through a generous contribution from Roots of Peace supporter Diane Disney Miller. A soccer field where children can play safely was built on that adjoining land with $10,000 provided by the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council Gift Fund. Roots of Peace’s Afghan employees also contributed their own funds to provide a well for the school.

Roots of Peace (www.rootsofpeace.org) is one of over 60 Public-Private Partner groups that collaborate with the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (www.state.gov/t/pm/wra) in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to reinforce United States’ efforts around the world to clear landmines and explosive remnants of war, teach mine risk education, assist injured survivors of conflict, and destroy small arms, light weapons, and munitions that are excess to foreign countries’ needs. Roots of Peace continues to support the clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war and creation of agricultural livelihoods for some 50,000 Afghan farmers with the support of the United States government, European Union, and other donors.

Since 1993 the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, which includes the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, has spent over $170 million on humanitarian mine action in Afghanistan, clearing mines and explosive remnants of war from 106.26 square miles (275.21 square kilometers) to date, which has contributed to the safe resettlement of over 4.8 million internally displaced Afghans.

To learn about the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement’s Partnerships, which have helped the annual rate of reported casualties from landmines and all explosive remnants of war around the world drop to 5,759 in 2006, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/partners/ and read its Safe Passage newsletters at www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/partners/c14838.htm.

Click here to view the full article 

Charlie Wilson's War Cast Signed Poster
by Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
100% of the final sale price will support Roots of Peace.
>Join the auction on eBay

January 28, 2008—Jalalabad, Afghanistan

As President George W. Bush delivered the “State of the Union” address to millions of Americans calling upon us to remember “A loved one who was serving far from home” in either Afghanistan or Iraq, such words resonated from the comfortable living room of our Marin County home as my husband is standing on the frontline for peace in Jalalabad training Afghan farmers to cultivate peace from the ground up. Surrounded by security guards holding AK-47 rifles, there is a proud smile on their faces as they watch their fellow Afghans establish orchards on former war-torn lands.

Roots of Peace is complementing the military efforts in a Spring 2008 Offensive by creating alternative agricultural crops—placing “shovels” not “guns” into the hands of Afghan farmers. Afghanistan is 80% dependent upon agriculture, and the “secret strength” of the American people still resides in our “spirit” to reach out to those who are seeking to restore war-torn economies.

Afghanistan was once considered the Garden of Central Asia, yet an estimated 10 million landmines and UXO only yield a lethal harvest holding the land hostage. Roots of Peace is actively planting cherries in Badhakshan, almonds in Jalalabad, pomegranates in Kandahar, and grapes in the Shomali Plains—helping to make Afghanistan “green” following the bloodshed from the Soviet and Taliban invasion where the knowledge of agricultural “roots” was lost to war.

Napa Valley brings "light" to Afghan children

The Napa Valley Community has raised over one-half million pennies for peace in support of the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign to remove landmines and reclaim the land for the peaceful purposes of planting farms and building schools and sports fields in war-torn countries.

Napa Valley brings "light" to Afghan children

The Epiphany Gift Offers “Pennies for Peace” in New Year 2008

JANUARY 3, 2008, St. Helena, CA – The Napa Valley Community has raised over one-half million pennies for peace in support of the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign to remove landmines and reclaim the land for the peaceful purposes of planting farms and building schools and sports fields in war-torn countries. The community of St. Helena began their campaign on September 11, 2007 and was led by co-chairpersons Shirley Dean & Sharon Graves. Shirley Dean will present a Wells Fargo Bank Check to Roots of Peace Founder, Heidi Kuhn on January 6th at 3:00 p.m. at The Meritage Resort, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa Valley, California 94558, where a ceremony celebrating The Epiphany—Manifestation of the Light from Within—to bring forth a Peaceful New Year 2008 will take place. The ceremony will honor the courageous footsteps of the late Benazir Bhutto, Princess Diana, Mother Theresa and other women who have strived to plant the roots of peace on earth and inspire future generations to go forth with the “gift of light.”

The presentation of the check to Roots of Peace is the culmination of a community-wide campaign that was launched at Lyman Park in St. Helena on September 11th and was attended by Congressman Mike Thompson. "As someone who was wounded by a booby trap in Vietnam, I know how dangerous landmines and other explosive remnants can be. These weapons don't just kill soldiers-they kill thousands of civilians, including children, every year. Dozens of St. Helena organizations and hundreds of local children joined Roots of Peace with the goal to raise a half a million pennies to help make war torn countries safer. I'm proud to have played a small part in the effort and proud of my hometown community," says Rep. Thompson. Over 50 different service organizations, businesses, restaurants, wineries, families and individuals participated in the campaign. “I am deeply touched by the response from civic-minded Napa community to get to together and realize that they have a sincere desire to serve humankind not just here at home, but elsewhere in the world," said Heidi Kuhn.

The Roots of Peace annual Penny Campaign was first launched on September 11, 2003 by ABC 7 TV news anchor Cheryl Jennings, Roots of Peace founder Heidi Kuhn and her then 16-year-old daughter Kyleigh Kuhn. The Penny Campaign is dedicated to inspiring youth and communities to give their “2 cents” for peace to heal the wounds of war in Afghanistan and other mine-affected countries. Landmines and other explosive remnants of war claim between 50 and 100 new victims each month in Afghanistan. Over half of the victims are children. Removal is imperative. Over 15 million pennies have been collected in the campaign since inception and have been put to use in Afghanistan to remove landmines, repair and build schools and soccer fields, restoring safe places for Afghan children to learn and play.

The Penny Campaign is a program of Roots of Peace. Since 1997, Roots of Peace, a San Rafael-based nonprofit organization, has been dedicated to removing landmines and rebuilding war-torn communities worldwide. Since its inception, Roots of Peace has been supported by many California vintners including Robert Mondavi, Miljenko Grgich, Ambassador Kathryn Hall, Delores Cakebread, Gina Gallo, Francis Ford Coppola, Judy Jordan, the late Erika Hills, John Shafer, Diane Disney Miller, Tor Kenward, Eric Wente and Chris Benziger. Recent achievements of Roots of Peace’s programs in Afghanistan include the removal of over 100,000 landmines and unexploded ordinance; over 50,000 Afghan farmers trained to grow alternative agricultural crops— doubling their incomes; and, new local, regional and export markets established for Afghan fresh and dried fruits and nuts. For more information, please visit www.rootsofpeace.org.

List of St. Helena Penny Campaign Participants