Isabel Crook, Jinming Zhang, Fengxiang Xu, Jiyue Li and Shuqin Zhang – China

All these five chinese women are a part of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005. Unfortuntely there were provided only some few lines about their work and biography. Regardless, here the few we may know:

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1) Rurui Shi – China

She says: « The cloud moves along and leaves the sky behind. What a blue blue sky! Water flows in and out. Take life as it comes and goes!”.

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She works for the China Buddhist Association (named on wikipedia, on People Daily/en), and for the Qintai Home for the Aged.

Born in 1967, Shi Rurui is founder of the Buddhist School for Nuns at Pushou Temple, Mount Wutai. She has a strong interest in Buddhist education and the Buddhist religion and has helped repair the Jixiang Primary School so that poor children have a decent environment to study in. Her other projects include improvement of infrastructure in mountainous areas, and providing financial support to people with different abilities. She has helped with the construction of the Qintai Home for the Aged. (1000PeaceWomen).

any links: no

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2) Jinming Zhang – China

She says: « This is the first step of reform. We shall learn democracy by practicing democracy. Only when there is democracy in the Chinese Communist Party can China have democracy in the country as a whole ».

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Zhang Jinming, now Director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Organization Department of Ya’an City, Sichuan Province, implemented direct elections at local government level in 1998. It was the first year that this was piloted at a grassroots level. In August 2002 she piloted direct elections for the Party Congress representatives at a city and county level. She has been relentlessly promoting the democratization process in China. (1000PeaceWomen).

any links: There are links for different persons with this name, but no one seems to fit with our peacewomen.

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3) Fengxiang Xu – China

She says: « Even if I have only one breath left, I will not fall behind ».

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She works for the Beijing Ling Mountain Ecology Research Institute, and for the Beijing Ling Mountain Tibet Museum.

Xu Fengxiang is a scholar in forest and highland ecology. For the past half century, she has been teaching, researching and taking on conservation work on forests, ecology and environmental protection. She has opened up the research realm in highland ecology and set up the Tibetan and Beijing ecology research institutes. She is now 74 years old, but continues to do field investigation and exploration in highland conservation. (1000PeaceWomen).

Her book: the wild flowers of Tibet.

Her book: Tibetan Vegetation of China.

links:

China Statistical Yearbook 2005, EDITORIAL BOARD AND STAFF;

China Foundation for Desertification Control CFDC;

ISEIS 2006 Beijing Specialty Conference Sciences and Technologies.

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4) Jiyue Li – China

She says: « It is the simple gratitude of the people that encourages me to persist in making efforts and progress. It is their affirmation that gives me strength in my work ».

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She works for the Maternity and Child Care Center, Yongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Li Jiyue has worked in maternity and childcare for 22 years, traveling to the homes of poor peasants in the mountainous area of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. By popularizing maternity and childcare knowledge, training health personnel, and performing health checks, she has contributed to the improvement of the quality of life and health levels of women and children in the countryside and they have become her friends. She is loved and respected by the locals. (1000PeaceWomen).

any links: There are links for different persons with this name, but no one seems to fit with our peacewomen.

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5) Shuqin Zhang – China

She says: « Our generation feels we have the social responsibility and the willingness to endure hardships and take care of others. I am a mother, and I know what a mother means for the life of a child ».

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She works for the Beijing Sun Village Special Children Aid Center.

Zhang Shuqin is director of the Beijing Sun Village Special Children Aid Center. Since 1994 she has set up five villages for unattended minors whose parents are serving prison sentences. She has also helped many people that have been released from prison, despite money constraints and a lack of enabling government policies. (1000PeaceWomen).

any links: There are links for different persons with this name, but no one seems to fit with our peacewomen.

Bertha Oliva Guiffarro de Nativí – Honduras

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

When Bertha was about 20 years old, she fell in love with “the tenderest man in the world.” Both were in love with a world they wanted to change. They fought for bread and smiles. One night in 1981, he was kidnapped. He is one of the 184 missing people in the country. Bertha Oliva de Nativí is today the General Coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Prisoners in Honduras COFADEH.

She is also named as Political Heroe.

She says: « We have learned to live together, to work, to give, to embrace our pain. I maintain categorically that there is no resentment, but pain and hope, always hope ».

She says also: “Since then, we have ‘planted’ ourselves in La Merced Park, on the first Friday, of every month. They look at us with contempt and call us ‘the lepers’. Slowly, we have demonstrated that those with leprosy in their souls are the ones capable of causing so much hurt”.

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Bertha Oliva Guiffarro de Nativí – Honduras

She works for the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos en Honduras COFADEH.

This organization was founded by Bertha, along with other women like her, who are searching for their loved ones.When Bertha was about 20 years old, she fell in love with “the tenderest man in the world”, and this man, Tomás, fell in love with her. Both were in love with a world they wanted to change. They fought for bread and smiles. One night in 1981, he was kidnapped. He is one of the 184 ‘missing’ people in the country.

Bertha de Nativí, is today the General Coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Prisoners in Honduras. This organization was founded by Bertha, along with other women like her, who are searching for their loved ones. “They entered my home, killed our friend, and beat my husband until he was unconscious. Just before he became unconscious, Tomás said to me: ‘They may leave you alive to ..’ give birth to our son.” On that day, June 11th, 1981, Bertha Oliva Guifarro de Nativí was 25 years old.

She continued to fight for justice.

Without a father and with a mother obliged to hide her real name, the boy was born secretly. He was named after his ‘missing’ father, Tomás.

Professor Tomás Nativí is one of the 184 ‘missing people’ in Honduras. That was the information given, some years ago, by the National Committee for Human Rights. Bertha was the driving force behind the creation of this committee, along with her companions in the COFADEH, the Committee of Relatives of Missing Prisoners in Honduras (created by them, in 1982).

Among other of their achievements, in 1987, Honduras became the first State to be condemned by the Inter-American Court for Human Rights, because of its violation of guarantees to citizens. One year later, a new case, this time concerning disappearances, was presented to the Court by their organization, the COFADEH, achieving a similar sentence. They have managed to cause the dissolution of the Department of National Investigations “the most criminal body in the country”, the repeal of Compulsory Military Service and, in 1992, the liberation of the last political prisoners.

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Jagan Suba Gurung – Nepal

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

As a single woman seeking higher education and working for the improvement of women’s lives, Jagan Suba Gurung stands out in her Gurung community village. Her involvement in women’s empowerment and community development has made her an icon for societal alteration in a largely conservative social setting.

It is said: As a single woman promoting higher education and working to improve women’s lives, Jagan Suba Gurung has become a challenging icon for change in a traditionally conservative social setting.

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Sorry, no photo able to copied found for Jagan Suba Gurung – Nepal. But you may see her picture in this pdf-document (find her by scrolling down to page 9).

In 1990, when Jagan Suba Gurung began to work with women in her community, women did not generally step out of their homes in the evening and nights to attend adult literacy classes. It was an uphill task for her to launch such revolutionary programs in her village, Ghndruk, a Gurung hamlet located in the Annapurna Conservation Area, a protected area rich in environmental and cultural diversity.

However, much has changed in over a decade: Jagan’s work, which involves appraisals, home visits, and organizing meetings and adult literacy classes, has made a crucial difference:

  • women have availed of educational opportunities, and are able to make critical decisions about their lives; children’s health and levels of education have improved;
  • their mothers are today well aware of the value of nutritious food and reproductive health issues, and have contributed hugely to cleaning up their villages through clean-up campaigns;
  • women have been encouraged to send their children to daycare centers and to school, and have become involved in nature conservation;
  • organic farming and filtering water to make it potable are new activities that have entered their lives.

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Maude Barlow – Canada

Linked with International Forum on Globalization, with the Blue Planet Project, with the Council of Canadians, with the World Future Council, .

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Maude Victoria Barlow (born May 24, 1947) is a Canadian author and activist. She is the national chairperson of The Council of Canadians, a progressive citizens’ advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works to stop commodification of the world’s water. She is also a director with the International Forum on Globalization, a San Francisco based research and education institution opposed to economic globalization; fellow with the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies; a board member of Food & Water Watch, the national US organization fighting for corporate and government accountability as it relates to food, water, and fishing; and a founding member of the European-based World Future Council … (full long text).

She says: « I go crazy when I see certain things and I have to find out why they happen. And I have to tell people. I have to do something so that other people will also take action ».

Listen her short video statement on Connected Life.

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Maude Barlow – Canada

She works for the Council of Canadians, for the International Forum on Globalization, for the Blue Planet Project, and with the World Future Council.

Kenyan children who have lost their eyes to river blindness; trash, blood, and sewage being dumped into rivers in Bolivia; huge, World Bank-funded dams turning fresh water to poison by blocking their flow. When it comes to the suffering caused by water shortage, water pollution, and water privatization (big private corporations buying up countries’ and towns’ water rights), Canadian activist Maude Barlow has seen it all … (full text).

An ideal future communication infrastructure … !

Maude Barlow will give documentational proof as to what the end results will be.There are places in other parts of the world where this has taken place and the price of a gallon of water is more than a gallon of milk … (full text).

the Canadian environmental activist Maude Barlow, this year’s guest speaker, will present a talk titled ‘Too Late to Panic – Protecting Canada’s Water and Energy Supplies.’ Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization, as well as the founder of the Blue Planet Project, working internationally for the right to water … (full text).

… on the National Speakers Bureau.

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Women Workers' Cooperative WWC – Hong Kong, China

They are proposed as a group for the 1000 women Nobel Peace Price 2005.

The Women Workers’ Cooperative WWC was established in the 1990s when Hong Kong industries were moved north to mainland China. The WWC opens up a new space that is based on mutual support and cooperation: women workers have the opportunity to rediscover and reactivate themselves through cultural and economic involvement. The Women Workers Cooperative WWC is a continuous self-strengthening group.

They say: « We can control our own fate through united force and be creative ».

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Women Workers’ Cooperative – Hong Kong, China

The Women Workers’ Cooperative WWC was established in the 1990s when Hong Kong industries were moved north to mainland China. Similar to situations in other countries, women workers were the first to be retrenched, as people believed that they could easily return home and resume full-time the care-taking role. In Hong Kong, it was assumed that women workers could easily switch to the then flourishing service industry and it was only a short-term adjustment issue.

It has however been neglected that many women workers had to continue working as a means of livelihood. And the sad and cruel reality was that these women workers, who entered the factories when they finished primary school, were in their mid 30s in the 1990s. They had encountered enormous hardships and difficulties in mastering new skills while their previous experiences had little, if not none at all, market value. Many remained unemployed for a long time. Many have had to take on jobs that are very low paying, with unreasonably long hours, and nasty working conditions.

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New Territories Female Indigenous Residents' Committee – Hong Kong, China

They are proposed as a group for the 1000 women’s Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Formed in October 1993, the New Territories Female Indigenous Residents’ Committee NTFIRC was active in the 1994 campaign to abolish the discriminatory ordinance on women’s rights to inherit property in the New Territories. Along with other groups, they encouraged their sisters to fight for their rights, using peaceful means, like signing petitions and singing songs, to lobby for public support.

They say: « The women are brave to form the (New Territories Female Indigenous Residents’ Committee) NTFIRC and to exercise their political rights in the face of violent reaction from conservative patriarchal powers ».

Excerpts of the books:

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New Territories Female Indigenous Residents’ Committee – Hong Kong, China

There were six core members in the Committee, including Tang Ying, Cheng Lai Sheung, So Ngan Shing, Tang Mui, Tang Yuen Tai and Wong Shui Lai.

They work with the Hong Kong Federation of Women’s Centres.

The success of the campaign has not only guaranteed their civic rights, it has also contributed to the women’s and civil society movements.Indigenous women living in the New Territories of Hong Kong have long been deprived of the right to inherit land and were subject to the discriminatory New Territories Ordinance. Many became poor and homeless on the deaths of their fathers because their relatives seized their properties after their fathers died. In 1993, indigenous women formed the New Territories Female Indigenous Residents’ Committee (NTFIRC) to fight for their rights.

All of them had suffered because of this discriminatory custom. Apart from Madam So Ngan Shing and Madam Cheng Lai Sheung who have received primary education, the others members are illiterate. And they live in poverty. Here are two stories of the committee members: Madam Cheng Lai Sheung (52) and single, is a villager of Ma Tin Tsuen in Yuen Long. She has two brothers and she is the eldest daughter. All her life she was told that she had to work to improve her brothers’ living conditions.

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Shuk Man "Selina" Sun – Hong Kong, China

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

A Hong Kong native, Shuk Man « Selina » Sun (43) was ordained pastor by the Hong Kong Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship (Hkbmcf), a Christian group for sexual minorities. Selina serves as the pastor of the Hkbmcf and actively promotes dialogue and understanding between church organizations and communities. She stands firm on the side of this group and helps rebuild their self-esteem and confidence. In the past few years, membership of the Hkbmcf has steadily increased and sexual minorities are coming to be accepted by the church and society … (1000peacewomen).

She says: « People are biased against those of different sexual orientation. Isolation does more damage. Let’s learn to put away prejudice, be more flexible, and see people with Christ’s heart ».

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Shuk Man « Selina » Sun – Hong Kong, China

She works for Hong Kong Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship HKBMCF.

(She is) a Hong Kong native, Selina, Sun Suk Man (43) holds masters degrees in Divinity and Sacred Theology. She engaged in pastoral work for some ten years before joining the Hong Kong Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship (HKBMCF) in 2003.

Established in 1992, HKBMCF is a Christian Church for sexual minorities, and the only one of its kind in the territory. It was formed by a group of homosexual Christians. Its membership includes people with different sexual orientations. In the first decade of its formation, HKBMCF went through a period of instability and uncertainty, facing suspicion and disapproval from the institutional Church and even among some fellow homosexual Christians.

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Xinzhi Guo – China

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Guo Xinzhi (46) is the chief medical officer and director of the Shanxi Poliomyelitis Rehabilitation Hospital, and a State Council subsidized specialist and pioneer in the recovery, prevention and study of poliomyelitis and senile dementia. Through various tests, Guo has achieved many breakthroughs in the treatment of these diseases using a combination of Chinese and Western medicine.

She says: « We must solve the problems faced by the Party, government, patients and families, and improve the lives of Chinese people and the well-being of the human species. I have no regrets or grudges”.

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Xinzhi Guo – China

Guo was born in a family with a history of doctors in earlier generations. She graduated from Shanxi Medical University in 1978. From 1980 onwards, with her immense knowledge of Western and Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and her dedication to this life-saving profession, she has been working on testing, including continuous testing of the impact of acupuncture and medicine on her own body and important acupoints like fengfu and yamen.

Guo often contacted abandoned children with poliomyelitis. As a doctor, she could not accept such tragedies and felt a strong sense of responsibility to surmount the disease. After 20 years intensive research and exploration, she found over 10 new effective acupoint areas in the head, eye, neck, hands, waist, and belly, bringing a new rehabilitation theory and experiences to the treatment of poliomyelitis and senile dementia by combining acupuncture with western and traditional Chinese medicine. This is a great leap forward in the history of both Chinese and world medicine since these diseases were considered incurable before.

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Jo Vallentine – Australia

Linked with SafeCom Inc., and with The Alternatives to Violence Project AVPbritain.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Jo Vallentine is a Quaker, peace activist, and social justice advocate who made history in 1984 when she was elected to the Australian Senate as the world’s first single-issue peace politician. She has worked tirelessly for more than three decades at grassroots, national, and international levels, via People for Nuclear Disarmament, the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia, the Alternatives to Violence Project, the Greens (WA), and Abolition 2000 (UN) to put these issues onto the political agenda. She has two daughters. (1000peacewomen).

She says: « We did the lovely elm dance about gratitude, sending healing energy to a place or to people to cut through the violence. In no time the atmosphere shifted, the hostile energy just evaporated ».

Her Senate-Biography.

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Jo Vallentine – Australia

She works for the People for Nuclear Disarmament PND, for the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia ANAWA, and for the Alternatives to Violence AVP.

Look at The Perth Social Forum – 18-20 March 2005 (texts and photos).

Josephine Vallentine (b. May 30, 1946) is a peace activist and a former Australian Senator for Western Australia. Vallentine entered the Senate on July 1, 1985 after she had been elected as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but she sat as an independent and then as a member of the Greens Western Australia from 1 July 1990. She resigned on January 31, 1992 and after a brief respite, has been active in community issues ever since. Jo Vallentine grew up in Western Australia’s conservative Wheatbelt, around Beverley. As a young woman she travelled to the United States and was moved to hear and meet Robert Kennedy. In an interview in 2001 for a history of the WA peace movement she offered the following summary of the establishment of her political career: « The Quakers influenced me I suppose from the Vietnam Moratorium days because I was a teacher then, in 1967-69, when the marches were getting going in Perth, and I can remember being a bit nervous because in those days if you were seen in a protest you might have lost your job on Monday when you went to work … (full text).

What Crimenet Sells.

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Biro Bala Rava – India

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

The story of Biro Bala Rava (born 1959) reads like an inspirational, if medieval, battle between good and evil: Biro lives in a remote, backward village in Assam, where she has been fighting to save women condemned to death as « witches ». She then moved on to other equally vitiating issues that affect the lives of those around her, showing exceptional courage in the face of personal danger and isolation by family and community, and perseverance in fighting against the custom that demonizes women. And she is winning. (1000peacewomen)

It is said: In Biro Bala Rava’s world, hunting those branded as ‘witches’ had an economic aspect. So, she used the modern weaponry of women’s education to counter a heinous practice.

Media reports suggest that, over the past decade, there has been an increase in incidents of witch-hunts in India. Some reports say that several women have been attacked and killed because they were allegedly involved in black magic. Most of the « witches » are women from dalit or tribal communities. (full text).

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Biro Bala Rava – India

She works for Borjhara Tobarani Mahila Samata Sangha (mentionned on Business Line and on South Asia One World.net).

Biro Bala Rava alias « Bogi » was born in 1949 in Tridumpur, Goalpara district in Assam to Kaleya Ram Rava and Sagar Bala Rava. She had two elder brothers, both of whom died. Her two surviving siblings are an older sister and a younger brother. Biro’s father was an illiterate cultivator of 10 paltry bighas. Biro’s mother had studied a little, and little Biro herself studied only up to Class V. She was married in 1964 at the age of 15 to Sandhi Charan Rava, also a cultivator from Barjhora village, who had studied up to Class X. The couple has three boys and a girl.

Biro’s eldest son has a mental illness, which was a constant source of trepidation through all the backbreaking housework, and other pressures of daily living. An ojha (traditional healer; exorcist) had declared that her son was « married » to a fairy, destined to die when they would beget a child. Her son is yet alive, a standing pronouncement against the hogwash of traditional and unthinking contumacy. She tried expressing this insight to some women, but in vain.

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