Berlin- June 10th to12th - During the Youth Festival in Berlin many visitors were caught smugling raw diamonds. By crossing the water they tried to sell these precious stones at the gates of the festival. Most of them were not aware of the link between these practices and civil wars.
Medico International participated at Berlin'05, a festival especially for youngsters who are interested in politics. Medico organised workshops to inform the visitors about the problems young people in Southern Africa encounter. At several workshops and plays the visitors were educated on the linkages between natural resources and conflicts.`
The world-famous Walk of Fame remembers about 2000 prominent celebrities on Hollywood Boulevard. The stars of our Walk of Fame, however, are dedicated to other persons. In contrast to Steven Spielberg and other celebrities these people are unknown to the young visitors of the festival Berlin 05. They are human rights activists and other courageous men and women, who fight against violence and war in Angola, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo or South Africa and are committed to peace and reconciliation. The "Walk of Shame" portrays people and organisations that were and/or are able to profit from those conflicts.
The Walk of Fame is completed by a play on CD, which offers an individual guidance on the Walk and explains the correlations between conflicts and natural resources. The most important information as well as photographs are found in a leaflet. Many young people in Berlin made use of a show-case, in which a scene of the work of the activists is displayed - made out of Playmobil figures.
There were more activities offered in Berlin: Starting at "Smuggler's Inn", festival visitors could try their hand as diamond smugglers. First, they had to take over the identity of a person of Sierra Leone or Angola in a pub tent. Then, they had to put some raw diamonds into their pocket and bring it across an imagined border. At the end of their smuggle-tour, which was full of obstacles and hindrances, all participants learned more about the correlations between the trade with raw materials and civil wars, illegal imports of weapons and the common war trading companies.
In two workshops it was furthermore possible for the participants to deal with the topic intensively and to gain ideas for own activities by having a glimpse behind the scenes of the campaign Fatal Transactions and general criteria in campaign planning. Altogether, about 60 young people made use of this chance.
For general information all participants of the workshops and activities got the recently published brochure "Der Stoff aus dem Kriege sind" (What wars are made of). On its 28 pages the brochure informs about the (post-)conflict situations in Angola, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo and gives positive examples of people struggling for human rights in these regions.
These activities motivated the participants to further actions. Many teenagers said they wanted to order material for their schools and to introduce the campaign at school festivals or in their different school projects. Teachers as well showed great interest and ordered the CD with the "Walk of Fame" - as did several pupils. A hard copy of the brochure can be ordered at Medico International.
Medico International also showed the photo exhibition Diamond Matters, were visitors could see which ways a diamond follows, from the mines to the jetset.