Volume Four,
Number One
- SOUTH AFRICA
AND AMERICA: BRIDGING TWO CONTINENTS AND TWO CULTURES
- AMY
BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST CREATED
- USAID
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT SIGNED
- AMY
BIEHL INTERNSHIPS AT STANFORD'S HAAS CENTER
- LINDA
BIEHL INTERVIEW IN ORANGE COUNTY WOMAN MAGAZINE
- LOS
ANGELES TIMES VISITS BIEHLS IN SOUTH AFRICA
- SECRETARY
ALBRIGHT LAUNCHES VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROJECT
- THEMBA
MUSIC FROJECT HIGHLIGHTED
- LIFE
AND DEATH IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AMERICA
- FREEDOMS
FOUNDATION AWARD
- LINDA
BIEHL INTERVIEW IN MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE
- VIOLENCE
PREVENTION INITIATIVES LAUNCHED - MARCH 1998
- AMY
BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST YOUTH PANELS CREATED
- FUNDERS
VISIT STEMBELE MATISO HIGH SCHOOL
- THE
BIEHLS AND THE PRESIDENTS
- EXTRA
NEWS FEATURE
- YANNA
LOMBARD TO ATTEND COLLEGE IN AMERICA
- REFLECTIONS
ON BRIDGE-BUILDING
- AMY'S
EXHAUSTING WORK CONTINUES
Since our last newsletter, Linda and Peter Biehl have made five
trips to South Africa and, as Amy's thirty-first birthday
approaches in two weeks, it is fair to say that her memory
is very much alive and that her work continues to reach South
Africa's free, but disadvantaged, people. At home in America,
Amy's life and values continue to inspire young people in
schools throughout the country, as committed teachers weave
Amy's story into the daily lives of their students. Amy would
be pleased that youth in her home and adopted countries have
found motivation and inspiration from the way in which she
lived her life.
SOUTH AFRICA
AND AMERICA: BRIDGING TWO CONTINENTS AND TWO CULTURES
As we travel so frequently between
America and South Africa, we are struck by the vast distance
between these two countries. At the same time, we are continually
impressed with the similarity between the two societies and
the socioeconomic challenges they face. Clearly, we can learn
from each other and can strengthen one another in our struggles
for human dignity and fulfillment. The NEWSLETTER, then is
about bridge-building. Back To The Top
AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION
TRUST CREATED
Shortly after our
last NEWSLETTER, on September 9, 1997, the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATlON
TRUST was chartered in Pretoria, South Africa. Creation of
this charitable TRUST provides balance with our U.S. foundation
and permits greater flexibility in structuring programs and
partnerships in South Africa. The TRUST now has its office
in Cape Town at Room 39, Porter House, Belmont Road, Rondebosch,
Cape Town 7700, South Africa.
Telephone is 011-27-21-686-8116;
fax is 011.27.21.686.1774;
Email is abftrust@iafrica.com. Back To The Top
USAID
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT SIGNED
On September 19,
1997 a cooperative agreement was signed between the AMY BIEHL
FOUNDATION TRUST in Cape Town and USAID SOUTH AFRICA in Pretoria.
This agreement -
in recognition of the TRUST's
"special relationship with South Africa" - launched
a major violence prevention initiative by the TRUST aimed
at adolescents (10-15 years) living in townships and squatter
settlements near Cape Town. The demonstration project -"WEAVING
A BARRIER AGAINST VIOLENCE- is centered in Guguletu Township,
where Amy died. This holistic approach to violence prevention,
in South Africa's most violent area, is the most ambitious
and challenging task we have undertaken to date and we are
honored to have the opportunity to serve the communities whose
people Amy loved. Back To The Top
LONG BEACH
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP TOWN HALL
Five days
later, on September 24, 1997, Linda and Peter Biehl attended
a special Town Hall on Community Safety as guest of the LONG
BEACH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, in a historic church near the
city center of Long Beach, California. As honored guests,
Linda and Peter listened as community residents and social
service providers discussed the gang activity and other threats
to community safety and security in Long Beach. The discussions
and comments mirrored those which have been heard many times
in Cape flats communities, as residents express their frustrations
and fears at having lost control of their streets and communities
to gangs and other perpetrators of violence. Clearly, there
will be many opportunities for the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION and
the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST to bring concerned and creative
Americans and South Africans together and to provide a conduit
for dialogue and possible solutions to the violence which
dominates our respective cultures and societies. These remarkable
opportunities are consistent with our bridge-building vision. Back To The Top
AMY
BIEHL INTERNSHIPS AT STANFORD'S HAAS CENTER
Twenty days
following their evening in Long Beach, Linda and Peter Biehl
met with Tim Stanton, Director of Stanford University's prestigious
HAAS CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE, to launch the Amy Biehl Internship
program on October 14, 1997. These unique summer internships
will enable talented, service-oriented Stanford students to
build bridges to South Africa and then to share lessons learned
in South Africa with their Stanford and Palo Alto communities.
At this date, three Stanford students have been selected to
travel to Cape Town during summer, 1998; having survived a
rigorous screening process. Each will devote time of her choosing
to our violence prevention program and to projects of special
interest. It is worth noting that Amy's first visit to South
Africa (and to Namibia) was made on a small Stanford grant,
following her graduation in 1989. We look forward to the relationship
with HAAS CENTER and to the challenge of fund-raising to replace
and to expand the funding base that makes the Amy Biehl Internships
possible. Back To The Top
LINDA
BIEHL INTERVIEW IN ORANGE COUNTY WOMAN MAGAZINE
Two days later,
on October 16, 1997, Linda was interviewed for a cover feature
in ORANGE COUNTY WOMAN magazine. In an effort to build a bridge
of understanding for South Africa's Truth & Reconciliation
Commission process among Southern California women, Linda's
reflections on Amy and on the dignity of forgiveness and reconciliation
were well-reported by Editor Janine Robinson for the magazine's
December, 1997 issue. This well-received interview piece is
available in reprint, upon request, from the FOUNDATION. Back To The Top
LOS
ANGELES TIMES VISITS BIEHLS IN SOUTH AFRICA
To learn what
the Biehls do in South Africa, the LOS ANGELES TIMES Magazine
assigned feature writer, Renee Tawa, to join them in Cape
Town for eight days in November, 1997. Within one hour of
her arrival on November 12, Renee joined the Biehls for a
meeting with prison officials in the office of Human Rights
Commissioner, Rhoda Kadali; followed by a prearranged curbside
meeting with leaders of the Wonder Kids in Manenburg - a gang
war zone near Guguletu. Renee - who has covered gang violence
in Los Angeles - commented she had never experienced a ghetto
environment such as she found in Manenburg. Her whirlwind
visit in South Africa, followed by months of subsequent research
and interviewing, will be chronicled in her TIMES Magazine
feature piece on a Sunday very soon. Knowing Renee as we do,
it will be a feature worth reading and should help Americans
understand post-apartheid South Africa and Amy's work and
legacy there. Again, we will reproduce this feature and make
it available to anyone, on request. Back To The Top
SECRETARY
ALBRIGHT LAUNCHES VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROJECT
On
December 15, Peter and Linda Biehl returned to Guguletu's
St. Gabriel's Church and Community Centre for an official
dedication and launch of the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST's
"WEAVING A BARRIER AGAINST VIOLENCE"
project by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The unexpected visit by Secretary Albright created a high-profile,
but very touching event attended by dignitaries and community
residents, alike. Secretary Albright paid very personal and
meaningful tribute to Amy and to her continuing presence on
behalf of South Africa's disadvantaged people. Back
To The Top
THEMBA
MUSIC FROJECT HIGHLIGHTED
The
FOUNDATION'S holiday greeting this past season featured the
children of the Themba Music Project, who are receiving instrumental
instruction in their schools from volunteer instructors Benjamin
Lewu and David Shuping. To date, we have delivered approximately
50 musical instruments from U.S. donors to the Themba Music
Project for the children's lessons and practice sessions.
This is 1 used instrument per each 50 households on our U.S.
mailing list. We had hoped to deliver closer to 100 used instruments
to this wonderful violence prevention project, so if FOUNDATION
friends have used musical instruments gathering dust in their
closets, they can mail them to the FOUNDATION and receive
a tax deduction for the gift. A used trumpet can represent
a life changing opportunity for a young township music student.
In South Africa, we have collected instruments, as well, and
have equipped two Themba classrooms with pianos. Linda Biehl
is currently working with David and Benjamin on plans for
a fund-raising concert to be held in a few months. Back To The Top
LIFE
AND DEATH IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AMERICA
At approximately
5:45 Wednesday evening, on January
21, 1998 - four hours after Linda and Peter Biehl landed in
Cape Town - a 55 year-old doctor was robbed of less than $15.00
and stabbed to death in his Guguletu surgery. Dr Aadil Moerat
- "the people's doctor" - left a loving family,
wife Rashida, and two sons, ages 4 and 18 months. Amy was
killed on a Wednesday evening, not 100 yards from Dr. Moerat's
surgery. Linda and Peter participated in a special memorial
service at St. Gabriel's Church - the church which held a
memorial service for Amy. An enormous gathering of Christians
and Muslims overflowed the church. On Wednesday, January 28,
the Biehls participated in a march from Dr. Moerat's surgery
to the police station to protest the violence. Many of those
marching had marched for Amy. To assist the Guguletu Community
Policing Porum - a citizen's volunteer organization working
closely with the police to apprehend the five alleged killers
of Dr. Moerat, the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST
donated 6 state-of-the-art two-way radios and Dixon Electronics
donated a base station "In Memory of Dr. Aadil Moerat".
Thirty kilometres
from Guguletu, in a squatter settlement near Kraaifontein,
preschool children receive love, nourishment and attention
at Masakhane Educare Centre. Founder/Principal Hazel Mlata
has transformed an abandoned farmhouse to a first-rate preschool;
well-organized, with a kitchen which serves the children a
hot lunch and snacks each day. Because the school building
is frequently vandalized on weekends, it was determined that
a resident caretaker was required as a deterrent. However,
no funds were available for this purpose. The AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION
has underwritten a caretaker so that Masakhane's beautiful
children have their school intact each Monday morning.
January 13,
1998, marked the second anniversary of the murder of talented
South African, Anthea Williams, in Los Angeles. Her brother
Darrell Williams - Harvard educated like Anthea - has recently
joined the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST staff in Cape Town.
Sometimes, from death comes life. We are thrilled and touched
to have Darrell working hard with Cape Flats youth to break
the cycle of violence in their lives.
Back To The Top
FREEDOMS
FOUNDATION AWARD
Linda and
Peter Biehl returned to California to accept an award of recognition
for their work with the AMY BIEHL POUNDATION from the Freedoms
Foundation of Valley Forge at its annual award dinner at the
Anaheim Marriott Hotel on February 19. We are very grateful
to the Freedoms Foundation for honoring Amy's continuing work
for human rights in this way. Back To The Top
LINDA
BIEHL INTERVIEW IN MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE
In February,
the March issue of MARIE CLAIRE magazine went to the newsstands.
It carried a well-written interview of Linda Biehl by Cape
Town writer, Cathy Eden, whose understanding of South Africa
and of its Truth & Reconciliation Commission contributed
to a very thoughtful and empathetic piece. Copies of this
article -written in the first-person as if by Linda - are
available, upon request.
Back To The Top
VIOLENCE
PREVENTION INITIATIVES LAUNCHED - MARCH 1998
On March 11, the
Biehls returned to Cape Town to join Project Manager, Sheila
Roquitte, and the TRUST's grassroots-level organization to
advance the "WEAVING
A BARRIER AGAINST VIOLENCE" project
from fact-finding to preliminary implementation phases. During
this visit, the AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST launched and committed
to fund...
-
a continuing
evaluation of a community justice system as a possible
model for a youth justice system - outside the criminal
justice system;
-
an expansion
of the St. Gabriel's Community Centre after-school tutorial
program to provide adolescents with a safe and well-lit
study centre, access to a resource library and excellent
tutoring and counseling with emphasis on mathematics
and sciences;
-
the Amy Biehl
Centre for Special Education, as a Saturday program
for educationally-challenged youth who are passed along
but receive no attention in black schools and who usually
drop-out to become involved in violence and in criminal
activity;
-
a partnership
between Child Welfare Department and Buthisizwe Training
Centre to train out-of-school Guguletu youth in welding
and in sewing. These two programs -- with assistance
from the TRUST - will become self-sustaining through
manufacture of low cost soccer goals and sports uniforms
for Cape Flats sports clubs;
-
a program
to traln 60 adolescent males in violence problem-solving
and approaches to violence prevention in their neighborhoods,
with leadership provided by the "Five in Six"
program of Catholic Welfare Development of Cape Town;
-
an initiative
to create a model and to develop quality and sustainable
playing fields, attached to public schools, for use
by disadvantaged youth - in partnership with the Ministry
of Education's new "Safer Schools" program
and with the community.
Approximately
twenty additional initiatives in violence prevention will
be launched in coming weeks and months. Back To The Top
AMY
BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST YOUTH PANELS CREATED
On March 14, at Guguletu's
Uluntu Centre, the first four TRUST Youth Panels were launched
in a gala celebration attended by our youth panelists, their
parents and caregivers and our team of Community Liaison Representatives
from each of Guguletu's four sections. Each panelist and parent
received an AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST button, made especially
for them in California. The panels - operated as focus groups
using the native Xhosa language--are
an invaluable resource to understanding violence and its impact
on youth. The Youth Panels are a big hit and our panelists
say no one has ever asked them what they think about anything
important! Perhaps this approach could be a successful if
applied with youth in American violence centers.
Back To The Top
FUNDERS
VISIT STEMBELE MATISO HIGH SCHOOL
On March
26, the Biehls escorted 24 American funders led by Mary Tiseo
(SOUTH AFRICAN PARTNERS) and Sharon Gelman (ARTISTS FOR A
NEW SOUTH AFRICA) to a visit to Stembele Matiso High School
in New Crossroads. Other than the Biehls, these were the first
Americans ever to visit this very deprived and violent black
school. A moving program and traditional feast were presented
by students, teachers and parents and a presentation was made
of the school's dream plan to elevate itself to a position
of excellence. Linda Biehl delivered bags of art supplies
facilitated through a caring bridge by St. Louis, MO students
of Gloria Sadler, Judy and Tracy Kendall. Those St. Louis,
MO school children have come through once again! Back To The Top
THE
BIEHLS AND THE PRESIDENTS
On the evening
of March 26, Linda and Peter Biehl were guests of U.S. Ambassador
and Mrs. James Joseph at a private reception for President
and Mrs. Clinton and for their accompanying Cabinet, Congressional
and business delegations. The following evening,, the Biehls
were guests of President Mandela at his State Dinner for the
President of the United States. They were honored to be included
in these historic events.
Back To The Top
EXTRA
NEWS FEATURE
Meanwhile
- back in the Unites States - NBC EXTRA NEWS aired a small
feature on Amy and on the continuing work of her FOUNDATION,
which was nicely produced by Erica Hanson. Back To The Top
YANNA
LOMBARD TO ATTEND COLLEGE IN AMERICA
Following
in the footsteps of her friend, Solange Jacobs, Yanna Lombard
has elected to pursue a U.S. college education following her
graduation from Rolling Hills Preparatory School this Spring.
With significant assistance from her American "family"
- the Taylors - Yanna has survived the college application
process and has been admitted to St. Louis University and
at Stephens College, thus far. We congratulate Yanna, the
Taylors and the great staff at Rolling Hills for successfully
bridging the gap between South African and American cultures
and academic preparation. All we at the FOUNDATION had to
do was find Yanna and get her here.
Back To The Top
REFLECTIONS
ON BRIDGE-BUILDING
The most difficult thing
about writing these NEWSLET'TERS is knowing how much must
be left out. The AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION and its new sister TRUST
have lives of their own now. People are in constant contact
and are continuously sending us touching examples of the ways
in which Amy has affected their lives-has reached
out to them.
We are reminded
that bridge-building occurs at many levels. The first visit
to Africa by a seated U.S. President. The request from Secretary
AIbright to visit Cape Town to launch our project and say
a few words for Amy. The promise of Stanford's Amy Biehl Interns
working in South Africa. A young South African woman with
a chance for a U.S. College experience. It is satisfying to
note that Amy and her FOUNDATION have been directly involved
in much of this activity. Back To The Top
AMY'S
EXHAUSTING WORK CONTINUES
As we fly continuously
between Los Angeles and
Cape Town pursuing Amy's unfinished agenda, we are
often reminded of her battered U.S. passport. Its well-worn
pages chronicle a brief, but intensive, life of bridge-building
- linking people, cultures and countries as only Amy could.
She had an intuitive sense of how to create these human links.
We are not so gifted.
Amy was also able
to summon-up an inexhaustible reserve of energy with which
to sustain her work. Age is definitely not our friend in this
department.
There are occasions
when we exhaust ourselves. There are times when we come close
to exhausting the foundation's financial resources in our
desire to push Amy's envelope a bit further. This is one such
time.
There is so much
to do and we are getting better at doing it. But - at this
time - we shall ask for help and support in our efforts to
remember Amy in creative and intelligent human service. In
making this request, we do so knowing that Amy asked for help
occasionally, as well.
Thank you.
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