Campus California TG (CCTG) - Humana People-to-People Alert

  San Francisco CBS5  

Behind the Green Box (December 2006) report by Anna Werner

In this season of giving, a new charity in the Bay Area is welcoming volunteers and clothing donations through its green-colred bins with the friendly Gaia label. But behind the green box, investigative reporter Anna Werner uncovers a Danish organization.

  CCTG and the Tvind financial empire  

CCTG is not just a college. It part of the Tvind financial network of offshore companies:

  AS Properties Ltd  

The school has been owned by AS Properties Ltd since 1998. AS properties is a Delaware-registered company controlled by Tvind. It is a subisdiary of an offshore company, Argyll Smith and Company, also controlled by Tvind, that owns all the Tvind colleges round the world.

The Jersey-registered parent company Argyll Smith & Co is well known to Danish police and British charity officials. According to the 2001 Danish police report, Argyll Smith is one of several key Tvind holding companies. It was also the offshore company implicated in alleged corruption discovered by the UK Charity Commission.

The Argyll Smith and Company website describes the company but does not mention that all its properties are occupied by Tvind colleges.

  Gaia used clothes  

The school is part of the same organisation that controls Gaia. Gaia is a Chicago-based used-clothes collection 'charity', also controlled by Tvind. It is connected to Teachers Group offshore companies. There are hundreds of Gaia bins in California.

CCTG students often pay for their places at IICD by giving free labour to Gaia or its sister companies Planet Aid and Humana People-to-People.

How much of Gaia's income goes to the Third World? Gaia is part of a large family of Teachers Group old-clothes companies worldwide. In Europe, journalists have discovered that the Teachers Group has been operating a financial scam for years, sending only a small proportion of the profits from donated clothes to Africa.

The majority of the profits from inter-company trading have been creamed off to Teachers Group offshore companies. For a clear explanation, read Michael Bjerre's article on Humana Holland in the Danish newspaper, Berlingske Tidende (24th Aug 2002).

  The Teachers Group fraud trial  

Campus California, AS Properties and Gaia all belong to the network of offshore companies at the heart of the current European fraud trial against Amdi Petersen (left) and five other leaders of the Teachers Group cult. Petersen is currently on the run from Danish police.

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CCTG College

Complaint about volunteers fundraising in Davis, CA

"When my son said he wanted to join the California Campus TG, I thought it was a great idea, suited for his dreams and talents.  I checked out their very well done web sites, and then tried to go deeper.  The UN does not have them (in any form of their organization) listed as a NGO in Africa.  I thought that was strange and then I found this site...if only a small portion of what you say is true, it is a pity, for Tvind, or any sub group of it, really has its pitch geared up for the ideals of some of today's youth.  I just couldn't figure why they wanted so much money AND all that work, to boot.  Not a common feature for volunteer organizations that I have ever been a part of in my life.......Can any current members point to some credible organization outside their own that supports the efforts of Tvind, Inc.?"                 - from the Guestbook

  Campus California TG  

Campus California TG is a Tvind school.

This means that while its stated role is to train young people to work as volunteers abroad, it is also a part of the Tvind cult. It is a money-making element in a large multinational business, controlled by the Teachers Group, tainted by allegations of criminal financial misconduct.

CCTG is one of about 17 DRH colleges around the world today owned and run by the $860 million Tvind empire, and is operated by the Tvind controlling body, the Teachers Group. It opened in around the year 2000 in the mountains of northern California, close to the town of Etna (click locator map to enlarge)

  News  

December 2001: A team from CCTG California walked out of the training course for Humana's new Hope Nigeria programme. An informant wrote: "The only good thing is some teams see straight through it with the help of Tvind Alert. Like in California one whole team walked out from the programme they had set up to teach about Aids in Nigeria (again with no experience and no team leader to a new country)"

  What students say  

Campus California Teachers Group college
Etna, California, USA

  Fundraising hell  

Students are sent out to fund raise on the streets, much like the Children of God and other cults.

  DF's story  

January 2002. DF writes: Three people, two guys and one girl, have left CCTG on 27th January. They were fundraising in San Jose and realised the truth about the school that ... read on>>>

  KD's story  

Feb 2002: KD, one of the January 2002 refuseniks, makes his feelings clear: I don't want to expose TG. I want them out of my country. If you can't use the legal track to do this, then you hit them were it hurts...money ...read on>>>

  Ex-student's story  

I am an ex student of CCTG (Campus California Teachers Group) and I had the worst experience of my life while I was there (and I've been homeless). I have many stories to tell about my time there and I have many friends who also attended the school but quit when they found out the real truth about the ... read on>>>

  Nicole's story  

In March 2005 Nicole wrote: I was at CCTG for 2 months...we were sent out to do fundraising for 2 weeks. Fundraising on the street is horrible. By the second week out there I was so unhappy that I just stopped. I decided that I would find some other way to raise money...there are lots of non-profits out there and it seems like only the shady ones rely on money from the street. My guess is that they want money that is untraceable.... All they cared about was the money ... read on >>>

  AC's story  

I feel completely ripped off, and while I was there it seemed like the money was the number one concern and the education was well below sea level, so to speak... It felt like a work camp...The TG did nothing but motivate us to make more money... read on>>>

  Press reports  

Sonoma Index-Tribune (14th Sept 2004) Bins Fund Siskiyou Nonprofit. By Sarah Berkley. Story questioning link between Gaia clothes bins in California and CCTG.

Chicago Tribune (12th Feb 2004) The Green Bins of Gaia (four part investigation). Gaia's clothing collection business flourishes in Chicago, but its promises to promote the environment are questionable. By David Jackson and Monica Eng.

Pioneer Press, Etna (21st March 2001): Has a cult come to Etna? “They really need to be exposed,” said a family member.

Pioneer Press, Etna (May 2001): Cult-like group's offices raided by police.

  Who runs CCTG?  

Three members of the Tvind Teachers Group:

Tomas Lindstrom - Headmaster. Swedish. According to information received by Humana Alert, a member of the Teachers Group for more than 10 years and a former headmaster at Tvind's One World Volunteer Institute in Norway. He has also been on the board of another Teachers Group college, the IICD, Massachsetts.

Ruth Ford - According to information some years ago, a former student of Tomas Lindstrom, and now his girlfriend. She has been a member of the TG for some years. From New Zealand. Has also been on the board of Tvind's IICD Massachusetts college.

Piotr Durjasr - Head of promotion. Polish. Also used to be one of Tomas' students.

  And who are the board members?  

Official records list the following as board members of Campus California TG in 2002-3. They are all members of Tvind's controlling Teachers Group:

Mikael Norling (Massachusetts and New York). Key Teachers Group leader in the US and co-founder of IICD-Massachusetts.

Ulrikke Stosch (Massachusetts). Head teacher of IICD Massachusetts.

Marie Lichtenberg (South Africa). She is the sister of Simon Lichtenberg, founder of the Trayton group of companies in China. He is widely expected to be the next leader of the Teachers Group.

Jostein Pedersen (New Jersey). Associated with Planet Aid.

Tomas Lindstrom

  News  

January 2007: Information suggests that Tomas Lindstrom and Ruth Ford have left the CCTG college in California and moved to New Zealand to open up a new Teachers Group recruiting drive there. See also the article from the Dominion Post dated 9th December 2006.

Ruth Ford

Please help us keep this page up to date. Email new information to: contact@humana-alert.com

  The Sterling Foundation  

According to an ex-student, the Sterling Foundation is an organization run by members of the Teachers Group that has funded CCTG.The ex-volunteer writes: "We were told that Amdi Peterson is on the board of directors for this company and was the person who encouraged Tomas Linstrom and Ruth Ford to leave the school in Norway and start up CCTG. The Sterling Foundation gave a $50 000 grant to Tomas and Ruth so they could find and purchase property for a school in California. CCTG is owned by AS Properties (just like the rest of the Humana schools in the US). The Sterling Foundation then gave a $50 000 interest free loan to get the school running."

We cannot trace a Sterling Foundation that matches this account. Is there any confirmation for this story? please email us.