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Tvind assets: One World Volunteer Institute, UFF clothes collection, clothes sorting centre, shops, volunteers, on-street fundraising
Norwatch expresses concern over DAPP: NorWatch, a group mapping Norwegian business practices in low cost countries, expressed strong concern over Tvinds (locally known as DAPP) operations in Malawi. (2003) here
Norways main trade union (LO) has advised against donating used clothes to Tvind (locally known as UFF) because these clothes from Europe were breaking the back of the textile and ready-made clothing industry in Africas poor countries. (2003) here
The One
World Volunteer Institute
Long-established Tvind College near Lillehammer that trains 'development instructors' from all over the world. There have been many complaints about the quality of teaching and methods at this college, especially fundraising on the streets.
See: the stories
Jostein's story Jostein Alvestad is a Norwegian, now living in the USA, who joined the Teachers Group and became close to the centre of power in Tvind. 'It took me two years to be able to write this. I haven't been able to deal with all the emotions since I drove off the hill at IICD, Williamstown in the summer of 1998. I just did not want to talk about it or think about it.....I denied I had been in a cult or had in any form been "brainwashed". I know better now - after a little time and distance,' he wrote
João's story. 'Resisting brainwashing'. Joao, from Portugal, joined Humana as a student in Norway and later a volunteer in Zambia. He describes his experiences (in English)
Kine's story The story of a 24 year old man from Norway sent to a Tvind school in Denmark
Anne Ellingsen's story Anne Ellingsen, a young Norwegian woman who fell ill while on a bus trip to India, said she received no help from the Tvind teachers who led the operation. On the contrary, one of them said she was a "weakling" and she was left feverish in the back of the bus for four days. Finally, a close friend of hers (who was in another bus) discovered what had happened and took her to hospital. It turned out she had three tropical diseases, among them typhus. (18) [........]
[......] One of the 20 witnesses [in the Otterbech case] was Anne Ellingsen, 28, of the Norwegian anti-Tvind movement. During her bus trip to India with The International College (at Tvind, Denmark) in 1982, she fell ill. Ms Ellingsen alleges she was not given any treatment until one of the other students, travelling in a second bus, took her to hospital. She said the teachers accused her of whining and faking, while the hospital doctor in New Delhi was angry that her friend Johnny brought her in so late. Suffering from three tropical diseases, she was too weak even to tell the doctor her name. (25)
For Ms Ellingsen, this has been a double tragedy. Johnny, whom she regards as having saved her life, is now dead. When she left Tvind, Ms Ellingsen could not persuade him to quit too. Although he was angry with Tvind because of what had happened to Ms Ellingsen, he still believed in the organisation. Johnny died in an accident in Morocco in 1988 while travelling with Tvind.
Ms Ellingsen and her mother [founded] the Norwegian anti-Tvind organisation. (see below)
[Source: Leiv Gunnar Lie]
Flere Visne blomster - en kritisk antologi om Tvind (More Dying Flowers - A Critical Anthology About Tvind) by 21 former Tvind teachers (1980, 285pp) (in Norwegian)
MA Thesis - a report on Tvind by Leiv Gunnar Lie
Norwegian journalist Liev Gunnar Lie wrote an MA thesis on Tvind in
1994. It remains one of the most important studies of the
organisation (In English)
UFF Norway
As of 2000 it had in Norway: two shops, clothes boxes, door-to-door collections, street selling,
and a clothes sorting centre. The shops were at Storgata 1 and
7. Two more were planned,
in Bergen and elsewhere. Many of the clothes collected here are believed to be sold in
Poland and Russia.
Headed by TG member Jesper Pedersen (2003)
A correspondent writes: (2000) "In Norway they have two shops in Storgata, No.1 and No.7 . The No.1 shop makes about 12.000 Nkr per day and on Saturdays can make 20.000 Nkr. The No.2 shop makes 10.000 Nkr per day and on Saturdays can make 18.000 Nkr. I dont know where the money goes ..they say that 25% goes to Africa and all the rest is to pay employees and all the costs. It's true that they sell clothes in Russia and Poland because the sorting center sorts clothes to them. They want to open more 3 shops in Russia by 2004. In Norway theyll open one this year in Bergen and another one next year."
Attempts have been made to ban UFF from collecting - with mixed success. "Bans [on UFF clothes collection boxes] are in force In the Norwegian cities of Oslo and Bergen and the Norwegian government has stopped funding the Travelling High School, a branch of the Tvind movement"
` [Source: The Guardian, 1993]
One World Volunteer Institute
See: One World Volunteer Institute
What is the legal status and ownership of this building
and institute?
A young Norwegian woman member of the Teachers' Group [Kristin Skagemo, 23] was killed on the Tvind training ship 'Activ' in 1983. Tvind refused to pay the cost for sending her body home and sent the freight bill to her Norwegian parents. [Source: Leiv Gunnar Lie] Click here to read more about the 'Activ' disaster
Landsforeningen mot Tvind
Postboks 6880, St. Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Norge.
Upplyser om UFF/Tvinds verksamhet, som bl.a. inkluderar underskott av påstådda
u-hjälpsmedel, hjärntvättning av medarbetare inom UFF och missbruk av statliga
medel.
TEL: +47-22-11 55 31
Norwegian Movement Against Tvind
PO Box 6880, St Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway
Information about the activities of UFF/Tvind,
including, among other things, loss of alleged aid to developing
countries, brain-washing of the staff within UFF and illegitimate use of
public funds
Tel: +47-22-11 55 31
Clck here to read a leaflet supplied by the Norwegian Movement Against Tvind (in English):
Former Travelling High School in Halden, southeast of Oslo (to appx 1983)
The Norwegian Department of Education (KUD) withdrew the Travelling High School's license in 1982-3. Jens Oen of KUD told Danish television there were several reasons why: "The teaching was not good enough and the security - both physically, when travelling, and economic security - was not good enough." In the course of two years, Norwegian embassies had reported 62 incidents of Tvind students travelling abroad, needing some kind of help. [Source: Leiv Gunnar Lie]
Clck here to read a leaflet supplied by the Norwegian Movement Against Tvind (in English):
Former Travelling High School in Halden, southeast of Oslo (to appx 1983)
The Norwegian Department of Education (KUD) withdrew the Travelling High School's license in 1982-3. Jens Oen of KUD told Danish television there were several reasons why: "The teaching was not good enough and the security - both physically, when travelling, and economic security - was not good enough." In the course of two years, Norwegian embassies had reported 62 incidents of Tvind students travelling abroad, needing some kind of help. [Source: Leiv Gunnar Lie]
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Alert, All Rights Reserved
Permission is granted to
reproduce the materials posted here provided that they are credited as
"Source: Tvind Alert (http://www.tvindalert.com)"