Humana People-to-People Alert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 MA THESIS BY LEIF GUNNAR LIE  

Department of International Journalism, City University, London, 1994
MA Thesis
Candidate: Leiv Gunnar Lie
Supervisor: Prof Hugh Stephenson
Approx. 13,500 words

Contents:

1. From revolution to accountancy

2. Happy school daze

3. Charity starts at Tvind...

4. Appendices and references

Reproduced with the permission of the author.

 1. FROM REVOLUTION TO ACCOUNTANCY  

In 1965, Mogens Amdi Petersen was a socialist. A young, long-haired and charismatic character, he was a controversial teacher even in the radical-minded Kroggaardsskolen in Odense, Denmark. Some 14 years later, then head of his own, international, multi-million Kroner school organisation - and facing allegations of exploitation and brainwashing - he decided to vanish from the public eye. (1)

Since then, according to former teachers, Mr Petersen has ruled the so-called "Tvind" empire from behind the scenes. (2) Based partly in the Caribbean, where much of the wealth is allegedly hoarded, he has been sighted by outsiders only once since 1979. Mr Petersen's only appearances have been at some of the regular "Teacher Group" meetings, of which ex-teachers tell he would make speeches for hours on end, enthralling the audience with his charisma and oratory skills. (3) Present-day teachers deny he even heads the organization.

Far from the small and idealistic private school it once was, Tvind has become an international conglomerate of educational, "humanitarian" and financial organisations. Apart from being part of the same organisation - a fact which Tvind spokespeople ardently deny -they all have one thing in common: Controversy. Young people put in danger by being sent into the world in knackered buses and half-wrecked ships - sometimes with death as the result. (4) "Third World relief money" ending up in Caribbean bank accounts (5). Students who had to escape from the schools at night, because even announcing one's quitting would be a matter for group discussion. Political asylum seekers who are set to work for Tvind, while the organisation gets large sums of money for taking care of them. Such allegations have followed it since the late Seventies. (6)

In the beginning, in the Sixties and early Seventies, Amdi Petersen's ideas were met with a flush of enthusiasm. He started his career in the state-run Kroggaardsskolen in 1962, as one of several young and idealistic teachers. They put new ideas into practice - like taking the pupils out into the world.

Henrik Sidenius, then Head Teacher, said: "We had the idea of going out to get the necessary culture shock - that is, to see a culture which was completely different. [The aim was] not exactly to study that culture in detail, but to realize what kind of people we were." But a few years later, Petersen clashed with the school board. The headmaster said his teaching qualities were unquestionable, but the board wanted him out because of "his strange and unorthodox appearance".

So the energetic and slightly hippie-like visionary established his own, private school organisation. In 1970, Denmark's first "Travelling High School", based in a run-down, old beach hotel, was a reality. A part of the independent school's curriculum was a six month trip to Turkey. Tvind's idealistic, practical and outward-looking base earned the school organisation status as a brave experiment - the new way forward in teaching.

The idea was that young people could learn something outside the classroom, by working together and visiting other cultures. In an interview on Danish television, Petersen said: "One gets some proper, racy piles hammered into one's personal foundation; a platform one can stand on and say: 'I've experienced this, I've seen it, I've discussed it with my comrades and this is our conclusion. When I have an opinion about things, it's because I had the possibility to learn in many other ways than just hiding my face in a book'."

Tvind's main beliefs were learning by practical work and helping the Third World. The first was put into action - students showed for themselves and the world that it was possible to build their own schools and make them work. The humanitarian side was not so apparent, as all their work was on Tvind projects - new school buildings, swimming pools and other facilities that helped forward the organisation. In 1975, over 100 people participated in building the world's biggest windmill at a farm called Tvind. The organisation took its name and even today the windmill is a symbol of Tvind.

Later, critics have asked - without getting much of an answer - why all this idealism, money and resources were used to build up the organisation itself, instead of doing something that would benefit the poor and needy they were supposedly fighting for. At the time, enthusiasm prevailed for the young people who held hands, singing in unison underneath the world's biggest windmill. No-one questioned that the power it generated eliminated a big electricity bill for Tvind, and that building a swimming pool in Denmark did little to help the Third World.

The organisation has much to thank Danish governments and the constitution for. The Danish education system, has deep traditions on independent education, emphasizing the freedom to teach independently to a degree which is unique in the world. Tvind built its fortune on liberal laws which granted all "free schools" substantial subsidies.

The Danish Ministry of Education paid 85 per cent of the teachers' wages. A collectivist pooling of these resources further enabled Tvind's "Teacher Group" to build up substantial funds. From 1972, 85 per cent of every teacher's net income was pooled in the "Saving Association", a kittv which was exempted from taxation by law. After food and "pocket money" for the teachers was deducted, the rest was invested into more schools. In 1985, Danish journalists estimated the Saving Association funds at 60 billion DKr (£5.5bn).

Success surrounded Tvind in the beginning, and it attracted students and teachers by the score. The government money that went into more schools accelerated this growth. The number of students doubled several times, reaching a total of 800 in 1977. (7)

But by then, disturbing stories had begun to emerge in the Danish press. Students told they had been left alone in the middle of Africa without food and money while on abroad trips, and subjected to group tyranny and brainwashing while on the schools in Denmark. One of them, a girl who had been expelled from a Tvind school in Bustrup, was interviewed by the Information newspaper in February 1979. She described a regime where no-one were entitled to privacy or personal opinion. "One is expected to learn to shut up in the right moments. [...] It happened in every group meeting. We were being told: 'You had damn well better agree with us'." (8)

Tvind's relations with the surrounding world became more strained. Mogens Amdi Petersen decided to "retire" and Poul Jorgensen, one of his comrades from the very beginning, took over as front man. With the official title of "Spokesman-director", Jorgensen has since been answering for all of the schools' activities. He is also the spokesperson for several related organisations - charities and business corporations - which he has claimed have little or nothing to do with Tvind but which are mostly led by members of the Teacher Group. (9)

The word "empire" was soon to be connected with Tvind, as the organisation saw a huge commercial expansion led by Tvind bigwigs. Money collected from the increasing number of teachers was channelled into a string of new enterprises. Visible to the public eye, the charities known as DAPP, UFF and Humana were always connected with the Tvind schools. More covert were commercial companies such as Tropical Farming in the Cayman Islands, Farm One in Belize and Talata on Jersey, all of which were founded and managed by members of the Teacher Group. (10)

The most important has undoubtedly been Faelleseje, a corporation established in 1977, whose purpose was "to own and lease property". Faelleseje borrowed money from the Saving Association - these transactions were controlled by the central Teacher Group (led by Amdi Petersen) -and used the money to buy property suitable for new schools.

As soon as a new Tvind school was established, Faelleseje would lease the property to that school's Teacher Group. This created big profits, not only because of state subsidies and the pooling of teachers' wages, but also because Faelleseje was a part of the "ideal" Tvind organisation and therefore was exempt from paying tax as a "charitable foundation". Money went back into the Saving Association by the million. (11)

Their commercial interests soon crossed the Danish border. Both Faelleseje and Estate, another Tvind-funded company, started buying property in the West Indies and the USA. A third company, Thomas Brocklebank, went into shipping. Another earner, and an increasingly important one, was Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), or UFF as it was called in Scandinavia. With yet another alter ego in the UK and on the Continent - Humana - these registered charities started collecting and selling clothes to raise money "for the Third World".

Setting up containers and second-hand clothes shops in several European countries, Humana/UFF/DAP earn millions of pounds. But because few countries require charities to submit accounts to the public, and the charities are of such a secretive nature, it is impossible to determine how much actually goes to charitable projects in Africa. What we do know, is that Humana UK donations constituted eight per cent of its turnover in 1991, (12) and UFF's grants in Sweden were cut after a government report concluded only two per cent of turnover left the organisation. (13) UFF lost Norwegian government funding as early as 1981, (14) and The European Community stopped their support in 1985.(15)

Some money has undoubtedly gone into "development projects", mostly in Africa. These projects are staffed partly by Tvind students going on their abroad trips. But Jorgensen, both Tvind spokesman and chairman of UFF in Sweden and Norway and chairman of Humana in the UK and on the Continent, has always claimed they are completely separate organisations with only "a contract of cooperation "tying them together. (16)

But the top men and women in all the above-mentioned "charities" and businesses are Tvind bigwigs, and the same people tend to figure in various boards and sign their names on official documents of several of the "non-related" organisations. (17)

This has been only one of a number of controversial issues following the Tvind-directed organisations. Although the number of Tvind schools rose dramatically in the Eighties, now totalling 45 in Denmark alone, the projects that students were sent on have been subject of harsh criticism. 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) Ms Ellingsen and her mother now head the Norwegian anti-Tvind organisation.

The UFF aid projects have not escaped criticism, either. Hanne Reichelt, a Danish girl who was supposed to spend six months in Zimbabwe, went home after four, disappointed with amateurish and disorganized projects. When an attempt to teach 15 Zimbabweans to drill wells failed because of faulty equipment and bad planning, the UFF leaders told them to beg the white people in Zimbabwe for money. (19) She decided to quit and go home.

But the wrecking of the schooner "Activ" in 1981 was perhaps -the biggest scandal. Not only did Tvind leaders order the crew of eight students out to sea in a boat that was later described as a 'floating coffin" by the Danish Sailor's Association. (20) They also refused to pay the cost for sending the body of Kristin Skagemo, one of the dead, and sent the freight bill to her Norwegian parents. (21)

Individuals have not been alone in their condemnation. Norwegian authorities cut its 2 million NKr (£200,000) yearly grant to the Travelling High School at Hornsjo near

Lillehammer in 1983. (22) The school, which is in a mountain hotel, has also been prohibited from using the premises as a place of "coherent education" by the Norwegian education department. Ironically, Denmark - where the intensity and longevity of the Tvind debate has been the greatest - has done little to clip its wings. Last year, Danish government support amounted to some 30 million DKr (about £3m). (23)

There is no ban on recruiting students from Upper Secondary schools or Job Centres, although anti-Tvind groups are putting pressure on all Scandinavian governments to introduce such measures. Local councils keep paying Tvind schools to take care of difficult children and juvenile offenders. This practice has been under scrutiny in Britain and Norway as well as Denmark but, in many instances, it is the easiest or only option for social security offices under pressure. (24)

Leading newspapers like Jyllandsposten, Politiken and Ekstra Bladet have continually exposed scandals in the organisation and, in the general public, the word "Tvind" has long since lost its positive connotations. But the only serious blow a Danish government has dealt them, was a l986 law which drastically lowered the ceiling for tax-free donations. It introduced a rate of 15 per cent of one's personal income as a maximum tax-deductible gift.

This was not likely to cause anybody a headache except loyal Tvind workers, who formerly donated 85 per cent-of their income to the good cause. "Lex Tvind", as the law is colloquially termed, severely restricted the flow of state subsidy into the Teacher Group kitty. (25)

However, Amdi Petersen's empire is still prosperous, and it is difficult for politicians to stop an organisation which is protected by a central principle in the education system.

Even so, there seems to be little political will to effectively stop Tvind and UFF. Bent Jonannesen, the leader of the Danish anti-Tvind movement, says: "Denmark has gotten used to Tvind. Nobody likes them, but they have been around for so long, they have been accepted as something we just have to live with." (26)

Meanwhile, the windmill at Tvind goes round and around and around.

  2. HAPPY DAZE AT SCHOOL  

Clare Ward is in the most notorious school organisation in Europe, and she loves it. Since the 23-year old, outgoing Scotswoman responded to an advert in The Independent in January, she has had her days packed in Denmark working -as a volunteer with the Asserbohus Efterskole, northwest of Copenhagen. Part of the "Tvind" movement, which has been described as a brainwashing cult, ⁽¹⁾ She has no complaints. "It doesn't feel like work. It's just being with the kids and having fun," she says. ⁽²⁾

Ms Ward has an undefined role in the independent school, teaching English as an assistant. She is only paid pocket money but gets food, lodging and travel for free and says that money--wise she "will be better off after this year". So far she has gone with the school to Poland, Germany and Sweden and a trip to New York is planned for next year.

When she went for an interview at the Small School in Norwich (one of Tvind's two schools in England), Ms Ward was told that the organisation she was about to join had received a lot of bad press. "It is because we are different," they said. She was not told that being "different" had entailed repeated charges of brainwashing, swindling, exploiting cheap, young labour and endangering students' lives. Tvind did not tell her that the Norwegian government has banned them from running major courses at their hotel near Lillehammer, or that the Swedish social services have included Tvind in a brochure urging people to stay away from cults. ⁽³⁾

Neither did she know that the related charity UFF, ("Development Aid from People to People"), which Ms Ward has worked for while on the school, has a very patchy reputation. A damning report from Sweden in 1991 revealed that 98 per cent of its turnover-never left the Tvind system, and both Swedish and Norwegian authorities have cut their grants to UFF. Its British sister organisation, Humana, was last year revealed by The Guardian to having spent 92 per cent of its income on administration costs. ⁽⁴⁾

The Guardian and Observer newspapers have since blacklisted the schools from advertising, but Small School staff have persisted. "They have been quite devious," says Nick Heaton of the papers' classified ads department. ⁽⁵⁾ "They tried to slip through the net by changing their name and number. But all the telephone numbers they have given up have been on the computer blacklist." Well, not all. On 16 January, a Small School advert for The Necessary Teacher Training College in Denmark appeared in The Observer. ⁽⁶⁾ Contrary to what the ad and their teachers say, the school does not offer an officially approved teaching degree. ⁽⁷⁾

At Asserbohus, Ms Ward is very impressed with the way the school is organised and run. She has seen nothing of the reported brain-washing or the badly organised and some-times dangerous bus trips. Ms Ward is busy, but happy.

But Anne Ellingsen, a 27-year old Norwegian former Tvind student who is now campaigning against the organisation, is not surprised. "During my first three months at Tvind, you would not be able to get a single negative word out of me. An important part of their ideology is about suppressing criticism, and that includes criticism within yourself." According to her, Ms Ward has already been influenced by "the dangerous cult". Ms Ellingsen claims that even strong and resourceful people are susceptible to their pressure. "It can happen to anyone, even the most intelligent and nice people. It is all about whether they manage to push the right buttons," she says. ⁽⁸⁾

The Tvind organisation is almost 25 years old. Starting out as a socialist alternative to the state school system, it broke new ground in education. The basic idea was to learn through experience - practical work, travel and communal living - rather than reading books and operating within the confines of a classroom. Rejecting bourgeois and capitalist values, the movement was geared towards helping people in the developing world, adopting a revolu-tionary, communist ideology.

Led by the top people in what is called "Laerergruppen" (The Teacher Group), Tvind -these days runs about 50 schools, most of them in Denmark. ⁽⁹⁾ The related UFF/DAPP/Humana charities have branches in 11 countries in Western Europe, collecting and selling second-hand clothes worth millions of pounds every year. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Tvind-funded organisations have invested into shipping and property, for instance in the Caymans, the Caribbean tax haven. ⁽¹¹⁾

Tvind schools have mostly attracted students from Scandinavia. With a string of scandals attached to their activities, however, critics say they are now recruiting volunteers and students from outside Scandinavia because of their waning popularity there. Last time Tvind recruited British people to their organisation, they did not stay long. Afterwards, several of them described the organisation as "a cult". ⁽¹²⁾

A couple of last year's British volunteers, Rachel Ramsay and Ben Williams of Brighton, are still trying to put the Tvind experience behind them. Having worked for UFF in Sweden in March 1993, Ms Ramsay said: "Intending to stay for six months, I left after six weeks. I felt sick, really." ⁽¹³⁾

Like Ms Ward, the couple were recruited through the Small School in Norwich. Ms Ramsay recalls: "They took anyone - anyone willing to go out at a week's notice! It wasn't until we were there we realised why our group was almost solely English. We had been told that England had a better 'tradition of voluntary work', not that government aid had been stopped in most other European Countries and that UFF's reputation was therefore incredibly bad."

Doorstepping for donations, the English volunteers were "verbally attacked" by many Swedish residents, telling them how UFF was blacklisted by authorities and other charities. "Someone else just said they felt sorry for us and told us to find out who we were working for," said one volunteer.

Ms Ramsay and Mr Williams say they spent some time figuring out what was going on. "The rumours we heard seemed so far-fetched at the time, it was hard to know what to believe, but the organisation clearly did their best to isolate us from any outside information. Our mail was often withheld. Our four day Easter 'break' was an organised trip to a Danish Tvind school. We had very little free time, often working a 15 hour day -with almost no food. People became too tired to argue. They bombarded us with 'targets' and 'plans' and tried to make us think of nothing else but the job we were doing. The whole thing was disorganised, amateur-ish. At the time I put it down to incompetence, but now it seems engineered."

Ms Ramsay continued: "Anything we questioned concerning the organisation was attacked or glossed over in not very good English. 'We love Africa' the UFF song cassette proclaimed, and with the charity's profits funding a non-charitable empire of companies from Europe to the Cayman Islands, it is now easy to see why."

"It wasn't long before I realised this was one 'charity' I didn't want to be part of," Ms Ramsay says. 'But I hadn't been 'UFF'ed', as we referred to the organisation's brainwash-ing tactics. Our 25-year-old group leader had been working for them all her working life, after being at one of their schools, and UFF had become everything to her, despite the fact that she really wasn't being treated very well at all. Shortly before we arrived, for instance, she had been made to choose between her job and a man she had been living with who had left UFF. Relationships were only acceptable within the organisation. She chose her job. 'It is my family,' she said. She took no holidays, worked with no job description, and went about her work with a fanaticism I found incredible until we went to the first Federation Weekend."

It was reminiscent of a Nazi rally," Ms Ramsay says. "The point of the weekend was to go round Stockholm knocking on doors asking for things for the fleamarket. The evenings were full of 'targets' and 'results' and their translation into potential money raised. There was a lot of clapping, speeches by UFF bigwigs, singing, and videos about the good work -of UFF in Mozambique.

"The group dynamics were frightening. It was like being on the outside of a cult. Our group were largely ignored. On a similar occasion at which the English volunteers asked a lot of direct questions which were responded to really aggressively, everyone was expected to end the evening singing African songs and 'What a Wonderful World'."

Paul Lakin of Stoke Golding, Warwickshire, another British UFF volunteer last year, tells a similar story, independently from Ms Ramsay and Mr Williams. ⁽¹⁴⁾ A volunteer worker for UFF in Sweden from 10 March until June 1993, he is not impressed with the organisation. "Many of us were hungry for most of the time. Some of our diet was subsidised by foodstuffs that were well past their sell by date or in the process of decay. The workload did eventually decrease, mainly due to threats by volunteers to refuse to do the work," said Mr Lakin.

"I observed many Danish people, both volunteers and paid employees, working for UFF. They often demonstrated a total dedication and single mindedness in what they were working towards and although appearing to be very supportive to one another demonstrated an unwillingness to acknowledge alternative approaches." "I gave up my role and returned to England after feeling more and more at unease about the philosophy I saw being enacted and feeling less and less reassured by the answers offered to queries. It was a shame that an organisation apparently working towards the ideals of a more just world should do it by exploiting its own workers in such a wasteful manner," says Mr Lakin.

Mr Williams, Mr Lakin and Ms Ramsay confirm stories reported in The-Guardian last year. Pearse Cooke, a 26-year old who took a position on the Juelsminde Friskole in Jutland, discovered that Tvind "had many characteristics of a cult". ⁽¹⁵⁾ Other Britons have reported similar stories, saying there is little leeway for individual thought at Tvind schools.

Their ideology centres on communal living (Tvind schools are all boarding schools), sharing time and money. Since 1972, all members of the Teacher Group have forfeited as much as possible of their income (85 per cent of which is state sponsored) to a central kitty. ⁽¹⁶⁾ This constitutes their "common economy": money for food, clothes and whatever else is distributed from the kitty according to the wishes of the Group. Herein lies the principle of "common time": everyone is responsible for working, cooking, cleaning and being economical. How every individual uses his or her time is a matter for everyone, and will be decided in common meetings. ⁽¹⁷⁾

This is the origin of Tvind's alleged cult status. All decisions are to be taken in a group, including personal ones. According to "defectors", even family relations and your love life are decided upon by the group. Ms Ramsay witnessed one such incident; many more have been reported. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Decisions are supposed to be unanimous and, according to former students and teachers, meetings can go on for hours when someone disagrees.

In practice, the group members are bullied by the leaders until they agree. They also claim there is a special language, using words like "comrades", "take a stand", "the starving millions" etc., and that clapping and singing is employed as a means of mass hypnosis. This is what Ms Ramsay was talking about when she felt she was witnessing "a Nazi rally" and "being on the outside of a cult".

In Scandinavia, countless scandals have led to the establishment of an anti-Tvind organisation. ⁽¹⁹⁾ The group is active in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and has branches in France and Germany. It consists mainly of ex-students who claim to have suffered physically, mentally or economically after staying with Tvind schools or their related charity, UFF/Humana. ⁽¹⁹⁾ One of their most recent members, is Bjorn Andersson, 24, of Lidingo, Sweden. He left the Travelling High School in April, one month before Clare Ward started her stay in Asserbohus. Mr Andersson's story is one of broken promises. ⁽²⁰⁾

"I was unemployed, and found a leaflet at the Job Centre [in Stockholm]. It said: 'Become a solidarity worker'. I decided to join."

One of Mr Andersson's reasons was that he wanted to become a journalist, but was unable to get a place in the Journalism School in Stockholm. "From what they [Tvind] told us in the-preliminary meetings, I thought I would be able to travel and write stories about it and get some experience. They even said we would be able to use video cameras. But nothing was the way we expected. Everything sounded so much nicer in the advertisement."

"The first semester was a parody. We were supposed to learn something, but all we did was cooking and working around the school. We had a few two-hour lectures, but they were really bad. If we wanted to read - for instance about the country we were going to visit - we had to organise it ourselves."

Then the students were supposed to leave the school for about five weeks and make money to finance their trip to Turkey, Pakistan and India. "It was organised by a teacher, but in general we had to do everything ourselves. My friend Martin and I got a very good job - going around Sweden in a car to obtain permissions for UFF to put out second-hand clothes containers. In some boroughs, where UFF have been banned, we were told to ask for permission to have containers put out on private property, which we did."

Not everybody managed to raise as much money as they did. "Many students ran away, they couldn't take the pressure. The teachers had a table showing how much everyone had earned and what the targets were. It all ended in revolt - our teacher was kicked out and we had an emergency meeting with the headmaster."

When Mr Andersson and the others arrived in Turkey, he says they were told to hitchhike through the country. "It seemed like madness, and all the Turks we spoke to said it meant risking our lives. Four of the girls had nasty experiences with aggressive men -they all had to hitch-hike alone." According to Mr Andersson, two students who were caught drinking beer in a local bar, were expelled and had to hitch-hike home. "There had been so many problems that we all decided to quit. But when we returned to the school [in Denmark], the teachers made a last, desperate attempt to make us stay. They greeted us, saying: 'Welcome back to your home!', as if all the problems had never existed:"

"I don't really know what the point of the trip was, apart from seeing Asia. Apparently, last year's class collected 5,000 Kroner, which they planned to give to charity down there. But the money never left the Tvind account"

Money is Mr Andersson's main grudge against Tvind. Having been driving around southern Sweden with his friend Martin, trying to obtain permissions for UFF to put out clothes containers, they had been promised 300 Swedish Kroner (about £30) for each permission. In the end they made some 53,000 Kroner (approximately £5,000) to finance the trip, but: "I know they withheld at least 4,500 Kroner from us, and we got no sensible explanation why they didn't pay us all of it."

The students had signed a contract with the school, stating they worked for Tvind. According to Mr Andersson, they were asked to sign it because working for the school would exempt them from paying tax. But as a result, it was legally difficult for them to claim anything after-wards. He has not got a copy of the contract, because "the teachers always took care of our money and papers for us".

Although Mr Andersson received a government student grant, made 53,000 Kroner during the saving period and raised money by selling flowers for Tvind in Denmark, he was nevertheless broke when he left in April. First, he paid 3,000 Danish Kroner (almost £300) for food and lodging at the boarding school, which "was not heated and with toilets that didn't work. In the saving period we paid our own food and in addition paid rent for an apartment in Stockholm while we worked for UFF. In Denmark, the school supplied a car when we went around selling flowers for them, but we still had to- pay for petrol and mileage - two Kroner (20p) per kilometer. That amounted to quite a lot after a while."

"When it was time to go to India, we also had to pay 16,000 Kroner [about £1,500] for a Carnet de Passage, which is required to take a bus through several countries. The money was raised by us students, and we were supposed to get it back after the trip. Because of the con-tract I signed, it is legally their money. But I earned it!" Having complained to the school sev-eral times, Mr- Andersson recently received a refund for-the money he paid for the Carnet. But he says the school deducted 2,500 DKr from the l6,000 before they refunded the students.

Mr Andersson often found it difficult to discuss money issues with his superiors. "As soon as you start talking to the leaders about money, they become hysterical. When I questioned the practice of us paying for petrol and mileage while selling flowers, the headmaster was furious and asked how I could even raise such a question. We also asked why we had to pay for the teacher to go on the trip in addition to paying for ourselves. 'That's only natural, since she's a teacher and contributes with so many other things', they said."

"When Martin and I were working at UFF [the charity] in Stockholm, we asked one of the employees who the manager for the entire UFF business was. He answered: 'You're not sup-posed to ask questions like that'. UFF and Tvind are formally independent organisations, but they are very closely linked. Either that, or Tvind are extremely nice giving UFF all that free labour."

But Mr Andersson finds Tvind teachers neither nice nor giving. "The teacher who took care of the money has gone to Berlin. So I guess she doesn't give a damn about our money."

Both himself and others in his class have denounced allegations of brainwashing. They were a strong group, and say they never experienced Tvind as a cult. But judging from their experiences, collectivism and group pressure were always ingredients. Mr Andersson: "At Tvind, the group is the most important thing. You are not allowed to be alone or to form couples. Everyone has to discuss everything in common meetings. There was a pressure for all to agree, and the teachers tried to impose their views on us. Even when we all had agreed on something - all of us except the teacher - she managed to get her views through any-way. That happened many times."

Tvind people are target conscious and competent in many ways", says Mr Andersson. "But they have great difficulties in accepting people who do have different opinions. They emphasize the group, but in fact it is very authoritarian. Our headmaster was revered and respected by the teachers and his word was law." When the students arrived, the headmaster was a woman called Anne Larsen. Mr Andersson found her introduction speech to the students strange. "She said: 'If you are couples and you split up, then you have nobody. In a group you can have anyone.' I thought: 'That was a-funny thing to say'."

"There were always suspicions that we were being conned, and we talked about it a lot in our group. But whenever we talked to the teachers about it, they dismissed us by asking questions like: 'Don't you love Tvind?"' Asked what the school taught him, Mr Andersson says: "I learned something from the trip, from seeing a bit of the world. I guess I have developed as a person, and become tougher. But if I were working at the Job Centre, I would not advise any one to go there." What advice would he give to present Tvind students? "Be suspicious of anybody and make sure you don't get conned. But that's difficult. You have to stand up if you disagree, and don't let them change your perceptions."

Not everybody who has left a Tvind school has experienced it as a brainwashing institution. But the Danish psychiatrist Erik Olsen, who works at the mental ward in the regional hospital in Viborg, Denmark, certainly has. Mr Olsen has encountered "somewhere between 10 and 20" cases of mentally run-down former Tvind students. ⁽²¹⁾ "It all started when I heard of a girl who had been extremely badly treated by Tvind. They had sent her hitch-hiking through an African country and she was in terrible shape afterwards."

Attending her court case and hearing Tvind leaders defend themselves, Mr Olsen was even more shocked, and absolutely convinced they were not telling the truth: "I have never in my life seen anyone lie so much and so badly," he says. Dr. Olsen does not want to identify the woman. She is still suffering when the incident is brought up, even years after.

"Since I joined the anti-Tvind movement, I have been in contact with many more ex-students suffering from serious mental strain. They have been brainwashed and become single-minded in a very dubious way and at a young age." Brainwashing is a strong word, but one which the psychiatrist does not hesitate to use in describing what these patients have been through. "They have been subjected to influence which makes them think the same way. This has been achieved by group pressure and by individual influence." As a result, says Mr Olsen, "they are deeply depressed and feel isolated. In some cases it takes years for them to recover."

Some ex-students have been accused by Tvind for making up stories. How can we know they are not lying? The psychiatrist says: "I wouldn't necessarily believe them if they didn't all tell the same story. Their stories are about repression, single-mindedness, being screamed at by everyone at common meetings and being made to feel like a crook. I can understand the mechanisms - being hammered on by everyone." He thinks the Tvind society fits the description of a cult, and advises present students to "make sure they preserve themselves and don't lose their identities".

"And get out before it-happens."

Many have done so, and would urge others to follow suit. Norwegian Ove Johansen, 30, worked for Tvind and UFF -in Norway for three years. He told the Verdens Gang news-paper "We were brainwashed all the way. There is a lot of talk about morality and ethics - you are supposed to be broken down and rebuilt as a new person in a new world. We had to work all the time, more than six hours sleep was prohibited. The same went for contact with the outside, and you were never allowed to be alone. You couldn't just sit down and think for a while. If you did, everyone would jump on you and treat you like a potential defector." ⁽²²⁾

"In many ways it was unreal. At one point we were told to cease all contact with our families and burn all our pictures. This was done for fear of being under surveillance."

Hanne Marit Otterbech, 23, of Stavanger, Norway, is another unhappy ex-student. ⁽²³⁾ In 1992, she went to a Norwegian Court after having been with the Tvind school at Hornsjo near Lillehammer, claiming the stay had caused her serious damage to her health. Some 20 other ex-students backed Hanne Marit in court, testifying that the schools broke down students psychologically. She lost the case, but because of great doubt the school was ordered to pay all expenses. This is a very rare ruling in Norwegian courts. ⁽²⁴⁾

One of the 20 witnesses 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.

In Denmark, controversy has raged for almost 20 years. Since the mid-Seventies, after an initial wave of good publicity, Tvind has been very controversial. One girl, who was inter-viewed by the Information newspaper in 1979 about her stay in Bustrup Efterskole, said many things which defectors still say in the Nineties: "One learns to shut up at the right moments because, if you don't, it can get very unpleasant. You have to say what the school wants you to, otherwise you get mashed." (26) "It happens in every common meeting. They say that you better damn well agree with us, or we'll run over you. Either you get yelled at for having no views which fit in with the school, or you get yelled at for not taking a stand."

Privacy was also scarce back then: "By rule you should be together with others as much as possible. Just sitting in a room talking is wrong. You're supposed to be in the common room and sing or watch a film or something. All the time. The concept of spare time doesn't really fit into that system," the girl said. "It is all about being comrades and holding hands and talking about our problems and such. And it always ends with them running the students down."

12 years after, Mikkel Plum - a former Tvind student of two years - wrote a feature article in the Jyllandsposten paper. He said: "If you get into conflict with the 'correct policy' [...] you are bullied senseless at the common meeting, until you collapse or run away. They call it friendly criticism. It was like that in 1970 and it is like that today." ⁽²⁷⁾

Finally, a man who was with Tvind right at the start and still has contact with them. Kurt Simonsen was at Tvind for nine months in 1970, and went on a travel course. Since 1985, he has been a thorn in Tvind's side, producing one expose after another as a journalist in the hard-hitting national tabloid Ekstra Bladet.

Thinking back, he says: "It was definitely brainwashing, because it was impossible to disagree. Meetings went on until everyone agreed. But how effective it is, depends on their-abili-ty to whip in their ideology and the Tvind system. ⁽²⁸⁾

"I am happy that I went there, though. Although I despise Tvind now, I had some marvellous experiences. One learns to trust own resources, to believe anything is possible and to just jump into things. But, of course, while some become more self- confident, others fall apart under the system because they simply internalise the ideology and live a lie."

Criticism of Tvind schools extends far beyond Scandinavia and Great Britain. Some of it has even come from people that Tvind claim to love and help - the "oppressed" ones in developing countries. After the independence in Zimbabwe in 1980, the new government gave the returning freedom fighters a sum of money as a reward. It was enough money for them to make a new start - to buy a land plot or get an education. Some 20 of these war veterans took the big step of going all the way to Norway for a two-year course in mechanical farming. They were recruited in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the local DAPP office and invited to a Tvind school in Norway. ⁽²⁹⁾

Arriving in November 1982 at the Travelling High School in Halden, southeast of Oslo, it did not take long before trouble started. The students were given a crash course in housebuilding, and sent out to sell calendars for UFF in the streets of Oslo. The Zimbabweans protested, and secretly taped a crisis meeting they had with the headmaster. He urged them to stay on, saying the government was trying to use them as a means of closing the school down.

The candid tape, which was later played in a TV documentary, also revealed the headmaster threatening the students that they would be thrown out of the country if they quit. As it turned out, the Norwegian government was so embarrassed it gave the 20 Zimbabweans the agricultural education they had believed they would get at Tvind. It cost the Department of Education 6.7 million NKr (about £600,000).

In the aftermath, Tvind spokesperson Poul Jorgensen criticised the students for being selfish. "This is about becoming a solidarity worker, of doing something for one's own country and not just for personal gain," he said in a TV documentary. One of the students, Cosmas Chicoto, said: "I had been a solidarity worker when I joined the revolution - to give my own flesh. I think that's enough."

Asked how selling calendars would help solidarity, Mr Jorgensen said: "Part of the expenses of the education had to be covered by selling calendars for UFF." Mr Chicoto said: "I do not need to sell calendars, why should I sell calendars? I'm wasting my time. I paid my money - to sell calendars for them!?!

Mr Chicoto did get his degree, but not from the Travelling High School. "It was not possible, and will never be possible, to get anything from Tvind," he said. In this case, Tvind did not get very much out of the incident either. The Norwegian Department of Education (KUD) withdrew the Travelling High School's license. 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.

The school was also criticised for registering both with the Norwegian education authorities and City and Guilds in London, who inspect and accredit United Nations- funded education. Already registered with City and Guilds, the school had no right to Norwegian state funding, indeed registering with both was illegal. Jens Oen said: "This practice constitutes swindling with public money."

City and Guilds said they rarely checked educational schemes within the EC which looked trustworthy on the face of it. "We rely entirely upon the honesty and truthfulness of the people completing the form and countersigning it." Their conclusion was: "We have been conned by some very smooth-talking people."

Poul Jorgensen said there was no reason to conclude that the Norwegian government did not want Tvind in their country, and denied that there had been any conflict between Tvind and City and Guilds.

As an organisation which claims to help the poor and oppressed, it would boost their credibility somewhat if their own employees in poor countries used other words than "the new colonialists" to describe them. The fact that a "benevolent" school organisation controls several plantations and companies in the Caribbean has in itself been questioned. Critical voices have crown louder as it has emerged that the people there claim to be exploited by "the Danish colonialists". This has happened on at least two occasions: in Belize in 1992 and in St. Lucia in 1988. In the former incident, one worker-complained: "We have no-rights here." ⁽³⁰⁾

Tvind has also brought controversy to the USA. In 1990, the "Institute for International Cooperation and Development" (IICD) was set up in Massachusetts, and run by Tvind old-timer Mikael Norling. ⁽³¹⁾ Despite his experience from Denmark, before long complaints of an uncanny resemblance to those in Europe were made. ⁽³²⁾ Some 120 students paid $7,700 (about £5,000) to learn Spanish and go to South American aid projects. Having been on a trip to Nicaragua, 10 out of 11 students filed a protest. One of them, Bruce Burke, characterised the school's methods as "psychological manipulation of students based on their feelings of idealism and guilt".

Fellow student Barbara Anns told The Advocate newspaper: "They isolate us up on the hill, they tell us to sacrifice our individual needs and they try too manipulate us through guilt, peer pressure and misinformation." (33) Complaints included low standards of teaching, insufficient food, lodging and transportation during travel periods, and having to hitch-hike through the countryside and beg for money and lodging from the poor people they were supposed to aid. Mikael Norling dismissed all charges brought forward by the students, saying that IICD never advocated any illegal or unethical activity.

At least nine of the 11 who went on the Nicaragua trip, quit after this clash. And with sto-ries like these persistently following Tvind, it may not come as a shock that their schools have lost a few students over the years. In 1993, one third of the students at the Necessary Teachers Training College (DNS-l6) reportedly quit after six months. ⁽³⁴⁾ In Bjorn Andersson's class of 14 at Ulfborg, none came back for another semester after the India over-land. ⁽³⁵⁾ Molly Sterner, who was at Tvind with Mr Andersson, says that in another class two students out of 20 completed the course. ⁽³⁶⁾ In Ms Ramsay's group of 14, "most left after six to eight weeks." A possible record was the Travelling High School at Tvind which, in 1981, had 83 out of some 100 students quitting. ⁽³⁷⁾

The teachers are idealistic people, donating nearly all of their time and money to the organisation, but many still defect. Mr Simonsen of Ekstra Bladet estimates that about 1,000 people have been Tvind teachers at some point (most of them in Denmark), and that there are about 500 of them at the moment. ⁽³⁸⁾

On a few occasions, long-timers have left the organisation. Carsten Ringsmose was a Tvind teacher and headmaster of the Travelling High School in Ulfborg for 12 years. As one of the pioneers, he was dismayed at how the Teacher Group reacted to criticism, which started in earnest in 1977. In his letter of resignation in 1982, ⁽³⁹⁾ Mr Ringsmose wrote that they were "dismissing and denying the problems". He also criticised the teachers for having "a strongly manipulative attitude to the students." Mr Ringsmose said the lack of openness at Tvind made a bad situation even worse.

The former headmaster also elaborated on the use of Group Meetings at Tvind. The practice of discussing an issue until the whole group agreed was seen by many people as a "very democratic" form of decision making, he noted. But: "Having viewed this form and its results for years, I have reached the opposite result. The fact that everyone has to agree means in reality that disagreeing is illegitimate. If one declares disagreement, discussion goes on 'until everyone agrees', i.e. until the critics have given in. Afterwards no-one can criticise the decision, because they themselves have taken it."

Another reason why he quit, is the tragedy which happened when one of Tvind's training ships, "Activ", went down in the North Sea and all eight students on board died.   The ship, a wreck which had been salvaged from the bottom of the sea, was owned by the Tvind -controlled shipping company, Thomas Brocklebank. When the ship left Dover, England, in December 1981,  it was in no condition to handle the North Sea storm which waited. A court of inquiry established that "Activ"'s engine was unable to cope in winds stronger than 12 knots or so. The 27-year-old ship master, the only student who had any boating experience, was informed that the wind at sea would be over 16 knots. ⁽⁴⁰⁾   (Tvind Alert editor's note:   the Activ sank in 1983; all those who died were members of the Teachers Group  -  ex-Tvind sources)

After the accident, Mr Ringsmose told Danish papers: "I knew the engine was not strong enough. Poul Jorgensen knew it as well [], but the ship master was not aware of it." Mr Ringsmose said: "The Tvind schools are irresponsible and their leaders lie, distort and keep information secret.-" ⁽⁴¹⁾ A report from the court of inquiry revealed that the crew on board "Activ" had tried to get a Dutch pilot to escort them to Holland, since they were inexperienced sailors and unfamiliar with the North Sea. The pilot had refused, because he thought the journey would be too risky. He was alarmed to see damages in the ship's wooden hull, water-filled cabins and basic equipment such as compass and radar inadequate or missing. ⁽⁴²⁾

Despite the fact that the average age of the crew was 22, that the ship master had a fortnight of-sailing experience and the rest of the crew's education consisted of a five hour test trip the day before they went to sea, Mr Jorgensen described them as a "highly experienced" crew. As if to prove Mr Ringsmose's point about failing to take criticism, he denied any responsibility but blamed the Dutch rescue team for not getting there fast enough.

It was a double scandal, as the Tvind shipping company refused to cover the expenses of bringing the body-of Kristin Skagemo, a Norwegian girl on the ship, home. Tvind forwarded the bill to her family. "We were shocked. It was a second shock," the parents told Norwegian television later. They were not uplifted by the Tvind students who attended the funeral either. They sang marching songs ⁽⁴³⁾

Accidents have also occurred on overland trips. In 1981, Henriette Hansen, a then 13-year-old girl, was maimed while on a UFF project in Zimbabwe. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ Henriette and another volun-teer had to hitch-hike to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, a distance of about 1,800 miles. While hitching with a truck, the driver started to grope the other girl. In the struggle that followed she panicked, jumped out of the vehicle and was killed in the fall. The driver lost control of the truck and crashed into a cliff. He died too, leaving the 13-year old Henriette as the only survivor - alive, but maimed. The school did not even pay for her mother to come see her in the hospital while she was in a coma. Six years later, Henriette was awarded more than half a million Danish Kroner (about £50,000) in damages by the Ringkobing City Court.

UFF appealed to a higher instance, but later made an out-of-court settlement with her. ⁽⁴⁵⁾

Hitch-hiking is a well-documented practice at Tvind's trips abroad, and has proved dangerous on more than the above occasion. Already in 1980, the Danish newspaper Extra Bladet reported in a front-page story that four girls had been raped while on a trip to Turkey and Egypt with the Travelling High School. ⁽⁴⁶⁾

Confronting the Tvind leaders with any of the above allegations is not an easy job. Poul Jorgensen is not a talkative man, even though he is the spokesperson for about 50 schools, 500 teachers, several hundred students and children in care, charities operating in 11 European countries and running aid projects in Africa, and, finally, several commercial companies. His numerous responsibilities could have kept him busy answering questions, but that is not the case. Poul Jorgensen does not like questions.

When approached via telephone to his home and office in Ulfborg, Denmark, he says: "I am fed up with wasting my time on journalists, as my answers so often are put in a totally ridicu-lous context." He asked me to send a fax stating who I were, what questions I wanted to ask and how I was going to use the information. I did, but five days later there was still no reply.

When Amdi Petersen and the others started out, Tvind was an exciting Sixties- inspired experiment into communal living, sharing, teaching and helping others. It was founded on the belief that there is more to learn from going out into the world seeing things for yourself, than just reading about it in books.

This is now a highly-regarded educational principle, but Tvind does not get much praise any more. Their five-year Necessary Teacher's Training College does not give you a qualified teaching degree, although Tvind officials and advertising says so. The Danish teaching magazine Folkeskolen said last August Tvind were "conning" people into joining the College, cre-ating an impression that one would 1) get an accepted teaching education and 2) not be ripped off. Both assumptions, the magazine said, were wrong. ⁽⁴⁵⁾

"What they really get, is: five years without holidays, 50 Kroner (£5) -a week in pocket money, a duty to raise 450,000 Kroner (£40,000), a duty to work one year at a Tvind project, and a non-approved teaching education. But this is not made clear to the applicants. Tvind only tell half-truths when you ask what the conditions are." Bjorn Andersson, who quit anoth-er Tvind school over money matters, says his class refused to travel with the College students. "They had acted really weird, and were always telling us what to think, he says."

According to a Small School official, four or five British people are currently studying at the Necessary Teacher Training College. At least Clare Ward escaped that one.

  3. CHARITY BEGINS AT TVIND....  

...but is that where it ends?

When you step into a Humana shop, it is hard to believe it is anything but a well-mean-ing charity which gives all its money to families in the Third World. Row upon row of second-hand clothes fill the floor, and posters on the walls of their six London and Manchester branches show pictures of the projects they are supporting. It is very believable.

But Humana still fails to put beyond doubt that its donations actually reach these projects. It has been under investigation by the Charity Commission for over a year, after it was established that 92 per cent of its income went to administration costs. One year later, an even smaller percentage of Humana's turnover went out of the organisation. ⁽¹⁾ The charity is also ignoring UNICEF threats that legal action will be taken if Humana persists using its name in promotion material, and its sister organisation illegitimately claims being supported by the EU and the World Bank.

In 1991, UNICEF denounced any links with Humana. ⁽²⁾ "Since 1990, there is no contact or cooperation of any kind, in Africa or elsewhere, between 'Humana' and UNICEF whose name is being misused," a communiqué stated. The reason for such measures, was that "National Committees had found that the NGO in question had used UNICEF's name to fundraise and collect clothes and claimed to be working with UNICEF in the field", ⁽³⁾ which was not true. The UN charity threatened Humana with legal action, but it was given a second chance when it was established the charity had stopped using UNICEF's name.

The thing is, they have not. In Humana UK's Annual Report for 1992 and 1993, UNICEF is mentioned several times. In the 1993 report, Humana even claims they are being funded by the organisation. ⁽⁴⁾

Humana UK has sister organisations in Scandinavia called UFF. The abbreviation translates as DAPP - Development Aid from People to People - which is the charity's name on the Continent and outside Europe. These charities donate money to the same mother organisation, and are all firmly linked to a controversial school movement based in Denmark. ⁽⁶⁾

Harald Bjorke, a spokesperson for UFF in Norway, echoed Humana's claims that DAPP projects receive support from UNICEF in Humanist magazine in April. ⁽⁷⁾ In an article where he responded to criticism, Mr Bjorke claimed UFF/DAPP was being used as a "igangsetter" (prime mover) for projects in Angola and Zambia - not only by UNICEF, but also by the EU Development Fund and the World Bank. They shared the view, he said, that "UFF are capable of reaching the poor part of the population with relatively cost effective and sustainable pro-jects".

The truth is that Humana/DAPP is not formally recognised by any of the above organisations. As far as Europe is concerned, the European Community cut their grants in 1985, and have no plans to re-introduce them. ⁽⁸⁾ in fact, Humana and DAPP are notorious organisations in the EU. Sources say: "We definitely do not support any of their projects in Angola", and "if we support them in Zambia, it is because of a mistake". (9)

Their World Bank claims are the closest UFF/DAPP gets to the truth in this matter. DAPP runs one project in Zambia, which the bank funds indirectly. The money has been given by the World Bank to the Zambian government, which in turn has approved of the DAPP pro-ject. (10)

The project, which involves street kids, has been reviewed by the University of Zambia. In a report, the university concluded that the project made a very positive contribution to the chil-dren, who were taken off the streets and into a school setting. But DAPP was reprimanded for not involving the local workforce enough. This is one of many criticisms which has followed the charity for more than ten years.

The story of the conglomerate known as "Tvind" is almost too incredible to be true. Danish communists once started a school movement as a Sixties alternative to the estab-lished education system, but are now heading an international operation which has included "slave" plantations, shipping companies and luxurious villas in the Caribbean.

They direct covert transactions from "benevolent organisations" in Europe to commercial companies in tax havens, run charities which give very little money to its supposed beneficia-ries in Africa and Asia and head about 50 boarding schools which provide free labour for their charities and aid projects. It is a multi-million dollar operation. (11)

At the centre of this maze is the 'school cooperation Tvind" which has its name from a small village in Denmark where the movement is based. The first school was founded in 1970, based on a commitment to educate aid workers and travel around developing countries to see the suffering and inequalities in the world. (12) Founded by Amdi Petersen, a charismat-ic young socialist, the boarding schools had a collectivist approach: The teachers would give each other every waking hour - and all their money.

In 1972, the Tvind teachers started pooling their wages. Enjoying independent school status, 85 per cent of the teachers' wages were covered by the Danish Education Ministry. Having paid taxes, the teachers would put their money in a kitty, the tax-exempt "Spareforeningen" (Saving Association). This kitty became the well from which Mr Petersen and the others could draw the resources necessary to build their empire.

The Saving Association covered the bare necessities for the collective, like food and clothing, then spent the rest on investments. The kitty's members came to be known as the Teacher Group, and management was put in the hands of a "Coordination Group", which consisted of the top 10 or 12 teachers. (13)

But the foundation for a financial empire was in 1977, when Tvind's top 100 members established the "charitable foundation" Faelleseje. (14) A company exempt from tax under Danish law, it now has a base capital of almost 52 million DKr (about £5m). (15) Teacher Group bigwigs would lend money from the Saving Association kitty to Faelleseje, which spent it on investments into new schools. The schools paid rent back into Faelleseje, with the help of state subsidies. In turn, Faelleseje paid back its loan to the Saving Association. The kitty, which was controlled by Mr Petersen and his "Coordination Group", grew ever bigger. (16)

It was an upward spiral: attracting more students meant more teachers could be employed (mostly from within their own ranks), which meant larger subsidies from the state. More money would go from the Saving Association into Faelleseje, which bought new schools, attracting more students, and so on.

Tvind now receives Danish state subsidies of about 30 million DKr (£3m) every year. (17) Some Tvind schools, among them the Small School in Norwich, also get support for taking care of deprived children and juvenile offenders. This is also lucrative, as local councils pay about £700 a week per child to send them away. With some 70 kids between them, the two British schools alone receive about £49,000 a week. (15)

When students have failed to enlist, housing political asylum seekers has also proved a sizeable income. Between 1986 and 1988, for instance, the Norwegian Travelling High School received 10 million NKr (£900,000) from the state to take care of some 140 Iranians. (19)

Details on the size of the Teacher Group and the Saving Association kitty remain undisclosed. But most journalists estimate that some 1,000 teachers have been employed over the years, and that 500-600 people are members now. Danish journalists estimated Saving Association funds at 60 billion DKr (about £5.Sbn) in 1985.20) Tvind also founded a property company called Estate with a base capital of 20 million DKr and the shipping company Thomas Brocklebank (base capital: 300,000 DKr). Alongside Faelleseje, they formed the core of Tvind's financial empire, channelling money into charities and commercial companies. (21)

In 1977, Tvind leaders also established a second-hand clothes charity which now operates in 11 West European countries. (22) Although it is in most respect one and the same organisation (except legally, which spokespersons never forget to point out), it operates under vari-ous names. The charity is called UFF in Scandinavia and Humana in the UK and on the Continent outside Europe the name DAPP the English abbreviation of UFF, is commonly used. All charities are affiliated to an umbrella organisation called The Federation for the Pan European Benevolent Organisations of UFF and Humana.

Based on the collecting and selling of second-hand clothes, UFF's clothes containers are a familiar sight in many European cities. It is also possible to donate items direct to the shops, where many of them are sold for a profit. A majority of the workforce consists of students from Tvind schools who are training to become "solidarity workers", or volunteers who are members of the Teacher Group. They work for little or no money, indeed some students actu-ally make a loss working there. (23)

This sharply contrasts the profits that shops make on sales. A former UFF shop manager in Norway, who quit after feeling demoralised by the whole thing, told the Verdens Gang news-paper his Oslo shop could make between 10,000-20,000 NKr (£l,000-2,000) every day. (24)

UFF and Humana have shops all over Europe, but are not prepared to disclose how many. (25)

Many former Tvind students have claimed they were exploited, having to work day and night for the charity for little or no pay. (26) Maybe this would not be so bad, had the money they made been well spent. but this has also been called into question. The Swedish government aid agency, SIDA, stopped funding UFF's transport of second-hand clothes to Africa in 1991, when it was revealed that only two per cent of its turnover went to aid pro-jects. (27) The charity was the only one in the country which had healthy profit, Swedish offi-cials said, so there was no reason to fund it anymore.

In the UK, Humana spent 92 per cent on administration costs in 1991, while the average for overseas charities (according to an Oxfam press officer) "hovers around 20 per cent". Even the eight per cent which does leave the organisation is not actually traceable to any particular project, but is directed to other Tvind-run organisations. Part of it goes to the mother organi-sation, The Federation for the Pan European Benevolent Organisations of UFF and Humana. But Humana have been unwilling or unable to prove that the money actually goes to the pro-jects it claims to support. (28)

Even the projects which DAPP undoubtedly runs in Africa, with or without funding, have been under heavy criticism. One example is the practice of bringing second-hand clothes to southern Africa and selling them to the people there. The Danish textile industry's trade union magazine, Stof & Saks, last year said the practice ruined the local clothes industry. (29) Danida, the Danish government aid agency, surprisingly cleared UFF of such charges, but the criticism has persisted. The Danish textile union has attacked the report, because important parameters were "set by UFF" and many figures in it were "taken out of the blue". (30)

In August 1991, the National Union of the Clothing Industry (NUCI) in Zimbabwe appealed to the Danish public to take action, as the Zimbabwe DAPP office had refused to respond to their complaints. The Zimbabwean government outlawed the clothes import, but say they still flowed into the country from Zambia.

"The markets are bulging with second-hand clothes and this will persist as long as the Danes and other Europeans allow themselves to be exploited by organisations who collect clothes for the sake of profit," said Simon Tsokotsa of the NUCI to Stof & Saks. (31)

In Namibia, bona fide aid organisations had problems getting humanitarian donations of sec-ond-hand clothing through customs as a result of DAPP's breach of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). As a result, reported The Times of Namibia as early as 11 April 1991, "this unexpected obstacle might result in many people being cold during the coming winter." Under SACU rules, it is illegal to import second-hand clothing for resale, because of the expected damage to the home textile industry (32)

Although SIDA did not oppose UFF's clothes initiative itself, the Swedes did not support any other of their projects, which officials described in Sweden's biggest broadsheet paper as "amateurish". (33) The official said they would not support UFF's "other dubious schemes", either.

The Norwegian aid agency, NORAD, had already ceased all contact with UFF in 1981. (34) A NORAD spokesman's only comment was: "We cut the grant because they did not do a good enough job. There is nothing to indicate the grants will be resumed." (35) In many European cities, UFF/Humana clothes containers have been banned following media investigations. (36) In Oslo, UFF suffered a final blow when Oslo City Council voted to withdraw its permission to put out clothes containers. UFF went to court to challenge its decision, but its case was dis-missed. As the charity refused to accept the decision, the Council had to remove the boxes themselves.

The word "overrated" is commonly used by journalists who have visited UFF projects. One journalist said he visited a "language centre" and found a hut with a linguaphone in it (38) Another said: "UFF are using unskilled youth as labour. How are they supposed to be able to teach Mozambicans Portuguese?" (39) The journalist was referring to the fact that UFF projects employ Tvind students, who work there for free as a part of their education. They have crash courses in tree planting, first aid, house building and so on.

Judging from Humana leaflets, the organisation is formidable, helping thousands of children and hundreds of families in scores of projects.

But former Tvind students say these numbers are wildly exaggerated, or even taken out of thin air. (40) They allege that Tvind is a secretive cult, where glossing over mistakes and keep-ing the organisation going are paramount. Testimonies of brainwashing and suppressing criti-cism abound by the ex-Tvind and UFF members who are organised in anti-Tvind pressure groups. (41)

If most of the money from the charities' fundraising never reaches the overrated aid projects in Africa, where does it go? The answer lies with the swarm of commercial compa-nies which has been connected to Tvind. The three core companies, Faelleseje, Estate and Thomas Brocklebank, have given loans and donations to its subsidiaries, and done business with other companies they control. (42) The links are apparent, as Teacher Group members (on lifetime contracts, former teachers say) appear as board members and directors throughout.

All their charities, schools and companies have the same spokesperson. Poul Jorgensen, who was with Amdi Petersen from the start, is also chairman of Faelleseje, Estate, Thomas Brocklebank and some UFF/DAPP/Humana charities. (43) Two other key figures are Sten Byrner and Birgitte Leerbeck, who are registered in the Danish Company Registry as direc-tors of the three core Tvind companies. Among the eight officials listed as board members of Faelleseje, five are also on the boards of Estate and Thomas Brocklebank. Other Faelleseje co-founders, notably Kirsten Larsen and Henning Bjornlund, have signed business documents for various companies around the world. (44)

But where is Amdi Petersen? What of the man who started the movement, who led the Teacher Group and, according to ex-Teacher Group members, still runs the empire with an iron hand? (45)

Mr Petersen went underground in 1979, after the first wave of criticism against the schools. After that, he has only ever been sighted once, outside Tvind's luxury villa in the Caymans. (46) Realising he had been spotted by a journalist, he fled in panic into the villa and did not come out for three days. When he did, he kept a hat over his face and scurried into his Mercedes. Rushing to the airport, Mr Petersen boarded a flight to Miami, Florida. The Cayman journalist found out he had booked - and paid for - a seat on all seven Miami flights that day. Former Tvind teachers believe he is paranoid. (47)

The tax-haven of the Cayman Islands has been the centre of attention for another reason, as at least &eight companies there have been traced to long-standing Tvind leaders, living in Mr Petersen's villa. Five of the companies had the same address, P.O Box 103, Bodden Town, which was also the postal address for a fruit farm on the island.

Neighbours of Tvind's beachfront villa have told Scandinavian journalists that a whole con-gregation of Danes had been there for what seemed to be a board meeting a couple of years ago. (48)

Tvind has also owned a mango farm in Belize, Central America. (49) Journalists who visited the farm found great unrest in the workforce. They described the Danes as "the new colonial-ists', and told of appalling working conditions and constantly late paychecks. Apparently, the Danes had collaborated with the government to stop the workers from forming a trade union. (50)

Likewise, Faelleseje had until recently a subsidiary in St. Lucia called River Doree Holdings Ltd. (51) The shipping company Talata on Jersey, and the Miami-based BB Shipping, have also been registered in Tvind names. Some have also signed up as buyers of estate or boats, or as directors of other companies. Exactly how far-reaching the Tvind empire is, and how many millions of dollars run through it every year, is impossible to estimate. (52) This is particularly true of places like Jersey and the Caymans, which exist on the strength of their financial secrecy.

Since 1992, the giant financial empire has clouded its overseas activities even more. Already an intricate maze of subsidiaries and related companies, it is now almost impos-sible to establish where Tvind's surplus ends up. Having endured a lot of negative press after their Eighties Caribbean adventures were discovered, Tvind's overseas companies were ostensibly sold off. During 1992, their Cayman companies changed names slightly: Furtherland Mango Farm, for instance, became Furtherland Farming. Their companies had previously been registered under the address of PO. Box 103, Bodden Town, but were now registered with the same law firm on the island. (53)

It is possible that all the new owners have let the same attorneys take care of the paperwork, and that Tvind bigwigs who still live and work on the plantations could have sought employ-ment with the new owners. But it is highly unlikely. Not only is there enormous profits to be made from keeping money in the Caymans, but Teacher Group members dedicate all their time to the organisation. (54) When senior Tvind people quit to do something outside the organisation (which is very rare), they create havoc. (55)

Poul Jorgensen told the Caymanian Compass newspaper that Tvind "once owned property on the islands [...] but it has been sold". But Compass investigations revealed that while the companies had changed hands, the land registry still showed Furtherland Mango Farms Ltd and Tropical Farming Ltd as owners of the beachfront villa and the citrus farm. According to Compass journalist Rick Catlin, nothing has changed: "Sven Petersen is still on the farm. He has been there from the start." (56)

On 31 December 1991, Faelleseje transferred its shares in the St. Lucia company River Doree Holdings Ltd. to "a foreign company". (57) But Faelleseje's Director's Report for 1992 bore no mention of which company it had sold out to. On 28 February 1992, Talata - Tvind's compa-ny on Jersey - changed its name 10 Westpac Hamlin Ltd. This disguise is easier to see through, as Tvind old-timers Svend Sorensen and Thomas Vaeth are still listed as director and secretary respectively.

Furthermore, the company address remained PO Box 103, Bodden Town, Cayman Islands. (58)

It is hardly surprising that Tvind are trying to disguise their presence in the Caribbean and on the Channel Islands. The discovery that the Danish "idealists" were involved in such big business was a scandalous one. People started to ask what charitable organisation, vowed to help Third World poverty, would acquire plantations, shipping companies and luxury villas in sun-drenched Caribbean tax havens. And how could Tvind expect to be taken seriously as an aid organisation when their own plantations workers claimed to be exploited?

This not the only notorious transactions in Tvind history. In 1983, Faelleseje bought a mountain hotel near Lillehammer, Norway, to use as a Travelling High School building. But in 1986, as the school failed to attract a full house of students, the hotel was used to house asylum seekers instead. According to Dagens Naeringsliv, the Norwegian business paper, this gave the school an 8.7 million NKr profit in 1987.

Faelleseje then made a deal with Talata Ltd, the Jersey shipping company which was directed by Tvind executive Henry Henning. Faelleseje agreed to deliver the "Animos" luxury yacht, which was under building at a third Tvind company, the Fanoe shipyard in Denmark. Later, Faelleseje cancelled the contract, and paid Talata a six million DKr (£5.5m) cancellation fee which ended up in a Barclays account in Jersey. (59) One does not have to be paranoid to see this as a scam to safeguard money from a Norwegian 'charitable" school to an out-of-sight bank account.

Another Jersey company, Goliath Services, has also been revealed as a Tvind business. Richard Lugg, a Hounslow Council officer, discovered in 1989 that Humana UK paid Goliath an overprice for leasing boxes which the charity used to collect clothes in Hounslow borough. (60). A six month lease cost Humana about £220 per self-assembly container, while an indepen-dent manufacturer told Mr Lugg he could deliver fully-assembled containers - for sale, not to lease - at £250 apiece.

The manager of the Jersey company, Jan Moldrup, turned out to be an executive in Humana Belgium as well. It seems Teacher Group members are not that fussy about economy when the money is going to their own companies in a tax haven.

When money has had no Tvind-related company on the receiving end, however, Tvind leaders have been quite cunning at saving on expenses. In 1985, for example. Poul Jorgensen of Faelleseje tried to establish a school and start a farm on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent (61). Through Winward Properties, a company owned 100% by Faelleseje, four subsidiaries were registered with a local law firm in a move to buy the huge 25 million DKr Orange Hill estate on the island. This way, they could get round St. Vincent law, which did not allow foreign companies to own more than a certain part of the country's total area, and they also avoided a 10 per cent transaction fee which Faelleseje as a foreign company would have had to pay to St. Vincent.

James Mitchell, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent, was less than happy, and soon expropriat-ed the land. "We could not allow foreign aliens to occupy such a vast area of our territory. [...] And secondly, they went around the law. They did everything possible to circumvent the law in our country." Tvind then made a 90 million DKr compensation claim against the Third World island state, in respect of an estate they had paid 25 million for.

In 1990, the Dutch paper Vrij Nederland revealed that Humana in Holland and Germany have transferred big money to Tvind companies in Belize. The Dutch branch transferred $75,000 to Caribbean firms in 1988, of which 30,000 went to a company called Tropical Produce Ltd. and about 15,000 to Cowpen Farm Ltd. The rest went to River Doree Holding Ltd in St. Lucia, all of which run plantations, the paper reported. (62)

The Dutch paper also interviewed Niels Ole Krogh, a former Teacher Group member. In 1987, as co-manager for Humana in Berlin, he transferred "about 20,000 [Deutsch]marks per month" to Belize. The paper also said the Marseilles branch transferred 60,000 FFr to a Belize company' in 1987. The implicated companies were directed by Teacher Group bigwigs such as Soren Hofdahl and Henry Henning.

Vrij Nederland, The Guardian and other newspapers who have revealed major Tvind stories have received threats of legal action if they' did not apologise for their stories. Both the above-mentioned papers stood by their claims, and no court case happened.

But if there is, as Poul Jorgensen claimed in The Guardian last year, a smear campaign about, why does he not refute the allegations with comments, facts and an open attitude?

A common phrase when outsiders ask for accounts and other proof to back their claims, is: "We do not have to publish that". The fact is that Tvind has, ever since Amdi Petersen van-ished from the public eye in 1979, been a secretive organisation, a feature which has only strengthened claims that Tvind is not an education or aid organisation, but a cult. Mr Jorgensen in Ulfborg, Denmark, had five day's to reply to my ten questions, but be did not get back to me.

The silence from Tvind is deafening.

  Footnotes  

1) Interview with Frank Hansen of the Danish an-ti-Tvind movement ("Foreningen -mod Tvind") in Aarhus,

Denmark, 16 April, 1994. Also Norsk Telegra,nbyraa, Norway-(wire story), 15 October, 1991 (ART 5-851-10),

EhrzraBladet,-Copenhagen, 27 March, 1994, and Jylland£po&ten, Aarhus, 10 March 1991.

2) Frank Han-sen -and Bent Johannesen, 16 April 1994. Also Thomas -Hansen, who was interviewed in "Tvind -

pan sejrens vej", ThT documentary by Danmaris- Radio, Copenhagen, 1985, and Ekstra Blade', -Copenhagen, 27

March, 1-994.

3) Frank ~Hanseri, 16 April, 1994. ("I looked at my watch, and was shacked to find it was already two in the

morning".)

4) This is thoroughly described in Chapter 2, p.11 and 12

5) VrUNederland, Amsterdam, 6 January', 1990.

6) These 5tQriC5 were exposed in Danmarks Radio: "Tvind - paa sejrens vej",-Copenhagen, ~1985. The essential

history described in the following seven paragraphs is also taken from the documentary, but information has

also been confrnned through interviewing other ~journalists, notably Kurt Simonsen (of Ekstra Blade',

Copenhagen), 10 August 1994.

7) As above, with additional information from -Frank Hansen and Bent Johannesen, 16 April, 1994.

8) Information, Copenhagen, 28 Febri~ary 1979

9) Three examples: Mikala Gottlob, who i-s registered as secretary for Humana UK with the Charity

Commission, was one of the Faelleseje founders in 1977 (Appendix l). Another Dane, Jesper Pedersen, heads

UFF Norway. -He is also a member of the Tvind Teacher Group, according to-his own statements in Aftenposten,

Oslo, 16 July, 1993, p.16. Henry He~nn~ng, aka Henning Bjornlund, another Faelleseje co-founder (Appendix I),

has signed for Humana in Holland (Vri~I Nederland, Amsterdam, 6 January, 1990) as well as the Jersey -company

Talata Ltd (Dagens Naeringsliv, Oslo, 9 February, 1991,p.16-17).

10) -Interview with Rick Catlin of The Caymanian Compass, 11 August 1994, Dagens Naeringsliv, Oslo, 9

February, 1991,p.16-17.

11) Danmarks Radio, Copenhagen, 1985

12) TheHumane UK accounts for 1991 show a turnover of £1,002,558 and donations totilling £118,223.

13) Dagens Nyheter, -Stockholm, 22 February, ~199 1

14) Dalane Tidende, Egersund, 3 February 1991

15) In-terview with an inside source, but also a well-publicised fact.

16) Dalane Tidende, Egersund, 3 February -1991

17) Appendix JI, see also Footoote 9)

18) Interview on -29 June, 1994

19) Kiassekampen, Oslo, 26 July, -1984

20) Berlin gske Tidende, ~Copenhigen, 24 October, 1981

21) Appendix III (copy of letter), also interview in Antenne Ti documentary, Norsk Rikslrringkasting

~orwegian Broadcasting Corporation), Oslo, 1991.

²²)DagensNaeringsliv, Oslo, 9 February, 1991, p.16-17.

23) Information supplied by Kurt Simonsen of Ekstra Blade' during interview, 10 August, 1994.

24) Szavanger Aftenblad, Stavanger, 11 October, 1991, Daily Telegraph, 25 September, 1993.

25) -Kurt Simonsen ofEkstraBladet, interview, 10 August, 1994

Interview on 16 April, 1994

 

Footnotes:

I) Bcrgen.~ Tidende, Bergen, 24 June, ~992. The Guardian, London, 9 July 1993 (to name but two).

2) Al] of Clare Ward's quotes, and facts about her stay in the school, stem from a telephone inten'iew on 17

August, 1994.

3) Information obtained.from Turid Y~orch of "Lan dsforcningcn mot ~T"ind" (the Norwegian anti-t~~ind

movement), who informed me over the phonc ib~at she had sent a letter to Norwegian authorities, urging them to

follow Sweden's example. However, I have not been able to get c-onfirmation from Sweden.

4) The Guardian, London, 8 July 1993

5) Interview on 6 September, 1994

6) Appendix IV (copy of ad)

7) Folkeskolen, Copenhagen, -issue 33, 1993

-8) Interview, 4 September, 1994

9) 45 schools in Denmark, according to Ekstra Bladet journalist Kurt Simonsen -(interview 10 August 1994),

plus two in England (confirmed by Small Scho~ official in interview, 13 September, 1994), one Tra"elling

High School in Norway and uncomfermed reports about schools in the USA and the -Carribbean.

10) The structure is outlined in Humana's 1991 accounts (available from the Charities Commission), which also

states the charity's turnover as £1,002,558.

11) This will be-thoroughly-dealt with -in Chapter 3.

12) The Guardian-, -London, 9 July 1993

13) Rachel Rarusay and Ben Williams's story is talen from a letter Ms Ramsay sent to Ian Katz of The

--Guardian after his articles on July -8 and 9, 1993, plus an inte~'iew ~th-them on July 7, 1994.

14) Paul Lalcin's.story is also based on a letter to Ian Katz, The Guardian, July, 1993.

15) The Guardian, London, 9 July, 1994

1-6)DanmarksRadio, Copenhagen: "Tvind -J)aa sejrens vei" ~' documentary), 1985.

-17) Interviews with former students an-d members of the Teacher ~Group ~urt Simonsen and Frank~Hansen in

-Denmark, Anne Ellingsen and. Hanne Mari Otterbech in Norway), -plus interviews in Danmarks Radio,

Copenhagen: "Paa sejrens vej", 1985, and Antenne Ti, NP~ Therasynet, Oslo ~orwegian Broadcasting Corp.

current affairs program), 1991.

18) Same as above

19) During 1994, I have interviewed~ representatives of the Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and German branches.

20) Bjorn Andersson's-sto~ is based on a telephone interview on 12 August, 1994.

21) Telephone interview on 16 August, 1994

22) Verdens Gang, Oslo, December, 1991

23) Interviewed herself and her mother on 6 January and 9 September, 1994

²⁴)-Or indeed -in any court If you are ~ot guilty, you should not be made to pay for the trial. But there was doubt

in this case, as all of~Tvind's witnesses .used almost exactly the same words wben they testified.

25) Interview on 29 ~June, 1994, but incident has been reported in -the press, for instance Bergens Tidende,

Bergen, 24 June, .1992.

26) Information, Copenhagen, 28 February, 1979

27) Jyllands-posten, 22 February, 1991

28) Interview, 10 Augus-t, 1994

29) The entire story is taken from DanmarksRadio,-Copenhagen: -"Pan sejrens vej", 1985

30) Deifri aktuelt, 29 Octrober, 1992, p.23

31)-One of the 100 Faelleseje founders (Appendix I).

32) The Advocate, ~Williamstown UAass.), 21 August and 16 October, ~1991

33) Same as above

34) According to Ekrtra Bladet journalist, Kurt Simonsen.

35) Interview on 12 August, 1994

36) Interview on 8 August, 1994

37) According to Carsten Ringsmose, then headrnaster, in his letter of resignation (Appendix ~

38) Estimate by Kurt Simonsen

39) See Appendix V

40) This and following informati.on has been -taken from Berlingske Tide nde, 21 October, 1991, plus.

unsourcable press clippings from Denmark and Nor','ay.

41) See Appendix V

42) Same as 40)

43) Ante-nne Ti documentary, N~K Fjemsy.net (Norwegian Broadcasting corporation), Oslo, 199-1.

44) Politiken, Copenhagen, 21 March, 1989

45) Politiken, Copenhagen, 12 April, 1989

46)ELvrraSladct, Copenhagen, S March, 198C), front page.

47) Telephone intcr"icw on 13 Septa£mbcr, 1994

48) Folkcskolcn, Copenhagen, Issue 33, 19 August, 1993

 

 

Footnotes:

I) Humana accounts (availabic from the Charities Commission) show a turnover of ~,002,558 and donations totalling

£118,223. ('t has also been reported in Thc Guardian, London, 8 July 1993.) Accounts Jor 1992 show a turno~er of

£1,344,417 and donations totalling £116,039. Humana claim these figures ~ive a wrong impression, because thQ~' donated

almost 200 tonnes of clothes. which is not reflected in the accounts. However, this claim is unsupponed by evidence.

2) Copy of communique is available from the U"',, 'ICEF press office, London.

3) Same as above

4) Humana annual reports are available from their main branch in Hi] bum High Road, London 1',"9,'-6

5) mis structure is outlined in the Humans accounts for 1991

6) MI charities have~rung out from the funds of the Teacher Group at T'.ind. ~Elaboration to come

7) Humanist, Oslo, issue 3/4, 1994, p28. (1t is the Human-Ehtics societ,' magazine)

8) A weU-publicised fact, which was confurned to me by an inside source

9) Every'thing is off the record in the EU, that's ius~ the way it works-tolls

10) Interview with the World Bank Zambia officer, 6 September, 1994. Same goes for next paragraph.

11) This will be dealt with later in the chapter

12) lnte~iew with Bjom Westlie of Dagens Naeringsh'v, 4 January 1994. Also: D~~rLs Radio, CQperthag en: "Tvind

paa sejrens vei" ~ documentary), 1985.

13) Ml of th,is is well described -in Dannsarks Radio, Copenhagen: "Tvind paa seirens-vel" Cp\7 documentary), 1985.

14) See Appendix I

15) See Appendix 11

l⁶)~Interviews ~with former students ~d mernbers -of the Teacher Group (Kurt Sirnonsen -and Frank Hansen in Denmark,

Anne Ellingsen and Hanne Mari Otterbech in Norway), plus inten'iews in Dan'narks Radio, Copenhagen: 'Tvind - -paa

sejrens vei" ~ documentary), 1985.

17) According to Kurt Simonsen of Ekstra Biade.'.

18) Confirmed by-a teacher at Small School, Norwich.

19) DagensNaeringsiiv, Oslo, 9 Fe~bruary, 1991. p16-17

20) Danmarks Radio, Copenhagen: 'Tvind - paasejrens vei" ~V documentary), 1985.

21) See Appendix II

22) Humana accounts

23) Bjorn Andersson and others (See Chapter 2)

24) Verdens Gang, Oslo, December 1991

25)J have called them several tirnes, but despite promising te call me back they never did so.

26) Same as 24), see also Bjorn Ariders son in Chapter 2

27) DagensNaeringsh'v, Oslo, 9February', 1991, p16-17

28) Humana UK accounts, 1991

29) Ste,~& Saks, Copenhagen, August 1993, p20

30) Information, 10 January 1994

31) Same-as 29)

32) The Times, Narnibia, 11 April, 1991

33) DagensNyhe£er, StocIthoIm, 22 Felrru~'ry', 1991

34) Dalane Tidende, Egersund, 3 February', 1991

³⁵)Sameasabave

36) Oslo, plus some Belgian and Swedish boroughs.

37) Confirmed by Haraid Djorhe, spealting for UFF Norway -in a phone interview on 12 September

38) Off-the-record information by Norwegian journalist made-in Febuary', 1991

39) Kirsten Riisgaard of Jylianats-poslen, inteniewed on 2 February', 1991

40) Interviews with former students, notably Anne -Ellingsen of Landsforerringen mot Tvind, -Norway.

4-1) Interviews with former students and members -of the Teacher Group (Kurt ~⁵irnorsen -and Frank Hansen in Denmark,

Anne Ellin~sen, Hanne Mari Otterbech and Ove Johansen in Norway)

42) The Estate 1987 accounts show Farm One and Cowpen Farms -in Belize as a subsidiary'. -See also Appendix \'t, which

consists of documents showing the link bet','een Fellesele in Norway and Talata on Jersey, and between Tvind and Tropical

Farming.

43) Although Mr Jorgensen did~not admit it before I pointed it out to him.

44) See Appendix VT

45) Inten'iew with Frank ~Hansen and Bent Johannesen of Foreningen mod Tvind, 16 April 1994. Also Thomas Hansen, who

was inteniewed in Danmarks Radio, Copenhagen: 'Tv~ind - paa sejrens vei" (T\' documentary'), 1985.

46) widely reported incident, for example Jyliands-posten, Aarhus, 3 July 1991

47) Interview with Frank Hansen of Foreningen mod Tvind, 16 April 1994.

48) According to the Cayman company register, Tropical Fanning, Furtherl and Mango Farm, ~&B Shipping. Disrributors

International, Tropical Froduce Company and Westpae Hamlin (formerly Talata) were registered under P.O. ~ox 103,

Bodden Town. The register also showed a company ~alled DAPP International. See Appendix \'Jll for copy of the land

register mentioned in the same paragra~ph. As for the vill~, this information was given to me -by Rick Catlin of the

Caymanian Compass in an inte~'iew on Au:us'. 1994.

49) Same as 42)

50) D£ifn aI~ue1:, Copenhagen, 29 Octob"r OQ

51) Faelieseje accounts, 1992

52) See Appendix V~

53) Cavmanian Compass, Grand Cayman, 25 AL~ust, 1993, p3

54) According to Kurt &imonsen of ELstra Jiade.', Frank Hansen of Foreningen mod Tvind and Thomas Hansen in

Danmarks Radio, Copenhagen: "Tvind -paa-sc'rens vei" (TV documentary~. 1985.

55) -Hen~' Herming quit the org misation and -went to Australia last year. according to Kurt Simonsen who said he -had also

vTitten about it in his paper, Eksira Bladez.

56) Same as 53)

57) Faalleseje accounts, 1992.

58) See Appendix \~IB

59)DagensNatringsliv, Os~lo, 9 Febuary, 1991, pl-6-17

60) Internal memorandum of 19 october 1989 ~ef. PHESIRLIl 1/1/I). -Hounslow borough, England

61 )~Ths and the next three paragraphs is all information from Dannat'Ls Radio, Copenhagen: "Tvind - paa sejrens vei' (TV

documentary), 19-8-5.

62) Vr')Nederland, Amsterdam, 6 January' 1990

Appendices omitted