wfn.org | Desmond Tutu Peace Centre launched

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2000-119

Desmond Tutu Peace Centre launched June 15 in New York

by James Solheim

     (ENS) A star-studded audience packed into an auditorium of 
the South African Consulate in New York June 15 to launch the 
Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. The centre will be located in Cape 
Town, where Tutu served as archbishop for many years, but 
supported by a foundation based in Seattle and headed by Dean 
Robert Taylor of St. Mark's Cathedral. The dean is a South 
African who was helped by Tutu to escape military service during 
the apartheid regime.

     "I have given my name to an institution that will foster 
vision, understanding and the building of bridges," Tutu said. 
The centre will be a multi-disciplinary, interactive centre where 
visitors and scholars will be able to encounter a vision of hope 
for Africa--and a place where they will join in the creation of 
that vision.

     "Among the most turbulent and violent periods of South 
Africa's modern history have walked men and women of peace and 
hope. Among these great spirits is Desmond Mpilo Tutu," said 
Chris Ahrends, executive director of the centre. "The Peace 
Centre will honor the quality of the contribution and leadership 
that the archbishop and others have made to peaceful change in 
South Africa."

     Joining Tutu for the event were many of those who have 
supported him through the darkest days of apartheid, including 
film director Spike Lee, actors and singers Harry Belafonte, 
Danny Glover and Cicely Tyson, as well as a strong representation 
of civic and church leaders from Africa and the United States.  

Creating a vision

     The centre, scheduled to open in the fall of 2003, will 
include the Desmond Tutu Leadership Academy, designed to promote 
leadership, vision and excellence in southern Africa as a partner 
with leading universities in South Africa and the United States. 
A special chair for leadership development and future studies, 
established by three leading universities in southern Africa, 
will be housed at the academy.

     A Tutu Library will house the archbishop's personal archives 
and serve as a resource for researchers and scholars, dedicated 
to promoting peace in Africa and the rest of the world.

     An interactive visitor facility will describe the broad, 
historic narrative of Africa, including the struggle against 
apartheid. 

     The work of the centre will be supported by private and 
corporate donations, as well as by the Desmond Tutu Peace 
Foundation' based in Seattle. The initial goal for support of the 
centre is $35 million.

     According to its mission statement, "the Desmond Tutu Peace 
Centre is a place, born out of the South African experience, 
inspired by the spirit of Desmond Tutu, where the visitor and 
scholar encounters a vision of hope for Africa, and is empowered 
to participate in the creation of that vision." 

     It will be a "world-class African landmark, bringing 
together a rich mix of technology, education, entertainment and 
research," according to promotional material, but also 
challenging visitors to "confront the future, yet be a place of 
reflection and integration."

The vision of reconciliation

     At the launch ceremony, Taylor said, "We have all known the 
sweet taste of a vision of reconciliation, hope and justice held 
up by Archbishop Tutu, who has always invited people to taste it 
and know its life and power."

     In accepting the invitation to serve as first president of 
the foundation, Taylor said that it would be the "partner and 
collegial organization" of the Peace Centre in Cape Town and 
share its commitment "to a work and vision that is without 
borders….committed to its success by being the fundraising arm 
for the centre in this country."

     In developing programs to live out the commitment to the 
vision in the context of American culture, Taylor said that the 
board of directors and operating committee will build a network 
of affiliate colleges and universities. They will be connected to 
the centre in Cape Town and to one another in "developing 
curriculum components that incorporate the work of reconciliation 
in a variety of disciplines.

     Another component, he said, "will be directed to the 
creation of curricula components that can be used by religious 
congregations to teach and embody the vision of reconciliation."

     Taylor also expressed the hope of establishing a Desmond 
Tutu Leadership Academy in this country, "working with young 
people--exploring, equipping and committing to leadership that is 
rooted in reconciliation in our multicultural, multiethnic 
democracy."

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of 
News and Information.