The collaboration with Tvind, UFF and
the Flea market in Bislev
About
the same time, in 1979, people from Tvind had got interested
in joining the anti imperialistic solidarity work. We got immediately
very enthusiastic. We visualised what a boom the anti imperialistic
solidarity work could be. As far as we were concerned, it resulted
in that we arranged the flea market in Bislev. Tvind's contribution
was that three students moved from the Nødvændige
Seminarium in Tvind to stay with us during the period of planning
and during the flea market.
The work consisted
in finding a place where we could have this flea market and where
at the same time about 30 adults could stay, and since the principle,
at least for this camp, was, that the participation was to be
free, we had to thrift all necessities for about 30 adults for
three weeks plus all the things we would use in connection with
the flea market like e.g. trucks for the collection.
This
system, thrifting everything we needed, we never used again.
It was simply too consuming and it demanded that constantly during
the camp, a ragpicker team was out to get food and other necessities.
But it also produced some funny situations like e.g. that the
food during the first week mainly consisted of mussles since
we had received a large amount.of mussles for breakfast, for
lunch, to put on sandwiches and for dinner in pizzas for example.
The last week, on the contrary, we had plenty of food.
The
place we found was an empty dairy in Bislev, a village near Nibe.
The model for the camp was:
1.
week: printing and handing out of handbills.
1.
weekend: collecting.
2. week: sorting and arranging
things for the flea market
2. weekend: holding
the flea market
3. week: sorting and packing arrived
goods for transport to ZANU
The collaboration with three temporarily
stationed people from the Nødvændige Seminarium
went well and one of the consequences of the flea market at Bislev
was that a UFF group started in Aalborg with which we collaborated
in the beginning, but conflicts soon occurred. The young cuckoo
not only tried to push the other young out of the nest , but
also it's parents. At the same time our man in UFF's management,
Per Grove, got fired or resigned, because Tvind in reality took
over the leadership of UFF without Per. After this, our collaboration
with UFF got restricted to transports , because UFF had money
for the transport. But that was also problematic because UFF/Tvind
forgot to inform the receiver organisation, ZANU, that a larger
part came from TTA and other anti imperialistic solidarity groups
in Denmark. It was very important for us to have and to keep
the contact we had built up with ZANU through the last 5 years.
The last and most serious problem with this contact
was that our principle always had been that the help we offered
was unconditional. But from the part of UFF/Tvind, the transport
was part of a bigger deal about creating Tvind schools in a future
Zimbabwe. This could be good or bad, but it was clearly not in
our interest to contribute to the spreading out of the Tvind
empire in Zimbabwe on the basis of our work.
The
whole problem concerning the collaboration with Tvind wasn't
solved until Zimbabwe became a sovereign state. After that, our
engagement with ZANU ended as we followed our objects clause
which stated that we only supported fighting liberation movements.
Thereby, our collaboration with UFF/Tvind also ended.
We
were also asked to send a representative to the inaugural festivities
of the new state, but we didn't accept. We thought it was more
important to use time and money on our next project.
Choosing a new cause for support
We were now in a situation that
as an independent group could choose for ourselves our cause
for support. After the defeat in Vietnam, the US wasn't involved
in imperialistic wars in the third world, while the Soviet union
suddenly was heavily involved in three places: The invasion of
Afghanistan (1979), the massive support for the Vietnam invasion
of Kampuchea (1979) and a massive support for Ethiopia's war
against Eritrea (1977). In all three places the consequences
were that streams of refugees greater than ever before fled to
the neighbouring countries.
In order to reach a greater understanding
of what was happening, we started with a study of the wars in
Eritrea4 while Anti Imperialistic Solidarity started a study
of the military balance of power in the world and the rearmament,
and the Ragpicker Group in Ollerup investigated the problems
of Kampuchea. After this study, we contacted the liberation movement
of Eritrea, EPLF, and began the support work to the benefit of
ERA= Eritrean Relief Association.
The Ragpicker
Group in Ollerup made the National Front of Kampuchea it's receiving
organisation. This has later given cause for remorse, regret
and self-examination for some of it's former members, and since
TTA in Løgstør also has supported the national
front in Kampuchea, some remarks. We based our opinion in the
first place on literature by internationally approved researchers,
in this country studies by Torben Rettbøl, who argued
objectively and convincingly that the genocide under Pol Pot
was a wild spreading of rumours with help from the American press,
whose conscience in relation to the very same country was especially
stained with blood as the US had carried out one of history's
most violent bombings over Cambodia. At the same time there was
a regular Vietnamese invasion, resulting in streams of refugees.
In Kampuchea the national forces united themselves against the
Vietnamese occupying power. This was what we were supporting.
In this question, we followed the same line of policy as the
Danish Parliament and the UN.
The Collaboration with the Eritreans
lasted the rest of TTA's time.
About Eritrea, see5 ERA - the Eritrean aid organisation that
belonged to the liberation movement EPLF- Eritrean Peoples Liberation
Front humanitarian wing had a department in Denmark that we came
to work close with.
That meant frequent contact.
When we had bigger arrangements, like e.g. flea markets, a group
of Eritreans living in Denmark, turned up and helped us, which
meant a lot for the communication between TTA and the Eritreans.
Meanwhile, visitor's from ERA's management or
somebody from "the field", in other words, somebody
that worked in the liberated areas, came to Denmark and visits
to our group in Løgstør were organised. Among others,
a member from the central committee of EPLF, Esayas Debessai,
came and visited us.
ERA invited people who participated
in the aid work to make visits in the liberated areas, which
many Danish people accepted. These people subsequently participated
in the information work about Eritrea. I myself travelled to
the liberated areas of Eritrea in 1985.
All this
meant that our work for ERA was carefully discussed with people
from Eritrea. We sent clothes, money, medicine and hospital equipment
(in collaboration with IMCC) and toys. On one occasion, we sent
a whole dental clinic.
Eritrea 1985. Entrance to a subterranean house.
Collaboration with IMCC and the Danchurchaid
Among the organisations we got
connected with through our Eritrea work, was IMCC (International
Medical Cooperation Commitee) and the Danchurchaid.
IMCC
was an international organisation that consisted of medical students
at the universities. A group at the University of Århus
collected medicine and hospital equipment for ERA. They thrifted
in the same way as we did, but within the medical area, where
they could get access to medicine and different forms of hospital
equipment. We collaborated about the transports, the information
and in collecting means in the area of northern Jutland that
IMCC in Århus was in contact with.
Our
contact with Danchurchaid mostly concerned our transports, which
they financed. Both IMCC and Danchurchaid were deeply involved
in the Eritrean work. It's correct that Eritrea wasn't supported
by any states on the international level, but in return there
were many humanitarian organisations that supported ERA, because
of the high degree of self organising in ERA. The help to ERA
reached the target groups and worked as intended. There was an
openness on the part of ERA and people from aid organisations
were constantly visiting the liberated areas. They could verify
that the aid work functioned and adjusted the aid according to
the need.
The collaboration with the Ragpicker
Group in Ollerup and Anti Imperialistic Solidarity in Odense
and Viborg Seminars
The
groups within the anti imperialistic solidarity works that we
most frequently collaborated with were the Ragpicker Group in
Ollerup and the Anti Imperialistic Solidarity in Odense and Viborg.
The collaboration consisted in mutual help at big arrangements,
collecting and flea markets, interchange of information and results
of studies and joint transports. Each group was independent and
there was no shared committee.
An important part
in this collaboration were the seminars.
They
were held in turn at Jutland and on Fyn, where the different
groups were in turn the arranger. Apart from the first seminar,
hosted by the Ragpicker Group in Ollerup during the Christmas
holidays at the Slotsgården (the Ragpicker Group's idyllic
18th century, half-timbered farmyard), the rest of the seminars
were held in different scout cottages that we rented during long
weekends. Through invited lecturers we tried to throw light on
and discuss questions that occupied us at the time. Among the
lecturers was Gotfred Appel, Jacques Hersh and Ellen Bruun, Michael
Erichsen (an officer from the Danish national defence), Boris
Weil (who had spent 12 years in a concentration camp in Siberia
because in 1956 he had a copy of the secret speech by Kruschev
at the 20'th party congress- the speech that closed the book
on the Stalin era. A contribution that made a deep impression
on me). There also was a former member of the communist party's
central committee in Mexico ("Before was the time for the
ideologies, now is the time for the realities") and Bent
Jensen, plus representatives from different liberation movements.
These seminars were important for the internal discussion and
indicated our positions in the ideological development.
TTA breaks up in 1987 - 1988
The last flea market was held in
1986. In 1987 there was not enough energy and will to arrange
another flea market. There was a constant reduction of people
caused by removals, family and jobs, without the adding of new
members. It looked like solidarity work belonged to a certain
generation. Some want to blame it on the split in the group in
1986, but after the reduction of members started in both of the
groups, those left joined forces again for a short period. Hereafter
the activity came to an end.
The same thing happened
with the Ragpicker Group in Ollerup. AIS in Viborg and Odense
were broken up. Our contacts in IMCC finished their medical training
and were employed in Sweden and Norway respectively. Many of
the former solidarity workers started working for Amnesty International.
To Kirsten, to our four children: Nathalie, Sofus, Solvej and
Louise-who of course had taken part in the solidarity work as
much as possible- and to me, it had meant 12 years of hard work
at a point in our lives when you normally form a career or build
up a firm.
We had become involved in the starting
up of the Ranum art school right at this time. A project that
we worked with for the next 12 years and which brought us back
into the art world.