Share the warmth this season & save lives in Afghanistan

Duvet Project 

Voices for Creative Nonviolence supports an initiative of the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul: warmth and work. 
Children are vulnerable to freezing in the refugee camps and other impoverished areas of Afghanistan; 100 froze to death last winter. Women are without work and need income to feed their families. It works this way: each morning at 8 am, 26 women gather at the home of the Afghan Peace Volunteers to collect materials for making special thick quilts, called duvets. In their homes, they and their families make the duvets, stuffing wool into coverlet material hand sewn on each border, and deliver the finished products the next day. With the help of the volunteers and Afghan families, the quilts are then given to families who need them.
It costs $20 to make each duvet. This sum can bring work and warmth to brothers and sisters in need; life to children and women alike.

If you can help, send a check made out to Voices for Creative Nonviolence and mail it to:
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
1249 West Argyle St.
Chicago, IL 60640
(please write “Duvet Project” in the memo space)

To donate to the Duvet Project via PayPal, sign into your PayPal account and submit the funds to email identity “theduvetproject@gmail.com”. One-hundred percent of the funds go directly to the Duvet Project of the Afghan Peace Volunteers.            

Mike Walli sentenced to 8 months

•  Sentencing for DC Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Mike Walli

Mike Walli appeared in federal court in Knoxville on Monday, September 19, 2011 to face sentencing for his May 2011 conviction on charges of trespass at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, TN in July 2010. Mike has been in custody, held mostly in Ocilla, GA, since the trial in May.

The procedure began with Judge Bruce Guyton asking Mike if he could hear him. Mike did not answer, but his attorney, Chris Irwin, spoke up to say that Mike had chosen to remain silent before the court, but he (Chris) having just spent an hour in conversation with Mike, was certain Mike could hear and understand.

After formalities—have both sides read the sentencing memorandum?—Chris Irwin began by asking the court for a moment of silence for Jackie Hudson. The judge granted the request, and silence was observed.

Chris then reviewed for the judge a bit of Mike’s history; his service in Vietnam and the effects of that combat experience, his spiritual awakening and conversion to Christianity, and his dedication to a life of service in communities, feeding the hungry, painting windows, mowing grass, assisting with prisoner reintegration, providing hospitality for the homeless, and more. “This,” said Chris, “along with his acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, is Mike’s response to the horrific events he witnessed in war.”

When Chris finished, the judge reviewed Mike’s record; he is in a higher category than any of the defendants to date, and was recommended by the presentencing memorandum for a term of 6-12 months. The judge declared a sentence of 8 months; no supervised release, no fine, and a $25 special fee.

With that, Mike rose in shackles. Blessings were exchanged with the audience, and we watched him leave.

Mike is eager to hear from friends and supporters… but he is currently in transit, so we will post his new address and location soon.

For more information and a complete update of all the Y-12 Resisters, please go to www.orepa.org