OWW Newsletter – May 2020

The theme for OWW 2020 is:

We are discussing how to deliver OWW events and activities in the continuing Coronavirus situation when holding physical events may not be feasible.  We shall explore the possibility of virtual events and we want to encourage you to share ideas for working together and sharing ideas online. We have already found lots - you can see them on our website and in the new resources.

We are also taking this opportunity to consider the role OWW might play in the new scenario that is unfolding. Our theme title reflects this.

No longer impossible? - The coronavirus crisis has seen huge changes in most of our lives: sadly, tragedy for some and hardship for many, but revelations for us all. Measures have been put in place with a rapidity we had been told was impossible when we were discussing the climate emergency; people have not only adjusted their own lifestyles drastically but rallied round to support the vulnerable in their communities.

Can we build on these signs of hope to work for a future which is not just “back to normal”? Many are arguing against the idea of going back to what we thought was ‘normal’ but was destroying the natural systems of the world we depend on. But this might be the moment to choose a new way of living where we come together to take care of each other and our world – Let’s make it better.

We would love to hear of any ideas you might have about OWW’s role in the future. Please share ideas about how, together, we can all make OWW happen this year.  Please contact us.

RIGHT NOW:

We are offering resources for people to use, in discussion on-line, by telephone, using email and social media, to gain an understanding of how people worldwide are being affected by the illness and its economic impacts and what needs to be done.  Looking to the future, we have an opportunity to consider how we can make the world better – as individuals, as communities, and as national and global citizens.

Resources include articles, poems, websites, videos, cartoons and actions which explore our understanding of the impact of the pandemic for better or worse:

• the Theme page of the website refers to some recently published articles with ideas;
• the Resources libraries already have lots of useful ideas and materials from previous years you can use and build on;
• We have put together a guide to selected Videos, Articles and Things to do and also a guide to information about key ideas for making our world better. You could share these with the people with whom you usually organise local OWW events and/or set up study groups. Most of these resources are new, published this year since the Covid-19 pandemic began. We shall be adding more ideas in the coming weeks on the resources pages. So please keep looking.
  Please tell us about anything you have come across which you think would be worth sharing. Contact us
• There is scope for action with many organisations and charities. Those we work with can be found on the Take Action Page
• One of the urgent issues for poorer countries is a huge debt burden, (e.g. in the Central African Republic the Government is spending more on debt service payments than on health care). The Jubilee Debt Campaign is coordinating a massive campaign to address the short term and longer-term issues to free up funds to be spent in combatting the virus. You can join in and add your voice through various Aid charities which we work with –Visit our Take Action Page.

Please let us know what you are doing and thinking – it’s really important for the OWW family to share ideas with each other at this time. Contact us

With our good wishes for finding a way to engage people in the 2020 OWW theme in this unfamiliar world we find ourselves in this year,
from the OWW team,

Alison, Aneta, Ingrid, Jonaid, Sarah and Sue

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