WorldWalk Peace Activism: Theory, Promotion and Test

The peace-concept of the WorldWalk team is quite simple: the road to peace is a road through friendship and brotherhood. This simple principle has been explained various times, from various aspects here on the blog as well.

Now let’s see why this walking tour around the world is an effective way to present and to promote this idea.

by FERENC IVANICS

Spreading Our Message of Peace

Probably some heroic effort—like walking around the Earth—will catch many people’s attention. Along our trip we meet many of them, we get to know many of them. Their first questions are mostly about what we are doing, but right after those first few, comes the second group about the whys. Why? For peace. We believe in peace, we believe that global peace can be reached through the inner peace of small communities. And our belief is so strong that we undertook this world tour as peace activists, to share our ideas with as many people as we can. We managed to get the attention of some newspapers, tv- and radio-stations, so with the help of the people behind the media our message can reach even more individuals.


This blog is a method of spreading the message, too. There’s a small but effective community forming, which follows our adventures, shares our ideas. But it’s not just enough to spread the word; we need to convince the receivers about the genuineness of the message. The walking tour, our achievements might be able to do just that.

Test of Our Theory on Peace

Even if we would walk in ideal circumstances this tour would require the close co-operation of two men, since it poses their almost constant co-existence. Although we meat a lot of people we cannot build stronger bounds anywhere, due to the persistent peregrination. And of course the circumstances are never ideal. We frequently report about our problems here on the blog, but fortunately, so far we managed to settle most of these problems together. And this might serve as a proof of our ideas, we’re brothers, we’re friends, we’ve managed to live in harmony, we can keep our inner peace even when we’re in trouble. Europe and Africa have had many challenges in store for us, but we hold on. Of course we should thank for the help of our friends, relatives, strangers and less strangers who worried about us, our mission. Without their HELP we wouldn’t be here today.

In a few weeks we’ll move on to the USA and in a few months we’ll cross Mexico and Central America to arrive to South America. We’re determined, but we have our doubts as well. Will we be able to cope with the challenges of a new continent? If so, then we’ll give another proof of the correctness of our theory. And I’m sure we will.

Brothers and Friends: The Road to Peace

Many of you might think that for two brothers who are best friends as well, it’s child’s play to co-operate, to act in unity, to live in peace with each other. But this is not necessarily true, we have completely different personalities. My brother was born on the 27th of April, when spring is in its full swing, he’s an optimistic Taurus. I was born on the 23rd of October, mid-autumn, when the cold breath of winter is closing in. I’m a Libra, who tends to be melancholic and pessimistic, sometimes I can’t even enjoy the best moments of the present, ’cause I’m troubled by the future. When we get in serious trouble, I despair, I get apathetic, I almost get mad sometimes, István has to stand and to find ways to balance all this.


Due to his character, sometimes he gets carried away. He tries to cheer me up forgetting about the reality, his lips are smiling but his eyes are scared of my explosion. He tries to shock me out of my despair with promises that cannot be kept, plans than cannot be carried out. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes, as a result of these conversations we don’t speak to each other for a while... But usually, when our consciences are heavy (and I dream about booking some cheap flights to Honolulu and relax there a bit; of course that's not an option) we cannot maintain this state for long and we make up easily, we both give in and then feel relieved. We both have changed a lot since the beginning of the tour, we’ve got to know ourselves and each other better. Peregrination is a good way of discovering the world, our inner world as well.


Hence our fields of interest are distinct but complementary: I prefer spiritual stuff, my brother is more into the material world. I’m the one who bargains at the market, it’s my brother who makes a fire. I’m writing the text of this post, but it was my brother who found this cyber-cafe. That’s all, there are no mysterious secrets, just increasing patience and growing self-knowledge.

Professor Ivanics

“...the term professor generally is used as a form of address for any lecturer or researcher employed by a college or university...” (Wikipedia)

Though the Ivanics brothers have become more and more well-known and well-received, no one expected this sudden scientific career. Of course they are not real professors, but thanks to an unexpected and strange encounter they were asked to give a talk, in fact, two talks about WorldWalk-Peacetour to the students of the Texas Tech University in Seville.

by FERENC IVANICS
Some time ago, still in March, we were sitting at our casual spot on a crowded street in Málaga, with all our equipment. Some passers-by threw some coins into our box, but most of them indeed passed by us with a neutral look on their faces. Time was crawling, just before we almost fell asleep with our eyes open, a long-haired, bearded young man approached us. After some short questions we had a quite enjoyable chat.

He told us that he was Kurt Caswell, a writer, and an assistant professor of creative writing and literature in the Honors College at Texas Tech University. TTU has several study abroad programs, one of which is located in Seville and focuses on studies in Spanish language and culture. Students from Texas Tech travel to Seville, live with host families, and study at the TTU Center, usually for one full semester.

After we introduced ourselves and told him some stories about our journey, our goals, he was impressed with the WorldWalk-Peacetour project. He really found it so interesting that he asked us to take a stop in Seville before we fly on to the USA, and give a talk to the students of the TTU. With a small hesitation we said OK. There were various aspects that lead to the decision. Besides gratifying the curiosity of the students and giving a talk at a university, we had a fair share of practical and—let’s say—selfish concerns: we hoped that we could have a good meal and maybe a shower, we could wash our clothes, and due to the American links of the University we might give a boost our fame in the USA. The final push was Kurt’s mail, he told us that the University offered 200 euros as a compensation for the talk.


When we arrived to Seville we tried to contact Kurt, but we found out that he had left with a group of student on a trip. As we did not have any other options, we found a proper spot and deployed our begging equipment. We had been begging for a week when, to our great delight, Kurt reappeared with the news: the University would like a double treat, two talks for 300 euros.


We gave the first talk on the second of April. This was an open program, all the students were invited. Roughly thirty of them formed our first audience. We split the lecture in two parts—Europe and Africa—and following Kurt’s advise we focused on the funnier episodes of the tour, sparing them the details about the philosophical and ideological background. We prepared only the photos to be shown, we felt sure about that the pictures will recall the right memories and stories.

While I talked, my brother controlled the slide show, and our audience were listening silently or sometimes they laughed out loud. They liked the episodes when István couldn’t contain himself and added his comments or punchline to the story. The second talk was directed to Kurt’s student group, and this really wasn’t a lecture but an open chat. They asked questions, we answered the best we could.


I think all of us—the audience and ourselves—left satisfied from the gatherings. We’d like to thank Kurt for his hospitality, foods and drinks, for letting us use his washing machine. :) And not least for the first copy of his recently published book: An Inside Passage. It arrived from the USA before our very eyes, Kurt just checked it out and then gave it to us as a present. It’s an interesting and useful read, of course, about travels.

Read about it on Kurt’s blog.

The Mystery of the Strawberry Fields

Interpretation of the lyrics of Strawberry Fields Forever, a tune from The Beatles has been a mystery for quite long, and many tried to add their two cents.

We think that the strawberry adventure of the WorldWalkers is a mildly entertaining addition to the discussion, even though it has a minor scope.

by FERENC IVANICS

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out.
It doesn’t matter much to me.

Unfortunately we didn’t pay attention to the words of John Lennon, we roamed the streets of Seville with our eyes open and especially with our ears open, looking for some job opportunity. Near the coach station a young man approached us, he looked quite abandoned and though it was early in the morning he was most definitely drunk. He started a long monologue and we put aside our prejudice and paid attention; anyone might be of assistance to you, you might be of assistance to anyone, who take part in the process, doesn’t really matter.

Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry Fields forever.

He wanted to tell us two things: would have liked a sip from our red wine, and mentioned a possible job. We did not want to take him down—we had only some coke in our bottle—so we didn’t offer him our “wine”, but we asked him about that job. It was strawberry season in Huelva, they always needed hands for harvesting the fruit. Though he looked like he was in another reality, we thought a walk was exactly what we needed, so we set off to the strawberry fields.

No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low.
That is you can’t you know tune in but it’s all right.
That is I think it’s not too bad.

Next day we traveled to Huelva, it was a 60 miles coach ride. When we arrived we were told that the strawberry fields are located a bit further, some 10 miles away, in Palos de la Frontera. We walked that distance on an interesting sidewalk, on a wooden structure near the river. Though it was a pleasant hike, we were alone all the way. The structure was sometimes high, sometimes low, and was surrounded by an industrial landscape. No one would like to tune in to that pollution.



But all right, it was not too bad, and it was a surprise to stumble upon an interesting statue. First it looked like a Christian monument, but later we discovered some details that reminded us to Egyptian and Central American figures. What could make a peace-activist happier than something that manifests the peaceful coexistence of various cultures? Some strawberries, maybe.

Always no sometimes think it’s me, but you know I know when it’s a dream.
I think, er No, I mean, er Yes but it’s all wrong.
That is I think I disagree.

Finally, we found some fields near Palos: yes, we would get a job, we thought. Then came the disappointment, the farmers said no, the local small-scale producers sorted it out within the family; they did not need more hands. Our dreams about having diarrhea of eating too many strawberries slowly disappeared.

Get Up, Stand Up: Be a Peace Activist

“Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!” sings Bob Marley. There’s no explicit mention of peace in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but the declaration and observation of those rights have the objective of maintaining peace, our right for peace is substantial.

But it’s not enough to see and to say that, we have to take actions for peace. Together we can make a difference, please, help the WorldWalkers to spread their message, be a peace activist yourself, get involved.

The nicest example of the team’s philosophy on peace—which is based upon the inner peace of small communities; friendship and brotherhood—is the walking tour of István and Ferenc. Walking around the world is a great challenge, but despite the difficulties and problems they have to retain their individual peace. This is not only the key to the mission’s success but a proof of their philosophy: they’re friends, they’re brothers, they can live in peace. They’d like to share this message with as many people as possible. Ferenc and István cannot have a personal chat with everyone, but they do can share this message over the Internet. That’s why we’re askink for your help this time.

The background team created some virtual flyers and a virtual sticker. You can place these on forums, blogs, websites, email them to friends, relatives, share them on online social networks. In a few click you can be a peace activist.

Virtual flyer

There’s three virtual flyer models, each of them has a 400px x 400px size. Designed to be posted on forums or on your blog.

Click on image to see original size

This picture was shot in Morocco, in the June of 2008. When the WorldWalkers glimpsed the goats on the tree they couldn’t believe their eyes. A goat-tree? That’s impossible. But sometimes achieving peace looks impossible as well. Goats aren’t grown on trees, they just climb the branches. Peace isn’t something that grows by itself either, but we can reach it through the notions of brotherhood and friendship. There’s always a chance.

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The Mauritanian desert was a really difficult stage to face. Ferenc and István did not fight the physical challenges only: the heat, the burning sun, the wind and the sand it blew into their faces; they had to fight their mental battles as well. The endless dunes of the Sahara and the narrow stripe of the paved road between those waves of sand often evoked feelings of tinyness, transience, helplessness. But they had to hold on, had to follow the trip, couldn’t give up. That’s the struggle we’re all part of; we’re lost shadows looking for peace.

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This expressive photo was taken on the new year’s eve of 2008-2009. The brothers arrived to Málaga dog-tired, exhausted, full of disappointment, because they weren’t able to follow the tour from Dakar, Senegal, after completing the African stage, after crossing the Sahara desert, they had to turn back. the new year brought new hope, new prospects, the project had evolved a lot. Ferenc and István reaffirmed their determination, their handshake over the night lights of Málaga symbolizes this decision. There’s no better background to support the most important ideas and values of the WorldWalk-Peacetour project. This is the WorldWalk-Peacecloud.

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[url=http://worldwalk-peacetour.blogspot.com][img]http://worldwalk-peacetour.info/PeaceCloudFlyer.jpg[/img][/url]
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<a href="http://worldwalk-peacetour.blogspot.com"><img src="http://worldwalk-peacetour.info/PeaceCloudFlyer.jpg"/></a>

Virtual sticker

This virtual sticker is a space-efficient animated version of the WorldWalk-Peacecloud.

This Peacecloud sticker is a smaller, modified version of the Peacecloud flyer. We created this one to comply with the standard 125px x 125px rectangle ad size that’s becoming more and more common. This HTML code can be easily inserted into any blog or website sidebars. If you have a blog or a site that supports such ad placement, please place this sticker onto your ad-area, help us reach your readers with our message, with the WorldWalkers’ concept of peace.

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[url=http://worldwalk-peacetour.blogspot.com][img]http://worldwalk-peacetour.info/PeaceCloudSticker.gif[/img][/url]
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<a href="http://worldwalk-peacetour.blogspot.com"><img src="http://worldwalk-peacetour.info/PeaceCloudSticker.gif"/></a>

T-Shirts

Last but not least we have to mention that there are T-shirts available with these very same designs. They can be purchased in the WorldWalk Supporters shop. The purchase of a t-shirt sends the team US$5, so by buying one you can be a supporter besides being a peace activist.

Email This Post

You can see a small Email this icon at the bottom of our posts. If you click on that icon you can send the whole blogpost to your friends. One click, that’s all we ask for.

Taurus and Piscis

“All right, you can pick a fishing-rod but not the most expensive one.” That’s what the WorldWalkers’ old man said when István told him he would try fishing if he found a place... So the boys packed in the most expensive rod and off they went.

by FERENC IVANICS
Practically we walked through almost the entire European continent having the fishing-rod as a Tom Sawyerish accessory, with absolutely no practical value, though. My brother tried his luck near Valencia, Spain first, at the mouth of a river. The bait was made of bread and salami pieces but it didn’t work, probably a healthy earthworm would have helped. Frustrated, we hooked a salami stick.


Near Essaouira, in Morocco we went for the blue ocean. István experimented with baits made of shellfish, sea urchins and canned fish. With no luck. Probably he would have needed a stronger fishing-line to be able to throw the baits farther offshore, and to use a stronger, larger blinker. We realized that this rod was not designed for costal fishing.



He tried his luck next time in Mauritania, it was a short try. The plumb-bob was lost somewhere on the rocky seabed in Morocco, so István used a huge rusty nut. This replacement worked fine but the line was weak or just damaged, during the second throw the whole equipment split off.


So, we had walked more than 5000 miles, and there was still no catch. I have to mention, though, and quite proudly, that I did catch a sea creature using my bare hands. It was a miserable octopus, trapped in a small pond on the rocky coast. It was windy on the beach and we couldn’t find any firewood, so it was the eight-legged creature’s lucky day, he joined his friends in the ocean.


My brother gave up fishing in the ocean, at least with this rod. But when we arrived in Seville, a slow, quiet river awaited him, with some funky fish. So István drew his fishing-rod—this time he replaced the plumb-bob with some coins glued together—, it was all set, he just needed some bait.


We had some bread but we had become distrustful about it. Then I mentioned that I would get some earthworms. “Heh” he replied. But my gardener instincts were telling me that on the riverbank, under the green grass there had to be some. And there was. Since we imagined that a permit was needed to fish in the river we started the action after dark. I was feeling extremely tired so I went to my tent to have a sleep. But István was wound up by the movements around the baits, and in fifteen minutes he appeared in front of my tent with a medium sized fish in his hands. He found out that these fresh-water fishes bite on bread. We had a dinner before, it was quite late so he released our fish friend back to his family.


A few days later he gave it another try, in less than half an hour he caught a larger fish. He released that one as well, but next time we won’t be this warm-hearted. We have already imagined a fish-soup or a roasted fish meal. Let’s hope these slimy fish taste good.