A small note before you start to read I’m not a writer just a designer, I want to share this incredible experience; hope you enjoy it.

After all it was worth it I had an incredible time. I would do it over again… but maybe not with the same organization.

The journey started more than a year ago, when I decided that I didn’t want to go back to work so soon and wanted to take a year off and maybe traveling would be a good thing to do. To travel for a year is very expensive so I thought why not find a volunteer organization it’s not as expensive as traveling and it could be done on long periods of time.

That is how I ended up in Africa, I was to be a volunteer maybe help a little not change the world or anything just do something.

I found an International Organization on the internet it sounded “wonderful”, work with the community, no experience, you pay your school fees for the training and the program is for 14 months, I was in, it sounded great. I went to an information weekend and it all sounded so nice and almost perfect. Here is more or less how the program is; 6 months training at one of the schools (they have them in Europe, India, US, and South Africa) 6 months at one of the projects (it can be South America, Africa, India….) and then 2 months back at one of the schools for closing the program they call it “Camp Future” and then if they offer and you are up to it you can join the organization. That was for me I just had to pay my ticket, visa and school fees, for me it was 2,500 USD for the whole year room and board. It was really a good opportunity.

On may 24, 2002 with my bags and my ticket in hand ready to board the plane and be part of the organization “Humana People to People” and be in one of their “DRH Schools”; “KwaZulu Natal Experimental College” in Durban, South Africa.

I will tell the truth but I will not obsess about it. I did have one of the most wonderful times in my life and all in all enjoyed it very, much. The one thing no one tells you and start to find out as the days pass that the program is the most useless thing it has no meaning and it has nothing to do with development work. The teachers are not qualified and no one is serious about teaching. Some of us were going to the project in Mozambique and we had to learn Portuguese, so we said where is our teacher? We had one for 3 days then nothing, we had to teach ourselves. In the information meeting they said that we would have to work hard, I thought that’s no problem its fine by me, most of us felt the same way. But all you end up doing is cleaning, cutting grass, painting walls and cooking for everyone. The training? Well it’s based on a series of task that are on the computer and by doing them correctly you earn points to go to the project. The Tasks? Most of them are stupid, It could be a good idea if anyone cared about it, and if you had more free time to really do them right instead of doing them just to get points. Also I found out that it was not important; what was important to the school? More important than instructing future “Development Instructors” ? MONEY! Yes artistically called “fundraising” for the children in the streets? For teaching people how to use computers for free so they could get a better job? For an aids program? Outreach program?
None of the above. It is for the school.

You see when we paid our school fees it was supposed to cover the food and all those expenses, so what would be the need to give more money for the school! They do tell you at the start that you would have to fundraise they even say an amount but they don’t tell you that if you don’t reach that amount you will not be able to go to the “project”. And what is so bad about giving the money to the school? God only know they spend the money, the food is not that good or expensive, the maintenance the students take care of it, paint, clean, fix you name it! Maybe its for all those cell phones the teachers use.

We had to go out to the streets and ask for money for us it was not so bad, other DI’s (That’s what we are called when you join and do the training “Development Instructor”) had to fundraise in Europe in the cold for big amounts of money. You end up shouting at the people in charge to try to change some things and make something good, its like talking to the walls it’s a waste of energy. In my opinion some of this people are already blinded by what they do.

Imagine you are the director of this place you know everyone at the end of the day hates the place and everyone complaints about it, and yet you sit in your little chair and do nothing about it and just keep talking to more and more people and convince them to join and lie to them. Its better here in Africa you think to yourself, if I go back to Europe or America I have no education and what could I possible do for a living? … I think some of them in a different organization would actually do a good job.
Not all the people that join are like that, some go there to see Africa and not go back to their countries, or because they paid every cent they had to be in the program and now have no money to go back. But the price to pay is very high; if you are lucky you get paid considerably good (also depends on what part of the world you are from so if you are probably European or American you will get paid more than an African would).
You might read some of this and say then why didn’t you go back? Why does some many people still finish and even join? Well for me it was a personal commitment I already was all the way in Africa had paid my ticket and visa, no one was going to give me my money back and I did meet lots of people and we did have some fun. How? at the BAR!

I don’t want to bore you to death if you want more detail you can email. It’s not only my point of view and not all is bad. My recommendation if you have lots of money and want to join an organization fast and actually don’t care much about what you accomplish then join… if you have more time and patience then join another program. If you have some time take a look at some of the sites, I have put both points of view you make your opinion.

From: The Story about the Journey at
http://www.fanyamambo.com/journey/urtxt.html

CICD Britain 2002

I joined the CICD in Winestead, Nr Hull on 4 November thinking it was a legitimate organisation/charity and have since uncovered many distressing and dangerous practices.

I have told them I want to leave and they are withholding £1,140 of my money and the same for 3 other colleagues.  They tried to interrogate us individually when we told them we were leaving but we were resolute and insisted we remained as a group.  We therefore got interrogated as a group until after midnight.  They refused to talk to us about refunds and in the morning gave us a prepared check for a fraction of the money we had paid.

We have stayed here over the weekend trying to get them to reconsider but Karen Barsoe has ignored all voice and text messages requesting a meeting and locks herself inside a room refusing even to open the door to accept a letter.

If I had not been convinced before I am most definitely convinced now that money is being syphoned off for some secret project – probably politically motivated.  They claim it costs £700 per person to run CICD which is absolutely ludicrous given the primitive conditions – no running hot water, hardly any heating, one small electric shower between 15 people etc., etc. and then on top of all of that the ‘students’ (who don’t get taught anything useful) have to cook, clean, repair and maintain the property.

I could also tell you about dangerous and illegal practices going on.

Regards

Elaine

Nov 2002

WITNESS

Denmark, 2002

by Joe, UK

My name is Joe (31). I am sure some of your questions can be answered with “my Tvind story”:

One year ago I did read this DRH ad in the newspaper. I needed a break. finally, in January 2002 I went to the infoweekend in Julsminde. My “interview” was the longest, because my plan was to start in a “Mozambique team”. “Lotte” wanted me to go to her school and start in a “Angola team”.

Then I said: “Angola i would have to think about, but Mozambique i could sign today!”. Suddenly i got offered to start in the “Mozambique team”, but would need to go to Tvind school in Ulfborg and would not get a scholarship.

Anyway, i was ready and prepared to sign the “contract”. and when I returned to my place I paid them money in advance (how stupid).

Some months back in my country and 4 weeks DRH Tvind school experience later, i am still trying to get part of my prepaid school fees back.

My last contact was today with “anne”, probably the “last” headmaster of Tvind. I called her today because I gave her a last deadline to transfer some of the money they owe me. She told me that Tvind is closed. I think some of my old team members (I was the first who left this “last” team) are still there. She told me that some lawyer will contact me, but she didn’t want to give me his name or/and phone number.

My patience is over and I will now pass the case to a inkasso company. Hope to get some money back.

To “Anne” I have sent the following email after our conversation today:

“… this will be the last time that you will hear from me personally. i just want to let know you that I trusted you before i came to Tvind and I now know that this was wrong. i should have trusted Tvindalert, and I will let them know.”

Joe, August 2002

Do you have a story? Tell us.

Posted: pre-2006

Kine is a woman from Norway now in her mid-20s.   Her story reached Tvind Alert from the Movement Against Tvind

by Kine Aune  <kinaune@sol.no>

It all started in Norway when I was accused of rape 16 years old. I was sent to Peterslyst Ridecenter in Denmark. I encountered an empty school, because all the other students were in Turkey. They gave me a room in the camp school and I stayed there without an eiderdown freezing for two weeks. I asked the teacher on guard for an eiderdown but nothing happened. There were four houses in the area one teacher lived in each house with the students. I was afraid and nervous and there was nobody I could talk to. I was not allowed to phone home to my family during the first two weeks because the teacher on guard thought my family needed some time off.

When the school returned home they all rushed at me and I had a brake down number one. I did not do it on purpose but I was punished. I had to do the dishes for a week and here I met the only normal teacher on the school. She told me stories about the school, which I almost could not believe. She warned me of continuing on the school and advised me to go home to Norway as fast as possible.

The next day I got a room in the white house – as they called it. The next day there was a meeting about me. During the meeting I was told that I could go home to Norway for a weekend and a guardian was appointed for me. I thought the guardian was a person to trust so I told her that I felt like running off. I should never have trusted her. Now I was not allowed to go home at all.

Shut off from the world I became reticent and difficult to handle. On the first day of school I saw a teacher seizing a 12 year old student by the throat and without thinking I knocked the teacher down telling him that it is not allowed for teachers to attack students. I was punished with the most severe punishment of the school: I was whipped on my hands and legs with a horsewhip. Afterwards I panicked and ran away to my room just crying all the time. I was not allowed to call my mother. I started to smoke and I tried to kill myself. Fortunately I did not succeed.

After this incident I was very exhausted and it was hard getting out of bed but I was forced to get out as the daily routines under all circumstances should be kept up no matter how sick I was. The day started at 7.00 and ended at 18.00 when I went to bed. I did not eat anything. Luckily I had a lot of weight to loose. During 6 months I went from 140 kilos to 85 kilos. I asked permission to see a psychologist but the answer was no. All my own clothes were confiscated. The rules of the school said that you were not allowed to wear your own clothes. I had to put on the clothes they decided were appropriate. During four weeks I had an inflammation in the inner ear and could not get any help until the day my eardrum burst then I was allowed to see a doctor. The only bad thing was I was not allowed to see the doctor alone – they had to accompany me – so I could not tell the doctor about my situation.

Secretly I got hold of a mobile telephone and contacted a psychologist in Silkeborg. I should never have done that because when they discovered it all the students and teachers surrounded me and shouted a lot at me for a long time. So that did not help me. I decided not to give up and to do something. Finally I got the letter I had been waiting for during two months. It said that I was found not guilty. I packed all my things and thought I could go home but no I had to stay there.

Today I believe that it had been better to spend the time in a prison in Norway than to stay at the Tvind school. I stayed at the school for two years and was beaten every other week. In the end I was afraid to do anything. I completely lost the ability to talk and do the things I used to like. I could not go to a dentist when I needed treatment.

The days went by and I was no longer a human being, but deep inside me a tremendous force started growing. On my 18^th birthday I thought: Now they can no longer do anything to me. I am a norwegian citizen and now I had come of age. I went to a meeting with them and asked for permission to leave, but they refused plainly. I went into town and talked to my psychologist who helped me. For the first time during two years I was able to call my mother and that was a very good feeling.

I have had a lot of bad experiences but something positive has also arisen. I learned to look at things differently and because of Tvinds treatment today I believe nothing can harm me any longer. I have experienced the worst things possible being a prisoner of the Tvind Movement. I travelled a lot of times to other countries with the school but without freedom it is not fun to travel.

It took 6 years before I could live again normally. I had a diploma from Tvind but it was no good in Norway. I had a lot of problems and every time somebody offers me a chance to go to school I start crying. You might say I have got a school fobia.

I have got scars in my mind and on my body because of my stay at the Tvind school. If I had known about Tvinds methods – what I later learned – I would have chosen to go to prison instead of going to Tvind. If I had been to prison I would have been released much sooner than I did. To day I sometimes get letters from the school about the so called reunions but I will never go back to Tvind again.

Two years on that school was like hell with blows and kicks from the other students and the teachers. I would not wish even for my worst enemy to have to go through what I experienced during those years. It is still difficult for me to talk about what happened at Tvind. But I try my best to tell people here in Rjukan about what happens at Tvind. I wish to thank you for trying to help the young people who are at Tvind. Maybe Tvind will come to an end at some time – one can always hope.

Many regards

Kine Aune

kineaune@sol.no

and…James goes to Mozambique

Having read your Tvind website with interest I am writing to you to detail my experiences as a Tvind survivor. This is for two main reasons; firstly and foremostly to try to warn others of the Tvind/Humana network, and secondly to vent some of my anger and frustration, at what I see as being a rather elaborate con trick.

My name is XXXXX XXXXXXX, and I am a recent graduate on my second Gap Year. I joined Tvind for the obvious reasons; to try to help people and to travel.   I therefore travelled to Denmark in February to begin my four month education at the Tvind Travelling Folk High School, near Ulfborg. These four months I can only describe as my most unpleasant and generally pointless experience to date.

This is for several reasons. The first, and most obvious, was the education I received, or did not, as the case may be. The facilities at the school for learning can only be described as close to nonexistent. They consisted of a rather small library, half of which was in Danish, the other half dwelling on such vital subjects to a "Development Instructor" as knitting, a Citroen 2CV manual, a six volume set on the subject of rice and a selection of extremely second rate novels.

In their brochure Tvind make a great deal about their computer network, which guarantees everyone their own computer and which is linked to a central databank which contains all the knowledge a "Development Instructor" will need. The number of computers at the school fluctuated from 5 to 10, depending on how many could be persuaded to function, for approximately 15 to 20 students.

The central databank can only be described as a travesty. It had been written by past Tvind members and generally either consisted of half-arsed gibberish written in extremely bad English dealing with such irrelevancies as whether extraterrestrial life exists, and tutorials on how to be an independent thinking person, (surely a paradox there), or was photocopied from books.

Due to their lack of knowledge on the somewhat grandiose topics they were covering, the creators of the database had either photocopied mainly irrelevant, or sometimes wrong information. They had obviously copied a degree level medical textbook for the tutorials on malaria, diphtheria, etc which proved rather incomprehensible without a degree in medicine.

The other facilities at the school consisted of a broken, unheated, half full swimming pool, a pair of football goals, and a sauna which was admittedly quite pleasant. Unfortunately for the 7000 kronas per month I was paying, (about £650), this did not represent value for money.

Ultimately the raison d'etre behind behind Tvind, and indeed the rest of the schools in the Tvind network is to raise money. For my 4 month stay at the school I had to pay 15,000 kronas, (about £1,200) down on arrival, which I was stupid enough to do.    I then had to raise 4,500 krona per month for school fees.

To do this we were sent onto the street to sell Tvind's brochures. We would approach people on the street, and beg, plead, harass or almost force people to buy a grotty 10 page newspaper for 50 krona, (£4.50). Obviously if we said this money was to go to the upkeep of Tvind schools people would be rather reluctant to part with their cash. This is because Tvind has a fairly awful reputation in Denmark, and indeed in Scandinavia, and because most people are not particularly interested in contributing to the upkeep of half a dozen huts in a field.

We therefore said it was to fund the eventual project in Mozambique, which proved quite effective as the floods had just hit Mozambique. We did have to raise the money to fund our project in Mozambique, but only after the school fees had been raised.

What were these school fees for? Partly for things like heating, advertising. etc, but mainly for the teacher's pay. There were 5 teachers there, each on 9,000 kronas per month, as well as the headmistress who would presumably be earning considerably more.

The teachers did not however keep their wages. Approx 80% or 8,400 kronas went to the Teacher's Group, which is in essence almost a feudal system which more or less owned the teachers.   When they signed their contract, which was more often than not a lifetime contract which is highly unusual, each teacher agreed to common time and common money clauses. This meant that the Teacher's Group organisation could tell any teacher at any time of the day or night to do anything, and they had to do it.   Essentially they had no time to call their own, and were NEVER off duty. They did not have it easy. Common money meant that they had to contribute 80% of their wages and ANY OTHER MONEY they may have to the organization.

Why then did these teacher's join this Group.  In essence, because they were not particularly intelligent or well educated people. I f my particular teacher had not joined the Teacher's Group he would still be working as a toolmaker in a factory in Germany.  In my opinion if the headmistress had stayed in the real world she would be lucky to be employed as a toilet cleaner.

This organization therefore offered people a way out of their monotonous, routine lives, and gave them the chance to be something they were not qualified to be, and which in the real world they would not have the chance to be. There was also the promise of the large house, the obligatory white Mercedes 190, and a reasonably comfortable lifestyle once you were placed in charge of a school. I am, however, also sure that genuinely humanitarian and altruistic reason did play a part in their decision.

The Teacher's Group also owned the school buildings. They were paid a rent out the money we paid in our school fees. I don't know how much this was but I expect it was vastly more than the place was worth. Therefore the whole raison d'etre behind the school was to raise money: firstly to give to the Teacher's Group and secondly to maintain the school and pay for its advertising so it could attract more volunteers.

You also raised enough money to pay for your project. Having got out to Africa after six months of hard slogging and paying through the nose, quite a few people found themselves working in Humana's clothes shops out there, or trying to raise funds from big companies out there, all of which money went to Humana. Personally I found that quite sickening.

From beginning to end these people were working to raise money for the schools, for the Teacher's Group or for Tvind. Why did people then volunteer? The short answer is that everyone comes without knowledge of what Tvind is, and what they will have to put up with during the next six months.

Having discovered what it really is about, approximately 60%-70% leave, each losing various amounts of money that they have had to pay over on the day they arrive. For the rest the prospect of going to Africa means they stay.

Without a doubt, though, everyone I ever met whilst at Tvind genuinely detested the organization and the people. The only thing I learnt at Tvind is, in the words of another student there, "how fucking stupid I can be". If you wish to contact me to ask any questions, or if I can be of any use, please do not hesitate to email me.

Yours Sincerely

James

An update

WITNESS

Denmark and Angola, 2001

A minha historia

by Luis Rodrigues Coelho, Portugal

Em primeiro lugar, deixem-me pedir desculpa pela falta de acentuacao, um vez que estou a escrever com um teclado britanico.

Tudo no inicio do ano 2001, quando vi no Jornal Expresso um anuncio a pedirem voluntarios para trabalharem em varios paises africanos. Como estava no inicio da minha recuperacao quanto a minha adiccao com drogas, pensei que seria uma optima oportunidade para mim de mudar de vida radicalmente. Ajudando pessoas realmente necessitadas, estaria a ajudar-me a mim. Eu tenho sempre o poder de fazer as minhas escolhas e quem e muito pobre, a maior parte das vezes, nao a tem, pura e simplesmente.

Comecei entao a ter varios contactos com a organizacao humana people to people; na Dinamarca, atravez de uma senhora de nome
Lotte. Senhora esta que era a directora de uma escola chamada
lindersvold; a cerca de 100 km de Copenhaga. Refiro que nunca
foi minha intencao utilizar a escola como uma fuga a minha adiccao, como um centro de tratamento e que nunca ninguem me obrigou a inscrever-me. Ja na altura notei que o maior requisito para me juntar a tal organizacao, era o aspecto financeiro. Claro que me pediram uma data de papeladas, mas o importante era se eu pudia pagar a inscricao mais seis meses de mensalidades, que na altura eram 350 euros por mes. Agora deve ser mais.

Pediram-me que fosse a Lisboa a uma reuniao, o qual fui e fui informado de como a humana trabalha, os paises onde estao sediados, os varios projectos e todos os programas nas escolas, de maneira a estarmos aptos a ir para Africa como voluntarios.
Recordo que a Lotte sempre me telefonou e escreveu mails a perguntar se e quando eu pudia mandar o dinheiro para a minha inscricao, mas o que eu nao sabia e que eles, em caso de alguem abandonar o programa, nao devolvem o dinheiro.

Entusiasmado, com boas intencoes e de malas feitas, la fui eu para a
Dinamarca, no dia um de Abril de 2001. Encontrei pessoas interessantes e fiz bons amigos entre os estudantes das varias equipas que la estavam na altura, tanto da minha (equipa de abril), como as de Fevereiro e outras que regressavam de Africa. Tive dificuldade com o meu ingles, mas o tempo encarregou-se de resolver. Depressa pude perceber que a escola nao tinha professors apropriados e quem dava todas as aulas eram pessoas, que ja tinham passado por Africa e que agora tentavam pasar a sua experiencia. Nada tenho a dizer em relacao a eles, pois sempre foram dedicados na tentative de
nos ajudarem e elucidarem. O que nao percebo e nao concordo, e porque nao tinha professores credenciados. Tambem depressa me apercebi que o unico objectivo dos directores das varias escolas da organizacao (teachers group), era angariar dinheiro de todas as formas possiveis e para isso , era regra fazerem todo o tipo de lavagens ao cerebro. Para alem de ter pago um bom dinheiro para pagar as mensalidades, tinha agora que, em seis meses, trabalhar ou vender jornais em copenhaga para angariar 35.000 coroas dinamarquesas, facto que ninguem me preveniu na reuniao de lisboa. Mesmo que
eu quisesse desistir por nao concordar com esta regra, seria desvantajoso para mim, pois perderia todo o dinheiro que tinha pago para puder frequentar a escola. Ou seja, cada elemento da minha equipa tinha que angariar 35.000 coroas dinamarquesas, o que nos punha numa certa pressao, pois nao e um objectivo facil de atingir em seis meses, partindo do principio que haviam actividades consideradas por nos mais importantes, para quem quer estar preparado para trabalhar num pais africano com todas as suas vicissitudes.

Combinamos entre nos em nao desviarmos as nossas atencoes para pensamentos negativos ou que nos afastassem uns dos outros como membros de uma mesma equipa. Outro acontecimento que nos aborreceu, foi o facto de nos terem ditto que a organizacao tinha uma tradicao em maio, que era, todas as equipas de abril de cada escola na dinamarca e noruega, tinham que elaborar, preparar e apresentar um teatro numa escola chamada juelsmind. Ora pusemos-nos nos a pensar por que raio precisavamos de um teatro para ir para Africa, ou seja, este evento inesperado ia-nos retirar um inteiro mes, que era precioso para actividades como desenvolver o nosso ingles, aprender
portugues ou Creole, aprender e aperfeicoar habilidades que pudessem ser usadas em Africa, obter todo o tipo de informacao necessaria em relacao ao pais para onde fossemos trabalhar (no meu caso Angola benguela), etc.

Aparte desta contrariedade, mantivemo-nos unidos no nosso voto de nao desistir e de evitar todo o tipo de polemicas que nos desviassem do nosso objectivo. Como tal, ate elaboramos o nosso teatro, pondo em palco um filme do famoso director norte americano Quentin Trantino, de titulo reservoir dogs, cabendo-me a mim o papel do vilao psicopatico mr blonde. Apesar de so termos um ingles na nossa equipa e de o resto de nos termos representado nao na noa lingua mae, mas em ingles, acabamos por ficar em primeiro lugar, o que premiou a nossa dedicacao e determinacao quanto aos nossos objectivos.

A medida que o tempo ia passando, a directora da escola (lilian) organizava reunioes sem fins para tentar dar-nos mais lavagens ao cerebro e reafimar que nos tinhamos que esforcar mais na tentativa de obtermos o dinheiro que precisavamos. Chegou mesmo a ser cruel e injusta para pessoas que estavam a dar o seu melhor nas ruas de copenhaga para angariar dinheiro. Ela sempre se mostrou bastante fria para com os alunos e nunca se importou se alguem nao tinha o feitio para vender jornais nas ruas. Disse varias vezes que quem nao
reunisse as 35.000 coroas exigidas, nao era autorizado a viajar para
Africa, independentemente de essa pessoa ter pago um balurdio para
frequentar a escola. A raiz da questao foi sempre: nunca ninguem se importou com o progresso dos alunos, com a falta de um professor que ensinasse Creole para quem fosse para guine Bissau, etc. O importante era que angariassem dinheiro para a escola. Uma das grandes mentiras ditas por quem estava a frente da organizacao (teachers group) era que a maior parte do dinheiro angariado iria para suportar os projectos em Africa. Na verdade, esse dinheiro ia inteirinho para pagar os seus ordenados de reis. Alias, toda a
recolha de roupas e outros que fazem em varios paises,tambem vai para pagar os seus ordenados. Recordo que o orcamento da escola para a alimentacao era tao baixo, que muitas vezes comemosmarroz com arroz ou massa com massa.

Passo a contra como se passou a minha &#8220;desistencia da organizacao. Aquando da reuniao em lisboa foi-nos ditto que a humana SO tinha duas regras: a primeira era que nao era permitido o uso de alcool nas escolas ou enquanto se estivesse ligado a organizacao. Tudo bem. A Segunda, nao era permitido o uso de qualquer tipo de drogas enquanto estivessemos ligados a organizacao.Tambem tudo bem.

Ora um dia, no meio da minha boa vontade, honestidade e agora sei
ingenuidade, numa conversa com a lilian(directora), confessei-lhe que era um adicto em recuperacao e alguns pequenos permenores do meu passado. Decidi-me a contar, pois faco questao de ser honesto e nao via razao para nao o  fazer. De lembrar que estava num programa de voluntariado e como tal, a honestidade, compreensao e todos os valores humanos devem estar acima de quaisquer outros. Como resposta a minha honestidade, foi-me ditto que nao pudia ir com a minha equipa para Africa, pois a humana tinha uma regra que dizia que quem tinha um passado com drogas, tinha que esperar 18 meses antes de puder viajar. Lembram-se das duas regras mencionadas na
reuniao de lisboa: nao ao alcool e drogas enquanto se estivesse ligado a organizacao. Nunca ninguem me disse que puderia ser impedido de ir para Africa se tivesse um passado com drogas. Em vez disso, deram-me tres alternatives: ir para a Africa do sul fazer promocao e ajudar a construir uma escola, ir para lisboa trabalhar numa loja grande de venda de roupas e outros artigos recolhidos anteriormente ou ir para outra escola dinamarquesa fazer promocao. Promocao e basicamente responder a mails e tentar atrair mais pessoas para as escolas, de maneira a que eles possam ter mais
dinheiro.Apesar de ter pago o dinheiro das mensalidades e inscricao, apesar de ja ter angariado a volta de 28.000 coroas , apesar de me estar a preparar convenientemente e de inclusivamente ajudar os outros com o portugues (pois sou portugues), foi-me dito de uma forma muito intransigente e clara, que nao puderia viajar para Angola. Depressa partilhei com a minha equipa o que se estava a passar, assim como a todos em lindersvold. Todos me deram o seu apoio e tentaram dar solucoes para o meu problema, mas todas se revelaram
infrutiferas devido a intransigencia da regra. Senti-me revoltado e
rejeitado, pois sempre tentei dar o melhor de mim a escola e esta era a resposta que estava a obter. O meu professor (alex alemao), uma excelente pessoa e que sabia bem das mentiras da humana,
sugeriu que escrevessemos uma carta para o quartel general da organizacao no zimbabue. Apesar da injusta e intransigente decisao que tomaram, eles sentiram-se um pouco culpados pois sabiam bem do erro que tinha cometido e devido a isso me foi dado algum tempo para me decidir se optaria por abandonar a escola ou optaria pelas sugestoes que me tinham dado. Claro que na minha cabeca a ecisao foi sempre abandonar, so nao o fiz de imediato porque na altura conheci a minha actual namorada, Vicky, do pais de gales e
que pertencia a equipa de agosto. Antes de tomar conhecimento da minha situacao e antes de me ter conhecido, ja ela se tinha dicidido a ir embora e so ainda estava na escola porque ainda nao tinha decidido para onde iria.

Bom, apartir do momento em que comecamos a nossa relacao e que viviamos juntos, apercebemo-nos que a lilian e seus seguidores, surateiramente nos tentavam fazer todo o tipo de guerras. Como agora sabiam do meu passado com drogas, uma professora (Anette) espalhou pela escola que a Vicky andava a vender drogas a pequena escola situada ao lado da nossa. Escola essa, que segundo eles e destinada a jovem e criancas com problemas de integracao na
sociedade. Pura mentira e hipocrisia, pois esses jovens nao tem praticamente qualquer tipo de acompanhamento, principalmente psicologico. Mais uma vez so lhes querem exturquir dinheiro. Comecaram a dizer que eu era uma ma influencia para a Vicky, pois presentiram que eu ia abandonar a escola e que ela vinha comigo, ou seja, tentaram-nos separar por varias maneiras. Quando por fim eu e a Vicky decidimos que iamos viver juntos, dei conhecimento a
lilian que eu nao queria ficar ligado a humana. Como resposta,
deu-me cinco dias para abandonar a escola, nao sem antes me ter tentado lavar o cerebro com os trabalhos de promocao noutra escola ou com a tentative de deixar a vicky sozinha.

Quando eu e a Vicky deixamos a escola numa sexta feira, nao nos devolveram um centavo do dinheiro que ela tinha pago para frequentar a escola durante seis meses.

Desta minha estadia em lindersvold, apesar da injustica a que fui alvo, faco um balanco positivo. Ganhei uma namorada espantosa, fiz bons amigos que ainda hoje mantenho em contacto, viajei um pouco pela dinamarca e alemanha, desenvolvi imenso o meu ingles e melhorei as minhas qualidades humanas.

Estas escolas sao frequentadas por pessoas de boa vontade e com boas intencoes, que nao merecem ser tratadas friamente, desonestamente e de uma forma interesseira. Estas escolas sao regidas de uma forma profissional, como se de uma grande empresa se tratasse e em que nao dao a minima atencao ao que se passa com os alunos. Estes nao passam de numeros, como se passou comigo. Mas por um lado estou contente, pois estas escolas tem os dias
contados devido a todas as suas mentiras e desonestidades e exemplo disso e que o seu big boss(Peterson), foi preso no inicio deste mes(marco) nos estados unidos, assim como varios lideres na dinamarca, apesar de eles diserem que nao tem lideres.

Para terminar, dou os parabens a todos os que colaboram com o
tvindalert no sentido de esclarecer de uma forma honesta e
explicita, tudo o que se passa no mundo da humana. So para
dizer que se nao fosse este site e um programa na televisao portuguesa e talvez a minha familia nao se tivesse acreditado na minha historia.

Pela minha parte, disponibilizo-me a escrever mais historias ou permenores que me sejam requisitados, ou a respoder a mails de pessoas que tenham duvidas quanto a seriedade da humana people to people.

Ate sempre

Email: luis1coelho@hotmail.com

Do you have a story? Tell us.

Posted: pre-2004

WITNESS

Tvind, USA

Pre-2004

by anonymous, Finland

I’m a student in one of Tvind’s schools. The school is located in Denmark.  I joined the program 3-4 weeks ago because I saw Humana’s announcement in the Internet about that they are looking for people who want to volunteer in Africa.

I would like to tell you my story and perhaps get some information about what I can do to help my other team members.

I studied in a business school in Helsinki last year but I found the people very superficial and I felt that the only thing they thought about was money. So I wanted to do something else and I found this announce. I called Humana late in the evening and they were very nice and positive and welcoming. I was so surprised about that I could call them at 11pm and they would answer and sound like that! I thought that it must be something very good and important as these people are always possible to reach.

They told me that there was this TCE Botswana team which was going to start in a couple of days – perhaps I could come and join the team in two days?  It didn’t matter if I couldn’t pay all the money yet – I would do fundraising in the streets and earn the rest of the money. Of course I needed to pay something as well – 1500 Euros. And I would get a scholarship of 1000euros. Wow, I thought, this sounds good…

So, I told my teachers that I wasn’t coming to the school this year but that I would go to Africa, I told my friends and parents, I packed my stuff and I just left.

In the beginning, it was nice. a lot of young people from different countries (but nobody from Denmark or Sweden…), everybody with the enthousiasm about going to Africa and helping people, getting this AIDS education, doing something GOOD, something which really means something…

Yeah. That was the beginning. The first weekend, there were the Tvind summer olympics, first for us (DRH schools) and then for some children. We were told that we were going to fundraise by working in the Kids Summer Olympics – we would be cooking for two days.

And so we cooked. We made thousands of hamburgers, chicken&fries, meatballs. We cleaned and we did basically everything. We worked from 7am till 10pm. Never saw the money but of course we were told that we got money for doing all this. But we were SO TIRED.

After the weekend, we came back to Holsted. Now we were going to start the STUDIES, finally. We were given a week plan and told everything we were going to do in the education period. Studies, projects… and fundraising.

I will try to make this short but it’s hard because there is just SO much crap to tell. However, the studies are self studies. They have this ridiculous database with different tasks and we are supposed to do them by ourselves. That’s how we will learn about AIDS. Then we just send them to the teacher and she says if it’s ok or not. You get points for the tasks (there are some interesting ones where you have to read an article about AIDS and then answer the questions but many of them are just worth nothing…like doing your own fitness program and following it will give u points). You get points for doing anything here. Everything is about counting points. But the most alarming fact is that you get a lot more points for cooking or cleaning than for really STUDYING.

They also give us courses. We ve had some interesting guest speakers as well. One was about AIDS in Africa – a woman from the TG, it was very interesting. Then there was a guy telling us how U.S. government wants to rule the world and how Bush is the worst terrorist of the world  (well, of course there are many points of view but his opinions were very strong and accusing). I suppose he was also a member of the TG. Then our own teachers give us some courses (like twice a week) but these courses are just nonsense. They just pick a title and make a course, without even knowing what they r going to say. One example was a course called The Difference Between Dialogue and Quarrelling. The teacher just asked our opininons, wrote them down and then… he just didn’t know what to say. He forgot it.  He said to us “Sorry, I just forgot my point…” and looked out through the window. Everybody was trying to avoid laughing, he was so ridiculous. But so he read a couple of poems to us and started asking us about authors whose books we had read and if we found something common between his title and the authors’ books. So UNBELIEVABLE.

Then there is this rule “No drugs, no alcohol”. In the beginning, everybody thought that of course we cannot drink or anything. But then, after a while, when they don’t have any program for us, the town is small, the tasks they give to us are ridiculous, (like eg. to build a fence for two ponnies that the headmaster just bought one day without any preplanning…just because she thought they were cute) of course people start finding other ways how to spend their time. And so we started drinking in our rooms in the evenings… and NOBODY cared. Nobody noticed. It is so obvious that people are doing that kind of stuff but there is no reaction to it.

I have a good friend in Copenhagen, a Danish guy who is studying his Masters in the Copenhagen business school. I wanted to go and see him and I asked my teacher one week in advance if it was possible. Of course the answer was “no, not really, we don’t really think it’s a good idea cos we should go fundraising soon and you should be here planning it…” So I thought that I couldn’t go but I was wondering “why? What do we do here? Nothing. People are just bored. They sleep all the days. There is no real program. The exams are not hold and the week plans are not followed. Why couldn’t I go? I’m an adult, after all.” And so I just told them a couple of days before that I was going to Copenhagen for some days. And they couldn’t do anything about it. I mean, that’s not a reason why you can throw somebody out from the program.

So I went there, met my Danish friend, told that this is a Tvind school and… his reaction was the same as I think everybody’s in Denmark He said “I didn’t know it was one of THOSE schools!!!” And I asked what he meant and he said “we,, EVERYBODY in Denmark knows Tvind and the Travelling High Schools”. And so I started thinking. I found the Tvindalert pages, read them, called my parents, they read the pages, then they phoned me and said that I should stop the program.

First I said that I just want to go to Africa. But after all, I have heard that the drop out procentage is 80%. So 9 of my team would stop before January (We are 12 people). Everything I’ve read in Tvindalert pages fits in my picture of this organisation. There are lots of things you tell about which happen here every day. The isolation. The tasks. The fundraising. The teachers are really strange and feels like they’ve been brainwashed. Also the few people who actually come back from Africa are strange.

So, I decided to quit. I have options in my life, I speak several languages and will restart my studies next year anyway. But most of these people don’t really have options. They don’t have higher education, everybody hasn’t even finished their secondary schools. Some of them come from Eastern Europe and they see this as their only possibility to ever see Africa. In addition, they have already worked in Netup and don’t want to give up after doing that. So it’s easy for me to quit, my family supports me. But these people… When they listen to what I tell them or read Tvindalert pages they just get confused. They are really frustrated here and hate all the teachers and points system and everything but… they don’t have options or don’t see them.

I came from Copenhagen yesterday and I’m going home tomorrow or after tomorrow. I haven’t told my teachers yet, but I’m afraid cos I will have to discuss the money, I payed them 1000euros and I really don’t think I’ll get them back. What do you think? I do have a receipt but this is all so dizzy, I don’t really know if the receipt is worth anything anyway.

So… it was a long story. If you can help me, want to know more, want to contact the others… feel free to do it. My feelings are really mixed at the moment. I just feel cheated and really disappointed to the fact that after all, it’s all about getting MONEY.

Do you have a story? Tell us.

Posted: pre-2004

MY story seems to be a little different to the other stories posted on your website.    I was never involved in DNS (Det Nodvendige Seminar) or in Rejsede Hojskole (Travelling folk High School) or even in DAPP or UFF.   I worked in one “Friskole” for children aged from 8 to 16, for the entire period.

Teaching had always interested me as a career and back in 1990 when I was unemployed, I saw this offer in a national English newspaper for “Teacher helpers” with very few qualifications required. This seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. So I applied, was interviewed, and sent to the original “Tvind Friskole”.   I knew nothing about Tvind, so had not been influenced either way.

When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised about the setup for the children. It seemed to treat all the kids with respect and involve them completely in the day-to-day running of the school.   Including cooking, cleaning, maintenance etc.  This later began to annoy me which I will explain later on.  I was primarily responsible for helping a small class of children aged 12 to 14.  I not only helped in the teaching, but also in free time activities, cleaning or “Rengoring” (that word still sends shivers down mine spine!) of the children’s rooms and other areas etc.

I had always thought to work in Tvind for only one year but after the first year the teacher that I was helping, decided to leave and I was offered that position with more money.   I accepted this challenge, even though I actually had no pedagogical or teaching qualifications, apart from the year before.  That year had it’s ups and downs, and I became accepted by other “Teacher Group” teachers  (by the way, I was never in the Teachers Group) . I had a contract which of course was in Danish, and I didn’t fully understand, but this didn’t matter at the time; I was doing what I wanted, and gaining experience at the same time.

It wasn’t until I discussed my working hours and salary with a Danish teacher who came from outside Tvind each day ( which is rare in Tvind) that I realised something was going on. My wage was about 5000dkr per month (about £500) which seemed ok at the time as I wasn’t qualified.

However, it was explained to me that the under the Danish state system (and I was paid by the state) you were either a teacher or not.  As my title was that of teacher my wage should have therefore been the minimum for a state teacher which at the time was about 13000 Dkr, more than double my wage. The 8000dkr must have been going somewhere. Straight into Tvind’s pockets!

I knew of about 10 other people working within Tvind in my position.  If they all worked under the same conditions I did then that would be a profit to Tvind of 80,000 dkr (or £8,000) per month! Not bad going that is it?

Of course to the Danish state all looked rosy, because the correct amount was going to Tvind.   Strangely though I didn’t do anything about this, as I was doing well and didn’t want to make waves, plus I only discovered this about 7 months into my second year.

On a positive side, many children who came from poor or abused backgrounds, came to Tvind during the time I was there.  I actually witnessed many changes in their behaviour. I remember one child who when I arrived was riotous, to say the least (and in my class) came from a drug abusing family, and had committed petty crimes. Thanks to the Tvind system of respecting a child, looking at why a child behaves badly and not pointing fingers, involving him in day-to-day running of the school and encouraging his interests, by the time I left he was a “normal” respectful child who I am still in contact with to this day.

Tvind is actually great for this kind of child but not for all!  In my class were a few children who were extremely bright.  I could teach them English, Geography and a few other subjects with not much problem.  What about all other subjects?

Plus all kids were together in one class, so you can imagine that not much actually got taught!  Nobody actually ever checked-up on me or witnessed my classes.  In fact as long as the kids were in the classroom at the right time, that was all that mattered.  I could have been teaching (or not teaching) anything!  The children who wanted to learn more, and their parents, were promised all kinds of subject and activities that nobody was qualified to teach.

In fact it seemed to me that an all-out effort was made to keep as many children at Tvind as possible. The money the children brought in was much more important than their future.

I remember that I once had a secret meeting with the parents of one child, to tell them what really went on in the classroom and not the wonderful picture that “Teacher Group” teachers, seemed to paint.  Needless to say, this child has now left Tvind.

Then there was the infamous cleaning or “rengoring” as I previously mentioned.   The principle was fine.  Everyone had a duty to do each day, which ranged from cleaning the classrooms to washing-up or cleaning the school Land Rovers (anyone who has spent anytime at Tvind will know those white Land Rovers! I still look twice every time I see one!), plus tidying their own rooms.

However, it all became obsessive and intruded into the the children’s class time. A lot of class time was lost due to cleaning, after all, no cleaners were employed. You can imagine how 12-14 year old children reacted to this. To avoid conflicts, it was often easier for the teacher (me) to do the job themselves. As long as the cleaning got done it was irrelevant who did it.  To put the whole thing into perspective, each child was supposed to spend about 4 hours cleaning each day.

And so I entered into my third year. I was offered the full teacher’s wage this time and a new contract.  All was looking fine for me.  However half way through the year I became extremely tired, after all I was often working 12 or more hours a day.   I got to the point where I became ill and went to the local doctor, who advised me that it was all down to stress, and lack of sleep. Understanding more Danish at this point, I studied my contract which was basically a normal state contract, and therefore outlined my working hours, preparation hours etc. which were completely in conflict with what I was actually working.

I approached the head master of the school, reported what the doctor and said, and asked if my hours could be reduced.   The reply I received somewhat startled me “You’ll just have to put up with it!”   I was extremely upset and didn’t know where to turn.   It also made me quite angry and the next day I took my contract to a teacher’s union.   Who advised me exactly what my contract stated and told me that providing it was followed, was acceptable.

When I returned and confronted the head master with the fact that I had joined a union everything changed.   I was shouted at, accused of not trusting Tvind, and I got the “after everything we’ve done for you” speech. i.e. TRAITOR!   When I look back on it now, I think they were actually scared that I had discovered a loop-hole in their organisation.

I was then presented with a new correct working hours plan, but in a childish, spiteful way. I was excluded from social events (as they were outside my working hours) and all the teachers had as little contact with me as possible.   This could have caused me to breakdown completely, however the children didn’t care about working hours or unions, it is them that kept me afloat.  So I took it all with a pinch of salt, pretending that I didn’t care and eventually the other teachers dropped their pathetic act. They could not fire me of course!

I must mention at this point one particular incident that occurred I now think that I should have reported to the Danish state, (or maybe someone still can).  Another teacher, who was not in the teacher’s group, came across quite by accident, some financial documents that had been left in the photocopying room.   In them it clearly stated that I and this teacher, were both “Klasse laere” or Class Teachers.  Under the Danish system this means about 600 dkr extra per month. however, both of us had absolutely no idea that we were class teachers and we were definitely not getting the money.  You can imagine how much money per year this alone can generate if you look at how many teachers Tvind has.  No one can deny that Tvind is a very clever. In fact I feel that the media and the state are looking in one place while Tvind is making money in another.

The Danish gutter press, has made some wild accusations about Tvind that simply are not true. I know that for a fact. However they can provide great cover for other financial deviances. Everything will look perfect on paper for Tvind, look at my contracts, my wage. You will never find a mistake. However, as I have already mentioned, it is what lies beyond the paperwork, behind the doors of Tvind that matter.

WITNESS

CCTG college, USA

Pre-2004

by anonymous, USA

A Californian student’s story

This message was left on the guestbook

Hello, I am a student at a California Community College which has recently been infiltrated by CCTG propaganda.   I believe it is very misfortunate that this organization would exploit the young of today, while misleading the public and peoples of neighboring countries.

I was able to have an oppurtunity to travel to Africa last summer, with a non profit called BRIDGES.(Building International Dialogues through Grassroot Exchange) and I became interested in Campus TG as a vessel to return and continue my work. However as I began to contact this organization I realized that there were serious pieces missing from the puzzle.

The first warning sign that there was something amiss was when I asked for the criteria for the applicants. The response I recieved was that it was open to “Everone who is a hardworker” that concerned me especially since it is essential to understand the pretenses in which one would choose to participate in such venture. Traveling to India, or Africa is a big deal, and not just anyone is qualified to sustain such an adventure.

When asking them about there curriculum, I recieved a vague response. They said that the previous participants would be giving language preparation courses, and there would be some focus on global economics. When asking them as to there focus, or stance, they would give no further information. Educating people is one thing, and indoctrinating is another. It worries me that this organization taking students to Africa is not more open about how they will be training there participants.

They also mentioned the fundraising, saying that you will be required to go out into the streets and ask for money. You would think that an organization that is so focused on action, would encourage fundraisers that encourage the support of the community.  They also mentioned the website www.netup.org, which has sites in California, the East Coast, and In Holland. The website states that they are working with Humana- People to people, and the participants can fundraise all of there money in as little as three weeks. It seems like an easy solution, however gives no information as to the projects that the participants would take part in.   Furthermore it charges each person $250.00 (US) activation fee (Sketchy!!) In many ways this does not make sense, economically or otherwise. Why would participants have to pay a fee to RAISE money??

I am very glad that this community based concern site is up. CCTG appears as a exciting and noble cause. However internally it is disorganized, misleading, vague, and destructive.

Volunteering Internationally is not a one way street, and is more then good intentions, it takes the help of others. Unforturantly, due to the neglect and underrepresentation of developing countries, there is much work, and few resources.

Many organizations which attempt projects abroad encounter difficulties and oppositions both locally and internationally.

CCTG is a bottom feeder, feeding upon vulnerable organizations, and extracting money from people who genuinly want to help. It is frustrating that organizations like this cause individuals to shy away from assisting in the international realm. Hopefully this organization will be exposed in more then one way, and the other more insightful and meaningful organizations will be brought to light.

IF you are interested in Volunteering Internationally please check out the following website.

WWW.VOLUNTEERINTERNATIONAL.ORG

Or if you are interested in contributing to reputable and succesful grassroots organization which is promoting Youth Leadership and International Involvement, please check out the following site:

www.bridgesfellowship.org

Do you have a story? Tell us.

Posted: pre-2004

A proposal for positive action

by Steve Stewart  <steve@stevestewart.icom43.net>

Hi.    Thank you for your web site.    I am 51 years old and I have just recently been on a weekend introductory course at Tvind.   (My motive?   I wanted to be of service to my fellow man).    I have been in business most of my life, (sometimes successful, sometimes not).   We are all naive to some extent but I was able to read through the Teachers at Tvind almost immediately.   I have had a lot of experience in life, considerably more than a lot of those keen, looking to do some good and wanting to travel younger persons invited to Tvind’s house of doom.   I could sit back and laugh to myself at the Teachers’ performance.   Nothing more than a sales pitch and a very poor one at that.   It was totally apparent from the beginning that this was some form of a con.   But what could it be?   I could recognize straight away that the teachers were parrot fashioned brain-washed, reading the old script of a sales pitch.

Time to walk away and so should anyone else that had any form of common sense but there were a lot of people moving through this institution ( I say institution rather than CULT because up to then I had not read your site or did I  know any back-ground history of Tvind).

But a lot of people genuinely wanted to contribute and be involved.   My immediate thought was why should so many wanting to give of themselves to help others be denied of doing so because of a lot of brain-washed crooks (But then life is like that).

Here is my question. With all those people that really want to do some good out there, is it not possible to set up a genuine charity organization here in the UK (I say in the UK because I don’t think an organization could get away with what they have done here in the UK I hope I am not that naive).   If your site is right (and I believe that it is ) then they are stealing from the public of this country who want to donate.

Could not a genuine Charity be set up through contact from your web site?

I  [was] due to go to Denmark in April to start with Humana but of course I will not because I see no point.  At first I thought I would go, just to exploit them, but I can not see how.   I see it as a no-win situation for anyone who takes them on and perhaps it could be dangerous (The danger does not deter me but I can see no achievement to be made).

Again, could a genuine charity be set up using your web site? I think it would need to start with a least ten people. Ten would become twenty, twenty would become one hundred.  Then perhaps something could be done properly What do you think?   You must have a lot of people who want to do something visiting your site.

I personally would be very interested in becoming involved in the setting up of such an organization.

There are numerous ways of fund-raising and I am sure that many of your site visitors would have some perhaps new or inspirational ideas in this direction that could prove effective. But more importantly, would not be demoralizing or dangerous to the volunteer participants, such as selling post cards and magazines, which is effectively begging on the street.

I could not understand Humana’s approach to helping the poor of the Third World by inducing poverty on the volunteer helpers and reducing them to demoralized beggars. Of-course with hindsight it becomes clear that it is a brainwashing control technique, of no use to anyone other than the beneficiaries.

I personally have numerous ideas which I would be more than happy to disclose but I think the manifestation of such a new organization would need between 10 and 20 dedicated initiators to form a committee.  WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I have now decided not to become involved with Humana (Group) at any level. so now feel free to use my thoughts and name as you think necessary and fit. Perhaps if it takes your liking we could work together on the fruition of this idea.

Regards Steve Stewart.

steve@stevestewart.icom43.net

March 2001