One World Center Massachusetts

Tvind’s ‘Travelling Folk High Schools’ worldwide

Aug 25, 2014

Tvind’s ‘travelling folk high schools’ were created in the 1970s to send teachers and students together to Third World countries, hoping to help the poor. Known as the ‘DRH Movement’ (Den Rejsende Højskole in Danish), the schools have elicited many complaints from former students, with allegations ranging from low standards of ‘training’ to dire living conditions, unreasonable work hours, bullying and even a ‘cult-like’ atmosphere.

Lars’s story: I was in the USA, and I was in a cult

Oct 9, 2003

Lars, 2003: It took me two years to be able to write this. I haven’t been able to deal with all the emotions since I drove off the hill at IICD, Williamstown in the summer of 1998 …

Zahara Heckscher: Volunteered with IICD in Zambia

Nov 5, 2000

Our first day in the field, we were approached by a group of Zambian farmers who told us that the project had stolen their land. We [later] discovered that the Zambian workers on the project were applying pesticides on the project’s garden, without training or protective gear.

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Tvind Alert

1 month ago

THE GOOD FIGHT, WON. Or likely soon. After 4½ years of battling a multimillion-dollar libel lawsuit brought against Reveal News by the nonprofit used clothing reseller and U.S. federal grant recipient, Planet Aid, a federal judge last week dismissed the entire case with prejudice. The lawsuit was filed in August 2016 after Reveal News published several stories linking Planet Aid to an alleged cult called the Tvind Teachers Group, and posed questions over the nonprofit’s spending.Planet Aid does have 30 days (from March 23) to appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. But we hope the corporate bully has learned its lesson that, try as they might to silence legitimate criticism, the First Amendment will in the end prevail.Congratulations to Reveal News for weathering and surviving this brutal and costly attack on journalism and free speech. ... See MoreSee Less

Planet Aid lawsuit against Reveal dismissed by judge | Reveal

revealnews.org

The case serves as an example of a troublesome legal trend in the news medi...

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Tvind Alert

3 months ago

FOLLOW THE MONEY. Danish investigative journalist Ronja Pilgaard digs into the finances of Tvind's “international aid organisation,” Humana People-to-People. She finds that of the millions made from the sale of second-hand clothing across Europe, only 13% of that money goes to charity. We at TvindAlert doubt even that low percentage is spent on good causes. ... See MoreSee Less

They say that their second-hand clothing shops fund development projects, but 87% of that revenue stays in Europe | Danwatch

danwatch.dk

The international aid organisation Humana People to People makes millions f...

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Tvind Alert

8 months ago

SHOPPING WITH AMDI. Finally, our summary of BT’s article series on Tvind, from last month, which began with new video footage of Amdi Petersen and two top aides shopping at a Costco supermarket in Ensenada, on Mexico’s Baja coast.Sorry to have taken so long with this. But the translation of seven of BT’s nine articles took a few weeks. Then came the task of boiling down and summarising. Then we contributed many further details for a more complete perspective. We were also waiting to see whether we could get a copy of an internal Tvind ‘vision statement’ document that BT obtained and reported precious little about. So far, no luck. ... See MoreSee Less

Tvind’s fugitive kingpin filmed while shopping in Mexico - Tvind Alert

www.tvindalert.com

New video of fugitive Tvind leader, Amdi Petersen, and 2 of his aides shopp...

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Tvind Alert

10 months ago

BY THOR’S HAMMER, WHAT A SAVINGS. This week, the Danish newspaper B.T. published a story with video footage of alleged cult kingpin, Mogens Amdi Petersen, and two high-ranking aides shopping at a Costco in Ensenada, Mexico. The video was shot by Thomas Vann Altheimer in October 2019.Petersen is founder and leader of the Tvind Teachers Group, and for the past 14 years he and four of his top aides have been wanted by the judicial authority of their native Denmark for serious financial crimes. Since August 2013, the five have been listed on the Interpol website's 'Red Notices' database for wanted persons. The two women shown with ‘Amdi’ are Ruth Sejerø-Olsen and Marlene Gunst, who — since 1992 and as far as we know, still — form the cult's 2nd-level management, 'TG Finance', directly below Amdi and his girlfriend, Kirsten Larsen.Amdi, Gunst, and Larsen are three of the five TG leaders who are Interpol-listed fugitives.Ensenada is a 145 km/90 mile drive south of San Diego. Tvind's high-security, luxurious headquarters, 'TG Pacifico', lies 72 km/45 miles further south on the Baja coast. Amdi and several senior TG members are known to have been living there at least part-time for several years.B.T. has also posted several follow-up stories this week, and we’re now working on a summary article in English. For the time being, non-Danes can at least watch the video! ... See MoreSee Less

Se videoen: Her er Mogens Amdi Petersen

www.bt.dk

Læs mere her.

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Tvind Alert

1 years ago

THE GOOD FIGHT. After three years, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting finally speaks out: “Planet Aid’s actions in its lawsuit against Reveal are a manifest example of what deep-pocketed interests can do to a news organization even when the facts are on the journalists’ side.”Reveal is to be commended for standing up to corporate bully Planet Aid, which is Tvind’s largest used clothing collector in the United States. Clearly, Planet Aid’s frivolous libel lawsuit is a desperate attempt to use litigation to silence the legitimate criticisms in Reveal’s excellent reporting.Reveal isn’t alone. In the past, TvindAlert’s editors, too, have endured libel lawsuits brought against them by different Tvind companies. But Tvind lost all of those cases. We hope Reveal will soon have the same outcome. ... See MoreSee Less

Reveal has been fighting a lawsuit for three years. Now we’re speaking up about it

www.revealnews.org

After our reporting raised serious questions about an organization that has...

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One World Center Massachusetts

Tvind’s ‘Travelling Folk High Schools’ worldwide

Lars’s story: I was in the USA, and I was in a cult

Zahara Heckscher: Volunteered with IICD in Zambia

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One World Center Massachusetts

Tvind’s ‘Travelling Folk High Schools’ worldwide

Lars’s story: I was in the USA, and I was in a cult

Zahara Heckscher: Volunteered with IICD in Zambia

Archives

Alive & Kicking …

Help us follow the Tvind Teachers Group story

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