Personal Advancement
The garden within herThe Oct. 24 death of American peace activist Rosa Parks is a sober reminder that it's often women working tirelessly behind the scenes --silently, unacknowledged and unpaid -- who are known as the peacemakers. CARTER HAMMETT |
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 [ 2005-11-02 ] |
Cruelly ironic, this is mirrored by the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a mere 12 women since 1901. Indeed, the day following Parks' death, several commentators remarked that it was shameful Parks had never won the Nobel.
The fact so few women, including Parks, have been acknowledged for their peacetime efforts might have changed this year if organizers of a unique joint nomination put forth by an international coalition had been successful in obtaining the elusive Prize. (Instead, the Nobel Peace Prize was again won by a man, Mohamed ElBaradei of The International Atomic Energy Agency.) Nonetheless, the team of Swiss parliamentarian Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold and her daughter Rebecca Vermot launched a valiant campaign three years ago to nominate 1,000 women worldwide to collectively share the prestigious award. Ten Canadian women were among the nominees, including Mississauga educator Julia Morton-Marr.
"The beauty of this nomination was that it wasn't competitive -- how creative is that?" says Morton-Marr over the phone. "Being nominated felt amazing. I felt, when this happened, that this was not out of bounds. I knew it was meant to be, and the feeling was quite precious in its OK-ness."
Founder and volunteer president of the International Holistic Tourism Education Centre (IHTEC, www.ihtec.org), Morton- Marr, 63, is best known for her peace garden initiative, which has resulted in more than 3,500 gardens created in 34 countries worldwide since IHTEC's launch in 1993.
Involved in environmental causes for years previous, Morton-Marr arrived in Canada from Australia in 1991. Two years later, the International School Peace Garden (ISPG) program was launched by planting IHTEC's first tree at St. Peter's Church in Mississauga.
The following year, ISPG became a program of the Canadian Committee of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations and was supported by ministries of education nationwide, when more than 350 peace gardens were launched across the country.
Later that year, a school in Australia became the first international entity involved in the ISPG project. From there, Morton-Marr hasn't stopped, as IHTEC and its programs continue to grow and flourish around the globe.
IHTEC combines environmental messages with community development and peace education and develops curricula for schools from junior grades through university and makes lesson plans available free of charge on its website. IHTEC is dedicated to developing global sustainability education programs that educate young people through "Tourism as a Vital Force for Peace." The non-profit agency has become an acclaimed vehicle of peace-building and environmental protection globally.
"War is a very homo-centric act," Morton-Marr says. "We're not thinking of other species which are disappearing yearly and we feel that human life is more valuable than others. We're the ones who are very naughty and who continue to engage in war."
Born into war herself in 1942 in South Africa, Morton-Marr eventually wound up in Australia before health problems sidelined a thriving teaching career in 1984. "I just couldn't sit and twiddle my thumbs while seeing all the problems in the world. The more I worked, the more the inspiration grew," Morton-Marr says.
Beginning with research on the Murray River in Australia, Morton-Marr's environmental interest and involvement gradually grew to become her raison d'etre.
"There are many potential wars in the world," she says. "Instead of reacting to current wars, the ISPG responds by trying to prevent future wars."
Morton-Marr's efforts to make the world a better place were matched by other Canadian nominees who included: Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Kama Steliga, executive director of the Lillooet Friendship Centre for First Nations People; children's rights advocate Senator Landon Pearson; Cree activist Doreen Spence; Maggie Hodgson, a catalyst for the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation between First Nations and other Canadians; Muriel Duckworth, co-founder of the Canadian Institute for Research for the Advancement of Women; director of the Ryerson School of Social Work Akua Benjamin; and Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
Anti-nuclear scientist Rosalie Bertell, a Canadian with dual citizenship, was nominated in the list of American women.
"As far as I'm concerned, we've won," Morton-Marr says. "The fact that the (Nobel) project is publicized is what's important. Winning has to be for the planet and the environment, otherwise we won't be here."
To read more about the Nobel initiative, go to www.1000peacewomen.org.
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