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Brief information on Tvind
FAQs for non-Danes by Jes Fabricius Møller
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This
site is closing The
News Update is migrating to http://tvindnewsupdate.blogspot.com/ |
This web site should answer some of the basic FAQs
about Tvind for non-Danes. It is basically a summary of my book, published in 1999 on the history of Tvind plus later updates. Please
excuse my somewhat faulty English. Feel free to contact
me if you need any further information or if you believe my information to be
wrong or lacking.
If you use the information professionally (i.e. for publication) I would
also like to hear from you. Listen to a BBC4 feature about Tvind March 22nd
2002 at 11:00 GMT See CBS5 feature on Tvind's Green Boxes
Dec. 17th 2006 Listen to BBC4's
'You &Yours' , March 11th 2009 See a Fox
TV investigation of Tvind, May 12th 2009 |
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Workers on strike at the Tvind controlled Rio Culebra banana plantation in Ecuador, May 2002. The strike is a part of a general workers uprising in the country. Source: Fagbladet |
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Page last updated 18 marts 2010
It started in 1970 when a
group of young Danes started an experimenting school on the island of Fanø in
western Denmark. In 1967-68 they had travelled around the world and seen the
poverty of the third world. The school is not about knowledge but
consciousness. The aim is to reform the world using maoist theories about the
third world as the motor of the great revolution.
1972 they bought a small
farm in western Jutland called Tvind. There they built several schools
including af teachers college. All the schools recieved public subsidies
according to the very liberal danish law of education.
1977 UFF was founded. It
has many aliases around the world: Humana, DAPP, ADPP etc. From the beginning
it has supported communist regimes especially in southern Africa. Tvind has a
special relationship to Robert Mugabe because UFF supported his movement when
it was still in exile in Mozambique.
1978 The worlds largest
wind turbine was erected in Tvind. It is today the worlds oldest megawatt wind
turbine still running, although not at full power.
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Frame from a sequence of Amdi Petersen explaining to
the cameras of the national television (Danmarks Radio) how Tvind radically
changes the lives of its students. In the background you see the wind turbine
under construction. (ca. 1977-78) |
1983, 1st of february, the
Tvind owned ship, "Activ", went down in the English Channel in a
heavy storm. 8 people died. The tragedy could have been prevented if they had
listened to warnings but Tvind only rarely listens to outsiders. They know
best.
1988 The teachers college
no longer recieved state subsidies, and the graduates have no acces to work in
danish schools, except Tvind of course.
1980-1996 in spite of heavy
criticism and some setbacks Tvind kept expanding, nationally and
internationally. 1996 a law was passed denying state subsidies to all 32 Tvind
schools in Denmark. The law was declared non-constitutional by the high court
in 1999 but Tvind still does not recieve any money from the state.
Due to recent law suits
(see update) Tvind activities in Denmark seem
to have decreased, although Tvind now run several institutions for criminal and
troubled youths with financial support of local authorities.
From the beginning
employees of Tvind have had a shared economy. At first it was what is often
referred to as a "yellow bucket", i.e. a box where money was
accumulated. From 1972 this "yellow bucket" became institutionalised
in the shape of a "Savings Union" (Spareforening) and the money was
canalized into different foundations.
The most important in
Denmark are: "Estate", founded 1971, that owns the property in
Ulfborg and a few other buildings. "Faellseje", founded 1977, was the
motor of Tvind expansion in Denmark that accelerated in the mid 80es.
"Thomas Brocklebank" is named after the first Tvind ship, (bought in
1976 and renamed "Odysseus") and is the Tvind maritime financier. A
conservative estimate says that Tvind own property worth 300 mill Dkr. in
Denmark alone.
In addition several smaller
foundations and organisations are set up with the official purpose of promoting
fine arts, the enviroment, science etc. They are generally considered to be
cover ups for Tvinds commercial activities, which is also the reason for the
current case against Tvind, lead by chief of police and public prosecutor in
Holstebro, Jens Kaasgaard. (see update)
The savings of TG-members
are in reality administered by a very small group of people. Not even all the
people officially on the boards of the foundations etc. have a saying. Board
meetings and general assemblies are often done as pure paperwork by Poul
Joergensen (who is on the board of most of the relevant organisations) and
signatures of the other members are collected (or perhaps even faked)
subsequently in order to make it look legal.
The UFF, Humana etc. third
world organisations are in fact very small as well with only a very few members
and cannot be called democratic in any way. Tvind is very careful not to let
outsiders carry any weight. On the other hand they need non-TG-members to give
an impression of a democratic and open structure.
Amdi Petersens name never
appears in any official papers from Tvind. His leadership is based purely on
his personal charisma. (See Max Weber on charismatic leadership. Amdi Petersen
is a prototype.) Poul Joergensen has been a true follower of Amdi Petersen for
35 years and appearantly puts up with most of what he is told to do. Poul J.
has been fined (1996) for not informing the authorities properly on the
financial activities of Tvind but he ahs generally managed to keep out of reach
of public investigation - until now.
Until 1996 (see History) Tvind recieved close to 100 mill Dkr. every year from the state and local authorities. The money was for the most part given to Tvind according to a very liberal law covering a wide variety of schools ("De frie skoler", see Foreign Ministry home page on education). Tvinds schools are/were only a small part of the total amount of institutions covered by the law. Tvinds money comes from the TG-members. "Abuse of tax payers money" is a very common phrase among Tvind critics but it is only true in an indirect sense. The truly abused are the TG-members.
Mogens Amdi Petersen (born
1939) graduated from a teachers college in Haderslev in 1961. (Amdi Petersen is
his family name, but since Amdi is as uncommon as Mogens and Petersen
(sometimes referred to as Pedersen) are common, he is known to the public as
just "Amdi".)
He served as a soldier
1961-62 (artillery) and the moved to Odense where he got a job teaching in a
school called Kroggårdsskolen. He attracted some attention from the media
because he was one of the driving forces behind a collectively owned villa with
lots of left winged activities, art exhibitions etc. He supported the
anti-apartheid movement, the anti nuclear bomb movement etc.
After two years of teaching
in 1965 his position was up for debate by the board of education in northern
Odense like any other young teacher. It should have been a routine case since
he was very well liked by his pupils, his colleagues and his headmaster, but
the board of education didn't like his looks so they denied further employment
of Amdi Petersen. The chairman specifically stated: "We don't like his
long hair!" It was on the outside a question of hygiene, on the inside of
politics. This version of the story has later been revised. It seems as if Amdi
Petersen was dismissed because of improper behaviour towards female students. Se
update, Nov. 7th 2007
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The House in Odense where Amdi Petersen and some of his friends - Poul Jørgensen among others - lived together in the mid sixties in the first left winged commune in Denmark. Their alternative - and by todays standards very harmless - lifestyle caused some attention from the quite conservative local bourgeoisie and probably also from the local branch of Politiets Efterretningstjeneste, Inland Intelligence. (Photo: JFM) |
1967-68 the villa was sold
and the group of friends travelled around the world. They stayed for several
weeks on Tahiti where they made friends with some of the locals.
1969 Amdi Petersen was
arrested for throwing a rock against a policeman during an anti-right-wing
demonstration in Flensburg, Germany. He was convicted but at the appeal the
sentence was suspended.
1970 he founded Den
rejsende Folkehøjskole, The Travelling Folk High School, which is basically an
institutionalised version of the world trip made by the group of friends two
years before. Having participated on one trip - being a "veteran" as
they called it - qualified for "teaching" the next course.
1979 he left all official
positions within the Tvind organisation. He hasn't been seen publically since.
In 2002 some pictures of him have been printed. There is no doubt though that
he still plays a crucial role in controlling the vast empire. He is a
charimatic leader. He travels around the world, mainly in the Caribbean,
Denmark and southern Africa. His official adress until 2001 was Skorkærvej 8,
Ulfborg.
2001 he officially
emigrated to Britain. Adress unknown.
2002 he was arrested in LAX by request of the Danish public prosecutor. (see Update) First photograph of him released to the press. See EkstraBladet.
This is a list of
organisations, companies and institutions that are belived to be controlled by
or dominated by Tvind. The list is compiled from several sources and should be
quoted with caution.
NGO's:
Humana (People to People),
Planet Aid, DAPP, UFF, ADPP, One World Volunteer Institute, Necessary Teacher
Training College, Travelling Folk High School, College for International
Cooperation and Development, Campus California TG, Planet Aid UK, Green World
Recycling, Gaia, Yunnan Institute of Development, KwaZulu College, Child Aid,
Hope, University of the Seven Seas, Frontline Institute, Institute for
Scientific Research and Applied Sciences, La societé verte, The voice of the
third world, L'energie Eternelle, Institute for International Cooperation and
Development: IICD Michigan, IICD Massachusetts, CCTG California, KNEC Durban,
YID China, TCGD India, CID Caribbean
commercial companies:
Grupo Danes, Frioport S.A, la Hacienda
Italia, Hacienda Rio Culebra, Ecpomartes S.A, Ecuador, Fazenda Jatoba,
Brazil, Textile Transformation/E.C. Trading, Freightforwarders, Marco Polo
Transport, Procurement White Hall Agency, Unicorn Trans og World
Trading, Holland, Kadaview, Seagon Investment og Jambalaya,
Hong Kong, Talata, Fairbank, Cooper Investments, Lyle Enterprise,
Kirchheiner Bros. Ltd, Jacaranda, Holland House Ltd., Argyll Smith & Co.,
Goliath Services/Cedex Pac Ltd., Westpac Hamlin, Camberley, Radmoor,
Chatswood, Transco Shipping, Rivalta og Bahia Farming on Jersey and
Guernesey, Trayton Holdings Ltd., Isle of Man, Customlong Agencies
Ltd./Agence Notre Dame Ltd. og International Emergency Centre England,
Pacific Farming Ltd., Fiji, River Doree Holdings Ltd., Park
Estate St. Lucia, BB Shipping og John F. Parsons inc., Miami, U'SAgain,
Seatlle, Chicago, Tropical Farming/ Eastover Properties, B&B Shipping,
Distributers International og Furtherland Farming, Tropical
Produce Cayman Islands, Windward Propterties og Orange Hill Estate,
Richmond Vale Academy, St. Vincent, Cowpen Farm Ltd., Farm 1 Ltd.
og Monkey River Estate, Belize, Domoch og Naim Overseas,
Tortola, Clothing factory Casablanca, Morocco.
The answer must be yes. You
find the charismatic leader, the conversion, the annulment of the members
autonomy, the total replacement of family and old friends by the members, the
total devotion to a common goal and the secrecy in financial and other
affairs. A well-known feature of cults is sexual abuse committed by the guru.
No one has directly accused Amdi Petersen of abuse of that kind. Former friends
of his have suggested that it was the case during his time as a teacher. See
Update, nov. 8th 2007
Tvind is no religion. It is
an ideology with no hopes of an afterlife. It is very pragmatic and unromantic.
Personal feelings as well as love for nature are considered disturbing elements
in the correct perception of the world. Still there is much more than
rationalism to Tvind. In Tvind - Ulfborg, Denmark - they have set up af SETI
(Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) observatory but it doesn't seem to
play any significant role.
It is my personal view that
Tvind is not about money. Money is a means to an end which is growth of the
organisation, further control of more followers. For outsiders following Tvind
money is important because it enables you to map out the structures of the
organisation. The backbone of Tvind is the devotion of the followers.
Important notice: not
everybody working for Tvind is a member of the Teachers Group, and not every
member of TG is a teacher. The organisation is not a closed community, but the
true leaders are.
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Page last updated 18 marts 2010 |
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since Oct. 1st 2004 |
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