In January, the 2020 Vision Campaign Secretariat in Ypres was lucky enough to receive a visit from Wolfgang and Brigitte Schlupp-Wick, a German couple who recently undertook a six month international cycle tour to campaign against nuclear weapons.
“On the road for a world without nukes” was the mission statement for a journey that took the pair through seven different countries, travelling the whole time by tandem bicyle. Along the way, they arranged meetings with local mayors and members of Mayors for Peace, creating excellent opportunities for productive dialogue about peace and disarmament while also raising awareness about the threat of nuclear weapons among local communities. The couple were unfortunately forced to abandon their original goal of cycling all the way to Iran due to visa and security issues, but their travels, which encompassed Turkey, Italy, Hungary and Austria, still represent an impressive and inspiring action for peace.
Wolfgang and Brigitte have been engaged in peace activism for many years: they were particularly involved in opposing the American Pershing II missiles which were, until 1990, deployed the German town of Mutlangen. This experience was one of the motivating factors behind their trip. They write,“we are committed to peace work. Nuclear missiles were on our doorstep. We protested and they were disarmed. We campaign for a ban of nuclear weapons and a world free of nuclear weapons and that conflicts be resolved nonviolently.”
The president of Mayors for Peace, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima described the tour as “a meaningful and epoch-making effort to bind tensions and diffuse tensions by cycling through with a message of peace.” To find out more about Wolfgang and Brigitte’s trip, visit their website at www.global-zero-now.de
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