This document outlines the opening session of a training on land grabbing. It introduces: 1. The organizers and participants will get to know each other through an introductory activity. 2. The training initiative and objectives are presented, which are to share knowledge about the serious issue of land grabbing from the UN and how to address it by building partnerships. 3. Practical aspects like schedules, roles and agreements are discussed to ensure the smooth running of the 10 day, 8 hour per day training program consisting of 25 modules.

1. Training on land grabbing
Fr. John Paul Pezzi, Mccj
VIVAT International associate
www.jpic-jp.org
www.vivatinternational.org

2. No.0/2
INTRODUCTION TO THE TRAINING
Opening Session
Session No. 0

3. LearningObjectives.
By this session we want you to:
 Get to know the organizers and participants
 Understand the training initiative & its objectives
 A special reflection for this training
No.0/3
 Face up to the theme of “the
Earth”
 Get organized for the training
(timetable & other practical
aspects)

4. No.0/4Contentsofthesession
0-. Opening Prayer. PP. Our Father
1-. Short activity to get to know each other (Activity N° 1)
2-. Presenting the training initiative & its objectives
 A special word for this training
3-. A word about the Earth
4-. Practical aspects: “Class Agreements” to be respected
throughout the training
(timetable, sheets services, etc.)
Conclusion. PP. This place is
sacred Ground.

5. No.0/50-.OurFatherPrayer
We start our meeting sharing a prayer
 The central prayer of the Christian faith.
Let’s pray the words of Jesus in the perspective of Justice, Peace,
and Integrity of Creation: a mandate to build the Kingdom of
God on Earth.
Let’s adopt a vision of life, of the world, of relationships
between humans and between them and the nature, and the
Divine Being, the One God of all.
PowerPoint: Let’s follow in prayer attitude.
Click here for
seeing the
video

6. No.0/61-.Activityforparticipants
To know each other
 Everyone says only his name, the one he wants to be called
with.
 Each one receives a card: on it he writes two data that
identifies him/her, without the name.
For example, I’d write Priest, missionary ... I work for an NGO at
the United Nations in the US.
 We put the cards on the wall above the
image of the tree where everyone can
read: remembering our name all should
identify who each one is.
 During breaks we can draw a card and
seek to identify the person. Then we
return the card to its place.

7. No.0/7Howdidtheideaofthistrainingcomeabout?
"Recent massive land grabs for the benefit of private interests or
third states have already accounted for tens of millions of
hectares, violated human rights by depriving local communities
– indigenous people,
peasants, pastoralists
and fisher folk – of
their means of
production, restricting
their access to natural
resources and taken
away their free
production."
A-. The World Social Forum, Dakar
2011. The General Assembly stated:

8. No.0/8Howdidtheideaofthistrainingcomeabout?
B-. The seriousness of the problem
During the Special Synod for Africa (October 2009) African Bishops suggested:
If rural situation does not change, within 20 years, there will be 300 million
African people without land and reduced to poverty
They meant that the problem is
becoming so serious that we are
heading towards conflicts and low
level wars.
Today’s migrations are the tip of the iceberg
of what is boiling below
where people loose their land,
and thus their work and food.

9. No.0/9
1-. Three Catholic NGOs
with consultative status
at the UN-ECOSOC,
identified the problem
2-. And decided to
deal with it. They are
AEFJN – AFJN – VIVAT
International
3-. Some of their members
 Collected information &
evidence worldwide
 Gathered information
about NGOs working on
the issue throughout the
world
4-. Discovered: There
is no consistent
strategy to address
the LG problem
5-. Conclusion: Only
those affected &
suffering because the
problem can solve it
6. Some religious and laity,
concerned about issues
such as
 the future of the Earth,
 enough food for all,
 Peace,
prepared this training offer.
Howdidtheideaofthistrainingcomeabout?
C-. How did the idea become a reality?

10. No.0/10
D. Those who organize the course wish
a-. To share what we have learned from the United Nations on
 The seriousness of LG and how to address it;
 How to find concrete answers to this phenomenon of LG;
b-. To build up links and bridges of dialogue with “the base”, i.e. with
 people representing communities affected by LG
 and civil society.
c. To study and plan together actions with
real stakeholders, sharing knowledge and
tools;
d-. Thus to create a network to prevent and
counteract LG, provide a response to LG,
through concerted efforts locally and with
international agencies
Howdidtheideaofthistrainingcomeabout?

11. No.0/11
E-. Structure of the seminar
Length
The complete training lasts 10 days
8 hours a day with 25 modules
It can be divided into steps
selecting and shifting modules
Why train on LG?
Time is running out: the
available land is running out
The phenomenon is rapidly
expanding
The Earth is the source of water, minerals, food, cultural identity, climate change
Laws and rules - recognized and even accepted - protect the land rights, human
rights of peasants and Indigenous people.
However, the problem persists. We must all act.
Howdidtheideaofthistrainingcomeabout?

12. No.0/12
A special word for you about this training
This is not a workshop, rather it is like a course to train those who can and want to
replicate this training to other trainers. This implies a very accurate attitude.
1-. From the trainers: we do not intend to trying to convince you, encourage you, but
rather explaining to you, teaching you, answering your questions.
2-. From the participants. The attitude should be:
- Active: to learn and understand in order to teach others.
- Critique: to clearly see and express what you do not understand or do not comprehend.
The aim is that you acquire knowledge, ideas, and materials for you to know how to give
this training to others.
Work method:
- Do not worry about taking note of the contents, you will receive all the material:
PowerPoint, photos, attachments.
- Write down only what you do not understand, do not agree with or what you want to
ask; if the photos & the PP are significant or too long, the working group inadequate, etc.

13. No.0/133-.ThewordEarth
The word Earth is used with different
meanings:
1. The Earth is the universe: God created
heaven and earth. It is a generic word for
talking about all that exists.
2. The Earth is the planet on which we live: a
star. It's this particular globe that is our
common house.
3. The Earth is the source of life: the Pacha
Mama. It is the spiritual experience of
belonging, dependency.
4. The Earth is the land on which we live, that is
a part of the planet: our environment, where
we live and act.
5. The Earth is the ground someone cultivates:
from it come the fruits of the earth. It is the
arable land.
We'll talk about all this but we
will focus on the ultimate
meaning, arable land that today
is the central point of conflicts:
that is the aim of Land Grab (LG).

14. No.0/144-.Practicalaspects:
We now take together practical decisions to be respected during the training. We
put them on paper and the paper on a wall:
o The use of phone
o Photos
o Timeliness
o Other services. We need someone who:
• knows how to draw (i.e. a tree)
• collect groups’ work
• make the exact list of names and e-mail addresses
• prepare a certificate of attendance
• act as resource persons to the problems that may arise
o Record of service: for prayer in the morning and evening and the Eucharist on Sunday,
for cleaning the kitchen (if needed)
o To prepare a summary of the previous day.
• Each day 2 different participants will prepare a brief summary of 5-10 min. also
through an activity / game / puzzles.
• The 1st day’s summary will be prepared by the animators.
Agreements

15. No.0/155-.Weconcludethesession
This place is sacred Earth. It is a call.
The commitment to respect the Earth should not be motivated by
personal interests or desires for revenge, but for love to the Earth,
Mother of all and for the brotherhood that unites all mankind.
The power point «This place is sacred Earth» Sacred ground.
Click here for
see the video