German Diary: Kel Currah writes from Rostock

Kel Currah, GCAP G8 Coordinator and World Vision Head of Poverty Reduction Unit, has been involved with the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) since 2005. Read below his interesting personal-account of the CSO doings at Rostock and Berlin. 

Saturday, 2nd June

So the G8 carnival begins. I traveled to a cold and cloudy Rostock on Saturday. The autobahn from Berlin was empty save for long caravans of green and white police vans which too were heading north for the rally. Rostock also seemed quiet as we gathered at the train station ready to march in the rain.

Grunge is not dead!
It was alive and well and seemed to be the preferred dress style of the average Rostock marcher. I, of course, wore NGO-wear - a pair of chinos and a blue wind-breaker - normally a safe choice but one that made me look a  bit out of place in the crowd. Probably more of a tourist than an activist.

This year the marchers wore black and that was reflected in the atmosphere which seemed dark and ominous. It was certainly a contrast to the G8 rally in 2005, at Gleneagles, Scotland, when the crowd wore white and seemed hopeful.

The rally was large
The crowd was big and loud - some 30,000 people by most reports. The rally was peaceful till it reached the harbour when the protests turned violent. Bottles, stones, even parts of the pavement were thrown and the armoured police used tear gas and water hoses to tackle the protesters. For those of us caught, between the fighting and the sea, it was a worrying couple of moments as the wave of riot police and protesters clashed a few metres away.

Well it was worrisome for me definitely.

To my seasoned GCAP colleagues, it seemed that this was a mere skirmish - an annoyance at the most. Luckily, after about an hour there was a lull in the fighting that allowed us to clear out of the harbour. I fled to the safety of the hotel bar.

It is a shame that the violence of a small number of us beat out the messages of the many. Violence dominated the news and not the failings of the G8.

Sunday, 3rd June

Sunday morning and it was time to head south. Back to Berlin. It seemed that UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had planned a surprise visit for Chancellor Merkel, prior to the G8 summit, and they agreed to meet with GCAP and Diene Stimme gegen Armut (the German GCAP coalition) to have a symbolic presentation of the Voices Against Poverty petition.

This meant Roxy and Ulla spent a hectic 24 hours preparing two large 'speech bubbles' to give to Blair and Merkel and I was heading down to help them out.

Confusion over the bubble
Claudia and Ulla of Diene Stimme gegen Armut were officially to present the bubbles to the leaders and then pose for photos.

However, there was some confusion and I was holding the bubble when the leaders walked in. Spotting the bubble, Chancellor Merkel headed towards me and asked politely "you have something to present to me?" Aware that this was not the plan and panicking slightly I uttered a stern "No".

The German Chancellor was left confused, not entirely sure why this strange man would not give her the bubble. Luckily Ulla hurried over and saved the situation and presented the bubble.

After the presentation, Claudia made a short statement urging the leaders to take urgent steps this week on behalf of the poor. The presentation went well and the more-than-million petitioners got the chance to remind the G8 about their promises committed in 2005.

I think it was an important message that was delivered to the G8 leaders before the Summit.

Definitely, not my finest hour. But at least I can say I said 'no' to the Chancellor. It has been a busy weekend - from the tear gassed streets of Rostock to the Germany Chancellor in Berlin. The real work begins this week as the leaders arrive and the discussions begin.

Do also check out the blog by UN Millennium Campaign director Salil Shetty at End Poverty Blog.