The Link | Summer 2015

The seeds of self-sufficiency

Farming solutions breaking the cycle of aid reliance

EBOLA: THREAT TO PEACE How the health crisis is driving instability and conflict

From little things big things grow 65 years of the Christmas Bowl

GIVING A VOICE TO THE VULNERABLE Photojournalist Tracey Shelton risks her life to help displaced Iraqis tell their story

The international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia ABN 64 493 941 795

“During the challenge I experienced a small part of the daily struggle of refugee life. It inspired me to do more for those who need it most.”

Karen, Bowral, NSW.

Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

Hungry for

Change?

Take part in the Act for Peace Ration Challenge!

Eat the same rations as a refugee from Burma during refugee week in June, experience a glimpse of refugee life, and get sponsored to do it. We’ll send you a parcel with the exact same food rations that a refugee receives in the camps. The money you raise will fund more rations, helping to make sure the refugees have enough to eat until it’s safe enough for them to return home.

Places are strictly limited. Pre-register at www.actforpeace.org.au/rationchallenge to guarantee your place.

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Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

Janet Cousens/Act

Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

Caption

for Peace

Ben Fraser/Act for Pea

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C on t en t s 04 The seeds of self-sufficiency Together we are empowering Burmese refugees to support themselves and their families through innovative farming techniques.

Ben littlejohn/Act for Peace

06 Dedicated to helping others Fred doesn’t have money to give, but his commitment to help others saves lives every day.

Richard Wainwright/Act for Peace

08 Giving a voice to the vulnerable AAP Images

Dan Church Aid

Photojournalist Tracey Shelton risks her life to help displaced Iraqis tell their story, and inspire Australians to act.

10 EBOLA: THREAT TO PEACE How the health crisis is driving instability and conflict in West Africa, and what you’re doing about it.

12 From Little Things Big things Grow Lakeside Photography

Celebrating 65 years of the Christmas Bowl and the difference you have made.

14 A safer world The Global Arms Trade Treaty comes into force.

Control Arms

Cover: Shwe is part of a refugee agriculture program, supported by your gifts to the Christmas Bowl, that's helping him provide for his family. Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace.

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My Story

The seeds of self-sufficiency Than fled Burma as a refugee after a traumatic attack on his village by the Burmese army. Despite being left with nothing, Than is determined to stand on his own two feet again and build a safe and secure future for his family. Thanks to your support through the Christmas Bowl, our innovative farming program is helping him do just that.

Than fled his village in Papun District just over 20 years ago after the Burmese army raided the area, “They destroyed my home and the farms in my community. I did not dare to stay in Burma.”

Than has clear memories of the long and dangerous journey to Mae La refugee camp over 400km away, “There was no food and water. We [my family] walked day and night time with no meals for a very long way. It was very difficult to get to the border.”

Than had found safety, but camp life was very difficult. Like other Burmese refugees he was legally confined to the refugee camp and had no official way of making a living. He was forced to survive on food rations provided by Act for Peace’s local partner, The Border Consortium (TBC).

Life became increasingly hard when Than started his own family. He was burdened by the worry of being able to provide for his wife, young son Aung, now aged 4, and daughter Naw Pi,

aged 10 months. To make sure his family had enough to live on Than would risk his safety and work as a migrant labourer, outside of the camp confines, “I would sometimes get stopped by Police at a checkpoint and be arrested for leaving the camps.

They would demand a bribe and take all my money. I could not bring any home to my family.”

Than’s life changed when he was given the opportunity to join our innovative Community Agriculture and Nutrition (CAN) farming program. Thanks to you, Than and others like him are being given the chance to support their families’ nutritional needs and earn an income by working their own allotment. Participants of the CAN program are given everything they need to start growing fruits and vegetables including tools, seeds, training and a small plot of land.

“After joining the CAN garden I can work everyday and earn money for my family. Because I grow vegetables in CAN I can support my family. I can feed them and sell vegetables at

Than is proud of the vegetables he grows in the community garden.

market to earn extra money. I can buy food for my children and fill the kitchen with meat, herbs and eggs.”

Than beams from ear to ear when talking about his garden. His district of Papun was a farming area and he is now able to use his skills to support his family.

He grows a range of vegetables including lettuce, long beans, water gourd and eggplants. Than is proud of his garden, but most of all he is proud that he can support his family and give them a good life, “I have no worries for my life now. There is much less worry for my family for the future since the CAN program.”

Than hopes that one day it will be safe enough to return to Burma.

In the meantime, he will continue to provide for his family and work hard on the plot of land given to him with your support.

“My son likes to play with aeroplanes and cars. When I earn money through CAN I spend money on my children and on my son so he can enjoy these things and be a child with no worries.”

All Images: Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

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STEP 1 Everyone is given the opportunity to sign up to the CAN program. The program is promoted throughout the camp in community meetings, on notice boards and by community leaders and representatives.

STEP 2 New farmers are given a start-up pack that includes basic farming implements and a variety of seeds that are chosen based on nutritional value.

STEP 3 We provide initial training for refugees through Farmer Field Schools. Farmers are taught what is best to plant for good nutrition, when to plant it to get the best yield and new techniques to use such as soil churning and crop rotation.

Seeds are selected to provide maximum nutritional value.

STEP 4 Farmers can choose to use their new tools and seeds to plant in community gardens, their own kitchen/home gardens or to help run school gardens.

STEP 5 Most farmers are part of Farmer Cluster Groups that are formed so that members of the community can coach each other and learn from each other’s farming experiences and knowledge.

STEP 6 As refugees increase their skills and crop yields, many begin to produce more fruit and vegetables than their family need. At this point they are given livelihood support in the form of savings and loan schemes and product marketing training, they can learn how to sell their vegetables at market and start earning a small income.

Than and his son, Aung, are positive about the future.

Making a difference Than is able to provide for his family thanks to your support for our Burmese refugee program featured in the recent Christmas Bowl appeal. Your response to the Christmas Bowl was overwhelming. The appeal is ontrack to raise an amazing $2.5 million (see pages 12 and 13), thank you!

In the last 6 months months you have helped our local partner to provide 6,299 households just like Than’s with vegetable seeds, giving more refugees the opportunity to become self-sufficient. With your help TBC has also trained 278 farmers in the Farmer Field School program on the health benefits of gardens, soil health, seed saving and planting in small spaces of land, helping refugees get better results from their gardens.

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Dedicated

to helping others Fred is an ambulance driver with Act for Peace’s local partner in Ethiopia.

He doesn’t have spare money to give but has dedicated his life to helping others.

He believes that we all have a responsibility to help those less fortunate and is doing his part to support sick refugees who have been forced to flee to Ethiopia.

Act for Peace’s local partner in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church- Development and Interchurch Aid Commision (EOC-DICAC), provides urgently needed emergency medical assistance for refugees with conditions too complex to be treated in the camps.

Patients are referred from different camps to Addis Ababa where they are able to receive often life-saving treatment and ongoing specialist care.

Ethiopia is home to just under half a million refugees, predominantly from neighbouring South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia. They fled from war ravaged regions and survived the perilous journey to Ethiopian refugee camps. Many have fought dehydration, starvation and malnutrition on their journey to the safety of the camps.

Most have survived violence, terror and fear.

They have found safety in the refugee camps but life is still extremely hard. Resources are more stretched than ever and most camps have only one doctor to handle the medical needs of up to 20,000 refugees. With health services so thinly stretched, people with complex or severe medical conditions are left extremely vulnerable, and could even die without extra support.

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Fred, 35, is an EOC-DICAC ambulance driver. But, to the sick refugees he helps, Fred is much more. Fred goes the extra mile when helping his patients and to many, they see him as a member of their family.

“They [patients] know us very well, we know them very well so we have a good friendship, they consider us their family and we even consider them as our family because they are always with us and we with them so we have a good relationship with them” Fred is one of only two ambulance drivers whose job it is to transport critically ill refugees from the refugee camps to Addis Ababa and to help support their treatment once they have arrived. He visits his patients at home and in hospital, driving them to appointments and ensuring they have the round-the-clock care they need.

every one of his patients, takes the time to listen to them and does all he can to brighten up their day. When patients see Fred’s smiling face it makes an extra big difference as they are often alone in Addis Ababa, living with pain and coping with other extremely difficult circumstances.

Fred enjoys being able to use the skills he has to help, “I enjoy my job you know, because always I am assisting needy people so I really enjoy my job.

Always I give transportation to those who cannot walk by themselves and who are very sick so I am very happy” Day in, day out, Fred works tirelessly to provide the care that is needed to the refugees he serves. He often drives up to 350 kilometres a day in searing heat through the exhaust fumes of Addis Ababa’s congested streets, bringing people with lifethreatening conditions to hospital to receive the care they need. He is on call 24 hours, 7 days a week and will often go a number of days without a full night’s sleep. But, Fred believes it is his duty to carry on and do all he can to help.

“I don’t have money to lend but God gave me this job so I am very happy to have this job because I am assisting human beings.”

An extremely caring man, Fred remembers the names of each and

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All Images: Richard Wainwright/Act for Peace

Fred and his wife Ayana.

Fred is one of thousands of staff working for Act for Peace’s local partner organisations around the world. Like Fred, we all have a part to play confronting injustice around the world.

“I’m very happy to work at DICAC. We have good staff, all of them are very nice, they are cooperative, they are strong workers. The really special thing for me to work in a humanitarian job is it needs [for you] to have a good heart and DICAC’s staff have a good heart.”

Fred’s job is very hands on. To his patients he is not just an ambulance driver but a carer and friend. Here he assists a patient on her way to a specialist hospital appointment.

Your gifts are saving lives!

You might remember reading about Tekeste in our September appeal letter. Tekeste had a life threatening tumor and was facing almost certain death. With your support Tekeste was transported to Addis Ababa and received the life-saving surgery he needed.

You raised over $110,000 for the Ethiopia appeal, which will help support more critically ill refugees like Tekeste. Since September EOC-DICAC have been working towards buying a new ambulance to transport patients as well as looking to hire new staff to better support at risk refugees. Thank you!

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Giving a voice

to the vulnerable The true impact of war – it’s toll on mothers, fathers, sons and daughters – often goes unreported in the mainstream media. Our 24hr headlines and sound bites report events but don’t tell the human stories behind those events.

Australian photojournalist, Tracey Shelton, wants people in Australia and around the world to do all they can to support people affected by conflict.

And she believes that the best way to inspire them to act is to tell the human stories of people caught up in these devastating situations.

Tracey faces daily dangers in order to give a voice to vulnerable people. Most recently, she travelled to Iraq, risking her own life to help those fleeing the Islamic State (IS) to share their stories.

Tracey in action during a trip to Syria in 2013 to photograph the human impact of the civil war.

Brutal captors

Sitting in a makeshift camp for the displaced outside Duhok, Sara told Tracey, “They didn’t feed us much.

I used to pass out a lot, but I would make trouble for him as much as possible and fight when I could.

Many times I thought of giving up but I kept thinking of my family and my brother. I lived only for them.”

Sara was fortunate enough to escape her captors when skirmishes between IS fighters and the Kurdish army gave her and a few others a chance to run away.

Tracey met Sara in August last year while on a freelance assignment for Act for Peace’s partner in

* Names have been changed for safety reasons

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Iraq, Christian Aid. She felt it was her responsibility to share her story with the world.

Tracey believes that if Australians could meet Sara through images and video they would want to help.

Tracey returned to Australia to share not only Sara’s story but many other heartbreaking first hand accounts of families and communities ravaged by war and living in fear of IS.

Tracey Shelton

A 15-year-old girl, named Sara*, had considered giving up on her life many times during her monthlong ordeal with IS. The old man she had been given to as a ‘gift’ beat her frequently. He taunted her with videos of Islamic State militants beheading her neighbours. He even drew blood from her arm to make her weak so she couldn’t fight back.

age om the same vill Diyana* was fr e th to IS caped as Sara and es ted gee camp suppor safety of a refu r. ne rt pa l ca e’s lo

by Act for Peac

As an award winning freelance photojournalist, Tracey has made the tough choice to turn away from a relatively safe career reporting on domestic issues for Australia’s leading media outlets.

Instead Tracey has decided to risk her life overseas to report in some of the world’s worst conflict situations. She believes it is a choice that needed to be made in order to share the stories of those who often remain voiceless.

Tracey was once tied up and brutally beaten in her hotel room in Benghazi, Libya, during an attempted kidnapping. She is well aware of the persistent dangers facing journalists. Even with the ongoing risks associated with her job, Tracey says it’s her responsibility to do all that she can to tell the stories that need to be shared.

Tracey Shelton

A tough choice

Zaynab, aged 55, from Deir Ezzor fled her village when reports spread of an imminent IS attack.

Since returning to Australia, Tracey says it’s not the news cycle that drives her but the need to bring some humanity to war. Her reports on the situation in Iraq have had a tremendous impact on how people have viewed the conflict. By bringing a face and a voice to vulnerable people she has helped Australians connect with the situation and be inspired to help.

At least 39 journalists are currently missing around the world. Sixty-three cases of kidnapping were reported in 2013 alone.

Acting for Peace in Iraq In July you responded to the crisis in Iraq generously and with compassion and continued to show your support to those fleeing violence.

Christian Aid UK

Since then you have raised over $64,000 for the appeal.

Thank you. Through our partner on the ground, Christian Aid, you have helped to provide food parcels, clothing, hygiene kits, blankets, psychosocial support and cooking sets. Two refugee camps have been established in Erbil and Dohuk and with your help we are providing a safe environment and much needed shelter to displaced families who have escaped from the persecution of IS.

You are providing displaced people with urgently needed relief packs.

To find out more or to give to the Iraq appeal, please visit www.actforpeace.org.au/iraq or FREECALL 1800 025 101

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Issue Spotlight

Why Ebola is a risk to peace as well as health It’s just over one year since the start of the most recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Now evidence is mounting that the crisis may be reversing more than a decade of peace building and development progress in the region.

As the Ebola crisis deepens, it increasingly has the potential to become a catalyst for conflict and instability in the region and worldwide. Already vulnerable, affected communities are becoming even more vulnerable as a result of the secondary impacts of the disease. What began as an African public health issue is now threatening international peace and security.

Act for Peace’s partners in the ACT Alliance are working hard to contain the immediate health threat from Ebola. They are also working hard to limit the secondary impacts of the outbreak and help keep fragile social structures functioning.

itical education are cr Awareness and lding a Ho a. ol Eb n ntai in efforts to co ove) and (ab n eness sessio community awar prevent to s nd ha r ei g th children washin ). ow el (b e disease the spread of th

World Health Organisation Director-General, Margaret Chan, has called the Ebola outbreak “a crisis for international peace and security.”

All Images: FCA/ACT Alliance

How Ebola is increasing instability and conflict Food scarcity and rising prices • Farmers are scared to work together because of the risk of transmission.

• The transfer of fertiliser and seeds has ceased due to closed borders.

• Markets have emptied and many jobs involving any kind of physical contact have stopped.

Prices continue to rise: • Rice 20% higher.

• Palm oil 50% higher in Monrovia.

• Prices for food and non-food items have increased across the region.

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IMPACT: Disruption in production, labour markets, trade and transport have serious implications for food security and nutrition for poor and vulnerable groups. Poorer people spend a large proportion – about 50-70% – of their income on food. Rapid increases in the prices of staple foods harm them by reducing their access to food. Food and other shortages cause community tensions, unrest and will force possibly infected people to travel.

Civil unrest • All the countries affected by the current crisis – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – have been plagued by violence and instability in the past.

• Economic instability and food scarcity causes distrust in government and exacerbates societal tensions.

IMPACT: Act for Peace’s Executive Director, Alistair Gee says, “Adding social breakdown to the epidemic would create a disaster perhaps impossible to manage. The Ebola epidemic has exposed citizens’ lack of trust in their governments and the grave potential for deep unrest in these already fragile societies.

In all three countries, past civil conflicts could resurface.”

Suspension of health and education services • Many schools have closed and exam periods have been delayed or cancelled.

Students have little or nothing to do while parents struggle to work or find new employment and many reports of vandalism, crime and social conflict are emerging.

• Many hospitals are now failing to cope with other major health problems, which are being deprioritised in the wake of the Ebola outbreak.

IMPACT: Health systems are failing under the pressure from Ebola and other diseases and causing communities to distrust health organisations and the government. The shutdown of education is causing short-term unrest amongst youth and will have negative long-term effects by inhibiting learning if they are unable to attend school for an extended period of time due to the Ebola crisis.

Stopping Ebola and preventing conflict: a three-tiered solution

FAST RESPONSE! Through Act for Peace’s partners in the ACT Alliance you are supporting communities right now. In Liberia you are educating communities so they can prevent infection and the spread of Ebola. You are providing psychosocial support to infected and recovering patients in four affected countries and also providing food and other essential items to affected communities and families.

REBUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Together we can stop the spread of Ebola. But one of the most important goals is to ensure communities can rebuild once the immediate threat has passed. A long-term strategy is needed to rebuild public health-systems and boost struggling economies to ensure that communities are not left vulnerable to poverty or disorder.

A VOICE FOR ACTION A unified voice for change can push governments and decision-makers to respond to a crisis like Ebola and help bring about lasting results.

Act for Peace has been part of a global voice putting pressure on governments to respond to the Ebola outbreak. We have sent a powerful message that decision-makers can’t ignore: we must act together to beat Ebola!

As part of the rebuilding process you are providing Ebola survivors with hope for the future. Your funds have provided start-up kits that include food, household items and hygiene supplies through our local partners.

These kits are essential when people return home as all their possessions are destroyed in the decontamination process.

Find out more at www.actforpeace.org.au/ebola SUMME R 2014 / 2015

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Your action, your impact

From little things,

L

THE

RI

It all started on Christmas day in 1949, when the Reverend Frank Byatt of Victoria placed an empty bowl on the dinner table and asked those present to give what they considered to be the cost of the meal. Frank urged his guests to reflect on their good fortunes and encouraged them to do something selfless to bring relief and hope to refugees who had fled the horrors of World War II. 65 years later and the Christmas Bowl appeal has grown to become a much-loved tradition for many denominations. For the 2,000 churches from 19 denominations who now take part each year, the Christmas Bowl is an essential part of our Christmas celebrations. It’s how we as Australian Christians come together to share God’s gift of love and hope with people around the world who need it most.

For the first time since World War II, the number of refugees, asylum seekers and internally

1949: The first Christmas Bowl helps refugees from World War II. 1950: You assisted the resettlement of more than 75,000 refugees.

1960: You provided assistance to indigenous communities in Australia.

1970: You supported South Africans who had fled the Apartheid regime.

Thanks to you, each year our partners on the ground support around one million refugees and displaced people. Since the Christmas Bowl began you have raised more than $200 million to support communities affected by conflict and disaster.

1992: You gave your voice for change and began to campaign against mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

2004: You gave comfort and supplies to the victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

2015: Today you are providing relief to many of the 50 million refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people worldwide.

1985: You helped feed starving communities during the Ethiopian famine.

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displaced people worldwide has exceeded 50 million. Sadly, the Christmas Bowl appeal is needed as much today as it has ever been, and remains a vital link between those who have enough and those who have too little.

ACT FOR PEACE | SUPPORTER MAGAZINE

Christmas Bowl posters through the years.

OF

STM

W

CH

big things grow.

AS

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You showed you care this Christmas

Sarah Gregory/Act for Peace

Pamela Vergara

Karen McGrath/Act for Peace

This year thanks to your dedication and generosity, the Christmas Bowl is on track to raise an incredible $2.5 million, which will help children living in camps along the Thai/Burma border get enough nutritious food, and support life-saving projects around the world.

Karizza Javier held a movie trivia night at her church raising over $900 for the Christmas Bowl appeal.

Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

Over 150 volunteers came together on the streets of Adelaide to raise money for the Christmas Bowl in what has become an Adelaide Act for Peace tradition.

Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

Coffs Harbour Council of Churches host their annual ecumenical carol service in aid of the Christmas Bowl appeal. Young and old enjoyed musical performances, local choirs and a Christmas feast.

Christmas Collection: Enthusiastic Act for Peace volunteers collected donations from the public at festive Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne during Advent.

Ben Littlejohn/Act for Peace

St. James Anglican Church in Sydney support the Christmas Bowl at their annual carol service.

Karen McGrath/Act for Peace

Henrike Brussard

A packed Christmas Bowl service at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Manuka, ACT.

Christmas Treats: Jenny made gingerbread treats to sell at her workplace to raise money for the Christmas Bowl.

Volunteer speaker, Colville Crowe, shares his passion for the Christmas Bowl with the congregation at Roseville Uniting Church, NSW.

See more photos from this year’s Christmas Bowl at actforpeace.org.au/christmasbowl

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A S a fe r world On Christmas Eve, Act for Peace supporters and campaigners around the world received an early Christmas present.

You joined campaigners across the world to call for a strong, effective UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that will reduce conflict. And, on Christmas Eve, you helped make history when the ATT became official international law. This was the culmination of years of pressure from you and campaigners globally.

The Arms Trade Treaty will curb the irresponsible arms trade that every day claims 1,500 lives.

The global agreement will make it illegal to sell weapons to non-state armed groups and where they are likely to be used in human rights abuses.

The historic agreement will save lives – and the patience and determination of people like you made it possible!

Find out more, visit www.actforpeace.org.au/ATT

Human rights advocates around the world celebrated the ratification of the ATT after more than a decade of campaigning.

“Civilians have paid too high a price for the lack of global arms controls. Weak laws have permitted arms and ammunition to be legally transferred into the hands of dictators and warlords. But the game is up now – those days are over. Now governments have the chance to change the arms trade for good, and if rigorously implemented this treaty will save lives.”

Ben Murphy from Oxfam Australia; and Gary Quinlan, Representative of Australia to the UN, proudly hold a certificate celebrating Australia’s ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty.

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Alistair Gee, Executive Director, Act for Peace

All Images: Control Arms

You can leave a lasting legacy By remembering Act for Peace in your Will, you’ll help to ensure the continuation of the work that the Christmas Bowl began in 1948, standing alongside survivors of conflict and disaster and building a brighter future.

Your bequest will be testament to your lasting commitment to a safer, more dignified and just world.

To find out how to include Act for Peace in your will please call Claire on 1800 025 101 or visit www.actforpeace.org.au/bequests Richard Wainwright/Act for Peace

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“ The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

The late Nelson Mandela

ACT FOR PEACE Locked Bag Q199, Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230 T 1800 025 101 F 02 9262 4514 E info@actforpeace.org.au W www.actforpeace.org.au Facebook /actforpeace

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