Hands together to drop small arms and for a strong international treaty

Today is the first full day of the Kirchentag and we're working hard at the WCC and Bossey stand in the marketplace. This is almost a live blogpost from the stand. We've already had lots of fascinating conversations with people from all over Germany but also from around the world - visitors in the first two hours from Congo and Ethiopia, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Britain - and those are just the ones I spoke with.
The activity that's working really well is collecting signatures in favour of a strong treaty for small weapons reduction. People are taking photos of the different ways they draw around their hands and sign the cloth petition, some of the hand outlines have been really well decorated. It's really good to have brought this to the Kirchentag from the International Ecumenical Peace convocation.
The Norwegian Churches have started the initiative, now we have to hope that some folk here at the Kirchentag will take the initiative up here in Germany and in the other countries people are from. Let's get things going from below so that pressure is put on those at the negotiating table in 2012 to make a strong treaty and reduce small arms use throughout the world.
Meanwhile I shall be faced with a technical challenge this evening, how to get thephotos off my new mobile phone and onto the facebook page. hmm...
and this is my first blog post with my new netbook and I can't find where teh phots are stored here either. Ah well by the end of the Kirchentag perhaps I'll have it all sorted out!