Radical kindness: the banker who gave it all away

 

 

 

 

 

  Kindness House

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Article in the Melbourne Age 

Radical kindness: the banker who gave it all away

• Katherine Kizilos
• The Age April 10, 2009

Philip and Trix Wollen own Kindness House in Fitzroy, where two thirds of the tenants don't pay rent.

ON THE face of it, kindness doesn't sound like a radical idea, just as Philip Wollen, at first glance, does not look like a radical. Wollen is a former merchant banker. He was a vice-president of Citibank when he was 34, and a general manager at Citicorp. Australian Business Magazine named him one of the top 40 headhunted executives in Australia. But about 1990 — he is not exactly sure of the year — Wollen decided to give away 90 per cent of his capital, a process he describes as "reverse tithing".
Since then Wollen has donated millions to improving the environment and helping the powerless — children, animals and the terminally ill — around the world. He sponsors the anti-whaling vessel the Sea Shepherd and the South Australian Children's Ballet Company, and has built schools, orphanages, lion parks and sanctuaries. His Winsome Constance Kindness Trust supports more than 400 projects in 40 countries. Wollen says his aim is to die broke, to give away all he owns with "warm hands", and that he is on track to do so.
In recent years, he has occasionally appeared in the local press, writing a letter in support of animal rights, for instance, or responding to a humanitarian crisis. In 2005, when 104-year-old Chinese woman Cui Yu Hu, a resident of Melbourne, was struggling to receive an aged person's visa that would give her the right to medical benefits, Wollen offered to pay all her bills himself. In 2007, he was named Victorian of the Year.
But mostly he does his work away from the public gaze. The trust's website says "we don't want your money", and its mission statement is ambitious: "to promote kindness towards all other living beings and enshrine it as a recognisable trait in the Australian character and consciousness."
When Wollen decided to give away his millions, he was single. Now he is married to Trix and says he cannot imagine how he would get along without her. "I help with the practical aspects," she says quietly.
Our interview takes place at Kindness House, the trust's most visible presence in Melbourne. The building on the corner of Brunswick and Johnston streets in Fitzroy provides office space to 29 non-government organisations including the Wilderness Society, Greenpeace, the Australian West Papua Association, Social Firms Australia and Rescued with Love, an adoption program for small dogs.
On one side of the building, posters promoting local live acts are plastered on a "what's on wall". Local street artists were paid to paint the murals in the lane at the back. The young artists named the alley "Kindness Lane".
Two-thirds of the Kindness House tenants only pay for their phone bills: rent and internet is free. The office space includes a large communal area on the top floor where workshops can be held or films shown. Wollen had plans for the roof of the building that were abandoned after the Indian Ocean tsunami: the money was spent helping the tsunami victims instead.
Outside the Brunswick Street entrance is an open bird cage with a two-sided sign. One side bears William Blake's lines: "A robin red breast in a cage/ puts all of heaven in a rage". On the other is Wollen's own philosophy: "In their capacity to suffer, a dog is a pig is a bear … is a boy."
The sign expresses the other strand of Wollen's radicalism: his commitment to animal rights. (Wollen does not believe his position is radical at all, arguing his background is "decidedly conservative": "What could be more radical than killing?")
He agrees with philosopher Peter Singer that animal rights pose "the greatest moral issue facing humanity since the abolition of slavery". As part of this philosophy, Wollen also opposes dairying, believing it to be cruel to animals and citing health and environmental concerns.
"To produce one litre of milk takes 1000 litres of water when we will soon be drinking recycled sewage," he says. Yet he also says he does not want those engaged in the industry to suffer, arguing they could be redeployed elsewhere. In India he funds "retirement homes" for abused cows. Their dung is fed through biogas plants to produce methane, which is then used as cooking gas. The plants also generate electricity, the cow urine is turned into medicine and farmers use the waste slurry as fertiliser.
Wollen describes himself as an "ahimsan", a term he has adopted from the Sanskrit word ahimsa, which means "non-violence to any living being". Ahimsa, he says, is "the most beautiful word ever written at any time, in any country, in human history".
Asked to explain the origins of his commitment to animal causes, he quotes King Lear, who asked the blind Earl of Gloucester: "How do you see the world?" Gloucester replied: "I see it feelingly."
Says Wollen in a measured way: "I heard the screams of my father as cancer ravaged his body, and then I realised I had heard those screams before — in slaughterhouses, in the dog meat markets, in cattle ships, and the dying mother whale as a harpoon explodes in her brain as she calls out to her calf. Their cries are the cries of my father. And I realised that when we suffer, we suffer as equals. Screams are identical from any species and in any language."
To believe that the suffering of an animal is morally equivalent to the suffering of a human is to inhabit a world in which cruelty is practised every day, everywhere. Wollen does not resile from the implications of this perspective. "I have seen horror inflicted on the powerless that terrified me and I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming with nightmares."
Yet asked if he is happier than he used to be before he decided to give his money away, he says: "Yes. 'Happy' is an odd word. I feel a sense of joy in every second of every day, because I know how precious and fleeting every second of life is. We deprive others of their lives at our own moral peril."
Wollen was educated in rural South Australia and was raised as an Anglican, but says he is comfortable with most religious traditions. He says he grew up with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews and Jains but felt a particular affinity for the Jains with their philosophy of causing no harm to living beings. He acknowledges that this is not possible, but says it is his aim.
Humane slaughter, in Wollen's view, is an impossible idea that he likens to saying "rape is much better than it used to be". But he did once try to improve the practices at Cairo's Basateen slaughterhouse, where Australian livestock are killed according to halal guidelines; a decision he now regrets. "Our own animals had their eyes stabbed out and their tendons were slashed. I put money in, my own personal money to try and train the halal butchers and it has been an abject failure. They don't care."
Wollen then reflects that working in an abattoir takes a heavy toll on its labourers: "The most stressful job in the world — more than soldiers, brain surgeons and air traffic controllers is a slaughterhouse worker."
Some of Wollen's projects help animals and humans at the same time. In India, for example, he is helping reduce the incidence of rabies, which kills 50,000 people a year, by investing in an Indian program that captures, neuters and vaccinates street dogs (he prefers to call them community dogs, because neighbourhoods care for them). The dogs are then returned to the street corner where they were found. "If you release them back into the area, they will protect their territory," he says, arguing this helps keep the dog population lower — and is also kinder — than a simple extermination program. The initiative is being introduced in Middle Eastern countries where rabies continues to linger.
Wollen says that in choosing his projects, he is assisted by an international network of people whom he does not pay but relies on to tell him what is happening at the grassroots. His preference is for small programs that "punch above their weight".
In Korea he funds a group attempting to stop the practice of beating dogs to death in the market place "because Koreans believe that the more fear and suffering these animals experience, the tastier the meat".
In China he is trying to save the moon bears, which are kept in steel cages where catheters are attached to them; their bile is used in medicine. "They can't move, they can't scratch themselves and they try to kill themselves, and the Chinese smash out their teeth and chop off their fingers."
ASKED to name a project that has particular meaning for him, Wollen describes the Morning Star orphanage in Bangalore, a home to more than 60 children. It was started 20 years ago by John Samson who found "a starving two-year-old child thrown in a filthy rubbish bin". Samson found other abandoned children in quarries, beside railway tracks and on the street. Many have physical and mental disabilities; one was so malnourished he had chewed his own arm.
The disabled children receive 24-hour care in the home, and the more capable attend school. One has been accepted into a prestigious women's college, another is a gifted chess player. The first child found by Samson in the rubbish bin is a qualified pharmacist — he spent many years helping to care for his fellow orphans.
Trix's favourite scheme involves acquiring sloth bears from India's Kalander people, who have traditionally made a living by making the animals "dance" . Wollen explains: "They kill the mother and they drive a hot poker through the nose of the cub and they put a piece of glass in there." The bears are always in pain and "dance" when a cord is pulled. In exchange for their bears, the Kalanders are offered a small-business opportunity — a rickshaw, say, or a fruit and vegetable shop. With a business, the Kalanders are able to settle and their children can go to school (the Wollens hope to fund a program that promises to pay dowries for the daughters if they stay at school until they are 18, as a way of delaying early teenage marriages among them).
Through the scheme, 500 bears have been given their freedom in a sanctuary. On a recent visit, the Wollens were amazed when two rescued bears that had received medical treatment clambered onto the back of a truck to join them.
"They hugged us, and they licked our face," recalls Wollen. "And they were huge. These were animals who had been tortured, tortured for years and they had forgiven us. Forgiven us. I could never forgive someone who had done that to my wife, or my mum or my sister or my daughter. "
"It was so beautiful," recalls Trix, "they were eating honey out of our hands". Then she remembered that one of the bears stood on Wollen's foot, which was bruised "for weeks and weeks".
"I think he broke my toe," says Wollen, adding later: "He was a lovely guy".
PHILIP WOLLEN CV
BORN 1950
MARRIED Trix
CAREER Former vice-president of Citibank and general manager of Citicorp. Also set up own advisory company.
OCCUPATION Founder of the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust, named after his mother and grandmother.
AWARDS Medal of the Order of Australia, 2005; Australian Humanitarian Award, 2006; Victorian of the Year, 2007.
Katherine Kizilos is an Age senior writer.

Philip Wollen's list of Do's and Don'ts by Maneka Gandhi - India

Posted on: 14 Dec 2009

Philip Wollen's list of Do's and Don'ts

Maneka Gandhi

Everyone in the animal welfare movement knows that the Australian ,Philip Wollen, is not a human being. He is from another planet. They simply do not make humans like him any more. He went from Bangalore to Australia when he was young, taught himself , got a job in a bank, rose to the top, left it, became rich and now donates all his money to animals and orphans and people who need it. He does so on a moment's notice. He doesn't want paperwork , he just needs to trust you and he does that easily. He picks up fights with aggressively anti animal governments and media , he pays for lectures , he supports Greenpeace and goes out on the ships himself to chase off Japanese whalers, he builds sanctuaries in Asia for bears. On top of that , he is tall, handsome, well read, a vegan, speaks his mind, jokes a lot and writes deliciously. He lives in Melbourne with a beautiful wife called Trix and they work to make their money save the world. The name of their trust is Constance Kindness Trust. Obviously he has landed here on a UFO and the technical word for his species is 'angel '.

He wrote to me recently:

' I received a letter from a French woman whom I knew 25 years ago. She now lives in Puttaparthi in India.
Dear Phil,

When the word ahimsa comes up so does your name. I thought that you might like to have Sathya Sai Baba's definition of Ahimsa. - very close to yours in fact.

With Love and Light

Marie-Paule

What does Ahimsa (non-violence) signify? It is not merely refraining from causing harm to others. It also implies refraining from causing harm to oneself. In the matter of speech, one must examine whether one's words cause pain to others. One must see that one's vision is not tainted with evil intentions or thoughts. Nor should one listen to evil talk either. All these things cause harm to a person. Hence one should see to it that one gives no room for bad vision, bad hearing, bad speech, bad thoughts or bad actions. And how do you determine what is bad? By consulting your conscience. Whenever you act against the dictates of your conscience, bad results will follow.

It got me thinking on a different subject. The following is my garbled list of how we should live (I am including only the very easy ones!)'

Philip's list of Daily Dos and Don'ts.

* Don't eat meat ,eggs or drink milk.
* Eat as much raw food as possible.
* Don't wear clothes made of animals - not even shoes, belts or watchbands.
* Don't consume any product that is made by exploited labour.
* Everything in your wardrobe of clothes that haven't been used in the previous year, give it away (but only if it is in  good condition)
* Eliminate plastic from your life as far as possible... . bags, boxes and credit cards - and some people.
* Avoid negative people like the plague. Anyone who is not adding quality is subtracting quality.
* Turn off every unused electrical appliance at the source.
* Shorten your showers and washing loads.
* Walk, or ride a bike, or use public transport - drive only if absolutely necessary.
* Cut down on the amount of rubbish you send to landfill each week. I have cut down from 150 pounds a week to only 4 pounds - that is one briefcase of rubbish a week.
* Drink water at room temperature - 2 litres a day - in sips.
* Meditate at least one hour a day or at least read for two hours a day
* Walk briskly at least one hour a day. .
* Take your pets for a long walk every day - and talk to them while you do it. And let them stop and sniff as often as they like. A walk is not a race.
* Write at least one letter to the media or a politician every week. It doesn't have to be brickbat - a bouquet is fine too.
* Grow your own vegetable garden or buy organic vegetables.
* Pick up any rubbish you see in the park. It is the right thing to do - and do it in a visible way. It embarrasses the hell of everyone else who soon stop littering.
* Buy a few flat bottom clay trays and leave them under the bushes and trees in the park. Each evening (or morning) when you take your dogs to the park, also take 2 X 2 litre bottles of water and fill up the trays. During the drought ten years ago my local park was baked dry and almost dead. Within 3 months of watering the little trays, the whole place became an ecosystem. Today the park resonates with birdsong, and is full of little animals and insects. It is full of parrots, honey-eaters and even possums.
* Dig in your garden – even if it's a balcony pot garden . Get your hands in the soil. Compost the beds. Plant native flowering shrubs. Buy a bird bath, a bird book and binoculars. Go top your local park or a public place and plant a tree. Plant at least 4 fruit trees for the fruit bats, monkeys and birds.
* Keep the seed of the fruit you eat and put them in pots
* Volunteer your services at any struggling NGO of your choice.
* Play with a dog/cat etc at least once a day. And if possible let them occasionally eat from your hand. Ideal for rewards when they are being good.
* Listen to music.
* Give away money every week - regardless of the amount or the recipient. Try to calculate how much of your income you can give away without drastically affecting your health or happiness. (Not 'lifestyle' - because this means different things to different people - and is mostly rubbish)
* Ask at least one shop-keeper, flight attendant, or restaurant manager/waiter if they stock vegan products (particularly if you know they don't).
* Wear a badge, cap, shirt, or pin which says 'Proud to be Vegetarian' or ' I don't eat dead bodies' or similar.
* De-clutter your house every month. Give away everything you don't need.
* To increase your happiness, do not aim to increase your possessions. Simply decrease your desires. It works - every time. Trust me.

To join the anmal welfare movement contact gandhim@nic.in

Only KINDNESS MATTERS - The Man Who Gave It All Away.

He was the self-made man who made it to the top of the corporate tree. It is his work as a philanthropist, however, that has won him respect and an Australian of the Year award.
KAREN HARDING speaks to The Man Who Gave It All Away.


Above: Former US Vice President
and environmental campaigner
Al Gore met with Philip and Trix
Wollen during his Australian
visit.

By the time he was 40, Philip Wollen had the corporate world at his feet.

A merchant banker, he was Vice-President of Citibank at

34 and a general manager at Citicorp. He was named one

of the top 40 headhunted executives in Australia by

Australian Business Magazine. He had the material

trappings of a successful executive and his favourite meal

was filet mignon and lobster.

It seemed his story was complete. From a youngster in

Bangalore, to the diligent student who travelled to

Australia alone and naive at age 18 to further his

education, to the top of the heap. He had worked hard to

make something of himself, and he had succeeded.

But deep within him, something was stirring.

“I think I discovered early on that a man doesn’t find his

character on Wall Street. It lives on the road to

Damascus.”

One day a client took him to one of his businesses, an

abattoir. What he witnessed that day shocked him to the

core and changed his path forever.

The man he had striven so hard to be had come face to

face with the man he would become. The story was not

concluded at all. A new chapter was beginning.

Fast forward some years and Wollen stands astride the

world again. But this time it is through the footprints of

the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust.

The trust, named after his mother and grandmother, is

dedicated to supporting groups that actively work in

areas that are in alignment with the Trust’s Five Fingers –

Children, Animals, The Ill, The Environment and

Aspiring Youth.

The breadth, scale and diversity of the Trust are

impressive. It currently supports 400 projects in 40

different countries, with its goal 100 countries by 2020.

Unlike other philanthropic organisations, it supports both

human and non-human causes. For Wollen,

anthropocentrism - the idea that man is of central

importance in his own universe - is abhorrent.

“I honestly believe it is the ultimate sin. If Moses could

have spelled it, he would have put it in the top ten. He just

couldn’t spell it.”

What is central in Wollen’s world is the concept of

“ahimsa”, an ancient Sanskrit term meaning ‘non-violence

to any living being’. Adhering to this means accepting

that man is at one with those living beings with which

he shares the planet, and shouldering responsibility for

their welfare.

One of the core beliefs of the trust is that

“in their capacity to feel pain and fear,

a pig is a dog is a bear is a boy.”

Accordingly, Wollen’s Trust divides its benevolence

between programs designed to aid humans, animals and

those that recognise their mutual relationship.

Amongst its many projects throughout the world, it has

constructed schools and orphanages, rescued bears, dogs

and gibbons, built lion parks and a sanctuary for

unwanted farm animals, instituted vaccination programs

and supported programs in the arts, science and sporting

areas. And in doing so it has endeavoured not just to fix

things for now but to educate for the future.

A major innovation of the Trust is Kindness House, a

multi-million dollar project in inner city Fitzroy in

Melbourne. Home to 21 groups at any one time, and with

a current waiting list of 16, the massive building offers upto-

the minute technology and office facilities to its tenants

at a highly subsidised rent.

“We basically take small non-Government organisations

(NGOs) and turn them into big ones. That’s our plan. We

tell everyone who comes in, we want you to grow and

become big and successful and do good things.”

Residents past and present of the Kindness campus

include Wildlife Victoria, The Brotherhood of St Laurence

STEP program, Greenpeace, The Torch Program

(outreach to the aboriginal community through theatre),

Triathlon Victoria, Rescued With Love (adoption program

for small dogs), Artists for Kids Culture, Social Firms

Australia (creating employment options for those with

psychiatric disability), Edgar’s Mission and Environment

East Gippsland.

Only kindness MATTERS

When Wollen first founded the Trust, he was able to

perform his philanthropic giving behind its name, without

accolade or public scrutiny.

“We were seeking nothing for ourselves. All we wanted

was anonymity.”

This he had - until his work started getting attention.

In 2005 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia

(OAM). The following year Altruism Australia bestowed

upon him their Australian Humanitarian Award (Charity

Category). And in 2007 he was awarded Australian of the

Year Victoria by the National Australia Day Council.

Essentially a private man, Wollen had to think long and

hard before accepting. Being thrust into the limelight

was a two-edged sword. On one side it directed attention

to the many worthy causes he supported and to his ideals;

on the other, it brought him up against some powerful

enemies.

He sought counsel in the way he always does.

“Whenever I face a moral dilemma, I close my eyes and

look into the cage where there is a tortured bear and I can

see the tragedy and the sadness in those eyes and I ask

them...what would you have me do? And the answer is

always the same. Whatever it takes, just get me out of

here, get them to stop.

“If it means making myself a bigger target for these cruel,

boorish people who say it’s only an animal, then so be it.”

Wollen’s strong and outspoken stance against

livestock–for-food industries, both for their cruelty to

animals and their impact on the environment and climate

change, has brought him everything from contempt to

death threats. But he is unmoved. He sees them as the

greatest foe to the sustainability of the planet and its

inhabitants.

The second greatest is time.

He believes Governments and corporations can work

together to effect necessary change but that the main

thrust will come from the man and woman in the street.

“The day we say we want it, it’ll happen....I believe that

day will come but I don’t know whether it will come in

time. If we had an infinite amount of time ahead of us as a

species, I would say yes, it will have to. But we don’t have

that length of time.

The oceans are dying in our time. In 20, 40 years time all

our fisheries will be dead and they are lungs and arteries

of the planet. The livestock industry grows food for

animals, the most inefficient energy transfer system you

could possibly imagine. It takes up to 50,000 litres of

water to produce 1 kilogram of beef compared to only

2500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of white rice, and

even less for most fruit and vegetables.”

Much in demand for speaking engagements, Wollen

continually hammers the point home that saving the

planet is in the hands of those who live on it, as well as

those who govern it.

“In all my speeches I have a standard line. Everyone in

this audience wants to change the world as long as they

don’t have to change themselves, and life doesn’t work

that way. First we change, and the world follows.”

For all his apparent strength, there are times when Wollen

himself needs support. Days when he says he has to, in

the words of Shakespeare, “stiffen up the sinews and

summon up the blood” just to get through. Nights when

he wakes screaming, haunted by the terrible images he

has seen.

He copes, he thinks, because of his wife Trix. “I don’t

think I would have done what I did (without her). I’ve

always been comforted knowing that I have a very soft

place to fall, and I fall a lot.”

Trix Wollen, for her part, acknowledges that she is strong

when her husband has his bad days, says she falls in a

heap when he’s good, but loves what they do, despite its

challenges. Team Wollen is both formidable and

compassionate, and an inspiration to many.

Asked who inspires him, he initially says he doesn’t

believe in heroes, just ordinary people who do

extraordinary things, such as the man who went to rescue

a cow being brutally attacked in Zimbabwe and was also

killed by the mob. Or the man who went into a Muslim

slaughterhouse to rail against the brutality and was

stabbed for his trouble. The Wollens paid for his

hospitalisation.

He then nominates Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd

before adding that “at the risk of sounding corny, the

people I’ve most found inspiring are always low-key and

in my experience have been women. I think my mother,

my grandmother, Trix, Maneka (Gandhi), Jill (Robinson,

of Animals Asia).....”

Wollen’s personal transformation since those terrible

moments in the abattoir has undergone many phases,

each connected to or an extension of each other. He began

by immediately giving up eating meat then extended that

to becoming vegan (and has never felt better.) He started

‘tithing’ – giving away 10% of his income. Then one year

he decided to give away 90% and see if he could survive.

And indeed he could. From there it seemed but a short

step to larger scale philanthropy.

“I decided to give away everything I had with warm hands

and die broke, and so far I’m right on budget.”

The businessman in him has not disappeared, however,

far from it. He lends his skills, experience and acumen to

the organisations and groups he fosters and takes

pleasure in their growth.

“I am still fairly ambitious; it’s just that the goal posts

have changed.”

He prefers not to see himself as giving his money away

but, rather, as re-investing it. One of his favourite quotes

is that of Gertrude Stein: “The money stays the same; it’s

only the pockets that change.”

Wollen is a mix of apparent contrasts. He is a private man

with a public profile. He lives a simple life yet tackles

complex issues. He sees the small details but focuses on

the big picture.

To the captains and kings of society he gives speeches

which champion the disadvantaged, the marginalised and

the mistreated. He is strong when he has to be and soft

when he can be. He has worked with some of the biggest

companies in the world yet now seeks to nurture grass

roots organisations.

He draws on some of the great thinkers of human history

yet is modern and strategic in his own thoughts. He has

been called radical but considers himself conservative.

“What is more radical than killing?”

He says he has an apocalyptic view of the future yet his

actions radiate hope.

In a world where strength is measured by brutality, debate

is centred on the winner of the latest reality TV show and

role models are determined by celebrity, Philip Wollen is a

revelation.

He may not believe in heroes but to every child, adult or

animal that has felt his ministering hand, he is indeed theirs.

He intends to leave nothing behind but he will. His example.

The Winsome Constance Kindness Trust is a

philanthropic organisation and as such does not accept

donations. For causes fully recommended by the Wollens or

for more information on their projects and Kindness House

go to www.kindnesstrust.com

                                 ********

Phil is not just a person who puts his money where

his mouth is; he puts his energy and his very life force,

where his heart is, and he does it so strategically....I

suspect his particular breed of Phil-anthropy is

unrivalled in its long term effect.”

Nichola Donovan, Lawyers For Animals

Philip Wollen not only saves lives, he changes them.

I know. I am one he changed. He truly does as Gandhi

said, “Be the change you want to see”.

Kae Norman, Rescued With Love

He makes us believe that one person can change the

world if he has the goodness and courage to do it.

Thousands owe their lives and well being to him.

Maneka Gandhi, MP, New Delhi

I am honoured, inspired and proud to call him friend.

Pam Ahern, Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary

Phil is a guiding light; he illuminates the darkness to

remind us all of the better side of human nature.

Phil is the Gandhi of Fitzroy!

Alex Marr, The Wilderness Society

Probably the most remarkable individual I have had the

pleasure to know, judging by the change he has made

in so many lives.

S. Chinny Krishna, Blue Cross of India

There’s something that just emanates with love, this

generosity. He’s just amazing, a beautiful man.

Beverley Waters, South Australian Children’s Ballet

His work ethic, his dedication and his vision certainly

do rub off on everyone with whom he comes in

contact. Phil has been amazing for us.

Mark Doneddu, Vegetarian Network

He could have made heaps and heaps by pursuing a

business career but instead he chose to put all his time

into bringing about peace between the kingdoms of

nature, and opted for continuous use of an old and

well-worn coat.

Christine Townend, Help in Suffering, Jaipur India

Animal Liberation Victoria - Interview with Philip Wollen

r.

Phillip Wollen is someone very special.  He is a big man with a big heart and most importantly he’s BIG on vision.  Phil is a 59 year old Merchant Banker, OAM, Queens Birthday Honors 2005, Australian of the Year Victoria 2007 and Founder of The Winsome Constance Kindness Trust (WCKT)  www.kindnesstrust.com .  Phil and his partner Trix work tirelessly to help those in need and sponsor over 200 non profit organizations around the world.  When Phil founded the WCKT he stated it had five fingers, namely, “Children, Animals, the Ill, the Environment and Aspiring Youth”. This passion, alongside WCKT’s first core belief: “Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” sums up Phil as a man of action who has all bases covered!  Q  What made you become vegan and when? Phil:   I was the merchant banker whose favourite meal was filet mignon and lobster. Around twelve years ago I was mandated to act for a large corporate client and visited one of their main subsidiaries. It turned out to be a slaughterhouse. And I had never seen a slaughterhouse before. My blood ran cold. This didn’t just turn me into a vegetarian. It turned me into a genuinely compassionate human being. Anybody who eats the murdered carcass of an innocent animal cannot claim to be compassionate - not with a straight face anyway.     The slaughterhouse turned my life around. I ultimately became vegan eight years ago when I saw what happens to millions of chickens - their beaks burned off, millions of tiny male chicks being hurled to their death into grinders, premature calves being deliberately induced and being killed by crushing to death. It is a crime of unimaginable proportions. It is so tiresome to still hear the hideous lies and self delusion from those who profit from this ghastly trade. I am a vegan because I love life in all its forms. The life of a human necrovore is not a life. It is a life sentence. Short, nasty, and brutish. Q  What’s your favourite meal? Phil:  Trix is the best vegan cook in Australia - so anything she cooks is a banquet! Q What do you cook the best, do you have a favourite recipe you’d like to share? Phil:  Mexican Beans I do quite well, here is the recipe Ingredients: 1 can 4 Bean Mix (rinse well) 1 stick of celery ½  yellow capsicum ½  red capsicum 1 onion roughly cut    1 tbsp of good quality mild curry powder 1 dessert spoon soynaise (vegan mayonnaise) cooked  rice for two people Put a dash of oil in the pan, add onion celery and capsicum stir fry a few minutes (don’t let the veggies get too soft or soggy) Slide vegies to the side of the pan and add curry powder fry the curry powder for 30 seconds add the beans and cooked rice – continue to stir fry add Soynaise and stir fry some more until all ingredients are well mixed This is delicious hot or cold or as a side salad or in a wrap. It lasts about 3-4 days in the fridge Q  Are many of your family and friends vegans? Phil: Yes my closest family are all vegan and 90% of my friends are vegan or vegetarian Q  What makes you happy? Phil: Using the word ahimsa in a speech or saying the ‘V’ word without getting a blank stare. When someone actually “gets it” is a great feeling. And best of all is unexpectedly finding time to spend with Trix and not having the phone or email to interrupt. Q What do you do to relax and unwind? Phil: Meditation, music, and reading.  Q How do you keep fit? Phil:  Golf; long walks with our four rescued dogs; Pilates, and the physical work of running Kindness House www.kindnesstrust.com/KindnessHouse.html                                             Q Do you have a favourite movie/book/blog that inspired you that you’d like to share  Phil:  The simplest book of all - by John Waddell But You Kill Ants; Gary Francione’s  Rain Without Thunder; The Abolitionist website www.abolitionistapproach.com] ; Singer’s A Companion of Ethics and I recommend the films: Earthlings, Peaceable Kingdom and A Delicate Balance. Q Do you have a favourite restaurant? Phil: yes right down the street from Kindness House -  The Vegie Bar www.vegiebar.com.au  located at 380 Brunswick St Fitzroy VIC 3065. Q What’s been the best part of being a vegan? Phil:  Being able to look in the mirror without feeling profoundly ashamed. Q   Have you found any difficulties being vegan? Phil: Being vegan is the easiest thing in the world! I think you asked precisely the wrong question. You should have asked “have you found any difficulties being a necrovore?”.  And then I could have written several books on this particular subject without pausing for breath.  I would find being a necrovore utterly impossible!! Q  Is there anything else you’d like to add? Phil:  We now know beyond any shadow of doubt that the livestock industry releases more greenhouse gases than cars, trains, buses, ships, planes all put together - by a country mile. We now know that meat and milk are four letter words for good reason. They kill. These noxious products are grossly inefficient sources of food for a hungry planet. They are profligate wasters of precious drinking water. They are indescribably cruel. And they are horrendous polluters of our rivers and oceans. Clearly, it is no longer (just) an animal rights issue. It is a social justice issue. Make no mistake about it. Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear stained face of a hungry child. Unfortunately, flaccid governments are influenced by lobbyists who don’t care if our planet ends up in a ditch, as long as they get to drive. So we continue this ludicrous charade of governments pretending to be concerned about jobs - and caving in to the industry with subsidies for low paid jobs for unskilled work. So much for being the clever country. But the writing is on the wall. Intelligent people are fast learning that this planet is being trashed by an industry that is well past its use by date. The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones. The meat industry will end because we run out of excuses. meet more vegans

Philip and Trix at Karuna Kindness Farm - Puttaparti

To see more pictures click on the link or go to Photo Album

Pain knows no barriers -Times of India, Chennai - by Priya Menon

Jonathan Safran Foer Interview

Jonathan Safran Foer Interview On Ellen Show.

This is very easy to watch. It is suitable for intelligent people who want to change - but who don't want to be ashamed while they are being educated.

 http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=YYZ7IlWo3BM