May 9 to 11, 2007 * London, Ontario, Canada

The second Margaret Norrie McCain Lecture was delivered by Mr. Arun Gandhi in May, 2007, during the Third International Conference on Children Exposed to Domestic Violence.

"We Must be the Change We Wish to See in the World"

Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of India's legendary leader, Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws, a young Arun was beaten by "white" South Africans for being too black and "black" South Africans for being too white. Initially intent on seeking eye-for-an-eye justice, his parents sent him to India where his grandfather taught him that justice does not mean revenge. Justice means transforming the opponent through love and suffering.

Arun and Sunanda Gandhi founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in 1991.

While non-violence is the absence of violence, the principles of nonviolence powerfully heal, transform, and empower our lives and communities by honouring the dignity and worth of every human being. Nonviolence is not merely turning one's cheek. It is an active philosophy that stands up and faces injustice -- but not in a violent way. It's how we bring up our children and the relationships we have with them and all other human beings.

Grandfather taught Arun to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. "If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there is so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world," Gandhi said. Long before the first 'parenting' book was written, Grandfather taught Arun the lessons that would serve him well.

Arun shares these lessons by speaking around the world. He has participated in the Renaissance Weekend and, in 2004, visited Yasser Arafat and Israeli peace activists to discuss the application of nonviolence. His calendar of speaking engagements has taken him in recent years to Mexico, Italy, Croatia, France, Ireland, Holland, Lithuania, Nicaragua, China, and Japan and he enjoys speaking on college campuses.

Arun is the author of several books beginning with A Patch of White (1949), about life in prejudiced South Africa. He edited a book of essays called World Without Violence: Can Gandhi's Vision Become Reality? and recently penned Legacy of Love: My Education in the Path of Nonviolence (2003).

Arun and his wife Sunanda, a senior researcher at the Gandhi Institute, married in 1958 and have two children and four grandchildren. Together they co-authored The Forgotten Woman, a definitive biography of Arun's grandmother Kasturba who made great sacrifices for the Indian independence struggle and to make Gandhi a "Mahatma" or Great Soul.

About the Lecture Series

We are honoured that the Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain agreed to lend her name to the Margaret Norrie McCain Lecure Series here at the Centre for Children & Families in the Justice System. The lecture series is a tangible reflection of our respect and affection for Margaret. We greatly admire her dedication to children's interest, her energy and her compassion. Her generosity to us comes in the form of her time, her praise, her guidance, and her financial and moral support. Each lecture addresses a topic of interest shared by Margaret and our staff, such as the early years and the effects of violence on children. Proceeds go to the Centre's Upstream Endowment Campaign, building a financial legacy for the next generation.