QUIP Meeting

On the Balkans

Healing the Wounds

Penn Center dining hall. As most participants line up for lunch Bruce Birchard, General Secretary of FGC, hurries off to work on his plenary speech (photo by Neece).

The Nurturing the Nurturers Conference rocked me in a cradle of quiet beautiful surroundings, simple comforts and good fellowship at a long distance from the pressures of my busy life. Even more important than the physical nurturing, was the spiritual inspiration that came from witnessing peoples' capacity to overcome the wounds we carry from the racist history of our country.

I am active in a "Bridging Cultural Diversity" book group in my town. Our reading and discussions have sensitized me to the grinding cultural suppression that was part of the system of slavery and to the difficulty we now have establishing communication between blacks and whites whose life experiences and perceptions are so different. My experience of the Gullah culture on St. Helena Island, South Carolina where the conference was held reinforced my understanding that the African people who were dragged here as slaves had a culture that was powerful and beautiful. The history of the Gullah community was expertly presented by the staff of Penn Center which hosted us. The warmth of the staff which seems to be characteristic of the Gullah culture was also manifest in a presentation by former students at Penn School. The school, with some assistance from Quakers, was one of the few places blacks could get an education at that time.

An evening out to a local restaurant gave me another taste of the culture. All of these tidbits powerfully coalesced in the presentation of the film, The Language You Cry In by Joe Opala, the scholar in residence at Penn Center, whose research the film documents. This film dramatically tells the story of how an African song passed down from mother to daughter even during slavery was discovered in the sea islands nearby. It goes on to document how the family who knew the song was able to travel to Sierra Leone where the women in a particular village still know the song and it's meaning of connection. They were welcomed at a tearful reunion that helped heal wounds suffered on both sides of the Atlantic.

The capacity to overcome wounds and establish communication between blacks and whites came alive in Deborah Saunders' plenary presentation. Her courage and frank reliance on the Spirit were manifest in stories from her personal life as well as working through how to relate to a white man from a very different background and viewpoint who was at the conference.

The richness and breadth of the conference touched me in many other ways through workshops, worship and worship sharing groups. I returned restored and ready to continue my work of nurturing others.

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Robert Duncan is a member of Adelphi Friends Meeting of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. He has attended every FGC Gathering since 1991 and is currently a central committee member. His calling to nurture others is largely expressed through youth work; serving on the religious education committee and co-coordinating the Junior High programs at the FGC (Junior Gathering) and monthly meeting levels.