Bikes Rule!What is the EarthQuaker bike trip?
It's a just under 300-mile bicycle trip from Pendle Hill to Johnstown, PA in time for Friends General Conference Gathering-- although folks don't have to go to the gathering if they go on the bike trip.

What's the vision behind it, why do it?
Well, the primary reason is that, as far as I can tell, Quakers have had a hugely disproportionate effect on the course of history, and while we haven't been shy about being involved in the political system, or using money if we acquire it, the primary reason I think we've been effective is that we have been patterns and examples. So if we travel sustainably to Gathering by pedal power, a rolling faith community witnessing to others that we meet along the way-- that seems to me like a very important exercise for modern Friends. That's the primary vision. It also happens to, incidentally, involve having a lot of fun. I don't think that all faithfulness is about the cross. I think that some faithfulness is about the state fair.

When you meet with people along the way, what's the message that you'll be carrying?
We're going to visit three monthly meetings in the Caln Quarter, and we're going to sit down and talk with them about earthcare. Part of what I'm hoping to do is draw them out and find out how lively those concerns are in the meeting. So it's not just a question of us going there and telling people how it is, but a question of having a dialogue. Then we're going to do service projects with the meetings, and also service projects in the communities. Those might be working at organic farms or working in soup kitchens. That's one of the reasons it's an eight-day trip, when it's only 280 miles. We have two days when we won't pedal at all, and some half days of service as well.

How are you going to build faith community together?
Part of it is the work, part of it is the hardship of traveling together and having tolerance with one another, sleeping on the floor of the meetinghouse together. But also waking up in the morning and having meeting for worship, having yoga together, and just being in community. I'm confident that the community part will be what's richest about it, and I think we're going to bring leaven to the loaf of FGC gathering, because the forty of us-- forty, that's what we're aiming for-- we're going to come already knit together. It's an intergenerational trip, and I'm really expecting to have everybody there.

Is there a concern for earthcare in Quakerism historically?
Oh yeah. That was one of the interesting things to me when I first took it up. Woolman is the consummate earth Quaker. He goes to England and he's concerned about the abuse of the horses and the abuse of the post-boys. There's no distinction-- it's just cruelty. In a statement of faith pretty early on in the journal, he says he realized that to profess to love and God and to act with cruelty to the least of His creatures was a violation of faithfulness. He just gets it. William Penn, too. If you read Fruits of Solitude, he says some amazing stuff. He has that great quote,

It would go a great way to caution and direct People in their Use of the World, that they were better studied and known in the Creation of it. For how could Man find the Confidence to abuse it, while they should see the Great Creator stare them in the Face, in all and every part thereof?

If you look, the core is there all the way back. Fox walked up Pendle Hill. He didn't go into Canterbury Cathedral! For me it's there all the way through, everywhere.

In a world that is trying to figure out how to deal with issues of earthcare and sustainability, what is the specifically Quaker voice, if there is one?
Part of my sadness is that I don't know that we are running out front on earthcare. For instance, when I started talking to Quakers about earthcare in 1998, most Quakers still had a strong division between social justice issues and earthcare. The attitude seemed to be, "Yeah, that's fine kid, we'll pick up litter after we've abolished war." Now I think we are starting to get it.

We have stood for the notion that the abolition of war is possible. That's a completely crazy idea. There's never not been war. Most people consider war inevitable. With the environment, people are saying, "Well, how can we damage the environment less?" I think when Quakers get it together, what we may stand for is, it should be possible to have a mutually beneficial human-earth relationship. Not just, we're not doing as much damage, but straight up, people are good for the planet. That's a quantum leap from where anybody is. We're all at damage control. And damage control just means we're slowing down how long it will take us to kill it.

Anything else about the bike trip or Quaker earthcare concerns?
Please come out. It's going to be a good time. It's going to be physically intense, but not impossible by any means. We'll be an intergenerational bunch of folks. We're going to camp out, sleep on floors, cook food together, and clean up together. My plan is to swim in a river-- every day, if possible. It's going to be live. And there will be a lot of room for people to make it what they want it to be, because that's community.

For more information, please visit http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering/2008/eqbt

By Cara Curtis

Cara Curtis
Linda asks, “What does it mean to live from the center?” She is sitting on a log at a mid-summer firecircle, twilight descending as we settle into familiar silence. This is a query that isn’t particularly new to me—in one form or another, it’s something I’ve been challenged to answer my whole life as an unprogrammed Quaker. In cinderblock meetinghouses, at “Big Meeting” in Friends schools, dozing on friends’ shoulders at conferences, and finally this evening at Quaker camp: what does it mean to live from the center? How do we let our lives speak? What does it mean to walk cheerfully and to answer God? I think vaguely, look up at the tree canopy under a darkening sky, and come to some of the same conclusions as usual—this is comforting, but not all that illuminating. Little do I know, or ever expect, that it will take flying across the country and meeting Friends with an entirely different experience of Quakerism for me to find new, more well-rounded truth in this familiar query.

Fast-forward six months. I am sitting in seat 9F of Southwest Airlines flight 1852, the lights of Portland, Oregon growing steadily brighter below me. Rapidly, linearly, and unavoidably at this point, I’m being delivered to a town where, by my own slightly overexcited design, I will spend the next nine days in intervisitation with Friends whose spiritual language is quite different from mine, whose worship is programmed and whose practice it is to actively spread the good news of their faith (the word for all of this, charged as it is, is “Evangelical”). In my emails with my hosts, they have been more friendly and welcoming than I could’ve asked for—certainly more than I could see myself being if some impetuous college student had invited herself into my community for a week. And yet incessantly, recklessly, and, I think, humanly, I have a strong impulse in this moment to hijack the plane and drive it back to my warm, safe, familiar east coast bubble. Or at least curl up into a ball and feign insanity.

Newberg Friends Church* * * *
I didn’t curl up into a ball, in the end—the authorities would’ve been brought in and it could’ve gotten messy. So that meant that I landed in Portland and was met by an extremely kind man who drove me back to his community in Newberg, 45 minutes southwest of the airport. We chatted agreeably the whole way, Bruce intermixing sentences about his life as a Christ-centered Friend with reflections on how he thinks John Edwards is an important voice for the poor. During my time in Newberg I stayed with the Gathercoals, a family in one of the local churches: father, mother, energetic five-year-old, and 18-year-old college student. Roy and Kathleen worked tirelessly despite Roy’s significant and painful health concerns to help me make connections with Friends in the community (Newberg, a town of 25,000, is the home of six Friends churches, the Friendsview retirement community, George Fox University, and the headquarters of Northwest Yearly Meeting—affiliated with Evangelical Friends International). Rarely have I come across people who better live out Jesus’ call to be, regardless of geographic proximity, unconditional and loving neighbors.

Even so, on the surface level at least, the religious life of Friends in Newberg felt viscerally different from my safe bubble that continually asks what it means to live from the center. Most noticeably, Friends in Newberg are almost uniformly Christ-centered: as disciples who strive to live out his message, Christ is a part of their daily lives (one Friend was puzzled when I noted that Friends where I come from were more into the social justice piece of Quakerism than the Christ-centered aspect: “how can you separate the two?” he asked, “that’s at the foundation of what Christ taught”). This one main difference translates into a host of smaller manifestations that band together to make Evangelical Friends’ practice feel very different from unprogrammed Friends’. Direct vocal prayer and Christ language are common before meals and in worship, which is mostly programmed. Men and women tend to to get married in their early 20s, even while still in college. And in addition to regular conference-type events that would feel familiar to an unprogrammed Friend, youth in Northwest Yearly Meeting go to Bible Quiz Meets where they compete in game show-style battles to showcase their prowess in scriptural recitation (they also get to spend the weekend with their friends). Coincidentally one of these meets was happening the weekend I was in Newberg, so I actually got to watch. (“Do you have Bible Quizzing back east?” a Friend from Idaho asked me innocently. I smiled weakly at the thought of my meeting’s tie-dye clad youth getting up early to practice reciting Colossians and Ephesians with anything near the facility that these kids did.)

So there it was, the community presented to me and in so many ways different from the Friends tradition that I know. Most viscerally jarring, I think, was seeing people put their arms in the air during musical worship—not too many did this, but a fair number of people did at some of the worship services I attended. At some deep level this struck my prejudiced, stereotyping liberal core (“gah! It’s just as I’d imagined!”). After a while, though, the practice grew on me a little bit and I was able to see it differently, a genuine idiosyncrasy of faith—not any weirder, say, than when we in unprogrammed meetings indulge in the endearing “silent clap” or look like we’re sleeping when we pray. And the further I went, too, the more I found practical differences like these receding under the swell of genuine unity on the most foundational tenants of our shared faith. The language of “that of God in everyone” might not have been the same (evangelical Friends were more likely to reflect on Fox’s revelation that “even Christ Jesus” could speak personally to one’s condition), but the experienced belief was still there, as central and fundamental as it is with unprogrammed Friends. I don’t want to gloss over things and make it sound like we’re exactly the same—we’re not, and some of the differences are difficult and painful to deal with. But differences also spice things up sometimes, giving us new avenues to find similar truths.

Between Newberg, OR and Haverford, PA, we also all seem to find both joy and struggle in the surrounding communities that inform our meetings and churches—be they made up of religion-suspicious east coast intellectuals or members of the evangelical mainstream. The symmetry that is present in this, actually, is striking: both in Newberg and in the mid-Atlantic where I’m from, Friends are working hard to love and answer our most radical convictions while also leaning towards the center of where Quakerism stands today. A story told to me by Northwest’s superintendent Colin Saxton resonated particularly: several years ago, he said, some Friends had felt a call to add “Evangelical” to Northwest Yearly Meeting’s name. The community had sat with the issue and struggled, but ultimately decided not to change the name for fear of isolating themselves, however symbolically, from dialogues with other Friends—I was reminded acutely of Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s struggle with Friends United Meeting’s hiring policies around homosexuality, capped by BYM’s ultimate decision to continue membership and dialogue with FUM.

Later on in my stay, I talked to Quaker students at George Fox University about my experience at Haverford College, where I’m studying now. Both they and I are in a significant minority by being Quaker (this is the norm at Friends schools) and as with the story of the yearly meetings, were pulled closer together by that shared faith. Specifically with them, I talked about the efforts of Haverford’s Quaker students to help the community remember that Quakerism is a religion and not simply a social justice mission. The George Fox students, it seemed to me, were doing the same thing in a very different context: the majority of their student body belongs to mainstream evangelical and fundamentalist churches, so that Quaker students are often in the position of educating their peers on what it means, beyond the peace testimony, to be Quaker. Their experiences and mine, rather than rigidly parallel as I had expected, really ended up presenting themselves as a symmetrical pattern of outreach from a center in Quakerism.

So after all of that, what does it really mean to live from the center? I had this query in mind again as my stay in Newberg neared its end, framed in this beautiful and confusing symmetry, wondering if this odd equilibrium could somehow be a map through the differences in our practice and help us pull towards the center as witnesses of the same Quaker truths.

And then Roy Gathercoal shook everything up. The afternoon of my last full day in Newberg, I stood by my host’s bedside as we talked about my visit. After listening politely to my symmetry paradigm, Roy announced that he thought reaching across the theological-cultural divide wasn’t actually all that important, that there were more crucial parts of Quakerism that needed to be brought out and held up. Roy envisioned a community composed of people whose sole purpose in life was seeking Light and Truth, a community of Friends that wouldn’t really pay attention to different branches or histories or conflicts within the faith. Answering that of God would be the most important thing to people in this community, a conviction that would lead them to take compassionate risks: whether legally, by sheltering unfairly-treated immigrants, financially by taking off work to protest treatment of U.S. detainees, or spiritually by constantly re-evaluating the source of their faith. But this is unrealistic, I protested—it’s not sustainable! It’s not practical! It would be really, really impossibly hard!

And it’s true: as much as my protests came from the same fear of risk that Roy was proposing to eliminate, living so radically from the center would be difficult—but perhaps that’s the point. Finding the center is not as easy as looking back to the Quaker testimonies, nor is it as simple as figuring out a way to compromise on theological or political dichotomies. To live from the center, to faithfully remain servants of the God within ourselves and everyone around us, is a constant struggle—and one we can engage in together. I’m grateful to Friends in Newberg for so many things, but especially for helping me find new truth in this old, familiar query.

I’d be glad to hear anyone’s thoughts, reactions, objections, or questions about my trip to Newberg and my reflections on it—I’m also happy to talk to people about the more day-to-day activities that I did, or offer help to anyone who is thinking of doing an intervisitation. ccur...@haverford.edu.

We've started a new blog at www.friendsofcolor.blogspot.com and I would love to get other young Friends around the country to contribute. I can add anyone who wants to write about issues of more diversity and inclusivity (regarding race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, etc.) I won't control what the contributors say, as long as it falls under the guidelines of being "compassionate, critical and constructive" in regards to these issues. Please speak your truth and help it add to the whole Truth.

This blog was started to call attention that some voices are not being heard or acknowledged enough within the RSoF. I myself felt that my opinions were being brushed aside, so this is my peaceful way of rocking the boat.

I really feel that this is important because I see Friends as the gold standard for activism. Now I want to see them be the gold standard for community. If Friends, who say they believe there is the Light of God within everyone, have testimonies for Peace and Community and Service, cannot exemplify people coming together in programmed or unprogrammed worship, then I wonder what RSoF will represent to an increasingly activist, multicultural American society that also works for justice and peace.

How many young Friends have learned how to be friends with people of different races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, sexual orientations and ages? I'd venture to say that a lot of you have learned to see the Light of God in everyone, not just through activism but in your daily lives through friendship. Our generation has crossed a lot of barriers, and I feel strongly that it's our turn to educate others about the often subtle prejudices our elders instilled in us that we've overcome.

In something that I insist is more than just coincidence, the RSoF remains a largely a white European-American society and its numbers are dropping. Yet in the world outside of Friends, our generation is mobilizing like never before. Young people are politicizing and celebrating a society that is trans-racial and trans-gender. In other words, people that acknowledge race and culture and gender bias and strive to be above it. People who want the higher road.

It's important to translate the good stuff within RSoF into modern day language that is welcoming and accessible. Young people still yearn for a spiritual experience, but don't know where to turn when a lot of religious institutions still condemn other religions and certain lifestyles. I think RSoF has a history that will appeal to a lot of young people, and a theology that is pretty open to what young people will bring in.

This is not an issue of proselytizing. This is an issue of participation.

To participate in this discussion: email aeyoung82 AT yahoo DOT com and request to be added to the contributor list.

PHILADELPHIA (February 20, 2008) - The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker humanitarian service organization, has nominated Western Sahara human rights activist Aminatou Haidar for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent leadership in the Sahrawi people’s struggle for self-determination. AFSC received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 in recognition of Quakers’ humanitarian service during and after the two world wars and as a past laureate is entitled to nominate others for the prize.

Western Sahara is often known as “Africa’s last colony.” Despite international recognition of their right to self-determination, the Sahrawi people have lived under Moroccan occupation since 1976. Haidar has dedicated her life to achieving self-determination for its citizens. In 1987, during a peaceful demonstration in Morocco, Haidar was arrested and detained in secret for four years. During her detention, she was tortured, beaten, and endured physical abuse that caused irreversible health problems. Haidar never received an explanation for her arrest and detention. She has been jailed twice since then.

Haidar is a divorced mother of two and lives in the town of El Aaiun in Western Sahara. In between her two prison sentences, Haidar earned a degree in modern literature.

“We have few models of those who can turn from their own suffering to forgive their oppressors and work for a state of reconciliation and equality,” says AFSC’s General Secretary, Mary Ellen McNish. “Aminatou Haidar is a model of how ordinary working mothers and fathers can rise above their circumstances in their devotion to a cause greater than their own survival.”

Haidar has been nominated for and won various awards for her fight for social justice. In 2005, she was nominated for the Sakharov Prize and in 2006 won the Juan Maria Bandres Prize given by the Spanish Association for Refugees and Human Rights. Last year Haidar won the Silver Rose Award in Sweden for her achievements in work for social justice.

AFSC is a Quaker organization working for peace, justice, and human dignity. With national headquarters in Philadelphia and offices in 22 countries and 42 U.S. locations, AFSC conducts economic development, peace building, and human rights programs that touch tens of thousands of lives each year.

# # #
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

IYM AYF Retreat

By Madelyn George

It was just a coincidence that the first annual Tsunami retreat was held around the same time that a real live one hit Southeast Asia. The title was invented through the reasoning that Quakers start out having tremors, followed by quakes, but then skip straight to retreats. It is only logical that adult young friends should have "tsunamis". We ask that you use this terminology in your own yearly meeting if you are led to do so.

The second annual gathering of Adult Young Friends of Illinois Yearly Meeting was held January 11th to the 13th at Evanston Friends Meeting. Twelve of us were in attendance this year compared to eight people in 2007. At this rate there should be about 180 of us by the year 2020. We trickled into Evanston on Friday and spent the entire night playing games. On Saturday we woke up bright and early to the sound of the new fire alarm system. Apparently making pancakes isn't as easy as we thought. Then it was off to the aquarium in Chicago where we thoroughly enjoyed the free admission, and I particularly liked the giant sea turtle. From there we headed back to the meetinghouse for our business meeting, followed by dinner.

That night in a workshop led by Greg Woods we watched the documentary "Why We Fight", which looks at the history of US involvement in foreign wars. The discussion that followed was an intense one for many of us, and lasted until after midnight. I think most of us emerged from it having learned a lot about ourselves as we cope with complex feelings about our country's politics. Before the night was over some of us participated in the production of a film concerning maggot-like aliens that bore a striking resemblance to Quakers in sleeping bags.

We attended meeting for worship with Evanston Friends the next morning, and then said our goodbyes. At this point I guess it's some kind of tradition to say something funny about how there is no crying in baseball, but I don't really get that joke. Sorry Friends. But seriously, I'm really excited to report on the strength of IYM's group of young adults. At this stage in our lives it can be hard to keep track of each other, but it's so important that we do because otherwise certain alien videos would not be spread throughout the world via youtube. The date and location of next winter's Tsunami should be announced this summer. I hope to see you all there! With love, Madelyn

In photo: Casey Kashnig, Jon Wixom, Caryn, Madelyn George, Chris Earp, Greg Woods, Jesse Joe Snyder, Choz Howard-McKinney (in the exact middle), Carrie Seltzer, Brianna Murtha-Zee, Meg Nelson, & Lucas Young.

In order to protect the identity of the Friend who wrote this piece, we are not including his name or photo. He attended the World Gathering of Young Friends, and continues to send email updates about his situation to Friends worldwide.

The first post is a blog entry he wrote specifically for the Quakeryouth site and the second is an email that went out on a listserv after the elections on December 27th.

There are ways you can help. Please make sure to check out the information and resources at the end of his entry. And there is always prayer. In peace, Emily

Dec 8, 2007
LAND- THE BURNING ISSUE

Scenes of burning houses, displaced people; murder of the innocent and looting has become to be a daily routine for land clashes victims in Molo, Olenguruone and Mt. Elgon areas in Kenya. Escalating violence and ethno-political tensions in parts of Rift valley and Mt. Elgon district are palpable and a National security crisis. Politicians are manipulating historical land issues and ethnicity tension to whip up communities against each other in an attempt to raise more votes and tilt the December 27th poll outcome.

Since early this year Mt. Elgon has never experienced peace. Many have lost their lives and several thousands left homeless. Most schools closed down due to insecurity. Our Quaker churches closed down and members ran away for safety. A group of Quaker leaders under the patronage of FUM visited these areas and assisted the affected to get some of their basic needs. The situation keeps running out of hand especially every time we approach general elections. The big question is, “when will all this end?”

The government is doing very little to contain the situation.

Victims of these clashes it is sad to note that are people who live below the poverty level. Their income is less than a dollar in a day for someone living with a family of over ten dependants on him. These are squatters who do not have a place to abode.

We appeal on friends to pray for peace. Let our brothers and sisters in Kenya live in harmony. When the raiders attack they burn the victims’ houses so that they have no place to go back to. Kenyans have become refugees in their own country. Most are staying in church compounds, health centers with no basic needs.

In an email sent on January 2, 2008

Friends,
You cannot believe what is happening. Kenya is up in flames. The elections were carried out smoothly but the presidential votes were rigged in favour of president Kibaki who is a Kikuyu. The whole country has rebelled against the whole Kikuyu community whom majority are very innocent people. In my small rural area where we have about 100 kikuyu families, they were all evicted on 30th December immediately after the announcement of the poll results. Their homes were burned down, shops looted and we are back to zero. Yesterday over twenty people who had run to a church for safety were burnt right in church. On 30th i tried to call the attackers down and this made them to turn their anger on me. My house was stoned the whole night but thank God my family was not harmed. Everything is at a standstill. The rule of law is nonexistent as of now. People are doing things as they wish. Many are in hospitals with untold injuries. Over 150 have lost their lives. Over 2000 families are living in a police station which I am visiting today. Children are sleeping out in cold with no food and other basic needs. I am only able to access victims of the violence who are near my area. I cant reach the other far end because communication has been paralyzed. Friends this is the time we really need your prayers and support. Whatever little you can have please help us. We are praying for divine intervention so that the two warring groups agree.
I have to leave now to attend to my fellow kenyans. Pray for me also because if the community I am living in get a clue of my peace missions they will come right for my head.

What you can do (suggestions from a young adult Friend)

For more information about what is going on in Kenya, go to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

Email your thoughts, prayers, and support to FWCC Africa Section (based in Nairobi) fwcc-as@swiftkenya.com: the director of FUM Africa (based in Kisumu) John Muhanji.

Contact your elected representatives expressing your concern and asking what they are doing to bring about a peaceable solution via international attention. (US Senators have their info here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.
European Parliament Members can be found here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do

Use your mouse! Let them know the international community is paying attention:
http://www.eastandard.net/
http://www.theworldpress.com/press/worldpress/kenyapress/kenyatimes.htm
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgindex.asp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/africa/index.html

More information from Friends World Committee for Consultation (London)
Jan 4, 2008

Dear Friends,

You may be aware of the deteriorating situation in Kenya following last month's elections. At the FWCC World Office, we have been receiving emails from Friends in Kenya. This email is a summary of what we know so far.

First, some background from David Zarembka, Coordinator of the African Great Lakes Initiative/ Friends Peace Teams who lives in Western Province, Kenya. He writes:

"Since independence the Kikuyu [the tribe to which President Mwai Kibaki belongs; Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, is a Luo] have directly or indirectly controlled the Government and Kenyan business. Through this time, they continued and promoted the centralized system of Government given to them by the British. The 2007 election campaign revolved around "devolvement" meaning decentralizing. Naturally Kibaki and the Kikuyu opposed this since this meant giving up their power to the periphery.

"So it is payback time. It is amazing how only Kikuyu shops and homes were burned and everyone else left intact. Those at the bottom are taking it out on those whom they feel are on top. They have no contact with the Kikuyu tycoons and politicians and so they are taking the pent-up rage of forty-four years of independence out on the average Kikuyu in their community. The Kikuyu are then retaliating by killing the other ethnic groups that happen to live in their communities.

"With the large population increase in the past, there are many youth. Many of these have been educated to the secondary level or even above and then they are left with nothing to do, alienated from Kenyan society. They see no future so they can easily be turned to violence. This is the tinder and the spark was the announcement that Kibaki won what everyone in western Kenya considers was a rigged election."

David's most recent email, sent on the morning of 3 January, anticipated a violent clash at a rally being planned by the opposition in Nairobi.

"Today looks like the decisive day, and things don't look good. Kibaki has told the head of the African Union not to come to mediate because this is an internal Kenyan problem. In the doublespeak of the day, this means that Kibaki is not going to negotiate and will enforce his presidency with the police and military. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) plans a massive inauguration of Raila Odinga today in downtown Nairobi at Uhuru Park. One million people are expected to attend. The Government has banned the gathering. BBC reports that riot police have encircled the park standing a meter apart. In other words, this looks like its going to be a major confrontation. Kikuyu from hard-hit Eldoret have been evacuated under police escort to Nakuru and Nairobi."

Bainito Wamalwa, head of a young Friends organisation and employed by a Swedish NGO, described the current situation in Eldoret: "The Friends church in Eldoret has 62 families who are displaced by some of them having their houses burnt. They have no shelter, food and other basics. There is no way to enter or exit Eldoret now. The food prices have gone more than treble high. Things are not right here."

In the face of the catastrophe befalling Kenya, John Muhanji, the Director of the Friends United Meeting Africa Ministries Office, tried to focus on the future. He wrote:

"Happy New Year!! At least I can manage to say to you happy new year. It is true that those who are alive can say such words but in reality I would have said sad and bloody new year for Kenya 2008'. What a bad ending and beginning of the year. Friends when you see yourselves enjoying the peace you have now wherever you are praise God for everything. Because that can be taken from you in a twinkling of an eye as it happened here in Kenya. Peace is something that needs to be guarded with a lot of care from everybody in the world.

"I am experiencing a situation where people we have lived with for many years are being chased a way and their houses being burned not by their neighbours but by people from nowhere in a mob."

John continued, "Tension is all over the country and especially in towns. In my village, Kivagala, I have occupied the young people in football games during this sad period. Many idle young people have not been involved in any activity of any nature but busy participating in the games that will reach its climax on Saturday January 5th. I am very much encouraged with the response… Yesterday after visiting Kisumu in the evening and seeing how tense the place was and the tension along the road, I arrived at home and found a different atmosphere where the playground in the school was filled with young people playing. The older generation was playing against the younger generation. It was such an interesting game… This may be an example to other parts of the country… I have also introduced an open air film show to the community to intensify peace in the community."

But for now, the violence continues, and in some areas it is escalating. Transportation is also severely disrupted, as the Matatus that are the primary form of transportation country-wide most use are mainly operated by Kikuyus, and they are too afraid to work. David Zarembka writes:

"The death toll since the election is supposed to be 284, but I suspect it is much higher… There is a report that 10,000 armed Kalejin youth from the Eldoret area (there were 2000 people who burned down the church) are marching on Burnt Forest, an area with many Kikuyu where there have been clashes in the past. If this kind of thing is true, then we may be in for a real bloodbath on the scale of the Rwandan genocide. It is possible that the violence has gotten out of control so that the political leaders, the police, and army may not be able to control it even if there is a political settlement."

From what we know as of this writing, US Friends living and working in Kenya Eden and James Grace and their children are safe in Kisumu and Jody Richmond is also in a safe place. We have heard nothing about the safety of Friends in Nakuru, Nairobi or other parts of Kenya. People are about to run out of time on their mobile/cell phone cards and internet access, so communication may be more of a problem shortly. The same is true of food for many people.

John Muhanji asks for financial support for prizes for his sports participants and we are sure there are other needs as well. Donations can be made via the FUM website www.fum.org or via the FWCC World Office www.fwccworld.org earmarked for this purpose.

In terms of the more general financial and other material support that Friends can offer, discussions are taking place both at AFSC and amongst Friends in Britain to determine the best and safest way to ensure that help reaches those who need it. We should be in a position to tell you more about this early next week.

Most of all, Friends in Kenya need our prayers along with prayers for peace and justice to prevail in their country. This is the season of the Prince of Peace and we must seek God's assistance and guidance amidst this turmoil.

With hope and faith,

Nancy Irving, General Secretary
Friends World Committee for Consultation

Harry Albright, Communications Director
Friends World Committee for Consultation

Another Friend in Kenya-Dave Zarembka

I have been asked to discuss the issue of how the violence here in Kenya
is affecting the Quakers in Kenya.

Friends United Meeting (then Five Years Meeting) sent missionaries to
Kenya in 1902. They trekked up country and settled in Kaimosi which is in
Western Province of Kenya. Western Province stretches from near Lake
Victoria about a hundred miles north to Mt Elgon, along the border with
Uganda. The British divided up the provinces by ethnic groups so Western
Province is the home of the Luhya who are the second to largest group in
Kenya after the Kikuyu. Almost everyone in Western Province is Luhya. Of
course, over time, many Luhya have immigrated to other parts of the
country. Partly do to the excellent education the Quaker missionaries
promoted during colonial rule, the Luhya tended to go into the educated
professions--teachers, managers, government civil servants, and similiar
occupations.

There are more Quakers in Kenya than any other country in the world. FWCC says 137,000. FUM-Africa office is trying to get a better count, but this is going to be difficult for such large numbers. I think that the total
is considerably higher. If there are 3,000,000 people in Western Province
and 100,000 of them are Quakers, then 3% of the population is Quaker.
While still a small percentage, it is probably one of the highest concentrations of Quakers in the world. Quaker churches and Quaker
schools can be seen everywhere.

At the time of independence all the Quakers were in one very centralized,
yearly meeting--East Africa Yearly Meeting. (they later divided up)

Now all the yearly meetings are members of Friends United Meeting. All except a silent worship group at Friends Church--Nairobi, Ngong Road are programmed Friends, with singing, vocal prayer, preaching, an offering, etc.

Starting in about 1999, the many yearly meetings began to re-develop normal relationships among themselves. Now the Friends Church of Kenya includes all the yearly meetings. During the time of conflict, the Quakers were not represented in the National Christian Council of Kenya because they could not agree on who would represent them. Now the Friends Church has a representative there.

Politically the Luhya have been seen as the political "plum" that would allow someone else to run the country. If a politian could get the votes of the second to largest tribe, he would have a nice voting block. Consequently there have been many Luhya vice-presidents. Kibaki's vice president was a Luhya, Moody Awori, and you can see the resentment against Kibaki when Awori was unable to even hold is own seat in Busia--he was beaten badly by the ODM candidate. In Moi's last government, Musalia Mudavadi was vice-president for only a short time. In the 2002 election the Luhya were determined to oust the Moi government and Mudavadi like Awori in this election lost his seat. He soon recognized his mistake, joined the ODM campaign in 2005 against the proposed constitution, and returned to the good graces of the Luhya. He is now Raila Odinga's vice-presidental running mate. I cover these details because Musalia Mudavadi is a Friend. I am told that he sometimes attends church at Ngong Road in Nairobi. I have found him to be level-headed, a calmer speaker than most politicians, and carried the ODM campaign very well when Raila was in the United States raising funds.

As part of the larger population of the province, the Quakers have been
directly and indirectly affected by the violence. I mentioned a Luhya who was killed in Nakuru (I don't know if he was a Quaker or not). Another prominent Quaker's shop in Nairobi was looted and burned. If a Quaker
lived in a Kikuyu's house, they were burned out. If they rented a house
to a Kikuyu, it was also burnt. There are probably many more examples of
death, looted shops, and burned homes among the Kenya Quakers that I do
not know about. Of course indirectly everyone has been adversely affected. Prices have gone up, transport has been almost impossible, and anyone with a business has seen sales decrease. On top of this is the tension, the uncertainty of what will happen, the retreating into the home and with trusted neighbors only. Then there are the questions, "How can our society have fallen apart like this?" "Where have we gone wrong?"
"Is this going to happen again?"

In my daily reports I try to highlight those things that I hear that the Quaker community are doing--digging latrines at an IDP camp, caring for people in Eldoret Friends Church, our beginning attempts at reconciliation here in Lumakanda, attempts to dialogue with the looters in Kakamega. All these are small initiatives in hard times. As the conflict here in Kenya is no longer is "news," and you hear little about what happens, I hope that you can stay informed about our Quaker brothers and sisters in Western Kenya.

Friends-

There is a missing young Friend from Easton Monthly Meeting in upstate New York. Jaliek Rainwalker has been missing since November 1. If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact his parents.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is seeking motivated volunteers for the 2008 Mexico Summer Project that will run from June 26 to August 9, 2008. The Mexico Summer Project will provide a safe place where youth from the Americas, Europe and Mexico can work together with the Totonaca and Nahua indigenous people on community projects, share from their diverse cultures and experiences, and learn ways to address the political, social, ecological, and economic challenges of the present and the future. The Mexico Summer Project is run in collaboration with Servicio,Desarollo, y Paz, A.C. (SEDEPAC), a prominent Mexican non-governmental organization. In 1939, AFSC and Quakers in Mexico launched the program, which now in its 69th year, continues to provide positive life-changing experiences for diverse youth and local communities.

The Program

In 2008 participants will live together in indigenous communities in the mountainous northeastern region of Puebla, Mexico, commonly called the Sierra Norte de Puebla. In developing and implementing the 2008 Mexico Summer Project, SEDEPAC and AFSC will work closely with Unidad Indígena Totonaca Nahuatl (UNITONA) an indigenous development organization in the area.

After a week of orientation, including a 3-day home stay with a local host family (community immersion), participants are divided into five groups. Each group of about 10 to 14 spends the next seven weeks living as a family in an indigenous village where they engage with the local community in cultural and recreational exchanges, assigned work projects for sustainable development, and workshops on various topics important to the local community and the group members.

Qualifications

This is an intensive, challenging experience for mature individuals who are open-minded and eager to learn about the challenges of building sustainable communities in the midst of economic and ecological crisis. Participants must be 18-26 years old and able to communicate well in Spanish, the language of the project at all times. AFSC requires that participants undergo a pre-project physical exam. They must commit for the full seven weeks, June 26- August 9, 2008, and should be willing and prepared to live with a small group of peers in a remote, rural area of Mexico. AFSC seeks applicants who are interested in service, advocacy, and social justice—both in Latin America and their own communities.

Costs

Participants are responsible for a $1,350 project fee, which covers food, lodging, and transportation related to the project. Participants are also responsible for the cost of their travel to and from Mexico City. A non-refundable registration fee of $250 is due upon acceptance and the remainder in June 2008. Scholarships are available to applicants with demonstrated financial need, through the Dewitt Wallace Youth Travel Enrichment Fund of the New York Community Trust. Applicants should be sure to fill out a scholarship request form with the application if they would like to be considered for a scholarship.

Applications

Application forms are available online at www.afsc.org/mexicosummer.htm. Please call or send an email to request that the forms be mailed to you. All applications must be submitted to AFSC byMarch 21, 2008. In April, up to 30 participants and five facilitators from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico will be notified that they have been accepted. Applicants from other countries should contact SEDEPAC. Additional qualified applicants will be placed on a waiting list and contacted if space becomes available.

Sponsored by The African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI) a project of Friends Peace Teams

International workcamps in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda

Two-day Pre-service Orientation begins Saturday June 22,2008 in Washington DC.

Following Orientation Workcampers fly to Africa where the become part of a team and assist with building clinics, peace centers and/or schools

Details of 2008 Workcamps are available

Visit our website at http://www.aglionline.org or contact Dawn Rubbert via dawn@aglionline.org

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about FPT-AGLI Workcamps

What is FPT-AGLI?

Friends Peace Teams is the parent organization for the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI). AGLI promotes peace work in Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and, Tanzania. Workcamps are one part of the efforts of AGLI, which supports reconciliation, community building and healing through Alternatives to Violence Project workshops, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities workshops, women’s groups, etc.

What happens at a workcamp?

Workcampers build, schools, clinics and community structures such as peace centers. 2008 summer projects will include continuing work on an HIV-AIDS clinic in Burundi, continuing construction of the Friends Peace Centre - Lubao in Kenya, and continuing work on the Friends Peace Center in Gisenyi, Rwanda on the border with Congo. Significantly - what also happens at a workcamp is lots of interchange with Africans and other workcampers, and individual growth.

When do workcamps take place?

Workcamps take place in late June and July and last about five weeks. They are preceded by a 2-day orientation in the US immediately before departing for Africa. 2008 Dates are June 22 – July 26

Who applies for a workcamp?

. . . anyone with a leading to do peace work. Workcampers of all ages are welcome, though most are between 18 and 35. To date the youngest workcamper was 8 and the oldest 84. While many Quakers apply, persons of any spiritual calling are most welcome. Typically, on any given workcamp team, there are both non-African (e.g., Americans and Canadians) and Africans. With regard to character, it is expected that each workcamper be able to work cooperatively and to be respectful of and open to other cultures.

What skills do I need?

No skills are required. Each person does what s/he is able to do. Don’t have carpentry skills? You can carry the lumber. Don’t have bricklaying skills? You might surprise yourself and find you have an aptitude and can learn.

Where will I live?

Most often workcampers live with host families. Depending on the site, workcampers may live in a dormitory within a church compound, or in a house shared with other workcampers.

Is it dangerous where I will be sent?

While it’s true that the some communities where AGLI projects take place have been sites of conflict, workcamps are set up well after the conflict is over and when it is deemed safe. Rates of violence in Africa are lower than in the US.

How much does it cost and how do I pay?

Each American workcamper is expected to raise a minimum of $3,800. Workcampers typically receive contributions from a variety of individuals and groups, e.g., monthly meetings (churches), yearly meetings, college grants, civic organizations, local businesses, etc. With assistance from their clearness/support committee they hold fundraisers. The $3800 covers: the cost of the Orientation; airfare to/from Africa; living expenses in Africa; and, it subsidizes the living expenses of Africans from other countries who are on the team; and, provides a minimum of $1,000 for the purchase of building materials for the workcamp project. All building supplies are purchased locally in Africa.

How and when do I apply?

Go to the website http://www.aglionline.org. Once there, you can read the workcamp description. Next, select the workcamp application. The form indicates that each applicant will want to begin with a clearness committee to determine the depth of his/her leading. Because the process of committee gatherings and reporting can take a little time, and because fundraising will be necessary, it is recommended that applicants begin the process 6-8 months before the late June orientation. The 2008 workcamp description and application form are on the website.

Questions? -- Contact Dawn Rubbert, AGLI’s Program Manager, via Dawn@aglionline.org

Summer 2008

Program Locations: Bosnia, Guatemala, Rwanda & Venezuela

Application Deadline: January 25, 2008

Global Youth Connect, an international human rights organization, is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications from young leaders (ages 18-30) for our Summer 2008 international human rights delegations.  Program locations include:  Bosnia, Guatemala, Rwanda and Venezuela.  

Human rights delegations are a unique, first-hand opportunity to cross cultural boundaries and learn about the daily reality of human rights as experienced in a complex and increasingly globalized world.  Each delegation weaves together three core sets of activities: site visits to local organizations, hands-on fieldwork projects, and a human rights training workshop with local youth activists.

Bosnia   (June 29 - July 18, 2008)
Program Tuition:  $2,750

This delegation will explore the roots of the conflict and the dynamics of justice, reconciliation and peacebuilding as experienced in Bosnia.  Participants will gain experience in conflict resolution and transformation and deepen their understanding of the post-conflict challenges faced by Bosnians today, especially youth.  Participants will have an opportunity to meet with Bosnian NGOs working on issues of human rights, community development, youth empowerment, and conflict resolution.  The program will also include a workshop with Bosnian youth and the opportunity to work hands-on with local organizations to assist them in their daily activities.

Guatemala  (June 15 - July 13, 2008)
Program Tuition:  $2,750
 
This delegation will explore the roots of violence and social injustice in Guatemala, with a particular focus on the country's indigenous population.  We will seek to better understand the legacy of Guatemala's 36-year armed conflict and the impact of violence, both past and present, on the Guatemalan people, as well as reflect on how policies and practices in the U.S.have affected the lives of ordinary Guatemalans.  Delegation activities will center on supporting the efforts of grassroots human rights activists working to promote and defend the political, social, economic and cultural rights of all Guatemalans.  Spanish proficiency is required.

Rwanda  (June 14 - July 13, 2008)
Program Tuition: $2,450

This delegation will explore the roots of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, how this legacy of violence has impacted the country and its people, particularly Rwandan youth, and also how the country is attempting to rebuild today. We will examine issues of truth, justice and reconciliation in the context of post-conflict Rwanda and what is needed to strengthen local institutions and programs dedicated to promoting a culture of respect for human rights.  Participants will connect with young Rwandans and get involved in a variety of collaborative projects aimed at promoting human rights as well as meet with leading human rights defenders, government representatives, international institutions, youth and others from local communities to learn more about the political, economic and social challenges faced by Rwandans today.  

Venezuela  (July 26 - August 17, 2008)
Program Tuition: $2,250

The delegation will explore the rise of social change movements and human rights activism in present-day Venezuela, both on the grassroots level and as represented by national government programs. Through hands-on participation in partnership with grassroots organizations, participants will investigate present-day human rights concerns along with the response of government and civil society.  A major theme of the program will be to examine the relationship of grassroots human rights organizations with a national government expressly concerned with promoting respect for human rights, democratic reform, and the redistribution of wealth. Delegation activities will focus in particular on the efforts of young human rights activists to promote
and sustain a just, equitable, democratic, and peaceful society.  Spanish proficiency is required.

Application Deadline:      January 25, 2008

How to Apply:      We invite interested young leaders to apply.  We are looking for participants who are between the ages of 18-30 and who possess U.S. citizenship or residency as well as international students studying full-time at a U.S. college or university.  Most importantly, applicants should wish to expand their knowledge and understanding of human rights and social justice.  Participants will become part of a growing global movement of youth acting together for compassion, human rights and responsibility.

For detailed information on program activities, costs, fundraising/financial aid, and application information, please visit our website:

www.globalyouthconnect.org/participate

Best wishes,

Jennifer Kloes
Executive Director
Global Youth Connect
www.globalyouthconnect.org
Acting together for compassion, human rights and responsibility