Appendix D: Wider Quaker Organization Reports

American Friends Service Committee

American Friends Service Committee Southeast Regional Office

Friendly Woman

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Friends Committee on Unity with Nature

Friends General Conference

Friends Peace Team

Right Sharing of World Resources

Representative Report
American Friends Service Committee
June 2001-2002

The past year the American Friends Service Committee has been dominated by the events of September 11, 2001.  At the Corporation Meeting in November 2001 the members shared the actions and events in which Quakers across the country had been involved.  The actions included relief work, peace walks, worship-sharing, reaching out to Islamic communities, symposiums, etc.   The agency as a whole developed the No More Victims Campaign.  The goal of this campaign is to develop non-violent responses to September 11th.  The campaign is working in five areas: material assistance, communication, public policy, grassroots organizing and conscientious objection.

Before September 11th AFSC had undergone a Visioning Process which included 4 regional gatherings and several Board Meetings in an attempt to establish over arching goals for the work of the AFSC.  The goals approved by the Board on November 4, 2001 include: rethinking borders, exploring healing justice, creating economic opportunity and dismantling structural inequality, empowering youth leadership, building commitment to non-violent resolution of conflict and providing humanitarian assistance and education. The Board and the program areas of AFSC continue to clarify and to work toward these goals.

Donald Gann, left the clerkship after 7 years of service.  He was honored, although absent due to illness, at the Corporation Meeting.  The Minute of Appreciation included: “I don’t know how many different regions Don has served, nor how many committees he has worked with or chaired, but clearly the Service Committee has been a part of his religious and activist life all through his adulthood….Let us thank him for what he has done with and for us and for the devotion he will continue to show.”

Paul A. Lacy is the new Clerk of AFSC.  He is Professor Emeritus of English at Earlham College and has been active in many areas of AFSC.  He is a member of Clear Creek Monthly Meeting in Richmond, Indiana.  He has worked local, regionally and nationally with several wider Quaker organizations.  He clearly brings faith and skills to this new endeavor.

SAYMA has two of its own on the Board of AFSC.  Daryl Berquist has been a member for several years and Jonah McDonald was approved by the Corporation to be a Board member in November.

AFSC sent more than 60 people to the UN Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa in the fall. Half of the delegation was young people, who were involved in the Youth Summit. Many Quaker groups from other countries were present and a Meeting for Worship was held hosted by Friends in Durban.

The Board has approved a policy for screening staff and volunteers who are working with children and youth. The Board has asked the Human Resources Committee to continue working on guidelines and procedures that will protect the children and youth and not stigmatize groups who are especially vulnerable to the criminal justice system (communities of color, immigrants, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities).

The Friends Center in which AFSC is housed is in need of major renovations.  AFSC, Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting are the 3 partners in the building.  There are financial and strategic planning groups, which are developing a vision for the future of Friends Center.

I appreciate the opportunity to represent SAYMA on the Corporation of AFSC.  I continue to be proud of the way AFSC brings Quaker values into the world.

Sallie I. Prugh
Columbia Friends Meeting

Report to SAYMA June 2002
from SAYMA Representative to the
Southeastern Regional Office (SERO) Executive Committee (EC)
of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Daryl Bergquist

	This is near the end of my sixth and final year as SAYMA Representative to the Southeastern Regional Office (SERO) Executive Committee (EC) of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). With the added responsibilities I accepted as Co-clerk of Executive Committee serving on the AFSC Board of Directors, the past 4 years have been like a 1/2 time volunteer job. The experiences resulting from this appointment to SERO have been transforming for me. I have been challenged to the core, have been brought to the place of reliance on the Spirit knowing that my understanding and power was not sufficient, and have been led to understand myself and others in new ways. The experience of diverse community has opened a yearning to find/create such in other parts of my life.

	AFSC is in flux both nationally and in SERO. I expect that this will always be the case to a varying degree. AFSC is an amazing attempt to live Friends testimonies in the world and as such, merges the conflicts and peculiarities of Friends together with those of the larger society. AFSC is an opportunity and an attempt of seeking Divine guidance and of modeling a vision of a just society in a Friends service and social change organization. It is an exciting and challenging experiment.

	AFSC in general, and SERO in particular, continues with high quality programs. In the Southeastern Region, these programs are: 
•	In Miami, Florida - 
•	The Central American Political Asylum Program provides legal assistance and information to Central American and Haitian refugees.
•	In High Point, North Carolina -
•	The Emergency and Material Assistance Program collects and distributes materials both regionally and internationally. 
•	The Orita Program empowers youth and the community.
•	In Atlanta, Georgia - 
•	The Middle East Peace Education Program educates people in the Southeast about the Middle East. 
•	The African Peace Education Program educates people in the Southeast about Africa. 
•	The Help Increase the Peace Program trains youth in conflict resolution.
•	Also in Atlanta is a short-term general peace education position which is part of AFSC's No More Victims campaign.

	Valerie Barlow began the work of Regional Director for SERO in October. Valerie is from SAYMA and has served as clerk of Atlanta Friends Meeting. Valerie has the challenge and opportunity of building a new leadership team for SERO, since there has been a turnover in staff in the SERO office. Yolanda Burwell and I will be ending our terms as co-clerks of the Executive Committee in December, so there will also be new leadership and membership in the Executive Committee. Please support SERO by recommending capable people to apply for the positions in SERO. Applications are currently being accepted for the position of Associate Regional Director and the position of Program Director for the Help Increase the Peace Program, and will soon be solicited for Program Director for the Middle East Peace Education Program. SAYMA will be appointing new Representatives to the SERO Executive Committee during this yearly meeting session. The SERO Executive Committee functions as a board, providing guidance and governance for the region. SAYMA has the opportunity and responsibility of appointing Friends to these positions capable of providing leadership during this defining time.

	AFSC is in the process of organizing around 6 goals:
•	Providing Humanitarian Assistance and Education
•	Migration and Mobility
•	Empowering Youth Leadership
•	Building Commitment to Non Violence
•	Exploring Healing Justice
•	Creating Economic Opportunity and Dismantling Structural Inequality

	These goals will become the basis for AFSC programs nationally and regionally. I encourage talking with Valerie if you have suggestions or questions in this regard.

	Working in the diverse community at AFSC has provided me the opportunity to perceive my place of privilege and isolation, and to develop the tools and commitment to change it. This has been the greatest gift among many which also includes an increased understanding of power and leadership, and the dynamics of organizations. I wish to thank SAYMA for providing me with this opportunity.

Daryl Bergquist

Friendly Woman Production Team Final Report
SAYMA Yearly Meeting 2002
Penelope Wright for the groupPenelope Wright for the group

	We began our gestation at yearly meeting sessions of 2000 when several interested women signed up. Subsequently, a few of us met with the outgoing group at Gathering, but although we were clear we wanted to take up this effort, we had no idea how we would do it. Clarity came during the first (of only two) face to face meetings we had. We decided we would be modern women and use electronic technology, despite the fact that several of us didn’t even know how to open or attach files. We surmounted all those barriers, learning to download the files posted from Belize by Judy Lumb who was our layout wizard.
	Usually the tenure for a group to produce Friendly Woman is 2 years or 8 issues, but a new group did not come forth to take up the work until January 2002 and we put out 10 issues. We like to think that we were able to capture some of the original spirit of Friendly Woman, born 25 years ago at an FGC Gathering Women’s Center. Indeed several of our team were present at the birth. We struggled with the economics of publishing, but managed to increase the circulation and sustain the quality of the product without having to use emergency funds. 
	We learned that Quaker discernment can be accomplished, in a worshipful manner via email. We found that strong personalities were the fire of our work and that tender listening, deep affection and grounded spirituality were the glue that kept us together. At our celebratory slumber party in January, held at Cloudlands Park, we determined that our connections were so important to us, as women of SAYMA, that we pray these connections will expand to more women of SAYMA.
	We are most grateful to those who were so generous of their money, time and spiritual support.
The SAYMA PLUS Friendly Women:
Nancy Beecher, Peggy Bonnington, Hannelore Devlin, Becky Ingle, Ellen Johnson, Judy Lumb, Kathleen Mavournin, Janet Minshall, Susan Phelan, Kit Potter, Janice Pulliam, Nancy Shaw, Nancy Whitt, Penelope Wright, Haven Hawley (our printing facilitator) and June Etta Chenard and Pashta Marymoon, our Canadian contingent.

Friendly Woman’s new address is:	Deborah Haines
					2794 Fort Scott Drive
					Arlington, VA 22202
					ddrhr@msn.com 

War Is Not the Answer

The annual meeting of the General Committee of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) met from 11/8 - 11/11/2001.  It was uplifting to be in a room full of over 200 Quakers and hear all of the outreach that people were doing in local communities to work towards peace.  It was inspiring to see the FCNL national office with the message "War Is Not the Answer" on the side of the building facing the closed Hart Senate Office Building.  It was also inspiring to hear about staff being in the middle of the confusion, evacuations, and concerns about friends and relatives on 9/11 and the next day putting out a statement urging non-violent responses to the terror attacks.

If I needed a reminder of the importance of FCNL it was given this fall.  When the banner went up, 2-3 people a day who were not connected to FCNL dropped by to offer help.  The people visiting the web site at www.fcnl.org and using it to write letters to elected officials went from 150-200 per week to over 4,000.  And Congress people were saying that FCNL was the only organization urging a non-violent response.

Our time together was packed because FCNL's response to 9/11 was not the major focus.
The theme of this annual meeting was "On Being Faithful Stewards."  We heard about the dangers of our advanced technology (including nuclear weapons still on hair trigger alert), the dangers to the environment posed by cold war weapons left in stockpiles and how the degradation of the environment may lead to future wars.  Kim Carlyle from SAYMA was on a panel with Eric Sabelman from Pacific Yearly Meeting talking about the intersection between ecology and peace and justice.  In addition the major item of business was revising the part of the FCNL policy statement that is summarized by - "We seek an earth restored…."  The meeting spent time in small groups and a majority of the business sessions dealing with this work.  The results brought this part of the policy statement up to equal status with the other three parts (summarized by - "We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.  We seek a society with equity and justice for all.  We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled…") That still leaves a ways to go for FCNL to become a voice in environmental policy in Washington.  Currently, the priorities for staff, which were set by Quakers from all across the country in 11/2000, stress the first two parts of the policy summary.  Also, because reserves are decreasing, we must have more donations to continue current work.  So more Friends from across the country must become activists in their local communities, help to set FCNL's priorities, and help FCNL grow. 

Your representatives to FCNL were asked by the co-clerks of SAYMA's Ecological Concerns Network, Kathy Johnson and Kim Carlyle, to take SAYMA's minutes on population control and global climate change to the annual meeting of FCNL.  We were also asked to find out "How SAYMA could help make way open for environmental work at FCNL.  Because FCNL sets priorities in even numbered years, I did not feel moved to share the concern in the general business meeting.  However, I did meet with Arthur Meyer-Boyd, Associate Executive Director of FCNL and with Jonathan Fisch, Clerk of the General Committee to share the concern.  We agreed that it would be brought to the next Executive Committee meeting.  During the General Committee's meeting for business a representative from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting raised a concern that FCNL put a higher priority on environmental work.  At that time Jonathan Fisch related that our yearly meeting had sent a letter expressing a similar concern.

There is no official response but I want to share my own thoughts.  A little work is being done now on issues that intersect the current priorities (support for destroying chemical weapons stockpiles for example).  My hope (and I think this is shared by many others in FCNL) is that resources can be found to expand the work of FCNL to include work on other major environmental issues.  I believe that requires two things, that Friends from many areas of the country be led to have environmental issues as a major concern and that in turn resources for FCNL increase.  FCNL is well respected in Washington, DC, and has good relationships with Congresspeople and their staffs.  This is because it does extensive research on issues, follows items in committees in Congress, and works with local activists to get its message out.  To do the same quality of work on environmental issues requires a full time legislative staff person and the support for that person.  I believe that "a way opening" will involve additional resources.

Finally, I want to share how FCNL decides about issues on which to focus.  Every two years all of the monthly meetings and Friends churches in the United States are invited to participate in setting priorities for FCNL staff.  This process which results in a "Statement of Priorities" will go on throughout the coming year (2002).  Your meeting contact should get mailings about this.  The first phase will take place in early 2002 with responses due by 7/1/02.  When the Policy Committee (14 Quakers from around the United States including Nancy Lee-Riffe from Berea) collates and processes these suggestions, they usually mail out a second request for comments.  Meetings are asked to worshipfully rank these priorities.  This input is usually due by early ninth month.  The Policy Committee meets again to draft a Priorities Statement that is considered in small groups and in meeting for business at FCNL's annual meeting in 11/2002.   The current Policy Statement and Statement of Priorities are available on FCNL's web site, www.fcnl.org, or from FCNL, 245 Second St., NE, Washington, DC  20002.  I hope you'll get involved.

Joe Taylor
December 2001

FCUN Representative Report to Yearly Meeting – 2002

At its annual meeting last October, Friends Committee on Unity with Nature approved bylaw changes to expand its steering committee and to become more representative of the diverse community of Friends. All Yearly Meeting representatives are now automatically members of the steering committee. These changes have already provided for some new energy and fresh ideas.
A long range planning effort is underway to help FCUN better serve the North American community of Friends. Monthly meetings have been asked to fill out and return questionnaires to inform the process. We are hopeful that all SAYMA monthly meeting and worship groups will respond with comments and suggestions.
In continuing support and outreach efforts, FCUN Friends gave more than 50 presentations and workshops last year for monthly meetings, yearly meetings, and various Friends organizations and provided excellent educational materials, especially for First Day Schools. 
FCUN has not only been reaching out to monthly meetings, but to other Friends organizations and even to the world. We were invited to address the annual meeting of Friends Committee on National Legislation and took that opportunity to explain the link between energy policy and peace efforts. Apparently the message was well received since the newly proposed FCNL legislative priorities—with the theme, “Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict”—include the energy policy among its five major issues. And going beyond our shores, FCUN is sending delegates to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. 
At Friends General Conference Gathering last July, FCUN clerk Stan Becker (who spoke to SAYMA two years ago) raised awareness among Friends’ for the concern of rapid population growth. The success of his message was measured by the sales of 100 copies of the FCUN book, “Population is People,” at the conclusion of his talk. 
FCUN’s Quaker Eco-Witness has two projects underway. One is a young adult Friend in Washington. Guilford graduate, Lissa Carter, will serve as an intern with the National Environmental Trust and informally attend meetings with FCNL interns. The second is a consultation on economics and ecology to be held at Pendle Hill next Spring.
FCUN responded to the events following the attacks of last September with a “Statement on the U.S. ‘War on Terrorism.’” In part it states:

We must examine the root causes of the escalating violence against humanity, and against our planet. We need to take this opportunity to reflect on and to nurture the interconnectedness of all of God's creation…. We ask our leaders to cooperate with other nations to work toward security, not through military and corporate might, but through equality, justice and ecological sustainability for all God's creation, now and for generations to come.” 
And due to events of last year, financial contributions to FCUN (and many other organizations) were down. We ask Friends to continue to support of FCUN and to consider increasing their level of giving. It is becoming increasingly clear that today's threats to world peace are also threats to the God's Creation. We need a Friends Earth Care witness today more than ever. 
Our yearly meeting is represented at FCUN by Susan Carlyle (clerk of Finance and Program committees) and by Kim Carlyle (alternate clerk of FCUN, and clerk of Nominating Committee and the Quaker Eco-Witness Project). But we would greatly welcome more involvement by other SAYMA Friends. Please visit the FCUN web site at www.FCUN.org and please consider becoming more active with FCUN.

Respectfully submitted,
Kim Carlyle, SAYMA Representative to FCUN

Report of SAYMA Representative to Friends General Conference
June 2002
Penelope Wright

I am one of several SAYMA Friends who represent us at FGC’s Central Committee. Sharon Annis and John Geary are rotating off, I shall continue and Julia Sibley-Jones will be our new representative. Other SAYMA Friends serve as invited members to various committees. I continue to be deeply grateful that SAYMA has seen fit to send me as one of their representatives.

In keeping with its mission of serving those in the unprogrammed tradition of the Religious Society of Friends, FGC has several outstanding activities taking place. Each one has direct implications for its affiliated yearly and monthly meetings.

The first activity is the completion of the modest but successful Capital Campaign. This was undertaken to raise funds to implement new programs and initiatives that provide resources and services for us. One of the most visible new programs is the Traveling Ministries Program which has touched several monthly meetings and worship groups here in SAYAM through consultation, retreats and visitation. Monies realized from the Campaign are not expected to be able to sustain these initiatives, rather that will come from the Operating Budget once the Campaign is closed. So when you receive a request from FGC to financially support the annual budget, remember that FGC offers much more than the Gathering and the bookstore (now known as the Quaker Bookstore at FGC) and give as generously as you can.

Recognizing that the practicalities and cost of the Gathering is beyond the means of many Friends, FGC has begun offering smaller, regional conferences. These are usually sponsored by one of the program committees, most often Religious Education and Ministry & Nurture. Perhaps some of you attended the RE Institute held in Virginia or the Nurturing the Nurturer Small Conference on St Helena’s Island, South Carolina a couple of years ago. A repeat RE Institute is planned in the coming year and our own Robin Wells is deeply involved with that. Coming up in September in Rosholt Wisconsin, the Ministry & Nurture Committee is offering another small conference, Nurturing the Meeting Community. Registration flyers are available from me, the FGC display table or by going to the FGC website at www.fgcquaker.org.

A seemingly more internal activity undertaken this year is that of evaluating the Long Range Plan approved in 1995. I find this to be quite remarkable for an organization that has gone through a visioning process. All too often visions are put into place with an assumption that they will be magically actualize. However because Friends believe in continuing revelation, evaluation provides us an opportunity test our original leadings and modify them as indicated. There are only four goals, but since they are meant to serve you, you might like to know them.
Provide and help yearly and monthly meetings offer opportunities for worship and spiritual nurture to the most seasoned Friend and the newest seekers.
	Nurture the small and isolated monthly meetings and worship groups.
Build and sustain an extended, loving community of Friends based on the experience of unity in God’s spirit while embracing and respecting great diversity.
	Articulate, communicate and model core experiences, values and principles of Friends.

One of the newest initiatives stemming from these goals is developing named contacts within monthly meetings that would provide two-way communication between the meetings and FGC. This new mechanism would give each of you an avenue of expressing how you think FGC might address your meeting’s needs. There will be an opportunity to hear about this new program at the Gathering.

Finally, I’d like to share with you about the birth of the newest committee at FGC, the Committee for Ministry on Racism. This committee is still discerning how best to carry out it’s purpose, but is already planning a special intensive training on racism within the Religious Society of Friends for our affiliated yearly meetings and FGC program committee clerks. It will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January 16 through January 20, 2003. Each yearly meeting is asked to select two members to attend. Should you have a leading to do so, please let our clerk, Sharon Annis know as soon as possible so that financial arrangements can be made. I would be happy to share with those who are interested the epistle of this committee that describes its understanding of its calling, grounded in the understanding that at the center of their work is God’s love.

We are blessed with the presence of several FGC visitors:
Peg & Nils Pearson of North Central Wisconsin Worship Group, under the care of Madison MM. They come to FGC from the Couple Enrichment Program and serve on Ministry & Nurture and Traveling Ministries Program Committees. They are our FGC Yearly Meeting Visitors for this year.
Deborah Haines of Alexandria MM. Serves as clerk of Advancement and Outreach Committee and has brought to fruition the Inreach/Outreach Packet which so many of us have used.
	Ellen Helmuth sojourning at Central Philadelphia MM serves FGC in a staff capacity.

Please take advantage of their being in our midst to become more connected to Friends General Conference.

FRIENDS PEACE TEAMS COORDINATING COMMITTEE REPORT TO SAYMA
Kathleen N. Hardie, SAYMA representative to FPT-CC
823 Summerly Dr. / Nashville, TN 37209

June 17, 2002

Dear Friends,
	This is the third year I have served as the SAYMA representative to the fledgling Friends Peace Teams - Coordinating Committee (FPT - CC). The growth in the work of this new Quaker effort has truly been an unfolding of the leading of the Spirit over the past year and a half. I will report on the active works of peace making around the globe, ideas of interface among Friends’ groups, and the growth of the organization.

Active Peace Projects:
	There have been three international teams supported over the past year. AGLI has initiated the work at the Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS) with Burundi Yearly Meeting in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The team began as 2 Burundian members, and 2 International members. Over the year it has been reconstituted to include 1 international member, and 3 or 4 Burundian members. In the year and a quarter they have been in operation the team has offered a three fold approach to rebuilding the people and communities of Burundi. The work of the team begins with “developing awareness.” This is grief education & trauma healing in small groups or individual formats. The work as I understand combines active listening (much along the lines of Herb Walters efforts in the Listening Project), and group story telling out of the African tribal community traditions. The next part of their effort teaches non-violent conflict resolution out of the AVP model. Then there are efforts to explore positive community building through sport, song, and shared refreshments. Sometimes this is as humble as a pick-up soccer game with Tutsi and Hutu players assigned to the same team, and sharing a drink of water together afterward. The work of this team has spent a good portion of the first year of operation in dealing with “the ministry of translation.” Burundi uses 4 languages (English, French, Swahili, and Kirundi). The team works with all four languages, directly or through translation. One of their first tasks was to find a way to use the process of translation as a way to help the story all the people of Burundi have experienced to be heard and understood. After struggling to translate the word “trauma” into Kirundi, they team was through the process of translation workshops able to identify the word “ihahamuka” which means “to have your heart turned upside down.”
	The efforts to establish a project in Columbia continue. Another team is being developed for the early summer. This effort is progressing in collaboration with the P.B.I., and C.P.T.’s on the ground in Columbia at this time. The work done by P.B.I., and C.P.T. in Columbia focuses primarily on accompaniment work. The work being considered by the Friends Peace Team is more along the lines of teaching conflict resolution skills.
	Mary Lord (former FPT-CC representative from Baltimore Yearly Meeting) has taken the concern of “Every Meeting or Friends Church a Center for Peace Making” on to work she is doing with AFSC. Mary is working with the “No More Victims Campaign” of AFSC’s Philadelphia office.

Interface among other peace groups:
	Friends Peace Teams continues to seek participation from a broad spectrum of Friends Meetings and Friends Churches. Primarily there are representatives from Yearly Meetings, but there are also Friends involved with the growing work of committees support to the range of active projects, and the growth of support for emerging projects. Further the partner organizations of Peace Brigades International (PBI), and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) continues to grow. Notably the work of Bill and Genie Durland, FPT-CC representatives from Intermountain Yearly Meeting, have worked with CPT efforts in the south Hebron Hills of the West Bank (described in a Friends Journal article of March 2002).

Growth of the Organization:
	It had been my intention to continue as the SAYMA representative to Friends Peace Teams - Coordinating Counsel for another year. However, the work that is currently being done requires some components which are beyond my skills, and current resources. There is a need for the yearly meeting representative to have access to internet communication, and the capacity to manage regular telephone bridge meetings at least once per month, sometimes more. While I hope to continue as a participant in the work of one FPT committee, I have asked the SAYMA nominating committee to consider identification of a replacement. The FPT-CC will gather for their next meeting in Nashville in October 2002, and this should be a good opportunity for the new SAYMA representative to begin their tenure with the FPT-CC. I look forward to a new representative being able to better communicate the good energy of peace making concerns among SAYMA friends, with the exciting efforts of the Friends Peace Teams.
	Thank you for the opportunity to have served three years with this extraordinary emerging Friends organization. I have grown in my personal experience of the Peace testimony of the Religious Society of Friends. I regret the lack of effectiveness I have felt, and the limited time I was able to devote to communicating between the yearly meeting, and the FPT-CC. I hope Friends will take time to visit the display provided to gain more detailed information on the work of the FPT, and partner organizations around the world.

Cordially Submitted,

Kathleen N. Hardie,
Nashville Friends Meeting

Right Sharing for World Resources Report -2002

RSWR had another good year.  Our project partners keep us well informed; reports can be found in the newsletters, as can information about new projects. Our project support for 2002 is $160,000.  We have 21 new projects and 18 continuing ones, including the project I have worked with in the Himalayas, which I visited in January. I was excited to see the enthusiasm of the women and the commitment of the organizers both to their empowerment, and also to encouraging reflection on the important things in life, looking at the issues of sustainability and Spirit-based living.  Celo Friends did a benefit Indian meal, netting $500 to support RSWR and landslide relief in the neighborhood of this project.  I went to Nashville as a resource person for their retreat; we saw slides, had deep discussions and enjoyed the Right Sharing Game. I am willing to travel to any meetings

We received many notes of sympathy and prayers for the departed souls from our present and past project partners after September 11. One said, “We express our heartfelt sympathies/condolences to those who are affected in the bomb blast, and pray God to shower his blessings to strengthen America for a more equitable world. However we will be failing in our commitment to end this mail without thanking you for your noble assistance and concern towards our people to promote our Socio-economical development. We love America and shall remain very sincere to their kind heart towards our nation as well as our people.”

The letter from the Himalayan partners went on to some analysis, “We are very sorry for what happened in New York and Washington . . . a most shocking event. We are . . . praying for the people affected by this attack and extend our heartfelt sorrow to those who have lost their . . . dear ones. We hope and pray that these events will lead us all to introspect and examine our world and join hands to work towards a more peaceful and safer existence--one which is free of violence and war. A world of compassion and love.”

We greeted a new board member, Ted Hawkins, an economist who worked for the World bank most of his pre-retirement life and believes that one of his “lessons of the past fifty years is that  “eliminating poverty is a difficult, complex business, and that tackling it in small ways, as Right Sharing has been, is the way it has to be done.”

The board approved making it our short-term priority to expand our grant-making into Kenya and Sierra Leone.  Roland Kreager, our executive director will be going to Kenya in the fall and has made contact with potential site visitors. Bob Barns, trustee, is planning to attend an Alternatives to Violence Program international conference in Lagos, Nigeria at the end of the summer. The Board approved Bob’s travel to Sierra Leone before or after this meeting to seek God’s leading for our work in that country.

Sally Miller, our part-time education coordinator has updated www.rswr.org to provide the tools necessary for individual Friends to become animators in their meetings.  The Indian term “Animator” means persons who give support and encouragement, who give life to projects, who move others to action. There are descriptions of and pictures from projects, an annotated bibliography of books, adult and child-oriented Sunday School lessons, films, answers to questions, curriculum materials from a Quaker point of view, and suggestions and plans for adult discussion groups.

Our ongoing discussions include: evaluation (what is success for our projects and the participants in them), the possible development of new tools for investment, how we meet the need for more office space as we increase both our program outreach, and the best location for RSWR to be housed (would it be better to be affiliated or close by a Quaker college).

The RSWR video is now available for use.  Thank you for allowing me to continue to represent the concerns of Right Sharing to our Yearly Meeting and be sharing concerns that you want me to take to our board meetings. Please speak with me about ideas or feedback.