SOCIAL ACTION MATTERS
A publication of the
Social Action Council
Unitarian
Universalists of the Cumberland Valley
2 Forge Road,
Boiling Springs, PA 17007 (717) 249-8944 (www.uucv.net )
Editors: Harold
Piety & Priscilla Laws
January/February 2007
Holiday Fair Trade Sales Group
Sells $1000 Worth of Goods
By Kay Elco, 2007 SAC Fair Trade
Sales Coordinator
Photo: Janet Spencer, Priscilla Laws,
Kathy Bell, Kay Elco, Susan Walker, and
Jon Tarrant pose in front of fair
trade wares at the first sale on November 29, 2006.
Thanks to
the help of Kathy Bell and a number of UUCV volunteers, we conducted a
Fairwares sale at Dickinson College in late November, sold more goods at the
College's Holiday Bazaar on December 4th and then moved the
remaining items to our Social Hall so congregants could purchase items after
services on December 11th and 18th. The sales were
sponsored by the Social Action Council to help artisans and food suppliers from developing
countries realize a fair return for their handmade crafts and food items. Most
of the items were sold on consignment from two non-profit organizations --
Greater Gift (a SERRV International Program) and the Ten Thousand Villages store
in Mechanicsburg. Our sales exceeded $1000 and SAC's modest return of over $190
has been contributed to the Bursary Fund to help with schooling for girls from
Mozambique.
A major benefit of having the sales was that they helped residents in the community and students from Dickinson College learn more about UUCV and our Bursary Project. In addition, our participation in the Dickinson College Fair Wares sale was mentioned in the local section of the Carlisle Sentinel. We also gave a boost to the Auction fund by selling some of the hand knitted goods originally contributed to the last Auction. Kathy and I are especially grateful to Susan Walker, Jon Tarrant, Susan Helm, John Kallmann, Gisela Roethke, Alan and Kit Franklin, Janet Spencer, Gail Black, Marilyn Durr, Anne Gero, Julie Ham, Carole DeWall and Priscilla Laws for helping with the sales.
UUCV Congregants Concerned about Iraq War
Photo: On January 27th, 2007 UUCV Congregants joined several hundred thousand people in a Washington DC peace march to protest a proposed increase in U.S. troops in Iraq
The Social
Action Council promoted UUCV attendance at the recent peace march in Washington
DC sponsored by a number of anti-war groups. We estimate that about a dozen
UUCV members were at the march. SAC member Alan Franklin has organized a round
table discussion for UUCV congregants about the status of the war in Iraq this
Friday. SAC would like to urge everyone who is concerned to join the
discussion.
IRAQ WAR ROUND TABLE
On Friday, Feb. 23, at 7 pm in the dining room we
will hold a round table discussion of the current events and security problems
in Iraq, the Administration's announced plan for dealing with these issues, and
the Congressional reaction that is now developing. Duane will moderate. Come
air your views and listen to those of others, and consider what UUCV could or
should do in response, if anything. Everybody welcome. Questions? Alan Franklin, akfrank@kuhncom.net
GLBT Justice Initiative in Need of
Help
By Alan Franklin, GLBT Initiative
Coordinator
The GLBT Justice Initiative of the UUCV Social Action Council coordinated UUCV's volunteer effort at Pridefest this past July. We have also been working to get the Carlisle Borough Council to adopt an antidiscrimination ordinance that would include sexual orientation and gender identity in the groups it protects, a thing missing from the Pennsylvania Human Rights Act. This latter activity is in a holding pattern at present.
Photo: About a dozen UUCV congregants joined forces with 3 other area
UU Churches at Pridefest in Harrisburg, July 2006.
The Mayor and Council asked that the ordinance be considered
under an ongoing Council project aimed at making Carlisle an Inclusive
Community. The Mayor's Committee on Inclusive Cities established 6
subcommittees, one of which was asked to review how well Carlisle includes
people of all sexual orientation in its welcome and recommend actions.This
subcommittee, under the leadership of Duane Fickeisen, Tamara Storey of the Law
School, and Rev. Monica Ouellette of the Carlisle UCC church, recommended
adoption of the ordinance by the Council. The full committee included these
recommendations to the Mayor and Council.
Before bringing the ordinance before the Council the Mayor
wanted to poll the Council members regarding problems they might have with
it. At the moment we are waiting
for the Mayor to finish this polling so the subcommittee can address the
Council's concerns. The next step would then to bring the ordinance up to the
Council for consideration and a vote.
While we are in a holding pattern for the ordinance those of us
working on the initiative want to move forward on several fronts. Getting
legislation passed in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to legalize civil
unions is one of our next goals. This means both opposing efforts to amend the
State Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman and
promoting legislation to make civil unions legal in the State and conferring
the legal privileges of marriage on those unions. As part of this effort we
hope to coordinate what we do closely with the UU and other like-minded
churches and organizations in the area.
Last year there were brought before both Houses of the Assembly
bills to amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to provide the missing
coverage of sexual orientation and gender identity. These bills went nowhere
last year, but we hope they will be brought up again this year in a much more
favorable climate. We want to work to provide what pressure and support we can,
again in concert with others in the area. And as part of this effort we would
like to start trying to persuade other towns in Cumberland County, like
Mechanicsburg and Shippensburg, to adopt their own local ordinances filling the
sexual orientation gap.
This is an ambitious program, and it will take dedicated people to make it go. We badly need more volunteers interested in bringing these things to pass, and willing to put effort into it. UUCV members have said over and over they want to see an active, important social action program being pursued by the congregation. This initiative can be a significant part of that, if enough congregation members step forward to make it go. We don't spend much time in meetings but do put in time in productive effort! Please let me know if you are interested. (akfrank@kuhncom.net 717-776-8419).
Bursary Campaign Exceeds Goal
By Priscilla Laws and Terri Smiley, 2007 SAC Bursary Coordinators
One out of every three sexually active adults in
Mozambique is HIV positive, as are many children of HIV infected parents. Girls
who stay in school are more likely to delay marriage and motherhood. This
reduces the spread of AIDS and slows the rate of population growth. In addition,
girls who finish upper primary school (6th and 7th grades) are also more likely
to become community leaders, acquire the capability to earn extra money for
their families, and see that their children attend school. Thus, helping girls
stay in school has sustainable benefits.
The Social Action Council is partnering with two
missionaries, Karen and Bill Butt. The Butt's who are supported from the United
Church of Canada are currently working with the Christian Council of Mozambique
(CCM) to support AIDS education through the organization of after school clubs
and providing upper primary schooling for girls from rural villages in northern
Mozambique. For the past three years members of the UUCV SAC have been raising
"bursary" funds to enable girls from Mozambique to attend upper school grades
as well as vocational schools.
The bursary program started with 24 girls in
2005 and was expanded to 48 girls in 2006. As of this past November, all 48 of
our girls were doing well in school and wanted to continue their schooling in
2007. Karen Butt, identified 6 additional girls who had finished the top grade
in their villages and need support to continue their schooling. Thus, in
consultation with Karen, we set our 2007 goal at $16,200 to provide $300 for
each of 54 girls.
Thanks to the help of 91 donors who gave amounts
that ranged from $25 to $1200, we raised a total of $16,300 to provide funds to
send the 54 girls to school during 2007. Sixty-five percent of these 91 donors
were UUCV congregants. Twelve of the girls we're supporting will be able to
finish their two-year program at the Teachers College in Nicodala. These girls
plan to return to villages as elementary school teachers!
Another exciting development is that there were
four large donations ranging from $1500 to $2500 that have been earmarked for
special projects including: (1) funds to help parents in the village of Molumbo
repair a school residence that serves much smaller neighboring villages; (2)
assistance for CCM educators prepare a new group of girls who will finish 8th
grade by this coming November for entrance examinations to the Nicodala
Teachers College; (3) partial funding for Bill Butt to do a documentary video
detailing the experiences of two of the girls we have been supporting; and (4)
the provision of partial funding for 1 or 2 of the UUCV donors who would like
to travel to Mozambique next November to accompany the girls as they return to
their home villages. (Contact Priscilla Laws if you are interested in doing
this!)
Bravo to all of you who contributed to the bursary fund, the
response was overwhelming. The congregation now has 54 new daughters. Each of
you stretched to help these girls. For example, Susan Helm was able to
contribute a full bursary by bringing brown bag lunches instead of buying them
at her elementary school in Perry County.
Bursary Girls Write Thank You
Letters in Portuguese
| A scan of one of the many letters from the bursary girls brought to Carlisle PA
by Karen Butt this past December. This one is from Aida (photo added later) who is
now in 3rd year of schooling thanks to UUCV's support. |
When I visited northern Mozambique in November of 2005 it
was clear that all 24 girls were extremely grateful for the opportunity to
attend school. Over a year later, early this past December when Karen and Bill
Butt visited UUCV, Karen brought me a packet of thank you letters from the
girls. Mozambique has about 30 tribal languages, but communications between
villages in different regions is done in Portuguese — the country's
national language.
Here is a letter from Aida Chico who is thankful for having
two extra years in school and is looking forward to a third year thanks to
UUCV. Aida attended 7th grade in Molumbo, her village, and was 15
years old two years ago when she started 8th grade in Namarroi Town.
This past year she attended the teachers college at Nicodala and thanks to
UUCV's support, she will finish her two-year program there and return home as
an elementary teacher. In her recent letter shown in the scan Aida says:
"Dear Mother Priscilla,
How are you healthwise?
Since 2005 when you visited us you have not
returned to visit us again. I thank you for the opportunity that you gave us
from last year up to today. We thank you your arrival and may it be many, many
times. I end by wishing you much success in daily chores.
Your daughter, Aida Chico
Namarroi Student home, Zambia" (In the lower left corner it says: "For Mother Priscilla U.S.A.")
UUCV Named a Red Ribbon Congregation
Photo: The group of busary girls present Priscilla Laws with
an AIDS prevention banner.
Namarroi, Mozambique, November 2005
In January 2007 the Unitarian Universalist Global AIDS
Coalition (UU-GAC) named UUCV as a Red Ribbon Congregation in recognition of
the fact that SAC's Bursary Project has helped in the international efforts to
curb the spread of AIDS in Africa. The citation forwarded to the Board of
Trustees by Ann Pickar, Chair of the UU Global AIDS Coalition is as follows:
"We started the Red Ribbon Congregation program to recognize
and publicize the work of congregations that have provided leadership in
addressing global AIDS issues and could serve as a model for other
congregations considering deeper involvement. Your work in Mozambique is a wonderful
example of how a relatively small congregation can mobilize on behalf of those
impacted by the global AIDS pandemic and make a real and continuing difference.
As international agencies increasingly recognize the impact of AIDS on women
and children your work to keep girls in school and offer then opportunities to
continue their education is an excellent model of what can be achieved.
Congratulations to Priscilla Laws for her leadership and to
all of you for what you have done . . ."
UUCV's
Social Action Council
Kathy Bell – Correctional Justice Initiative
Coordinator
George Fohs
Alan Franklin – GLBT Initiative Coordinator
Julie Ham
Priscilla Laws – SAC Chairperson &
Mozambique Bursary Initiative Coordinator
Harold Piety – SAM Co-editor
Jon Tarrant
Additional Coordinators:
Kay Elco – Fair Trade Sales
Terri Smiley – Bursary Finance
Carol McAnulty – Change for the World
Meetings
2nd Tuesday of each month at Priscilla Laws' home
To
Join us simply contact P Laws at lawsp@dickinson.edu or 243-9525