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REPORT TO THE INTERNATIONAL GRAIL

SACRED ACTIVISM SUMMER CAMP

HELD AT THE CORNWALL GRAIL CENTER FROM JUNE 30 TO JULY 18, 2015

Overview

General Description

This program created an environment and a process through which participants could discover or re-

discover their inner, most profound motivation for transformative actions, and nurture it. Through

sharing our lives, developing rituals together and relating the deep essence of each person and our place

in the cosmos, we sustained the fuel of the fire-within to support Grail work around the world.

The “Sacred Activism Summer Camp” offered space for looking at women and girls’ issues in the 21st

century, based on the Millennium Development Goals, leading toward the Grail’s integration in a more

active role for the next ten years cycle, in concert with the UN post-2015 agenda.

The program deepened participant’s understanding of how their work in their local community affects

the global situation and it strengthened a sense of the Grail as an international community.

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The experience will prove very helpful as a preparation for the Commission on the Status of Women at

the UN in 2016. It provided a formation that will help getting more CSW60 participants to get the most

out of the intense experience of the CSW. It also gave participants much stronger grounding for doing

Grail work in their communities, by framing it in a global context, and understanding the possibilities

available through the Grail and UFER NGO status with the UN. If the Sacred Activism participant herself

cannot attend CSW60, the program provided information to help participants prepare other women

from their country coming to the CSW, and to implement actions following the CSW experience.

Goals of program

The intention was to create a cohort of young women who are Grail-related to engage with the global

issues that affect women and girls, to learn how to be effective advocates in their communities,

countries and at the United Nations, and to build relationships based in the Grail’s spiritual values to

strengthen their lives and work.

The team aspired to lay the groundwork to better prepare participants for the hectic pace of the CSW

and to be aware of the major topic areas in thinking about connections to their own contexts.

Another objective was to have participants experience the cultural diversity of the Grail and to become

more aware of their own cultural identity and how it relates to those who are different.

Timeline for preparations

The letter inviting NLTs to recommend participants went out in January, with a request to receive

recommendations by February 10. A flyer was also produced to help countries encourage applications.

The deadline was ambitious and applications were accepted much later as long as we had space for

more participants.

Most of the participants had sent their application by the end of April. Visa letters went out beginning

April 10, as soon as the application was received. We were successful with one applicant who did not

apply until late May.

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The call for Grail women to help with backstage, transportation and meals first went out by US Grail

email list serv in April. There were also a number of direct contacts, speaking at gatherings and other

means of spreading the work to seek local Grail participation.

The planning team met in March, April and May to develop the program, which continued to be refined

into June. Contacts with resource persons were made through that period. Also, reservations for the UN

tour, the UN Seminar and the Hudson River Sloop had to be made well in advance.

Program structure

The pattern for the weekdays of the program was two sessions, from 10 to 12:30 and from 3:00 to 5:30.

Each day, except weekends began with a morning meditation and ½ hour for check in. Weekends were

generally not structured. Videos were shown in the evenings, with time for participants to share about

their country’s Grail and work.

Since the program was based on the Post-2015 UN agenda, we used the 12 core principles as our focus.

With some modification, we spent a day on each topic, after beginning the first two days with an

overview of the Grail’s UN work and time to identify individual contexts.

There was an outing scheduled each week and tied to topic areas. An Open House on Saturday, July 11

was held at a local church to give the participants an opportunity to meet the local community and to

share their cultures.

Program Content

Topics and Facilitators

Introductions, Expectations, Intentions, Norms—Simonetta Romano

Social identity, cultural understanding, self-awareness—Simonetta

Overview of CSW & Sacred Activism, Beijing +20 Sustainable Development—Mary Kay Louchart, Sharon

Joslyn, Abida Jamal

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Women and the Economy—Stacie Laskin, local businesswoman and artist

Women and Health/Self-care—Pam Cobey and Beth Rosen

Women and Armed Conflict, and Immigration –Thanh Ngyuen and Deirdre Cornell

Violence Against Women—Lucy Jones and Jacki Murray

Environmental Activism/Power of Song on the Hudson River—Crew of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

Women and the Environment/Renewing the Labyrinth—Terry Murray, Joy Garland, Trina Paulus

Human Rights and Institutions of Religion—Maureen Tate, Marissa Villarreal and Wongee Joh

Women and the Media/Women and the Arts—Sharon Thomson, Mary Ann Neuman, Barbara Defina

United Nations Tour and UN Advocacy Seminar—Chantilly Mers of United Methodist Women

Women and Poverty—Sharon Joslyn, Mpanda Kalala, Marguerita Cabrera

Women and Decision-Making in a Global Perspective—Carol Barton and elmira nazombe

The Girl Child—Mary Kay Louchart and Abida Jamal Muhimua

Community Life

Work Sharing

Participants helped with meal set-up and clean-up on an assigned schedule which could be modified if

needed. They were asked to trade with someone else if they could not make the time slot assigned.

Because of the intensity of the content of the program, they were not assigned to do cooking or laundry.

The schedule was created in advance, as signing up seemed too complicated for such a long schedule.

Evening sessions

Videos and other presentations were shared after dinner. The inspirational program on women’s

projects for women created by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (authors of Half the Sky) titled “A

Path Appears” was viewed over two nights. “The Power of Song” about Pete Seeger’s advocacy for

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peace and the environment through song and community organizing was shown the night before our

sail on the Hudson River with the organization he founded. Participants presented their work and

projects as follows:

Nina Hendrix of South Africa shared about implementing Montessori methodology in a

township in the Western Cape, and training women to use this methodology in kindergarten.

Josephine Vidler and Ailsa Paterson of Australia presented the Day for Girls Project, where

they made sanitary pads, packing and sending them to Ethiopia in Africa. This project

contributes to a decrease in the number of girls who drop out of the school when they reach

menstrual age because schools do not have the infrastructure to help them deal with

menstruation.

Vanessa Alves of Brazil shared about her work on the frontline with the Federal State Program

and other institutions to protect the defenders of human rights who are under threat of death

in the State of Minas Gerais.

Flavia Duvane of Mozambique presented the Girls Leadership Program which is run by the

Grail Youth Group in Maputo. It provides, facilitates and instills the means of addressing

issues which impede the full growth and development of the girl in all spheres of home,

school and community. Its objectives are to promote assertive self-expression, teach

important life skills, and allow the practice of leadership in a variety of settings to reach their

full potential; to promote the girls’ rights and awareness on all forms of violence against girls;

and to promote the celebration of the International Day of the Girl (11th October).

Salome Pondangu, who is from Papua New Guinea, told about her experience as coordinator

of a national cultural event in her local government.

Lisa Petro of the USA explained the work of the organization she founded, “Know My World,”

with its projects for exchange and growth between various countries and cultures. The

program provides teaching and learning opportunities between participants. Know My World

is a global education resource that connects participants digitally in shared learning

experiences.

Maya Gallardo from Mexico talked about her work with the Cinema Planeta, an International

Environmental Film Festival of México. She shared about the importance of the arts for

environmental education and all the activities with schools and universities.

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Rituals and Celebrations

Each country created one morning meditation, although we only had one Mexican participant so she

was assisted by the one (at that time) US participant. The first week meditations were led by members

of the Core Planning Team. Each morning meditation was a beautiful reflection of the spiritual gifts of

the country and the women who organized it.

The Opening Ceremony used a rustic weaving where participants added something to the weaving to

create a representation of the new community we were forming.

The program at the Open House was created by the participants, which each country sharing something

of their culture. An international marketplace gave them a chance to sell items they had brought to

support their trip.

The Closing Ceremony was created by the participants on Saturday, July 18.

A party on the first Friday was a joyous celebration of the young women, who shared dances and songs

and gave little gifts to each other.

Meals

Informal conversation between participants, with organizers, workers and community members was an

opportunity to get to know each other. Many people contributed to feeding about 30 people 3 meals a

day plus snacks. Meals were nutritious and fresh with garden vegetables and homemade cooking. See

the thank you list for the names of those who created beautiful and delicious sustenance. Preparations

were also made to provide for everyone when we were on the road. Good organizing and planning

ahead was needed to keep the crowd hydrated and sated.

Local Grail and friends

Several Cornwall Grail members and friends joined the group at various times, especially for the outings,

but also for meals. We counted on them as well to facilitate some sessions, take photographs, join us for

meals and celebrations, help with transportation and to generally build relationships. Also several

regional Grail members (New York City, Boston, Massachusetts, New Jersey) were present in helping

with facilitating, hosting, working backstage, making airport pick-ups and meeting participants in New

York, the Bronx, Poughkeepsie, and Newburgh.

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Open House

The St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cornwall graciously opened their social hall for our Open House. An

invitation was sent to the 1000 addresses on our mailing list and local members, especially Jacki Murray,

spread the news by word of mouth. We had a good turn-out with about 40 guests for a total crowd of

about 70. We began with a potluck meal and followed with a program organized and led by the Sacred

Activism participants. It was fun and informative for everyone as songs were sung, dances were danced,

poems were read and each country was celebrated. Jim Diamond, husband of our Cornwall bookkeeper,

played guitar and sang as well, and allowed the use of his amplifier and microphone for our program. It

was a huge success.

Logistics

Transportation from/to airports

Airport pick-ups and drop-offs were orchestrated by Mary Kay and Sharon with some assistance from

Lucy. Sharon did a lion’s share of the traveling to JFK. It is a juggling game to get everyone here and to

balance the trips. Many people helped, sometimes with advance notice, but sometimes with very short

notice, especially because several participants had to change their original travel plans because of visa

delays. Mary Kay recommends that anyone picking up people at the airport have ALL of the information

about their tickets: airline, flight number and especially the confirmation code just in the case that

something goes wrong. It is best to have the ticket number, date, etc. in hand when making the plans for

departures as sometimes memory cannot be trusted.

Field trips

The outings were a highlight, one for each week of the program. This allowed time to be in a different

environment from the room we spent so much time in. It also mixed up the crowd as we traveled in cars

and had time for conversations en route. Field trips take a lot of organizing with such a large group, and

many helpers are needed. However, it was important to have this kind of experience in the program.

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The first outing was to nearby Newburgh where we met a local salvage entrepreneur who talked about

her journey in a typically man’s business and related her story working with local officials to design a

community park. We followed this with lunch and a tour of the local, but world-famous, Storm King

Sculpture Park, which highlighted the work of women artists.

The second outing was from Poughkeepsie, about an hour from the Center, where we boarded a sloop

sailboat and learned about the environmental activism of singer Pete Seeger who started a movement

to clean up the river which continues today.

In the final week of the program, we traveled to NYC to visit the United Nations. After a tour, the

participants took part in a seminar organized by the United Methodist Women at the Church Center of

the UN on grassroots activism. Three speakers gave different perspectives from their work at or with the

UN, one from UN Women, one from Madre, and one retired from the Women’s Division of the United

Methodist Church. We were joined for a pizza dinner by local NYC (and New Jersey) Grail members.

Cooking, Laundry, Staffing

The Center took responsibility for cooking as well as some of the program pieces. Fortunately, we had a

number of committed volunteers to take on the task of some of the meals. Regular grocery shopping

was done by Center staff as well, mostly by Sharon Thomson. It helped that some of the main courses

were prepared in June and frozen. We would have been lost without the help of Regina di Paula who

came from Brazil and cooked, organized participant help for cleaning, and oversaw the laundry. She

truly was a godsend. Several people came from a distance to help for a day or two, or an entire week.

They, too, kept the community from chaos. Some close-by members pinch-hit on short notice to help

with meals as well. All of this saved the program money and gave a lot of opportunity for interaction

with the young women and our members and friends. However, it put a strain on the organizers (as did

losing Simonetta for a week to attend the mini-forum of the networks in the Netherlands.).

Outcomes and Commitments

Participants committed to return for the CSW60 if possible. If not, they are to prepare another

young woman to apply to attend and to assist her with projects when she returns.

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Participants understood the need to share what they learned and experienced at the summer

camp with Grail women in their country and to reach out to friends to share about the work of

the Grail at the United Nations.

Participants agreed to continue communication with each other and with the Grail Link to the

UN about their Sacred Activism work.

Specific commitments were made to celebrate the International Day of the Girl (October 11,

2015), as follows

Australia: Packing Day of the girl sanitary project with girls in the community.

Brazil (BH and Angra): Create digital and hardcopy posters about the International Day

of the Girl. Research what other institutions doing.

Ecuador: Share food and exercise together on Friday, October 9.

Mexico: Girls together, sharing their own experience as a girl.

Mozambique:

Beira – Organize rally in school to make known and spread the International Day of the

Girl. Launch Girls Stories Competition – What it is to be a girl in your community.

Maputo – Continue to raise public awareness of the different types of discrimination

and abuse that many girls in the country suffer from. Launch 11 days campaign on the

importance of girls’ right on given space for them to speak out. Help the Grail in Beira

celebrate the International Day of the Girl.

Papua New Guinea: Organize Open Day in school and in public areas to display issues

about the girls and also have music competition.

Portugal:

Lisbon – Party

Madeira – Coffee talk, Human library

South Africa:

Western Cape – Party, T-shirt message, inspirational speakers, invite Grail members for

cooking.

Gauteng – Organize small workshop for girls. Invite female professional giving

motivational talks on guidelines to access opportunities.

USA: Launch digital campaign posing the questions – What is your dream for the world?

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Specific commitments were made to work on poverty issues by becoming active on nine of the

Sustainable Development Goals, as follows:

Goal: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Brasil Goal: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Australia, Brasil, Moçambique, South Africa, USA Goal: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Australia, Moçambique, Portugal, PNG, USA Goal: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Moçambique, PNG, South Africa Goal: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Mexico, PNG Goal: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Portugal Goal: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Australia, Ecuador, Portugal, PNG Goal: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels South Africa, USA Goal: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development South Africa, USA

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Assessments

Participant evaluations

Instructions: Imagine some time has passed from now – maybe a few months, or a year or more – and

you are in the planning team developing a program similar to this one, the one you attended:

o What are the most important aspects of the program you would keep the same?

o What are the most important aspects of the program you would change?

GROUP 1

Keeping:

Content

Powerful facilitators

Very smooth process

Changing:

Integrate the community in a deeper way

Use more spaces – indoor and outdoor – for

sessions (feeling confined)

Allow participants to participate more in practicals

Having materials printed in other languages

If we are allowed to come and go, have a “buddy” system to connect people to what’s

going on

GROUP 2

Keeping:

Topics

Speakers

Bringing in people from outside (the Grail)

Singing

UN and Church Seminar

Changing:

Field trip to explore the city

“car” system confusing…better a van or a bus

More out of the house activities

Consistent breaks between sessions

Having more nights for free time or ending them earlier

Having more “practical skills” and “applications” being talked about

Morning meditation facilitated by each country

Having a skype conversation with Grail members who were not here

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GROUP 3

Keeping:

Flexibility in dealing with language issue

Diversity

Sharing rooms with women from other countries

Number of people

Topics

UN seminar

Changing:

Length (too long)

Focus on a smaller number of issues (Something was a bit rushed)

More practical things to do (like going to visit “safe homes”)

More information on weekend time (for making personal plans)

More time at the UN

Incorporate projects presentations during the day

GROUP 4

Keeping:

Involvement of participants

Different daily topics

Reflections for everything

Sharing rooms with people coming from

other countries

Different speakers

Food

Changing:

Have more group exercise like yoga – body activities

Too much rest time

Participants sharing cooking and replacing staff during the program (to help them rest)

Have at least 2 people for each country

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Team evaluation

Overall, the team felt the program was wonderful and

successful in what we set out to do. The program was very

rich and varied, with gifted and knowledgeable presenters

and facilitators, as well as a diversity of young women and

girls from nine countries. However, there are

recommendations and “tweaks” to keep in mind for future

such programs.

It was observed that having at least two from each country was an important plan for carrying

the work forward when they go home. Unfortunately, there was only one from Mexico because

the second participant was not successful in her visa attempt. Some participants were puzzled

by the under-representation or over-representation of some countries (if two was the ideal.).

The whole process of how this came to be could have been explained at some point.

Another aspect of expectations versus the reality is the age range of the group. We had both

younger participants and older participants than described as eligible in the original request for

applications. These decisions were made on a case-by-case basis, but the participants did not

know about all that had gone into receiving requests and responding to them.

The planning team did not have a scheduled time to check in with each other—both backstage

and program team. It would be beneficial to schedule time for this in future programs.

There was not as much interaction between the planners and the presenters/facilitators as

there should have been, to prepare them for their sessions.

Translation between English and Portuguese worked out well, although we began with the

understanding that participants would all have at least basic English. Especially with complicated

topics where presenters gave a lot of written material in English and did not fully understand the

need to keep their language as simple as possible, we may have lost something in translation.

We are most grateful for the wonderful translation done by 4 of the participants. There is always

a concern that those who are interpreting, however, cannot participate as fully as they would if

they did not have translation responsibilities.

Ideally, there would be a team that would do the

lead work of applications, visas, flights, and on-the-spot

practical needs that would be a different team from the

one doing the program.

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For the most part, the evening time was not scheduled in the original

program plan. It was used to give participants’ a platform for sharing

with the group about their country, and proved to be invaluable in

community-building. However, it was tiring after a full day, often in the

same room in a group, and perhaps this pattern, familiar from other

international Grail meetings, should be re-considered and a better time

slot given to this important connective tissue of international gatherings.

Program team members also worked backstage, i.e., cooking and

helping with cooking, which was necessary because we did not have sufficient volunteers. This

meant that the team member could not be present for the whole program. It would be better if

backstage staff and program staff are not the same. It would be even better if the program

could fund hiring paid staff for the kitchen. That should be built into future programs.

It was essential to have a core team member staying in the house

with the participants. Abida did so and was the perfect person to interact

with the group, fielding questions, setting up evening programs, and holding

the vessel of the community in formation.

At the end of the program, it took an entire day for Cornwall staff to

clean up all the papers and other materials left by the program. There should

be a full day at the end of a program of several weeks’ duration for the

participants to help with getting all the program materials in order and put

away. In general, it would be a good idea to have a team of participants

responsible for “beauty and order” to keep the communal spaces cleared

between sessions and other events.

Some of the participants did not know how to orchestrate their “free time” on weekends. There

was a desire for time to go sightseeing and making purchases for take-home gifts. This kind of

thing can be set up ahead of time with Grail members who are not part of the core team or with

other program/backstage responsibilities.

In coming to New York, people want to spend time in the city. The Bronx Grail House was

essential for early arrivers and late departers and hosting them fell to members there (as well as

the lion’s share of airport trips).

The US, and perhaps other countries, had a hard time finding possible participants who could

take three weeks off of work or school to participate. It might be worth trying to offer a two-

week program with the option of extending the stay for those who are traveling far (such as

post-program tours or visiting other parts of the host country).

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APPENDICES

Appendix I: Invitation to Grail Countries

Appendix II: Flyer

Appendix III: Invitation to Participants

Appendix IV: Sample Visa Letter

Appendix V: Opening Ceremony

Appendix VI: Open House publicity

Appendix VII: Program Schedule Chart

Appendix VIII: Visitation (Deirdre’s session)

Appendix IX: Women and Art, dance

Appendix X: Poema I am cool

Appendix XI: Poema da Mulher Guerreira Cancer

Appendix XII: UN System and Advocacy (agenda)

Appendix XIII: Questions for facilitators-consolidated

Appendix XIV: Thank you list