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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
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