News from The William Penn House

As we have mentioned in previous e-mails, we have been working on building an urban raingarden in our backyard. Our reasons for doing this are to do our part to help clean up the watershed by reducing toxins through runoff; to be an example for others to consider what they can do in their own backyard, and to make our backyard a more welcoming place for people who come to the William Penn House.

During the week of June 9, we had an amazing group of students from Georgetown Day School who were working with us for their Service Learning. Part of the week was spent at Martha's Table, but much of the week was spent right here working on the backyard, and, boy, did they work! Thanks to their tremendous efforts, we know have retention walls built, and soil and rocks moved. Thankfully, the incredible heatwave of the first part of the week broke as we made our way outdoors to do this work.

The results are tangible, and we are excited about the next phases of the work. During the week of June 30, the people that are joining us for the Eco-Workcamp will pick up wherer these students left off, as we move on to building the retention wells, hooking up the rain barrels, and planting the native plants.

Patricia had the vision of this backyard a long time ago, and Ben's determination has brought the vision much closer to reality. We also owe a big thanks to the District of Columbia Department of Environmental Health for a $2000 grant to purchase supplies. Their support comes with the acknowledgment that our backyard can be a model for others.

We welcome any and all of you to come and see the backyard both now as it is a work in progress, and later this summer when it is a completed project. Not only will it look good, it should also be a great space to find quiet in the city.

Eco-Workcamp Set for July 4 Celebrations

We are kicking into high-gear the planning for the upcoming Eco-Friendly Workcamp. The dates for this workcamp are June 29 to July 6, 2008. The range of activities we will be doing include developing our backyard into an urban rain garden (with a focus on being a meditative space as well), partnering with the Anacostia Watershed Society to remove invasive plants for the watershed and taking a boat tour, and volunteering with the Folklife festival in providing recycling services. Along the way, we will be learning about the history of many of these issues, the things we can all do, and the implications and consequences of our inaction. For example, 95% of the plants in some parts of the Anacostia watershed are invasive. Many of these plants were introduced by Thomas Jefferson. Over the past 200 years, these plants have spread and now are so pervasive that they threaten all wildlife in that area. The only way to remove these is people-power, something most of us have. This is just one example of the level of experience of this week.

There are three ways people can participate in this workcamp:

1 - Families can sign up at a cost of ...

2 - People can participate on a daily basis for $25/day.

3 - High school students can participate in a week-long camp for $425 for the week. This includes all meals and planned activities all week, including free concerts on the mall and other festivities. Additional costs for optional activities such as evening bike tours of the monuments.

Please consider joining us in this unique and valuable week of making a difference now and for the future.

Reflections of Bobbby Kennedy

June 5 marked the 40th Anniversary of the death of Bobby Kennedy. To mark the occasion, three of his children wrote personal reflections in the The New York Times. Kerry Kennedy was one of the authors. She wrote an essay called Lessons from the Magnolia Tree about a time when she and one of her brothers had a fight, and she was sure her father would come to her defense. Instead, she was comforted, reassured she was loved, was listened to, and then made to listen quietly to her brother. "Even at my young age, I was forced to see that I wasn't all right, and my brother was not all wrong", wrote Kerry. She continued, "As an adult, I recognize that the lessons my father taught us children mirrored the beliefs he wanted the nation to embrace - that we must build a system of justice which enjoys the confidence of all sides; that peace is not something to pray for, but something everyone has the responsibility to create every day; and that we must muster the courage to face the truth about ourselves as well as those we consider our enemies.
There was no quality my father admired more than courage, save perhaps love."

"Peace is...something everyone has the responsibility to create every day". Simple but powerful words, and really at the core of Pacifism. How do we best create peace every day. Through anger? Through love? These are hard challenges in a world where it seems so easy to get angry and judgmental, and where there seem to be so few models of love. But perhaps the Quaker community and all of our family and friends can be that model. It is our hope that some of the programs we create here can help nurture that love for all people while realizing that, perhaps, we are not entirely right, and we can still work for justice.

It is a pleasure, an honor and a charge we take seriously to be a presence for Quakerism in this powerful, exciting and troubled city. In the true tradition of Quakersim, we know that our ability to provide the opportunity to bear witness to what is and what can be in our world, and to make a difference through all of our programs is exciting. We hope you will join us along the journey

Sincerely,

Byron, Patricia, Brad, Greg, Judy, Faith, Ben, Morgan, and Khadim
The William Penn House