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Dear Friends,
This month we welcomed intern Kevin Varkey, a theology masters degree student from Boston University, who is interviewed below. Kevin will join the team of Gandhi staff offering the summer nonviolence intensive next month, July 7-10. Participants from last summer's intensive used words like 'transformative' to describe this experience! In addition, we respond to requests for support and training, from individuals in Rochester's Marketview Heights neighborhood to local agencies like the Center for Youth.
We have started the multiple-year project of transforming the vacant lot next to the Gandhi house into a beautiful, meditative and productive landscape, using a nonviolent design approach called permaculture. This year the focus is primarily on earthworks. Want to learn more and pitch in? Our next work party is this Saturday, June 23, 10-1.
In recent weeks we have presented on restorative justice via a University of Rochester webinar as well as to the local Green Party. Partners in our community restorative justice work reached out to a local school principal to use restorative practices after more than two dozen students were arrested recently. Help with this project of transforming our local justice system by arranging a presentation to a group or by requesting a restorative justice option if someone you know is involved in harm or crime of any kind. Finally, mark your calendars for August 18 as restorative practices pioneer Dominic Barter from Brazil will teach a one day event here followed by additional learning opportunities. See below for more information.
This comes with love from all of us at the Gandhi Institute,
Kit Miller,
Director
* This issue is dedicated to the memory of Viola Liuzzo, a Unitarian Universalist civil rights activist from Michigan who was murdered by members of the Selma, Alabama KKK in 1965. Undaunted by the risks, she left the safety and comfort of her home to fight nonviolently for human dignity almost a thousand miles away in the Deep South. |
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Building Compassionate Responses to
Conflict in our Communities
with Dominic Barter | |
Registration
Now Open!
Dominic Barter Teaching
1-Day Overview of Restorative Circles Saturday, August 18, 2012 10:00 am-5:00 pm University of Rochester, Wilson Commons (in the May Room), Rochester, NY 14621 In this dynamic one day presentation, Dominic Barter will present the key elements of a restorative system, focusing on the evolution and practice of Restorative Circles, and their application to diverse areas of our personal and collective lives. Through hands-on exploration of key concepts, grounded in a step-by-step process and illustrated by real world examples, we'll rehearse the development of this new resource in a community of which we are part. Participants will be invited to apply the learning to their own issues and increase their ability to see and act from our shared humanity. 
4-Day Restorative Circle Facilitation and System Practice August 20 - 23, 2012 10:00am - 5:00pm each day Penfield First Baptist Church 1862 Penfield Road, Penfield, NY 14526
During the two events, we will support individuals to determine what they would enjoy contributing.
Contributions can be made in cash or by check. Making an upfront contribution of $50 for each event to help defray organizing costs when you register would be greatly appreciated, when possible.
We welcome organizations for whom the above process may present challenges. Please contact the Gandhi Institute for information on payment options for organizations:
E-mail: srichmond@ur.rochester.edu
Phone: 585-463-3266
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2012 Nonviolence Summer Intensive | |
Still Time to Register! Gain a Certificate in Nonviolence Education!
7-10 July 2012: each day 9 am - 5 pm
Join us for 4 days to explore the depth and diversity of the practices and principles of nonviolence and to go through the spiral of the 'Work that Reconnects' (http://www.joannamacy.net/).
The Intensive will be interactive and experiential with a focus on group based learning.
Intrapersonal, interpersonal and systemic aspects of nonviolence will be explored together.
The 'Work that Reconnects' moves us from appreciating the world around us (gratitude) to recognizing our concerns about the state of the world (honoring our pain for the world) to seeing with a new perspective and going forth to make change. It brings fresh understandings of who we are and how we are related to each other.
As a trainee you will gain the skills necessary to transform personal and social conflicts; be exposed to different forms of mindfulness and self-awareness techniques, i.e. meditation; and become familiar with the life and teachings of M.K. Gandhi.
There are 25 open spaces. We request a donation between $20 - $200 and no one is turned away because of lack of funds.
To register, please contact Anna at 463-3266 or email
We will provide a light breakfast. Please bring a vegetarian dish to share for lunch Photograph of the 2011 Summer Intensive at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School 
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Meet Summer Intern
Kevin Varkey | | 
Tell us a little about yourself.
I just finished my first year of grad school at Boston University. I'm doing my Masters in Theology with a focus on Religion and Conflict Transformation.
Before that, I completed my Bachelor of Arts at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island with a double major in International Relations and Philosophy. It's my hope to one day combine my interests in religion, politics, public service, and foreign affairs into a career which involves international diplomacy with a focus on interfaith dialogue as the means to resolve conflicts.
When did you first become interested in nonviolence?
Being an American of Indian origin, I've been exposed to Mahatma Gandhi and his beliefs through my family since I was young. Having this background definitely made the utility of nonviolent resistance very real to me, because it was largely through nonviolence that India gained its independence from the British. But I'd have to say that I truly became a believer in the power of nonviolence my sophomore year of high school, when I was fortunate to have a wonderful teacher by the name of Ms. Seminara who taught our theology class about social justice. Through her I learned a great deal about Gandhi as well as those who came after him, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela who all used nonviolence to fight against hatred and injustice. I owe a lot to Ms. Seminara and that class, for she helped shape my own desires to go out into the world for the purpose of doing good and fighting injustice.
What skills do you hope to learn while working at the Gandhi Insitute?
I can't even explain how happy I was when I heard that I had been accepted to intern at the Gandhi Institute. More than anything, I knew the experience of interning here would enrich my life and that I would learn a great deal about nonviolence and nonviolent resistance. In the two weeks that I've been here, I've participated in a workshop about "evil", sat in on a meeting for the youth and gang intervention group "Pathways to Peace", walked in a peace march alongside Teen Empowerment, and learned the basics of sustainable living as we plan to incorporate permaculture, composting, and other alternative practices to create gardens and spaces for meditation in the yard of the Gandhi House. I have already learned so much. I know that I will carry on this learning in my daily life as well as into whatever career choices come my way in the future.
What does nonviolence mean to you?
To me, nonviolence is courage. Gandhi believed that nonviolent resistance must never be an excuse for inaction or cowardice, but rather saw it as the pinnacle of bravery. When one resists injustice through nonviolent means, he or she is directly confronting the aggressor, exposing their injustice, and allowing there to be room for reconciliation as well. When there is a scenario with injustice present, the oppressor maintains their power through dehumanizing the "other". Nonviolence makes our common humanity all to apparent, and shatters any idea of superiority or inferiority. It allows for the disenfranchised group to level the playing field on their terms and takes seriously the desire to move towards something better for all groups or individuals involved. To be nonviolent, you must be willing to sacrifice even the instinct to defend yourself for the purpose of achieving the greater good. That is why I believe that nonviolence is courage.
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Check out this new video about volunteering at the Gandhi Institute! | |
 | | New Video About Volunteering with the Gandhi Institute! |
GANDHI HOUSE WORK PARTY
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
10-1:00pm
Snacks Provided
We are so grateful that volunteer Kathy Shelly has agreed to serve as coordinator for all of our wonderful volunteers! We could not do what we do without any of you.
If you would like to volunteer for the Gandhi Institute, email Kathy at gandhivolunteer@gmail.com! Opportunities include helping with events, fundraising, outreach and more.
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Plymouth Ave neighbors, friends of the Institute, Gandhi staff, and others gather together as one community to celebrate and honor the place we live in now and to dream of a more just and sustainable place to come.
"An Afternoon in Community"
June 17, 2012
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