At the time of the report to the 2009 Annual Session, the American Friends Service Committee was in the midst of attempts to maintain good program while responding to the serious financial problems the organization was facing. Each Region had to create a budget approximately 50% smaller. This required furlough days, placing most staff on part-time status, reducing rent and other expenses, and closing some programs.

In the Middle Atlantic Region, the Executive Committee agonized over these decisions. Our intent was to save as many programs as possible. The only project within the Baltimore Yearly Meeting area that was closed was Project Voice, the work with immigrants and migrants, which was headquartered in Baltimore. We lost a staff member in our Washington, D.C. program and clerical/support staff for the Region. In addition, most staff positions were reduced to 3/5ths or 4/5ths time. One staff member left, and the person doing the Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution is currently only working twelve hours a week, with assistance from the Interim Associate Regional Director.

Despite these circumstances, the Region has continued to provide effective program work in several areas.

The Maryland Peace with Justice Program Dominique Stevenson works with prisoners in three prisons in the state, MTCT in Hagerstown, MCIJ and LCTC, both in Jessup. The program provides training in conflict resolution as well as other tools and resources that transform the environment for those in prison. This has included partnering with Wombworks, a drama group, to engage the men in a theater program, advocating for prisoners, assisting prisoners to write their experiences, training prisoners as mediators, and encouraging men who have experience in conflict resolution to mentor younger prisoners. One clear positive outcome is that at Hagerstown there have been no lockdowns for behavior during the past year. The hope is that this program will grow, expanding to the women’s prison and to Eastern Correction Institution on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

The DC Human Rights Learning Project continues to work in three public schools, one charter school, and one private school. Jean Louis Ikambana provides instruction weekly in each school, teaching about human rights, and helping them to design and implement human rights projects to increase peace and justice in their lives and communities. He has also provided one time workshops at some schools, including Baltimore Friends School. In addition, he works with DC school officials, elected officials and community members to design and implement human rights projects. DC was the first city in the United States to be proclaimed a Human Rights City. The program director has visited some Monthly Meetings, and has plans to visit more Meetings in BYM. Although most of his time is devoted to the Human Rights Learning, approximately 10% of his time is given to work with day laborers in D.C., on issues of exploitation, stolen wages and other problems. He also works in coalition with organizations on issues of housing in the District.

The Baltimore Urban Peace Program continues to work on peacemaker training for adults, and has partnered with four churches and other community groups in the vicinity of the Regional Office to provide safe activities for teenagers in the neighborhood, where there has been increasing violence. This program is also intended to train youth in nonviolence and leadership development. Gary Gillespie helped organize community members to advocate that the City of Baltimore not close community center programs as a result of budget problems. He has visited several Monthly Meetings to present the program, and works with the Baltimore College Peace Network, providing education on Afghanistan and other peace/war issues.

There are also two programs outside the geographical area of BYM which are relevant. The Pennsylvania Program—Empowering Voices for Peace and Justice operates primarily in the Pittsburgh area, but aspects of the program reach other parts of Pennsylvania, including the portion of Pennsylvania with BYM-affiliated Monthly Meetings. The program currently is working on issues of racial equity through human rights, with a focus on issues of racial profiling; Iraq/Afghanistan education and anti-nuclear weapons work; and anti-torture work. The latter has involved coordination with QUIT, the national Quaker group working against torture.

The Appalachian Center for Equality is based in Logan, West Virginia, and is involved primarily in mentoring young people, facilitating their opportunies to attend college, and creating a community garden. Its relation to BYM is that for many years students from Sandy Spring Friends School have gone to Logan during Spring break, and participated in work camps.

Although the West Virginia Economic Justice Program is not within BYM, it might be of interest to report that Beth Spence, an AFSC staff person there, has been asked by Governor Manchin to serve on the state investigating group looking into the mine tragedy that killed 29 people. Beth was also on the committee which investigated the previous West Virginia mine accident and wrote an excellent report for the state.

Jolee Robinson
BYM representative to the AFSC
MAR Executive Committee

The Middle Atlantic Region of the American Friends Service Committee continues to operate several projects within the area encompassed by Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

Since its inception in 1996, the D.C. Peace and Economic Justice Program has collaborated with a wide range of community organizations and institutions to strengthen the capacity of D.C. residents to achieve economic self sufficiency and to strengthen the conflict resolution and civic leadership skills of D.C. youth. In 2008, after listening to the community and recognizing a knowledge gap regarding human rights, the D.C. Human Rights Learning Project was created. At the urging of AFSC-DC, the City Council of the District of Columbia declared D.C. a Human Rights City in December 2008. Human Rights Learning is conducted in a number of public schools located in the most impoverished areas of the District of Columbia. In addition, Human Rights Education is taught by AFSC staff at Sidwell Friends School. This project also works in coalition with D.C. groups on peace and economic justice issues. Local Friends Meetings are involved in supporting the program and as volunteers. Another part of the D.C. Peace and Economic Justice Program is the Youth in the Know Leadership/Media Project, which works to educate new immigrants, especially those from Africa, on civil rights and work rights.

Four projects operate out of the Baltimore office.

1. Baltimore Urban Peace Program has worked with coalitions to build a culture of peace in local communities and to educate community members on the human and economic costs of the Iraq war. Both these objectives have been pursued in local colleges and communities. A listening project was conducted in the McElderry Park neighborhood, which has led to the creation of a neighborhood garden, the opening of a neighborhood wellness center, and participation of volunteers in Safe Streets Shooting Response events.
2. Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution teaches conflict resolution by training volunteers in Help Increase the Peace (HIPP) techniques, working with community groups to engage in better communication and use them to make a positive difference in their communities, and building conflict resolution skills in local schools. A pilot project at Baltimore Civitas School has increased interest in other schools.
3. Project Voice works with immigrants and refugees, providing referrals for free legal consultation, helping to adjust their immigration status, providing education on the process of applying for green cards, immigrant workers’ rights. In cooperation with other organizations, the project also assisted asylees and refugees to access federal benefits and worked to minimize the impact of immigration raids.
4. Maryland Peace with Justice Program works in three prisons in Maryland, providing training in conflict resolution, theater and program development. Through this work, prisoners have been trained to mentor younger prisoners who are more prone toward violence. Clear indicators of the impact on the participants include a decrease in infractions and disciplinary problems, use of non-violent means to deal with conflict and address anger, increased communication skills, and ability to transmit these skills to other prisoners through mentoring.

The AFSC Pennsylvania Program, Empowering Voices for Peace and Justice, although based in Pittsburgh, continues to work throughout the state of Pennsylvania especially with the Eyes Wide Open exhibit and education on the human costs of the Iraq war. The Military Listening Project, which involved trained volunteers interviewing 30 soldiers and their families still provides dramatic readings for education in the costs of war and the need for non-violent approaches to conflict. A new listening project Through Mothers’ Eyes will involve parents of U.S. soldiers and mothers of Iraqi immigrant families to talk about the ways the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have affected their children. Other emphases in the Pennsylvania program include work on education on ending torture, and alternatives to military service.

Since the Middle Atlantic Region extends beyond the reach of Baltimore Yearly Region, it is work mentioning that other projects are operating in West Virginia (the West Virginia Economic Justice Program and the Appalachian Center for Equality centered in Logan,) and in Upstate New York (Community Advocates for Family Empowerment, Youth Empowerment, and Akwesasne.) Sidwell Friends School students have for several years gone to Logan to participate in building projects. On July 25, there will be a dedication of the House that Love Built, which the Sidwell students helped build. BYM members are encouraged to attend the dedication of the home built for two elderly disabled sisters, a project that began in response to a brutal crime committed against a young African-American woman in Logan.

Plans to develop a project in Virginia have been affected by the financial crisis. AFSC, like most non-profits, has experienced a major loss of funds, both in decreased donations and in the decline in the value of bequests due to the recession. MAR, along with the entire organization, is engaged in a process of looking at what impact this financial crisis will have on programs and staff.

Submitted by Jolee Robinson
BYM representative to MAR Executive
Committee of AFSC

Working with partner organizations in Gaza, AFSC will contribute $50,000 to help meet humanitarian needs in the city over approximately two weeks. People can contribute to the AFSC crisis fund here - http://www.afsc.org/israel-palestine/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/73214.

AFSC writes an open letter to President Bush and President-Elect Obama. "As an organization with 60 years of experience working in the Gaza Strip and committed to a peaceful future between Palestinians and Israelis, we are saddened and distressed at the spiraling violence in Gaza over the past five days. As a Quaker organization that cares deeply about the life, dignity, and security of all people, we ask you to take immediate action to end this spiral of violence..." (more...)

The American Friends Service Committee sends warm greetings to Friends everywhere.

Last fall marked our 90th year working for peace, justice, and human dignity. This year, we continued our calling by working in more than 25 countries, engaging untold thousands of people in our economic, food security, and conflict resolution programs. Across the United States, we mobilized pro-peace events to end the war in Iraq, supported the immigrant communities that contribute so much to our labor pool and vibrant community life, and focused on channeling our nation’s resources into supporting human needs in economically uncertain times.

One of the most high-profile pieces of work in the past year ties together our call for a moral federal budget that supports human needs with our call to end the war in Iraq. Spearheaded by AFSC’s Chicago office, colorful, large banners showing “The Cost of War” were displayed in prominent public spaces around the country, including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Many Friends Meetings have been instrumental in displaying the Cost of War – and more than 40 Eyes Wide Open – exhibits in schools, town squares, and at peace events nationwide. Part of the ongoing effort to end the Iraq war, the banners educated viewers on the domestic human needs that could be funded if monies were not used to continue the war. In addition to the banners, our web movie, “One Day = $720 million” has spread the word on our misplaced budget priorities to more than 300,000 web visitors and has started a lively conversation on YouTube. (You can view the movie at www.afsc.org/cost.)

Nurturing constructive conversations around the world has been a priority for the Service Committee. A major example has been continuing person-to-person diplomacy with Iran’s religious and governmental leaders, trying to bridge the diplomatic gulf between our countries to prevent another unnecessary war. The Service Committee is launching another important conversation this June by bringing a delegation of Iraqi Parliamentarians to meet with the U.S. Congress – for the first time.

As it has for the past six years, the China Summer Work Camp brought 35 college-age participants to China to teach 130 middle school students, 80% of them girls. Subjects included English and environmental education, important topics in a country where the health impact of pollution is a growing concern. This year the program is reaching out to youngsters in the Sichuan earthquake zone.

The annual Olive Harvest tour to Palestine involved activists from all over the U.S. who traveled to the Middle East to pick olives, meet with Israeli and Palestinian peace leaders, and visit AFSC programs. On returning home, the participants shared their experiences, wrote op-ed pieces for newspapers, met with Congressional representatives, held media interviews, and promoted the sale of fair trade olive oil.

In July, General Secretary Mary Ellen McNish joined other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Geneva, Switzerland, to present the U.N. Economic and Social Council with a Charter for a World Without Violence. The three-page document contains twelve principles which range from eliminating nuclear weapons and the small arms trade to bolstering civil society and protecting the human rights for all.

Not all our conversations are on a global scale, many are local in nature. In New York City, AFSC worked in low-income areas through the Campaign to Reduce Demand for Illegal Guns. After gathering community experiences and ideas, young people involved presented recommendations to 15 elected officials, including Mayor Bloomberg’s office, at the Inter-Borough Summit on Gun Violence. In West Virginia, following two mine disasters, AFSC staff served on the governor’s investigating committee and brought community perspectives to bear in proposing guidelines for legislation to improve mine safety.

Some of the most important conversations are one-on-one and about matters of conscience. Across the country, staff and volunteers continued truth in military recruitment efforts in public schools and other venues such as neighborhood fairs. To support this work, AFSC’s new publication, “It’s My Life: A Guide to Alternatives after High School,” gives students ideas beyond joining the military which all too often seems like the only recourse. The Service Committee also provided resources for a GI rights hotline where callers received guidance on subjects such as resources for handling post-traumatic stress disorder.

Much of AFSC’s work handles important global issues on a local scale. It would be hard to list it all in a short epistle, but the following are a few highlights.

The third-annual Women and Fair trade event in Austin, Texas, brought together producers and consumers in a day of camaraderie, shopping, and learning about how to buy goods that support a fair living for workers around the world.

On the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War and to commemorate the 4,000th U.S. military fatality in Iraq, hundreds of communities mobilized with rallies, prayer services, and vigils for peace.

In Iraqi refugee communities, AFSC is providing trauma counseling, prosthetic limbs, and job training for some of the nearly 5 million Iraqis displaced by violence.

In Eastern Aceh and Northern Sumatra in Indonesia, which received less post-tsunami assistance, AFSC has helped build local capacities through grants to local groups and women-led businesses and training on trauma healing.

• In Zimbabwe, AFSC has played a non-partisan role as intermediary among political factions, supporting • discussions on land distribution and supporting a national religious dialogue.
• AFSC offices in communities across the country have been helping immigrant families cope with workplace and • home raids by government agents, workplace abuses, and family separation.

And now, after the flooding in Myanmar that has killed and displaced tens of thousands, AFSC is working with local community groups and Buddhist monastic schools to provide immediate relief. While AFSC is not the first organization to respond, our response will be long-term, flexible to the real needs of the Burmese people, and supporting our partners as they build sustainable, secure, and peaceful communities.

We invite you to join us in our work to make the world more peaceful, fair, and humane.

In peace,
Paul Lacey, Clerk
Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary

Forwarded by BYM’s members on the AFSC Corporation – Nancy Beiter, Cathie Felter, Riley Robinson, Richey Sharrett, and Lella Smith

The Middle Atlantic Region of the American Friends Service Committee includes most of seven states: New York except for the Metropolitan New York area, western and southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, plus the District of Columbia, with the Regional Office located in Baltimore. Programs within the Baltimore Yearly Meeting area occur in Baltimore and Hagerstown Maryland, D.C. and Pennsylvania. In addition, there are programs in other parts of Pennsylvania, in West Virginia, and in upstate New York.

All programs are based on the AFSC Mission Statement adopted by the National Board, which describes the AFSC as “a practical expression of the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Committed to the principles of nonviolence and justice, it seeks in its work and witness to draw on the transforming power of love, human and divine.”

Work focuses on the areas of Economic Justice, Healing Justice, Peace Building, and Human Migration and Mobility. Within the geographic area of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, the programs include:

Baltimore Urban Peace Program, which has a goal of promoting nonviolence in Baltimore and surrounding communities by training in nonviolent approaches to managing and resolving conflict and organizing communities to end violence. This has involved working with a coalition of faith leaders and continued showing of Maryland Eyes Wide Open exhibit.

Maryland Peace with Justice Program concentrates on working with prison populations in Maryland to provide training and resources. With the closing of the men’s correctional institute in Jessup, work has transferred to the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown. Both volunteers and prisoners are involved in the development of the program, which has included a number of projects. Recently the program has developed A Friend of a Friend at Hagerstown, which trains several men to act as mentors to younger prisoners. The mentors have previously completed training in conflict resolution, communication and mediation, and now facilitate sessions and provide one on one guidance. The program has led to the creation of a theater group at the prison and a yoga and meditation group.

Project Voice applies human rights principles to support immigrant communities, strengthen immigrant leadership and provide community organizing assistance in order to transform immigration policy and improve immigrants’ rights. In Baltimore, the program initially concentrated on South Asian immigrant communities and has moved to work with refugees and asylees from Sub-Saharan Africa. Program achievements have included conducting workshops to inform 250 people about their civil and human rights, assisting 110 asylees and refugees to apply for their green cards, and informing low-wage immigrant workers about their labor rights and how to recover stolen wages. Project Voice has recently expanded into D.C.

D.C. Peace and Economic Justice Program works with youth and adults in the D.C. area to provide increased knowledge and practice in conflict resolution and to work with low-income workers to help them achieve economic self-sufficiency. The Youth in the Know Leadership/Media Initiative works with D.C. youth of diverse culture and background to provide knowledge, tools, decision making skills, conflict resolution, and media skills on community issues.

Pennsylvania State: Empowering Voices for Peace and Justice although originally concentrated in Pittsburgh, the program has taken Pennsylvania Eyes Wide Open exhibit to numerous communities in Pennsylvania, including some in BYM territory. Recently the program has conducted a military listening project and published a report The Human Cost of War, Listening to the Voices of Iraq Veterans and Their Families will be useful to other parts of AFSC.

Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution Program is based in Baltimore and works with youths and those who support youth to find peaceful resolutions to conflict and common ground on which to work, while teaching and encouraging youth to empower themselves. Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP) training is utilized.

Other programs within the Region include two programs in West Virginia, other work in the Pittsburgh area, and several programs in upstate New York. Although not in the BYM territory, there are cross-fertilization efforts throughout the Region. For several years, students from Sandy Spring Friends School have spent Spring break in Logan West Virginia, assisting with projects of the NEW Plus program there. This year, some Friends schools from Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting have also sent students to Logan, and other BYM schools are encouraged to participate. The Outreach Committee and Regional staff are exploring with Friends Meetings in Virginia whether there are opportunities for program in Virginia, now that the entire state has been added to the Middle Atlantic Region.

Jolee Robinson,
Representative to AFSC-MAR Executive Committee

The American Friends Service Committee has a rich tradition of providing programs to communities and people in the Middle Atlantic Region. The mission and the six goals of the American Friends Service Committee guide the development of program in the areas of economic justice, migration and human mobility, peace building and prevention of conflict, youth, humanitarian assistance and education, and healing justice.

Although the region includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, New York (except New York City,) New Jersey (except Newark,) and the District of Columbia, this report will focus on the programs within the area of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Other programs in peace building, youth and economic justice operate in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Upper New York State, and West Virginia.

The major program in Migration and Human Mobility is Project Voice, based in Baltimore, with some work in D.C. Project Voice promotes the rights of immigrants through human rights education and access to legal services to assist individuals to understand immigration laws. Much work has been done with South Asian immigrants on issues of labor rights and recovering of lost wages. Another emphasis has been work with asylees, assisting them to apply for green cards. The plan is to expand the program in D.C. in 2007. The D.C. program works primarily with immigrants from Africa.

Peace Building and Prevention of Conflict has been a major emphasis in the BYM portion of the region. The Baltimore Urban Peace Progam worked for several years at the Maryland House of Corrections, initially collaborating with veterans, to provide training in alternatives to violence and promote the use of conflict resolution within the prison population. The focus was on decreasing the number of violent incidents and increasing the capacity for leadership. This program has been discontinued because of the closing of the prison facility, after all the prisoners were transferred to other facilities.

Youth Empowerment Through Conflict Resolution has employed the methods of Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP) to train use in peace building and conflict prevention. Youth are also encouraged to consider issues of social and economic justice through a process designed to enhance leadership skills. This program operates in the D.C. Metropolitan area, including parts of Maryland.

Eyes Wide Open, the exhibit showing the human cost of war, was originally a national exhibit, showing boots of all the United States military persons killed in Iraq and a representation of Iraqi dead through shoes. It has toured in many parts of the region—the May 2006 exhibit on the Mall in Washington, D.C. was organized by Baltimore Urban Peace staff, D.C. Peace and Economic Justice office, and Regional office staff. More recently, state exhibits have toured in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Interaction with the viewers of these exhibits has been rich and enlightening.

Counter recruitment activities have been undertaken in Baltimore, the D.C. area, and Pennsylvania. This work has involved partnering with Friends Meetings in some areas.

The Pennsylvania program has begun a listening project with military persons and veterans.

Youth work within the Yearly Meeting area has been primarily in Washington, D.C., through the Peace and Economic Justice Program. The concentration as been on juvenile justice issues and peace building activities. Working with other groups, they helped create a city-wide youth summit that worked on ways to improve the juvenile justice system. Other programs have used HIPP to train youth for leadership.

The American Friends Service Committee is in the midst of many changes which should enhance its effectiveness. These affect our region, as well as the national and international AFSC. One major change in our region is in the size of the region. For many years, only the portion of Virginia near the District of Columbia was included as part of MAR. In 2006, the Southeastern Region of American Friends Service Committee proposed transferring the entire state of Virginia to the Middle Atlantic Region, since their focus is primarily the more Southern states. It also seemed logical, since most of the Friends Meetings in the state relate to Baltimore Yearly Meeting. This was approved by our Regional Executive Committee and by the National Board. The region now wants to interact with Friends from Virginia to see what implications this change will have for regional program.

The Outreach Committee has been working to enhance the Middle Atlantic Region's relationships with Friends Meetings in the region. A brochure describing the region should be available at Baltimore Yearly Meeting and a second brochure spelling out volunteer opportunities in the region is forthcoming. Staff and volunteers have visited Friends Meetings and welcome invitations.

Jolee Robinson
BYM representative to Middle Atlantic Region Executive Committee , AFSC

AFSC HAS A NEW WEB SITE

AFSC has a great new website which you can access at: www.friendsforpeace.org or from AFSCs home page: www.afsc.org. There are some wonderful photos but best of all, you can download signs or make your own.

Special thanks go to Mark Graham, Associate Director of External Affairs, and many other wonderful web staff who worked with him setting this up.

Report from Baltimore Yearly Meeting’S Representative Members of the American Friends Service Committee Corporation – 2006

Around the world and around the year, AFSC works, not only to stop suffering, but to find innovative ways to help people live in the true security that comes of finding peace and justice together. AFSC says, “We find in our life of service a great adventure. We are committed to this Spirit-led journey, undertaken ‘to see what love can do,’ and we are ever renewed by it.” (AFSC Mission Statement, 1994)

BYM’s appointed members of the Corporation this year have been Nancy Beiter, Riley Robinson, John Salzberg, and Lella Smith.

Reflections on the American Friends Service Committee Annual Meeting of the Corporation – held November 4-5, 2005 in Philadelphia, PA

Paul Lacey, Clerk of AFSC Board of Directors, described the annual meeting of the corporation as an attempt to check the carrots without pulling them out of the ground, an apt metaphor for the annual peek at the carrots that AFSC’s corporation members get to take at AFSC’s underpinnings. As far as we could tell this year’s crop of carrots is doing very well.

In the past few years AFSC has learned that it can do a few things very well, an alternative to trying to stick a finger in every dam in the world that springs a leak. They have chosen their efforts carefully and with some prescience. AFSC’s six areas of concern are: migration and human mobility, peace and conflict resolution, criminal justice and healing, economic justice, humanitarian assistance, and youth.

AFSC’s most visible efforts this year were the sustaining of the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit, and organizing vigils and demonstrations against the war in Iraq; the extraordinary efforts made to assist victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita particularly in the underserved immigrant victims communities, and Project Voice, an initiative designed to strengthen the voice of immigrants and refugees and to document the human rights violations occurring at the Mexican border.

General Secretary Mary Ellen McNish was asked some tough questions. Why is AFSC not on the ground in Darfur? Why did it not respond to the tragedy of the earthquake in Pakistan? She explained that at the time of its founding, AFSC often worked under government contracts and served as first responders on the ground. Working with the U.S. government is now not possible for AFSC because of the heavy requirements for loyalty oaths and other commitments that AFSC is just not willing to make. AFSC is no longer able to be a first responder to a crisis, but is well-suited to do the follow up work that neither governments nor other non-governmental organizations are equipped to do. AFSC is now the agency that operates behind the scenes, giving help and assistance long after the TV cameras have left.

Budgeting is now done by program. AFSC Treasurer James Fletcher provided an easily comprehensible report showing a healthy budget with $44.6 million in income and $42.7 million in expenses. However, AFSC continues to rely too heavily on bequests, a source that is expected to decline. While individual giving was way up this year, much of it was restricted to hurricane and tsunami relief efforts. But Julia Reisman’s development report was optimistic. The number of individual donors is way up thanks to the use of fundraising consultants who told us that AFSC was often criticized in 2000 for being unfocused. With the new six focus areas not only is AFSC able to use its resources more effectively, it is also better able to address the concerns of donors.

Friends in Baltimore Yearly Meeting who are employed by the Federal Government may be especially concerned that AFSC was not an option for charitable giving through the Combined Federal Campaign. That is because charities that participated in the CFC had to comply with regulations propounded by the Department of Homeland Security that required them to sign documents assuring that none of their employees, nor any employees of any non-governmental organization (NGO) with which it partnered, had ever been employed by or donated money to organizations that the United States has labeled as “terrorist”. Because AFSC always does its international work in partnership with local NGO’s and because peace making and conflict resolution abroad require a willingness to communicate with everyone, AFSC declined to sign the required documents. AFSC, along with several other organizations, has a law suit pending against the CFC to try to force it to remove those restrictions.

Serving as BYM’s designated member of the AFSC Corporation is an honor and a privilege. This year at the corporation meeting far more effort was made to help those of us who are newer to AFSC service to get to know people and to find ways to get more involved in the organization if we choose to. In addition to that a Simplicity Committee finished its work this year and made a report to the Board recommending that the complex structure of AFSC be made a little less inscrutable. On the whole the organization is becoming friendlier to Friends. If you haven’t taken a look in a while, please do so.

Other AFSC Updates

Eyes Wide Open in Washington: In May 2006, AFSC’s Eyes Wide Open was a centerpiece for a significant series of events called Silence of the Dead – Voices of the Living: A Witness To End the War in Iraq on the National Mall, co-sponsored with organizations of veterans, military families, and others, including a silent march and First Day worship on the Mall.

Goals: AFSC continues with its five-year program, which has identified six major goals. Two are “first-focus” goals, receiving primary attention. These two are “Peacebuilding and Prevention of Conflict” and “Migration and Human Mobility.” The others goals are “Economic Justice,” “A New Vision of Justice” (in legal systems), “Humanitarian Assistance and Education,” and “Youth.” This is bringing strength and cohesiveness to the many projects and the broad range of AFSC’s work.

Administration: Last year a Simplicity Framework was adopted by the Board shedding light through some organizational principles on to guide how AFSC does its work. Now AFSC is planning changes in the areas of strategic planning, budgeting, and evaluation to come closer in to line with these principles.

International Work: AFSC’s international work, which goes all the way back to its beginnings at the close of World War I, is divided in to these regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, Middle East, and United Nations (via the Quaker United Nations Office). The work consists of both direct project work and also Quaker International Affairs Representatives, working through quiet diplomacy and conflict resolution.

Take a tour yourself! A wealth of information is available at the AFSC web site at www.AFSC.org via print, photos and videos, giving inspiration about how and why AFSC does its work. AFSC offers speakers, events, project opportunities and tours through the year – including events at Baltimore Yearly Meeting annual session in August and at Friends General Conference annual gathering in July. Please join us.

Nancy Beiter

Riley Robinson

Recently a Quaker sent these words over the Internet about AFSC: Do Friends see the naming of AFSC in . . . highly charged cases, as a "religious group," as leverage on the historic integrity of the Religious Society of Friends ? even as AFSC has evolved away, or seems to be evolving away from being a "Quaker" organization?

As Friends decline in number, and "Quaker groups" become professionalized ? how do we manage to keep our identity as we work with friends from the wider world who share our outward concerns, yet are not that familiar with our inward faith?

These kinds of questions are not new. On what basis, however, does this Friend feel able to say that AFSC is "evolving away" from being a Quaker organization? Just in the past year, after two-years of reflection and study, an AFSC national Board committee (nearly all of whom are Friends) approved a framework to: 1) Clarify and strengthen the role of Worship in governance and decision-making in the organization, 2) Expand the Quaker practice of "seasoning" concerns in seeking clarity about work AFSC will take on through prayer and discussion at all relevant levels, and 3) Clarify the role of AFSC staff, identifying it primarily as the implementation of the work chosen.

How would AFSC Friends explain the spiritual basis for their own involvement in the kind of work that AFSC does? These words come from the late Stephen Cary, birthright Friend, longtime AFSC employee, and eventually AFSC national Board Clerk, in his biography, An Intrepid Quaker: One Man's Quest for Peace:

The Religious Society of Friends is my home. Three aspects of Quakerism hold me there. First is its foundation, which rests on human perfectibility, not on a human sinfulness redeemable only through God's grace. . . .

For Friends this is more than pious speculation. It has substance in evidence accumulated over three centuries of a growing understanding of right relationships with other peoples and other cultures, of a broadened definition of violence, of deeper insight into institutionalized evil and the power of nonviolence, and a clearer grasp of the requirements of reconciliation.

Second, our optimism about human potential leads Friends to focus attention on our responsibilities in this world, rather than on preparing ourselves for the next one. In the words of William Penn: "True Godliness don't [sic] drive men out of the world. Rather it drives them out into it, in order to mend it. . ."

Third, Friends are seekers. Ours is a religion of search, not of arrival. . . . I like the call to be open to others' truths, to be ready to learn from them, and to have no illusions that mine is the one true faith to which all others must subscribe. . . .

Many Friends, and even Quaker organizations, would consider these key to their own Quaker commitment, and agree that, by living with these in our daily thoughts and actions, we share the ways of Friends with others. Appropriately enough, last year Baltimore Yearly Meeting focused on the importance of inclusiveness of people of varied origins and perspectives; the year before on finding peace and sharing it with the world. We would all do well to attentively hold ourselves, AFSC, BYM, and other Friends' organizations to these standards, and see how all are faring. If we do this with care, we may find that Friends, in fact, will not "decline in number."

With that said, how well did AFSC Middle Atlantic Region "let its life speak" this year?

In the BYM Area:

Baltimore Urban Peace Movement
Baltimore Votes!-Coordinated registration of 2300 new voters in inner-city Baltimore neighborhoods with neighborhood organizations as partners

VetNet-Mentoring, education, arts, communication and conflict transformation programs for incarcerated veterans

Civil Liberties - Senate hearings in the 1970s judged that the FBI had used unlawful practices to spy on citizens. However, many victims of these practices are still imprisoned; they and these practices that are starting to be used again need to be brought to light.

BRIDGE - Baltimore is part of this regional coalition that worked this year to equalize state funding of schools between rich and poor countries.

DC Peace and Economic Justice Program: Peta Ikambana is the new Area Director in DC. Born in the Republic of the Congo, he came to us by way of working in youth programs in Philadelphia.

Youth in the Know - The DC youth were active in planning the youth nonviolence day held at the National Cathedral on the King holiday in January. They continue planning a major HIV/AIDS awareness weekend. Mentoring programs continue.

Civil Liberties-The Project is advocating for a neighbor whose home was invaded by police and severely damaged, though no wrongdoing was found.

Africa Initiative Participation-The DC Program hosted students who were part of the African Youth Campus Tour coordinated by the AFSC national office, networking them with African students at universities in DC.

"Eyes Wide Open" Exhibit in Washington
MAR arranged for and hosted the national AFSC's "Eyes Wide Open" traveling exhibit of boots representing the (then 1400 plus) U.S. military dead and shoes to represent many more Iraqi dead. Visitors at the National Cathedral on the King holiday and another Church during the Presidential inauguration were deeply moved. The DC Program and area Friends supported this event.

Help Increase the Peace Program
Help Increase the Peace (HIPP), a MAR's national program for youth, is based in Washington. Summer institutes build skills among trainers so that, in schools and elsewhere around the country, teens can break down stereotypes, gain communication skills, and build communities of nonviolence. One institute is being held at Friends Meeting of Washington this summer.

Project Voice
Project Voice, a national program with roots in Baltimore and Philadelphia, plans to expand in DC. In Baltimore it helped Sikh immigrants defend their rights, partnered with an inner-city Church to build community between Blacks/Latinos and community gardening with immigrants from Afghanistan, India and Iran. A hotline offers legal information.

A Sampler from Beyond the BYM Area:

In West Virginia

Sandy Spring Friends School students again participated in a work camp repairing homes and Gail Gann, AFSC-MAR committee member from Baltimore, coordinated a clothing drive and sent a truckload of clothes to flood victims.

Upper New York State

The MAR Program Evaluation Committee conducted an evaluation of local MAR programs, including HIPP and Welfare Watchdogs. Programs are evaluated every three years.

New Project in Pittsburgh

Last year the Ford Foundation gave a grant to AFSC's Peacebuilding Unit to conduct projects encouraging public discourse. Friend Scilla Wahrhaftig developed a Listing Project to hear people's social and political concerns about security; many Friends from the Pittsburgh Meeting helped conduct it. A report, APeople Count: Listening to Voices for Democracy,@ noted that people wanted to find their own ways to respond to a shared sense of insecurity about the public welfare. Another project in which a group of doors became painted works of art that traveled on display has become an ongoing MAR project.

Ways of staying in Contact with MAR

At Baltimore Yearly Meeting MAR holds workshops and interest groups each year related to current work. MAR Committee members are present to talk to during the week. Riley Robinson is currently BYM's representative to AFSC/MAR.

The Middle Atlantic Region News is mailed to all Quaker Meetings in the region, in multiple copies if requested. In it are detailed Aon the scene@ articles about AFSC programs and profiles of those involved with MAR. Please feel free to contact the MAR office if you'd like to receive it, or view it at our web site.

Web Sites: AFSC maintains a large web site with information about the various programs (AFSC.org). At the home page, you can sign up for an informative monthly e?mail newsletter. Baltimore, DC and HIPP web pages that are linked from the main AFSC site.

Brochures: A number of program information brochures are available.

MAR Outreach Committee B Nancy Beiter, Kristin Henderson, and Riley Robinson are BYM members.

For Quaker Meetings: Staff in the MAR area and Baltimore regional offices respond to individual Meeting requests for speakers and workshop training when possible and offer Listening Project training.

American Friends Service Committee, Middle Atlantic Region
4806 York Rd. / Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 323 7200 / (410) 323 7292 (fax) / mar@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org/midatlantic

Riley Robinson.

Note: In my sixth and last year as BYM's representative to AFSC-MAR, I would like to thank the Yearly Meeting for giving me this most rewarding opportunity.

A Great Privilege And A Deep Concern

On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2005, we had the privilege of volunteering with the AFSC exhibit, Eyes Wide Open, which shows the human cost of the Iraq war. The graphic visual display of rows of combat boots (1,370 pairs on that day) filling all the pews in the very large sanctuary of the National City Christian Church and civilian shoes of all sizes and shapes lining the perimeter was an overwhelming silent testimony to the deaths of so many victims of US foreign policy in Iraq.

Part of our volunteer assignment was handing out fliers to people on the street inviting them to visit the exhibit. We wanted to share this information with the people in line for the parade checkpoints as well as the protesters at nearby McPherson Square. But what a difference in the two groups of people!

The protesters were having a good time with laughter and conversation even though they were against the current administration and its policies. They took our fliers and struck up conversations about having seen the exhibit in other cities or thanking us for letting us know so they could come see it after their current activities were over. The folks in line for the Republican events or the inauguration parade route averted their eyes and ignored our presence. On rare occasions they would say "no thank you," or (even more rarely) take the flier. They were not talking with each other, their faces and eyes were anxious and frowning. These were the people who supported the current status quo. Their guy had won. Where was their joy and exultation? Why did they look so frightened and closed on their way to what should be a celebration of the victory of their values?

Their fear was frightening on several levels_it was contagious and chilled us when we were in its presence, it appeared to keep them from being in touch with their surroundings and reacting with humanity to those surroundings, whether the people standing in line with them or us. It seemed like an impervious wall separating them from the support of their community and the joy of human interaction. I was reminded in a very profound way of FDR's statement, "All we have to fear is fear itself."

This fear, running rampant among a significant number of citizens of the country, is dangerous to the future of our civil society, for it renders people paralyzed and incapable of observing, thinking about their observations, and making informed decisions. It keeps them in thrall to anyone who promises to keep the status quo by any means necessary, for they fear the loss of what they think is privilege and comfort.

The folks who accepted our invitation to visit the exhibit also participated in a candlelight vigil on the steps of the church that evening. The steps that had looked so large when we first climbed them earlier that day only accommodated the boots from Alaska through Colorado. "Women in Black" held a silent vigil for much of the afternoon on the steps. Throughout the evening, as candles flickered beside each pair of boots, Gold Star Mothers and other family members of fallen soldiers gave heartbreaking speeches. Members of Veterans against the Iraq War and Fellowship of Reconciliation were also present. Volunteers read the names of all the soldiers who had died, interspersed with the names of as many Iraqis as the exhibit researchers had been able to find.

This traveling AFSC witness for peace requires an enormous amount of hard work, energy, and money and we admire the dedication of those who are making it possible. It is a powerful action coming from the Quaker belief in the power of love to overcome fear, hate, and violence. We encourage anyone who feels so led to offer to help with this exhibit. Volunteers for a variety of jobs are needed, publicity; unpacking, displaying, and packing up again, selling t-shirts, bracelets and books. Twenty more stops are scheduled between now and mid-April. (Details on www.afsc.org)

Pat Long and Leada Dietz