Maasai Village: Request for Support from Marianne and Ed Fimbel

To our friends at Grace,

Ed and I recently went to Africa. I would say it was a very life-impacting experience! We would like to share one piece of it with all of you in the hope that you will then be interested in joining a project with us.

We visited a Maasai village (see attached pictures). We were greeted by a group of people who truly amazed us. They live in a village with no running water or technology and have little in the way of food and what we would consider the basics of life. The school was a room with a blackboard and benches. Yet the children responded to us as if we were long lost relatives. I have rarely had people react with so much joy upon seeing me. I will attach some pictures. The little boy that I was holding was curious about my phone but had absolutely no reaction when I showed him his picture. I was told later he didn't know it was his picture as he really doesn't know what he looks like.

They live at the top of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. It is near the equator but it gets cool at night due to the high elevation. The Maasai warrior who guarded our camp at night (we were visited by zebras, wildebeests, etc.) had no gloves or raincoat and were quite cold in the morning. The little boy I was holding had very cold hands and feet in addition to having a cold.

Ed and I hope to send them school supplies and clothes. As the whole village is in need of warm clothing any size is good. The people were all thin and many were tall. The children need navy pants so they can attend school and I was told the Maasai love the color red.

The guide we worked with, Baraka, will pick up the boxes in Arusha and drive them to the director of our camp. They will bring the items to the villagers and send us pictures.

If you feel moved to donate new or gently used clothing, school supplies or money to help with the mailing expenses, we would be grateful. More than that, you will be making a big impact on the people of the village.

Thank you,

— Marianne and Ed Fimbel

Family Promise Support Opportunity

Dear Grace UCC, there are currently four homeless families in the Family Promise network in need of our support. As I announced at church on Sunday, the Flemington Presbyterian Church (FPC) will be hosting the families for the next two weeks. And our support of that hosting is important. This hosting has been organized the way we have become most comfortable.

Steve Lederach and I are in particular need of volunteers for those first 3 days (Sun-Tue). It hard for those of us coordinating this hosting to relax when many of the early slots are still open. So please, let’s get these slots filled, moving from the left to the right please. And rumor has it, if you do multiple slots, you win favor with Pastor Dan! I know. It’s a very small reward… :)

Lastly, I won’t have the demographic break down of the four families (adults, children, ages, etc.) until the official memo comes out. In the meantime, let’s start volunteering.

Thank you.

— Bill Taylor

"So You Want to Talk About Race" Week 7 Update

WEEK 7: 15 attendees

Part 1: Chapter 8: What is the school-to-prison pipeline?

Prior to the meeting, Karen circulated a podcast on the Brown v Board Supreme Court decision and its aftermath:

http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/13-miss-buchanans-period-of-adjustment

The discussion revolved around issues of “representation” and how important it is for non-white students to be exposed to non-white teachers, particularly in the lower (primary) grades. It was noted that the NJ State Department of Education reports graduation rates throughout the state broken down by sex and ethnicity. There was also a discussion about intersectionality with teacher gender as well.

[After class note: Hunterdon Central Regional High School reported graduation rates of 95%, 88%, and 78% for whites, black/African-American, and Hispanics; however, I would note that the magnitude of the differences may not be significant based on the sample sizes - the ratios of students in the adjusted cohort to those graduating was 632:603 for whites, 17:15 for Black/African-American, and 64:50 for Hispanics. For additional data, and for all schools in Hunterdon County and other counties in NJ, see https://nj.gov/education/data/grate/2018/ ]

The following article was circulated after class for review:

https://sojo.net/articles/study-shows-racism-shortens-lifespan-black-people]


Part 2: Chapter 9: Why can’t I say the “N” word?

This chapter was pretty straightforward. We did discuss how certain pejorative terms can be used within a group that owns that term can be used a sign of belonging, such as the use of the “N” word within the Black/African-American community in the same way that “queer” is sometimes used in the “fluid” (non-straight, non-heterosexual) group. However, when those terms are used by those outside a group, they retain their history of separation, dehumanization, and oppression.

Peace,

— Duncan Taylor