Participate in Earth Hour 2009 - March 28, 8:30pm

Here's your chance to Go Green by Going Dark! Or, at least, a little dim.

From Earth Hour US: http://www.earthhourus.org

Earth Hour is World Wildlife Fund's global initiative where individuals, businesses and governments turn off their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change. Earth Hour is a symbolic event designed to engage people from all walks of life in the climate change discussion to send a strong message to our political leaders that we want them to take meaningful action on climate change. It's the largest climate event in history where millions of people around the world will unite by turning off their lights for one hour, Earth Hour, to demand action on the climate crisis.

When is Earth Hour?

*Earth Hour 2009 takes place on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm–local time.
* Just like New Years Eve, Earth Hour will travel from time zone to time zone starting at 8:30pm in New Zealand.

What do we hope to accomplish through Earth Hour 2009?

* Through Earth Hour, WWF hopes to create political momentum for enacting national climate legislation and a global climate treaty.
* Through Earth Hour, WWF will continue to educate and raise awareness about the climate crisis and offer ideas and solutions that people can merge into their daily lives.
* Through Earth Hour, WWF aims to unify people's voices from around the world who are demanding action form our elected officials to solve the climate crisis.

What does a pledge to turn out your lights involve and commit me to?

Participating in Earth Hour is easy. All you have to do is sign up at www.EarthHourUS.org, tell your friends / co-workers about it and then turn off all of your non-essential lighting on March 28th at 8:30pm. Through signing up you are not committing to anything specific. Rather you are agreeing that strong action needs to be taken to find a solution to the climate crisis.

Who can participate in Earth Hour?

Anyone. Earth Hour is an inclusive event and everyone is invited to participate. WWF will provide tools online to enable any town, community, school, individual or organization to be part of the event.

Why is Earth Hour at 8:30pm this year instead of 8pm?

As the campaign has grown from one city in one country to a truly global campaign, the time has been moved to allow the maximum number of cities around the world to be suitably dark for the lights out campaign to have a greater visual impact. Earth Hour is held around the spring equinox, which ensures nearly equal sunset times in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Do I have to turn off all of my electricity for Earth Hour?

Not at all. Through Earth Hour we are asking people to turn off all non-essential lighting. Emergency lighting, televisions and computers can stay on for the hour. The main point of Earth Hour is to unite people, companies and governments around the world through the symbolic flip of a switch. Earth Hour in itself will not lower our carbon footprint, rather it sends a signal to those in a place of power that we as individuals and communities demand action.

The decision on which lights to turn off can be made individually, but usually consists of overhead lights in rooms (whether it is your house or a business), outdoor lighting that does not impact safety, computers, decorative lights, neon signs for advertising, televisions, desk lamps, etc.

Visit www.EarthHourUS.org for more information.

All America

UU Homeschooler's member Jennifer Hawley-Zechlin penned "All America" after watching today's inauguration of President Barack Obama, " to honor the day." We are proud and honored to share it here.
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All America is now Black.

I am proud to be a newly black citizen.

With ancestors’ skin leathered in the sun, hands torn and bloodied in the
fields, and spirits made stronger in unity.

All America is now Brown.

I too have now crossed the Rio Grande.

I have left my children behind closed borders, brought only the clothes on my
back, wet and dirty, and cold. I too can feel that indescribable hope born only
from desperation.

All American is now Red.

I have now walked the Trail of Tears.

I have had my entire way of life stripped from me. I have been civilized. I
have now witnessed the voice of the Great Spirit both whispered and echoed
throughout the ages.

All America is now Yellow.

I can now embrace my heritage.

One mixed of communism, small fishing villages, rising suns, massacres in
squares, and familial dynasties. I walk with the tiger in the shadows of both
jungles and internment camps. I now continue to stand up in the face of
dictatorships beyond my control.


All America is still white.

I am still as white as I have always been.

But, I am now less ashamed. I hold less guilt. I have exchanged my burden for a
new hope and a new appreciation of my America, of our America.

Today, all America is male and female, gay and straight. All America is Jew and
Gentile, Muslim and Hindu, Buddhist and Agnostic. All America is Democrat and
Republican and Independent. All America is young and old, rich and poor, farmer
and physicist. All America now sings.

Today, all America is reborn and we will let this birth spill from our borders.
We must carry this day forward into the history we are yet to write and to live
and to leave behind us.

All America is now my America.
All America is now your America.
Let us be proud and thankful both today and tomorrow.

Jennifer Hawley-Zechlin
Tuesday January 20, 2009
11:46AM

Jennifer In California Visit our school website and blog
http://thedeeprootsacademy.spaces.live.com/Kire, DD age 12 Peace, Always Peace!

What My Daughter Taught Me About Being a Unitarian Universalist

What My Daughter Taught Me About Being a Unitarian Universalist

There are things that sometimes make it difficult to be a Unitarian Universalist. Many in my area, homeschool for religious reasons. Talk among members of these groups is easy and effortless. Someone mentions that they are Catholic and use Seton for a curriculum and heads nod in agreement. Someone else states that their children are part of AWANA and a flurry of discussion erupts around this weeks meeting.

I mention Unitarian Universalism and the deafening silence and blinking stares can only make one uncomfortable. Several had never heard of our faith, others assume that we believe in nothing. Admittedly, I’ve sometimes had a difficult time explaining our faith. A woman this week actually asked me why our church was doing The Nativity Story children’s play if our faith didn’t believe in Jesus and we weren’t Christian.

For those that are not UU, understanding and accepting our faith can sometimes be difficult. We don’t have a creed but are bound by covenant and our Unitarian principles. We are welcoming and many wonder how we can come together with acceptance when there are so many differences in so many faiths.

I began to see this same group of women once a week as our kids shared the same sign language class. The moms would often take the other kids out onto the playground while the siblings were in class. It gave us a chance to enjoy the weather and some coffee. Most of these women happened to be part of the Christian homeschool group.

The conversations were usually benign and centered on our difficulties raising kids in different age groups, we shared some recipes, complained about our husbands and our latest adventures in raising chickens for farm fresh eggs.

During election time, things took an uncomfortable turn when Sarah Palin’s name was mentioned frequently. I heard comments along the lines that Obama was a terrorist, he would turn white people into slaves, and he would reverse Roe V. Wade.

Another mom talked about the local school system teaching children how to masturbate and wanted me to sign a petition which I respectfully declined on the premise of needing to research this more. Secretly, I wanted to laugh and vomit at the same time. If they only knew what the sexuality curriculum at our church looked liked for our Coming of Agers!

Yet in the pit of my stomach I cringed every time the conversation turned to religion. I sat many times as an outsider listening to the banter around me and wondering if anyone even cared how I was bringing up my kids or cared to learn about me. I hung my head when another mom repeatedly called her kids sinners and told them they were going to hell if their behavior didn’t improve.

Several weeks later, the weather was gorgeous and we decided to stay after class and play on the playground, and unbeknownst to me, my daughter had her tarot cards with her. She sat at the top of the climbing tower with another classmate and worked on the cards. Suddenly, the other little girl shouted out, “Those cards are evil and I can’t play with you. “

Without missing a beat, my daughter said, “They are not evil, they’re just cards, that’s like saying a table is evil or my socks are evil.” The playground went hauntingly silent as small gasps of breath could be heard from the mom next to me. I sucked harder on my ice coffee-do I intervene? What do I say?

My eloquent nine year old glanced around the playground and then looked at her playmate. “C’mon,” she said, “Let’s go find something else to do.”

My daughter, in one breath, managed to accomplish what I had been trying to do for months. She found a common ground. She chose not to engage in conversation that she knew wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind. She found the community more important than the task at hand.

As the weeks passed I learned more about these women as our time at the playground grew longer and our days stretched lazily into summer. It is still difficult for me to understand how they can not question their own faith as I’m sure it is for them, to understand my faith.

I learned many things from these women. Yes, they live for Jesus. They have an incredibly strong faith, love their families and devote much time and energy to their own churches, homeschooling, social justice causes and community outreach. Much like UU’s and my own church. I learned that they should not be any less passionate about their own faith as I am about mine. It doesn't mean I have to agree with everything that they do, it means that our differences are ok, but I can also disagree with them if my own values don’t line up with theirs.

Get togethers are still sometimes awkward. We bow our heads when we visit them and thank Jesus for the food on their table as they say grace. It doesn’t mean I believe what they do it means I am respectful of their faith. When we bow our heads, that is our time for meditation and thanking the universe for a good life and friends and the chance to share a meal.

We say thank you when they say they are going to pray for us because all it means to us is that there is one more person in the world holding our family close to their hearts and thinking of us and wanting us to heal. So yes, please pray for me because I can use all the prayers and good wishes of the world and of every faith.

My son’s beliefs at the moment are that God created the Big Bang and evolution was allowed to occur under God's guidance. I have no idea where he got that from. Good for him. Morgan wrote a poem the other day titled, "God is the Earth". It was very much a creationist point of view for a 9 year old. Good for her! Isn’t that the basis of our UU faith, to help our children explore their own faith values and question and explore all that our rich faith has to offer? If my children chose Christianity or Buddhism or Paganism, I will thank the universe for their kind and giving hearts and for giving me the strength to let them choose.

As a UU, I segregated myself from other religions both in acceptance and in my convictions of my own faith. I had been hiding for too long and failed to call on both our Christian and Judaic heritage for strength. It is a rich faith, and should be celebrated as such.

"Lift up your voice, be not afraid, sing to the power of the faith within."

Next Sunday at church I am giving my testimony (for the canvass event) of what my church means to me. I am using a passage from the book of Luke-chapter 15- in the bible about the fatted calf. Metaphor here-the church should be the fatted calf and get the best of what we have, not the skinny goat or leftovers. The best of what we have. Shouldn’t the people that I come in contact with every day get the best of me? Shouldn’t I give them the fatted calf? Shouldn’t sharing my UU faith be a part of that?

My daughter, on that warm spring afternoon, taught me some valuable lessons. She taught me to not be afraid to speak up and that differences of opinion can often be worked out. She taught me that we need to worry less about defining our God-putting a name to it and start having all faiths find a common ground, a common community. She taught me that I need to get past the labels of what we call ourselves; Buddhist, Humanist or Christian, for in the end, it is all one. We are all one.

"Lift up your voice, be not afraid, sing to the power of the faith within."

Bev

Holiday Hike Reflections

The day after Christmas, my three mostly grown children and I rode our bikes about three miles down the road to a local nature park. I’d never gone there by bike before, but they’d enthused about the experience, so I went along for the ride on a beautiful Florida winter day.

As I peddled along a ways behind them, the dawdler now, in our gradually reversing roles, I marveled at them, and at the last 20 years of child rearing. Seeing them ahead of me appearing and disappearing from view along the country road unwinding ahead of me was a remarkable sight, and a sweetly amusing one, as my big, purposeful and independent children, kept glancing back occasionally to see where the old lady was, and waiting up for me at one point.

When we reached the park and embarked on our hike there, I felt immensely happy and content. An old feeling returned to me in a new way, a feeling I recalled from when my children were very small, of being a lioness with her cubs, as I lay on a blanket in our yard with my tots tumbling about me. It was a warm, delicious feeling. I felt it again that post Christmas day, except now, my mane showing some white, we were all lions together and the contentment came from feeling them strong and mature beside me as we strode together in our little pride down the piney wooded trails.

We talked as we hiked, geocached and placed a travel bug, took pictures, bird and wildlife watched and generally had a lovely time together, taking obvious pleasure in one another’s company.

I remembered all those years so long ago – was it really only 10 or 15 years? They were so little! – hiking along the trails of the nature preserve near our old home; working together at the nature center there, where everyone loved their youngest volunteers; watching the dolphins in the Indian River; collecting flowers and leaves; keeping tadpoles and watching butterflies emerge from cocoons. All that early love of nature and the outdoors has stayed with them, even with my 16 year old son, my youngest and least outdoorsy child, preferentially and perennially a tech geek, who manages to combine high tech and hiking with a camera and a GPS and to enjoy the outdoors on his own unique terms.

But all of them still enjoy a beautiful sunset, the tawny colors of late season marsh grasses, the reflected blue of a crisp winter sky in still lake waters. The sight of a turtle or armadillo delights them as much now as when they were tots. They still hush one another when they come across deer on the trail and soften at the sight of rabbits on a lawn. A good time for them is still a walk in the woods.

How lovely is that?

We have raised beautiful young people. They are good and kind and caring. They are intelligent and curious and open minded. They live intentionally, meaningfully, thoughtfully. I am in awe, feeling deeply undeserving of the remarkable good fortune of their good nature and kind hearts, even as I recognize that it is both nature and nurture that has brought them this far.

And homeschooling. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to be at home with them, to help them come this far, and to enjoy the experience of how far they’ve brought me, as well. I’m stepping back from their lives now, slowly, gradually, sometimes reluctantly, if only because my curiosity to see into their futures is piqued, to see where their lives and visions take them at this most remarkable point of embarkation in their individual journeys.

I’ve got plenty to keep me busy, fortunately, enough ideas, visions and curiosities of my own, and enough confidence in their abilities to follow their own paths with courage, common sense and wonder, that I can let my course continue to slowly diverge to pursue the journey I started nearly 50 years ago, beside the one I chose to trek with first.

And I know that as long as I can hike, I’ll have partners on the path now and again, and other paths to enjoy in the company of the lovely people my children have become.

A Different Kind of Normal

A Different Kind of Normal

I attempted to make cookies with my three children yesterday. But first I had to clean off my kitchen counter. If your kitchen is anything like mine, it becomes the dumping ground for all things going on in your house and in your life.

My counters may be just a little bit different than the “normal household”. Before I could reach the sugar I had to push multiple jars to the side. The jar with the snake skin was first, and then came the jar with a mole skull, owl droppings, a butterfly wing, a Praying Mantis cocoon and a dead June bug. Not to mention the mold experiment, ant farm and seedlings growing in egg shells. These are lined up next to the home made compost (complete with earth worms), algae water from the pond and a jar of polliwogs.

It is the afternoon. We have finished our morning lessons, and my seven year old daughter just came out of her bedroom with a box on her head to complete the robot costume she constructed from paper towel tubes, yards of masking tape and tons of paint. She is in full armor and delightedly tells me exactly what the “motherboard” controls are used for. She informs me that there is even a button to rehydrate dried up clay. I ask her if it will work for dry, stale cereal also.

I’m cleaning up from lunch, look outside, and notice the beautiful pioneer hut that the kids constructed from tree limbs lost in a recent storm. They worked for hours last week finding just the right Y shaped branch to support the sides of the hut. When the hut finally collapsed they borrowed an old sheet, propped up the branches and made a tee-pee. As a final ode to creativity, the branches endured a final calling as homemade crutches.

My twelve year old has just completed an experiment on Magnification and even made his own magnifying glass out of a Ziploc baggie and water. Tae, my four year old is happily chatting away using cookie cutters with his play dough.

This past September we started our third year of home educating our children.
Home schooling was not our first choice and the details that led us down this amazing path are long and cumbersome. A child with learning disabilities, too many labels, a public school that didn’t understand him, four years of trying to get him services, state mediation, some chest pain, lots of crying (mine-not his), and ultimately……the best decision that we could ever make. We are a home schooling family and life is so good.
Deciding to home educate my children was probably the scariest thing I have ever attempted and also the most rewarding.

In public school, we were told that Patrick didn’t know how to write, could barely do Fourth grade math and “never completed his work.” Since we started home schooling, he has had two papers published on the Internet, is now at grade level in Math and has blown me away in working on his High school Biology even though he is in seventh grade. Home school allows us to move ahead when a concept is understood and spend extra time on areas that need more attention. There is no “cookie-cutter factory production” learning in Homeschool. It is child paced and child led and provides a wonderful foundation when moving on to harder skills.

Recently, a fellow adoptive mom who was considering home schooling her children called me and asked, “But how can you know everything to teach them?” The answer is we can’t and neither can public school or private school or any other educational venue. Years ago, finding information to help our children excel might have been difficult. But we are living in an age of technology that is readily available at our fingertips. The truth of the matter is I often don’t know something that my kids should be learning about. The greatest gift I’ve received this year is the gift of honesty. If no one knows the answer, we find it together. It’s a learning experience for all of us. At a time when I should be going back to school to earn my Master’s degree, I’ve somehow ended up back in Elementary school and it is awesome. I have been stuck many times teaching the kids, but it is knowing where to find your resources, be it other Homeschool moms, the internet, the local college, online support groups and yes, even the local school department, that helps to round out our day and make learning fun again.

This mom was also concerned about the “socialization issue.” It is the number one concern I hear from most people when questioning home school. Since we started home educating our children, I can honestly say that socializing is not an issue. I think it gives non-homeschoolers, those so used to the failing public school system way of thinking, something to talk about. Homeschoolers are seen as hermits never to socialize with anyone. If they only knew! The children can interact with people of all ages and not just their segregated age group as it would be in public school. My children are quite comfortable speaking with a 9 year and a 99 year old.

Patrick and Morgan are learning Sign Language, Soccer, Karate, Brownies, youth groups, science fairs, play dates with the Homeschool support group, church activities, Spanish lessons, music lessons, art classes, community service projects, play dates, Nursing home weekly visits, multicultural lectures and performances and a whole host of other activities. We have been on whale expeditions (where the kids were invited to steer the ship and talk with the marine biologist on board), we have visited fish hatcheries, birthed kittens, cared for goats, attended lectures at the Boston Museum of Science and learned of Rhode Island State history through various field trips. We have visited Planetariums, Aquariums and had our backyard certified as a Wildlife Habitat. They have made models of lungs, cell structures, and built scale models of Pyramids. Patrick and Morgan have taken part in classes in animal enrichment at the zoo, built electromagnets and visited a Geologist at a local college. Our kitchen has turned into a laboratory chock full of experiments, critters, hermit crabs and art work. My children learn by living life and absorbing it all in.

Patrick and Morgan have taught me patience and understanding but mostly they have taught me how to listen. To really listen to all that they need. They have taught me to accept their “disabilities” not as a hindrance but as a completely wonderful, insightful, dynamic attribute of learning.

Our lives have changed dramatically this year. We focus now on the gifts of the child and not the challenges. It is a life directed by our own desire for knowledge, of learning exactly what you are capable of and what you find challenging.

When we first started homeschooling, I was not confident in my own skills despite a college degree in Nursing. What made me think I could tackle this? What made me think that I could be totally responsible for my children’s education?

They do. Plain and simple, these three glorious children give me the confidence every single day to nourish them and provide an education that is meaningful and enriching. Patrick and Morgan have learned so much these past years. I have learned much more.

This week there was no formal schooling as we traveled to Connecticut for my mother- in- laws funeral. The kids stayed home with a friend of mine and I spoke to them frequently. They kept me grounded as we attended the funeral and wake. While they didn’t have book work this week my kids learned a tremendous amount about life and death. They saw their parents cry, they saw us comfort one another and they saw us grieve. They knew it was ok, that it was part of the process of loving and letting go. We had lots of hugs from them and comforted them when we returned home. Losing a grandma is never easy. These aren’t lessons that we could ever teach them. They are life experiences that must be learned, no matter how difficult to bear. It too, is a part of homeschooling.

Is home schooling for everyone? Of course not. But for those whose children do not and will not fit the public school norm, for those struggling within the system, for those who want to expand their horizons and bring their family closer, it is an amazing journey of hope. Homeschooling is “a different kind of normal.”

Bev

PeaceJam's Global Call to Action

PeaceJam , Penguin Young Readers Group , and the Pearson Foundation have announced a new initiative, the PeaceJam Global Call to Action Challenge. The challenge offers young activists everywhere the chance to work directly with a Nobel Laureate in their own school. The Global Call to Action Challenge is an extension of the newly-published Penguin Young Readers book, "PeaceJam: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace." Through PeaceJam's Global Call to Action, Nobel Laureates such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Rigoberta Menchu Tum are asking young people around the world to commit themselves to creating a billion community-serving projects in the next decade.

About Peace Jam:
Ten leading Nobel Peace Laureates (The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Oscar Arias, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Prime Minister José-Ramos Horta, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Máiread Corrigan Maguire, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and Betty Williams) launched the PeaceJam Foundations Global Call to Action with the youth of the world on September 15th, 2006 as a part of PeaceJam's 10th Anniversary Celebration. This is a decade-long, worldwide campaign, and we invite all of the people of the world to join this global effort.

Reverse Trick or Treat - A Fair Trade Halloween

A neat Fair Trade effort -- combined with Trick or Treat for UNICEF and you've got a great community service project!
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This Year it's Time to Reverse Trick-or-Treat!

On Halloween night, young people across the US and Canada will unite to:

END poverty among cocoa farmers

END abusive child labor in the cocoa industry

PROMOTE Fair Trade

PROTECT the environment

by giving Fair Trade chocolate back to adults…while Trick-or-Treating door-to-door in their communities on Halloween! Each piece of chocolate bears a card with information about social and environmental justice issues in the cocoa industry and how buying Fair Trade certified chocolate provides a solution. Parents of last year's youngest participants raved about how Reverse Trick-or-Treating transforms Halloween into a meaningful event when youth activists give back to their neighbors and to cocoa growing communities.

This year Americans for Informed Democracy is partnering with Global Exchange and others to increase our impact! Join us, and together, we will reach nearly a quarter million households this year!

Costumes optional…having fun while making a difference guaranteed!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating kits are FREE

Thanks to the generous donations of Fair Trade chocolate companies

Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, Theo Chocolates, and La Siembra (in Canada).

Participate as an individual or organize your classroom, school, congregation, youth group or social justice organization to participate by distributing multiple kits to participants!

DEADLINE TO REQUEST KITS:

Groups (schools, congregations, youth groups, etc): October 1

Individuals: October 13

Order yours TODAY! Last year, we ran out before the deadline, so hurry!

Visit www.reversetrickortreating.org for more information!

Willing to volunteer to be trailed by a print, radio, or television reporter while Reverse Trick-or-Treating? Send an email to Sarah@aidemocracy.org or fairtrade@globalexchange.org, with "RTT media volunteer" in the subject line.

Receive a very special prize! Post a photo or video of Reverse Trick-or-Treating at www.5actions.org and http://www.youtube.com/group/revtrickortreat08. Then, email fairtrade@globalexchange.org with your mailing address to let us know you did so by November 15! Our favorite 50 postings will receive a limited edition lapel pin designed by renowned artist Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One, thanks to the partnership between Global Exchange and Battle in Seattle (www.battleinseattlemovie.com), the feature film about the 1999 WTO Seattle protests…in theatres NOW!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an initiative of Global Exchange and is a collaborative effort of countless children, youth, and adults supported by nonprofit organizations including Americans for Informed Democracy, Green America (formerly Coop America), International Labor Rights Forum, Slow Food, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, United Students for Fair Trade, and many others.

Please forward this email broadly! The more the merrier! Let's spread the Fair Trade love!

Sincerely,


Sarah Frazer
Global Development Campaign Coordinator/CARE Fellow
Americans for Informed Democracy
701 Cathedral Street, Suite L3
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-962-8773
Fax: 410-962-8771
Email: sarah@aidemocracy.org
www.aidemocracy.org

Awareness. Advocacy. Action.
Leaders of tomorrow creating change today.