Sekem: an Economy of Love in the Egyptian Desert

A Life and a Vision

Ibrahim Abouleish knew ever since finishing school, that he could do something for his country. “I will build factories where the people can work…. I will build workshops for women and girls…. I will build a large theater…” is what he wrote to his father after graduating from high school, just before leaving Egypt for Austria. (See book Sekem a Sustainable Community in the Egyptian Desert) The vision took him first to Europe to acquire a broad education, become a chemical engineer of high reputation and a doctor. When he finally returned to Egypt at age forty, he decided he was willing to sacrifice his past of success to start farming on marginal desert land, figuring that if it could be done there it could be replicated everywhere.

Building Bridges in the Middle East: the Work of Just Vision

Israel’s policy of aggression and annexation toward the West Bank is acknowledged not only by Palestinians but by a growing segment of the Israeli population who sees the present measures as an obstacle against medium and long term interests of all. An example: the wall built to protect Israel’s borders. Sections of it were planned inside Palestinian territories, not along the so-called “Green Line” of 1967. The village of Budrus would have been cut off from the rest of the West Bank, in fact even enclosed between two walls, and farmers would have seen part of their olive trees uprooted, and lost access to some of their land. The wall would have run close to their school and cemetery. Nonviolent resistance allowed it otherwise.

Beyond political concerns, nonviolent responses are creating a healthy response to the growing spiral of hate. Another paradigm needs to emerge. Otherwise more and more oppressive measures will rise. See anti-boycott laws just approved by the Knesset.

African Women for Peace: Liberia

I have finished viewing the 2008 documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell,  a powerful retelling of how women, armed of the sole desire for peace, ended the civil war in Liberia and brought to power the first woman president in Africa in 2005. A great message of hope in what appears to be a simple approach to turning the worse of conditions on their head; simple yes, but not easy. The difference between success and defeat lie in the internal resources tapped into; in qualities like forgiveness, hope and fierce and indomitable determination.

The women of Liberia, in a 2 and ½ year campaign have forced the armies of dictator Taylor and those of the opposing warlords to come to the peace table, and helped to send the tyrant to exile, set up an interim government, and hold free and fair elections. 

Conscious Living, Conscious Dying and Community Building

Counter to our mainstream culture that sees the end  of life as  tragic for all involved, the documentary The Most Excellent Dying of Jack Heckelman is about creating culture – moreover a it is an example of  a future culture, showing life can be lived fully to the last. I challenge anybody who sees this movie to find any trace of pessimism or moroseness.

“I have seldom seen a film that captures so sensitively, and with such honesty and hope the life of someone so loved and loving.” Jonathan Stedall (documentary film producer of the films of the lives of Ghandi, Jung, van der Post)

A Story of Organizational Change 2: from Fifth City to ICA

The Institute for Cultural Affairs (ICA) was born in 1974, out of the previous Institute of Ecumenical Studies, continuing a pioneer approach to whole-systems curriculums and community development. It pioneered key ideas and practices for social change around the globe. In 1974 ICA counted 1400 adults on staff (and 600 children) of 23 nationalities. In the years immediately following there were coordinating centers in Chicago,  Brussels, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Bombay. We continue to illustrate the remarkable parallel paths between theory and practice pioneered by the Institute.

A Story of Organizational Change: from Ecumenical Institute to Fifth City

In 1954 the World Council of Churches met in Evanston, IL, and decided to create a center for the training of lay people in North America. Christian businessmen in Chicago founded the Evanston Institute of Ecumenical Studies.

At the same time a group of Christian students and staff of the University of Texas – called The Christian Faith and Life Community – started to research the relationship between faith and contemporary life. Under the direction of Dr. Joseph W. Matthews, the group designed a curriculum for students and laity. It acquired the name of Religious Studies I (RS-I). In 1962 the Ecumenical Institute appointed Dr. Matthews as as its new dean. He brought with him the seven families fromTexas who had carried a comprehensive life of Christian worship, study and service.

Curitiba, Sustainability World Capital, Part 2

Some of the key ingredients to Curitiba’s success in becoming a world eco-capital lay in overall simplicity; a win-win mentality (the problem for one is often the solution for someone else); decentralization of development and government; anticipation of problems to come; adapting ideas as you go; admitting and correcting the mistakes promptly; encouraging citizens to live closer to where they work;  placing initiative where knowledge and interest lay; successful partnerships between public and private sector. The movie A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba that illustrates Curitiba’s innovations, covers four areas: public transportation, recycling, housing and parks. I’ve rarely heard as many ideas packed in a little over an hour!

To see a preview look at a very short trailer. For a more informative 15’ clip go to youtube.

Curitiba, Brazil, World Capital Transition Town, Part 1

Provocatively titled A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, a recent documentary offers solutions after solutions to the problems plaguing the cities of the world, in a manner quite intriguing to this author. It isn’t that Curitiba (Brazil) does not know all of the problems of large cities all over the world, including, poverty, pollution and overcrowding. What’s different about Curitiba is that its planners have come up with some very creative and inexpensive ways to solve universal problems. And the result is truly inspiring and self-sustaining.

Facilitation in Art: Playback Theater, Part 2

“There are many people, perhaps like the children segregated in that [orphanage] home, who are not always listened to. Even more numerous are the people whose stories in one way or another are too terrible for other to want to hear. If oppressed persons can be defined as those who have nowhere to tell their story, our mission has been to provide a space for anyone and everyone to be heard. There is a spiritual aspect to such a calling. ” (Acts of Service: Spontaneity, Commitment, Tradition in the Nonscripted Theater, Jonathan Fox)

Playback works through the creation of a sacred space and mood, through the distancing of the teller from his story (the teller does not enact), and through the artistic-aesthetic element that increases meaning. It works because we are called to experience on stage a variety of elements that most often remain separate. 

Facilitation in Art: Playback Theater, Part 1

Exploring the traditions of the region where I live -the Hudson Valley near Hudson – I have discovered that we are surrounded by the birthplaces of a  number of programs that play a part in the dynamics of personal and social change, such as Alternative to Violence Program, PsychoDrama and Playback Theater. I’m not an actor but I have something in common with the world of acting. Nonviolent Communication becomes real only when you are willing to role-play real-life situations. So exploring Playback Theater has offered me a natural amount of stretching from what is habitual. I have joined for a time the Playback Theater local group in which I knew most of the participants, starting from Roy and Elizabeth, the organizers.