Sarah's 1st Week in Tier 2

“If you do the right thing well, you avoid futility.”
-Mountains Beyond Mountains

When my original Tier 2 placement fell through I didn’t have high hopes for finding one that I would be passionate about. I took the placement at All Saints Church (http://www.allsaints-pas.org/) because I didn’t think I would be able to find anything else. Even after only being here for a few days, I am so glad that my original plans didn’t work out, working at All Saints has already opened my eyes in so many ways.

Those who know me well would be incredibly surprised that I am working at a church; as a result of a negative experience with the Catholic Church I lost my faith in organized religion long ago. As time has passed my hatred cooled to dislike and has recently simmered to a nagging distrust. Now working at a church (of which my mother is a member) I see the positives of religion that I had denied or ignored for so long. It helps that All Saints is also one of the most liberal and politically active churches in the country (http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8297, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Episcopal_Church_(Pasadena,_California), http://www.allsaints-pas.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_splash).

People in large groups, whether they share a creed, race, ethnicity, or nothing at all, have the power to commit terrible atrocities, but they also have the power to enact positive change. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to participate in that mission of the Peace and Justice Department at All Saints, however short my time here is.

My main project will be coordinating the All Saints “Tents of Hope” project (http://www.tentsofhope.org/), which is all about raising awareness of and funds for the victims of the current genocide in Darfur. These past few days at the church I have been dedicating all my time to learning as much about the genocide as possible by looking stuff up the web as well as reading Not on Our Watch: The Mission to end Genocide in Darfur and Beyond (http://www.notonourwatchbook.com/). While reading I began to feel more and more guilty about having done nothing up to this point.

I have to admit that I had avoided learning about the genocide so that I wouldn’t have to care enough to try to make a difference. I’m too busy studying, what could I possible do to help people thousands of miles away? I now realize how much of a “cop-out” that is. The answer is (or should be)…anything I can.

So whose watch is it? Who stands on deck aboard this world-ship, assuming responsibility for the actions that occur during the shift? To us, the answer is clear: the responsibility of the "watch" lies with those who take it up...we know that there are thousands, maybe millions, like us who desire to tell their children and grandchildren that at a time when there was a terrible thing called genocide, to which those in power turned a deaf ear and a blind eye, people like us spoke so loudly, in numbers so great, that we could not be ignored.
- Not on Our Watch: The Mission to end Genocide in Darfur and Beyond

I have heard it said that Americans have a ridiculous habit of sticking out heads in the sand when it comes to international issues. As Don Cheadle and John Prendergast said in their book, “"...this is the usual response to horrific crimes against humanity -- disbelief in the totality of the horror and genuine hope that the problem will go away.” Despite my cynicism sometimes I think that, considering the many injustices occurring in current society, maybe we didn’t actually have to stick our heads in the sand…perhaps we’ve been buried. That’s how I’ve felt at times, so much wrong I don’t know what to do so I (ridiculously) chose to do nothing. I am glad that working at All Saints will give me the chance to make up for it.

For those of you that want to know more:
· http://www.savedarfur.org/
· http://www.enoughproject.org/
· http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/?gclid=CIzwkfPS0ZMCFSMYagoddAjqjA