Day Five at JC 2012 - Our Last One

Some amazing young women from Phoenix Dreamers visited us.  Ranging from 14 years old to 20 years old, they volunteered their time to develop a skit about the Dream Act for the campers and they shared their personal stories.  It was a moving session.

Our final session in the afternoon focused on community building with a trip to the Musical Instrument Museum.  Music and musical instruments are things we share across cultures and political boundaries.

Thanks for a great camp!

Day Four at JC 2012

We explored the topic of immigration this morning.  We read a story called "First Crossing" about a boy who crosses the border without documents.  After several failed attempts, Marcos crosses the border, riding between the hood of the car and a coffee table which had been placed over the engine block.  We tried to imagine what his experience was like by squeezing between the chairs and the table:

We also revised the Game of Life to reflect the immigrant experience and we helped with the "Beat the Heat" backpack project in the Exhibit Hall.  The campers kept the tables stocked with supplies.

After returning to the camp room, we watched part of the video made by the Shelter Rock (NY) Congregation about the SB 1070 protest in July 2010.

In the afternoon, we talked about families and about how caring for each other is what makes a family.  The campers made PSAs about the meaning of families.  We ended the day with a swim at the YMCA.

Day Three at JC 2012

Today was powerful.  We started with an exploration of the Doctrine of Discovery.  The campers developed a definition of the doctrine in their own words; the counselors were impressed with their understanding of the concept and their ability to identify historical and current examples.  Then, we visited the Heard Museum (via light rail) and learned about the language, land, and family of native tribes.

In the afternoon, we traveled to Mesa Cannery.  This facility receives pinto beans in bulk (tons) and repackages the beans for single family use.   The beans are distributed to food banks throughout Arizona and are added to food boxes for families.  The campers worked hard, filling 1,670 bags - enough to feed 8,350 people.  We all looked very fashionable in our hairnets and gloves.  We returned to the camp room for a presentation by Chet Provorse from St. Mary's Food Bank.

Day Two at JC 2012

We started early this morning with a work project at the Garden of Tomorrow in south Phoenix.  Darren Chapman, the founder of Tiger Mountain Foundation, talked to the campers about how the garden serves the community as a gathering place and as a source for fresh produce.  He challenged the campers to live epic lives.  We pulled lots of weeds from the garden beds.

We continued our look at the environment with a presentation about the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).  Do you know which one has the most impact?  Thanks to Keep Phoenix Beautiful for arranging our garden project and for the presentation.

To show how quickly plastic bags can add up to a large amount of trash, we built trash bag monsters.

Shawna McKinley, the GA Sustainability Consultant, shared the efforts to reduce the environmental impact of GA.  Who remembers the significance of 160 bottles of water and of 300 M&Ms?

We visited the trash sorting station in the Exhibit Hall and went on a water scavenger hunt, recording the different ways we use water.

Day One at JC 2012

We explored the vocabulary of justice work.  Rev. Wendy came by and discussed how to be an ally.  She shared some of her experiences from her arrest during the July 2010 protest.  The campers shared some personal examples of how they have been or could be allies.  We made Wordles (wordle.net) using justice words and we made circles of caring (we identified how we care about ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world).

We also learned about transportation.  Joe Bowar from the City of Phoenix Transportation Department shared some insightful statistics about who uses public transportation and why they do.  The campers planned some public transportation trips, including one we took today.  We found out that the #8 bus will take you to 5521 N. 7^th Ave., where Mary Coyle’s Ice Cream Parlor is located.  We enjoyed some delicious ice cream sundaes as our afternoon snack – most everyone thought this was the best part of the day.

SS taught us how to play Green Glass Door, a riddle game.  Here is your clue for today:  UUs, but not Unitarian Universalists, can go through the door.

Welcome to Justice Camp 2012

A warm (both in temperature and sentiment) welcome to Justice Camp 2012. 

Since the theme of General Assembly 2012 is social justice, the camp is designed to give the campers experience in social justice work.  The primary goal of the camp is to empower young people by teaching them the following concepts:

• How to define social justice issues.
• How to identify tools with which the issues can be addressed.
• How to take action.

We will be posting descriptions of our activities each evening.  Looking forward to a fun and meaningful camp!