     |
|||||||||
Email us at WATERstaff@hers.com with your mailing address to receive a complimentary copy of our newsletter, WATERwheel!
|
Women Crossing Worlds WATER extends around the world from Silver Spring, Maryland to Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba....wherever people are struggling for justice from a feminist religious perspective. WCW was originally designed to bring together women of South and North America to study, celebrate and strategize together to effect new ways of "doing theology." After many reciprocal visits, deep relationships with sister groups were established in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Eventually we were invited to work with Brazil, in each instance providing theological technical assistance for women's groups. One exciting project of WCW is "A Shared Garden" that resulted from joint efforts of Con-spirando in Chile, WATER in the USA and Ivone Gebara on behalf of Pe No Chao in Recife, Brazil. Eight women met in Santiago, Chile to define the program's objectives, methodology and participation. They are Judy Ress, Ivone Gebara, Doris Munoz, Diann L. Neu, Josefina Hurtado, Bridget Cooke, Ute Seibert-Cuadra, and Mary E. Hunt. The inaugural seminar was held January 27 through February 7, 1997, in Santiago, with Con-spirando as host organization. The second two weeks, June 16 to 27, 1997, took place in Silver Spring MD with WATER hosting. Both focused on the subject "Beyond Violence: Solidarity and Ecofeminism" from four angles: history, theo-ethics, deconstruction/ reconstruction (looking at religious myths, symbols, texts and images and their relationship to violence), and action, including spiritual resources, strategies and political steps that can be taken "to assure that we, our children and our planet can live beyond violence." A third Shared Garden took place in Recife, Brazil: "Beyond Violence: Women, Solidarity, Forces for Change." Now Con-spirando has an annual summer school (January) that deals with these issues. Participants are women involved in activist work in their communities who commit to sharing program content with their local groups, and women working in social change from a feminist religious perspective. Seminars include resource people from both continents, as well as a small number of participants from outside the host region - in Santiago, a few North Americans; in Silver Spring, a few from Latin America; in Recife, a like balance between North and South. To assure continuity, several in each group were part of both presentations. Questions addressed span a wide array of disciplines: philosophy, anthropology, psychology, ecology, economics, sociology, literature, and the arts. The local team for each seminar decides how the material will be shaped, but the core team provides an outline of topics and content to be covered. Following completion of the seminar, each participant returns to her home group prepared to share the experience. In announcing the program, the organizers make clear that it is academically rigorous and at the same time within reach of women who would not ordinarily have access to formal theological education. "We see this project as committed to simplicity and to enhancing Earth's life systems as we gather to look for and celebrate answers to our questions, " say originators of the plan. "WATER, Pe No Chao and Con-spirando offer their infrastructure and team of professionals to help the Garden grow. Our hope is that Shared Garden will become a small but significant reference point in the Americas and beyond, where we grapple creatively with the theological questions we are asking." Recent WCW work includes our Spring 2001 trip to Cuba and our August 2003 trip to Brazil. |
||||||||
| Copyright 2008 WATER | Home/Join/Donate/Resources/Contact Us |
||||||||