First Day of Actions and Fast for the Men in Guantanamo

Hello everyone!

We woke up to a very cold day in D.C.–about 20 degrees.  I dressed in about 5 layers and then off to the Pentagon where the Catholic Worker vigils every Monday morning on behalf of this institution changing into a place where peace is learned, where a spirit of militarism and war are changed into feeding the hungry and educating and feeding our children better.  We pictured each of the five wings of the PEN-tagon devoted to a different human need here and in the world.  We each got a chance to speak and I spoke on behalf of our family–our brothers  locked up in Guantanamo without a charge and without a hearing for 16 years now.  26 of the 41 men still there have been cleared but continue to be deprived of reuniting with their family.  I’ve included some pictures of our event.  We stood there for an hour with men and women galore passing us by on their way to work.  Some of them looked at us, a few smiled, but we addressed them all as brothers and sisters, as family.  We said to them that we’d work as hard for them if they were treated like our brothers in Guantanamo.

After that event, we ate our last breakfast together this week and then joined together for prayer and reflection.  We had a chance to hear where the 20 of us came from and what passion we’re involved with.  Some are retired professors, some are just plain activists who are in positions to raise their voices a lot; some are students in college; are are Catholic Worker people, some are justice people working in Cleveland or Chicago.  One person–Kathy Kelly–spoke of the huge concern of the children in Yemen who are starving to death because of the Saudi, United Arab Emirate and U.S. provision of bombs and dropping the bombs.  There are 18 clandestine prisons where torture is going on against the Yemenis.

You can see that we’ve already conducted quite a bit of action, and this afternoon we’ll be planning the actions for the next couple days.

Please pray that all this helps make a difference on behalf of justice.  Every little part any of us accomplishes on behalf of justice aids the whole situation.  Thousands of steps make up 500 miles.

My sincere love goes out to you.

sr. Paulette

The nonviolence cities campaign expands

These shopkeepers have been delightful and so willing to incorporate posters made by Tiffin Middle School, by Crossweah, and by Calvert Catholic to help bring greater awareness to the opioid crisis here in Tiffin and elsewhere.  The Nonviolence Cities Campaign here in Tiffin is seeking to help all citizens in Tiffin take on the responsibility to raise their voices on behalf of their kids, their family members and friends and to really assume a moral responsibility in getting help for them before it is too late.