If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work.
-William Shakespeare (King Henry IV. Part I. Act i. Sc. 2.)
With all due respect to “The Bard” – but that is not really a Magnolia attitude. It might be kind of tough for him to fit in. Sure you say, just another guy with a goatee and frilly shirt, standing over there by that middle-aged Dad in a Utilikilt. Fashion trends what they are, just try to spot Will in a crowded Carleton Park cocktail party. But it is the attitude we are talking about, not appearance. To be sure, “playing holidays” is something we do really well around here. From church barbeques to Little League parades, garden party fundraisers to progressive dinners, ye shall know Magnolians by how we play. With our Village comprising one of the most enticing little shopping districts in the city, it is the adjacent parks and playgrounds that provide the opportunity to linger. All told, these are things which provide the essence of community. It is this synergy of complimentary attributes which make our community special. Grab some groceries for dinner while another parent is watching the kids at Karen’s Place Playground? No problem, happy to help. Drop the kids off for swim lessons while you meet a friend for a lovely little late-afternoon breve’ or goodie from the bakery? Sure, but let’s keep that our little secret. How about some pickup basketball with the guys at Blaine while your youngster bikes around with soon-to-be-discarded training wheels? That’s a slam dunk. It is the opportunity to combine myriad activities in seamless ways which define the Magnolia “lifestyle” as we know it. A Village center with the adjacent “Commons” (or “Green” as they say in Shakespeare land) is what makes that possible.
If this sounds like the breezy “affluent enclave” label the Seattle media licks and sticks on us whenever possible, please don’t let that bother you. And though there may be a certain element of truth to it, caustic commentators taking their shots have got it backwards. As lifestyle this is something to foster, not denigrate. And it is not carefree, mind you, not by any stretch of the imagination. Your Community Club steadfastly shepherds and conserves our community’s unique and special elements – conducting diplomacy with downtown parks managers and all manner of bureaucrats to encourage uses which serve the greater good. In the 1990’s, it took thousands of volunteer hours by a committed core group of community heroes to steer the jewel called Pop Mounger Pool from concept to completion. And then there is our community center director, Pati Maxwell, who has created activities for every age and activity level. You know it’s a good thing when your community center looks like “Grand Central Station” between classes, with toddlers heading one direction and seniors another. Thank you, Pati – it wouldn’t happen without you.
And this is just how it should be. Stanley Greenspan MD, in his book Playground Politics: Understanding the Emotional Life of the School-Age Child supports wholeheartedly the importance of the safe place to play in the life of a young child. “I believe that during this stage a lot of future creativity is generated, because children get a lot of their richness, their ability to dream, their boldness at this age. To children immersed in this stage, all things are still possible – there is a sense of grandeur and omnipotence. They have a curiosity about life, a bold expressiveness (“I am the best!”) and deep sense of wonder about the world.” Greenspan praises the playground as a social place, where children develop the “ability to relate, communicate, imagine and think.” Every year I am impressed by the quality and accomplishments of our graduating high school seniors from Magnolia. This year especially so, and every year the time span between playground and commencement gown seems shorter. After the home, it is the playground where those attributes of success began. We should take more time to celebrate that fact; and that as a community we are steeped in young people who are outstanding in their accomplishments - young people with no limit to their potential. As a community we can take pride in them, even as we look for more opportunities for every child to be encouraged in this way. As a community, we can directly influence positive social development in all children from the youngest age - by doing something very simple: encouraging social interaction through fostering better playgrounds. As a community, in 2004 we have reached the time when together it is appropriate to act on behalf of the greater good. If many of us will participate, and I believe we will, then we can all bask in accomplishing an enjoyable celebration of community. There are two very worthy playground projects which need your support. One is at Karen’s Place Playground next to the community center. The other is adjacent to the swimming pool. Taken together, these projects address very timely needs. As Dr. Greenspan makes very clear to us, they are crucially important needs as well. But I want to talk to those of you who don’t have children at home (the not yet, never will, did once crowd). Think about it: these projects deserve your financial support because helping to encourage another generation of great kids is not only worthy, it directly enhances your enjoyment of our community. So let’s get excited about our Village playgrounds, and drop off checks today at the Blaine Office and Community Center Front Desk. You can send an early graduation gift to an entire generation of toddlers. Walk around, and take in the beauty of our neighborhood. Spend some time in the Village. To help build community can be so easy.
20 May 2004
From Africa: History Teaches
This month is important for Africa. Ten years ago an outbreak of genocidal violence began in Rwanda. The United Nations refused to mobilize - and the United States government was slow to respond. An estimated eight hundred thousand people died before it was all over. Here’s another reason: Twenty five years ago this month Rwanda’s northern neighbor acted to depose the horrible dictator Idi Amin. Ugandans’ might have thought they would be relieved of their nightmare when that was over. Tragically for Uganda, the rule of Amin’s successor, Milton Obote, was just as brutal and inhumane. As the Obote regime was vanquished, an even greater scourge, the AIDS pandemic, was beginning the awful grip it continues to have on an entire continent.
Our Magnolia neighbor Terry McGill began regular travel to Uganda to help heal a people traumatized by successive waves of violent paroxysms. Violence - which only began to abate after Uganda’s current President, Yoweri Museveni, seized power in 1986. A professional caliber soccer player, McGill was part of a sports outreach program - literally teaching children to open up and play again – some for the first times in their lives. McGill has been returning to Uganda ever since, in a program of partnership with parents and community groups to help foster educational dreams for their children. In that way Sister Schools was born, through the rebirth of Uganda. This year I am joining McGill on the annual trip from Magnolia to Uganda, to assist with the work and to head up a video documentary project about Sister Schools.
In preparation for this trip, I have been reading everything about Africa that I can find. Thank goodness for the Seattle Public Library! It has become a major obsession for me, and I am sure that the great staff at our Magnolia Branch is happy that I have left for Africa – so they won’t have to process the tall stacks of books I continuously cart home. I have become very impressed by one “NGO” (Non-Governmental Organization) that appears to be a key player in every important project in Africa and anywhere people live in extreme poverty: World Vision, a faith-based organization headquartered just south of Sea Tac Airport. Another Magnolia neighbor, Scott Jackson is part of the management team at World Vision United States. Even prior to my arrival in Africa, the incredible scope and depth of their projects is abundantly clear.
More work is being done by Global Partnerships/Seattle Initiative for Global Development – a large group of corporate executives, headed by our Magnolia neighbor Bill Clapp, focused on Federal Government Policy to end extreme poverty worldwide with private sector leadership. Even more of our neighbors, some of them born in Africa, are involved in fledgling projects in finance/micro lending and other innovative strategies to jumpstart a long-languishing economy. These are excellent examples of the tradition of outreach and concern expressed by the Magnolia community.
Why should Sister Schools go to all the trouble, you ask, when groups like these have got things “covered” on behalf of the poor? There are plenty more efficient ways to deliver educational supplies to children living in extreme poverty. Why not just get folks to write checks – certainly large groups, even our government, can handle that kind of outreach? In good faith, these questions will be asked. My response is that those are all fair questions. And I would actively encourage you to locate, investigate and consider regular contribution to groups working on these issues. Find your heart, link it with passionate concern – and over time you will have huge impact on individual lives and future generations. Sister Schools has found that any Kindergartner can tell you that!
Sister Schools is a little different – it wants to teach an entire generation of American children to execute on a mission: eradication of extreme poverty worldwide. It is going about that task in some innovative ways. First of all, Sister Schools is neither faith-based or government policy oriented, allowing it to operate in the public schools – and work with classroom teachers to facilitate the learning process. Second, Sister Schools has a very unique and (from the kids’ perspective, wonderful) element which goes “full circle” to bond young children here with that key concept: that dire poverty is no longer welcome on this planet. The doing of that is quite simple, but requires a huge follow up commitment: McGill reports back to the children here, with lots of photos and information regarding the trip - allowing the kids who conducted the supply drives to gain empathy for others, but also feel firsthand the power of turning concern into action. Classroom-based, with full follow-up to key contributors (who are not yet in high school!) makes Sister Schools unique in that regard. When I first learned about this program, my response was “Wow, when was the last time a charity asked me for a donation, and then personally followed up with me to report back what was accomplished with my help?” Third and finally, although Sister Schools has been up and operating with excellence for over a decade as a registered non-profit, it has not yet developed its, well, full financial potential.
You might say that McGill “chose well” in Uganda: the country has begun a process of economic and political transformation that few could have anticipated in the silence after the horror of genocide. Somehow, and the scope of this achievement cannot be overstated, Uganda in 2004 is the world’s tenth fastest-growing tourist destination. In many ways, though, Uganda chose McGill. Uganda: a place which will forever be associated with the bizarre horror of Idi Amin. Uganda: a people who still work to overcome this scourge and are building a future.
Terry McGill is doing us proud in Magnolia. If you are so inclined, drop him a line and let him know how much it is appreciated, neighbor to neighbor. A neighbor at work in Africa. terry@sisterschools.org
Our Magnolia neighbor Terry McGill began regular travel to Uganda to help heal a people traumatized by successive waves of violent paroxysms. Violence - which only began to abate after Uganda’s current President, Yoweri Museveni, seized power in 1986. A professional caliber soccer player, McGill was part of a sports outreach program - literally teaching children to open up and play again – some for the first times in their lives. McGill has been returning to Uganda ever since, in a program of partnership with parents and community groups to help foster educational dreams for their children. In that way Sister Schools was born, through the rebirth of Uganda. This year I am joining McGill on the annual trip from Magnolia to Uganda, to assist with the work and to head up a video documentary project about Sister Schools.
In preparation for this trip, I have been reading everything about Africa that I can find. Thank goodness for the Seattle Public Library! It has become a major obsession for me, and I am sure that the great staff at our Magnolia Branch is happy that I have left for Africa – so they won’t have to process the tall stacks of books I continuously cart home. I have become very impressed by one “NGO” (Non-Governmental Organization) that appears to be a key player in every important project in Africa and anywhere people live in extreme poverty: World Vision, a faith-based organization headquartered just south of Sea Tac Airport. Another Magnolia neighbor, Scott Jackson is part of the management team at World Vision United States. Even prior to my arrival in Africa, the incredible scope and depth of their projects is abundantly clear.
More work is being done by Global Partnerships/Seattle Initiative for Global Development – a large group of corporate executives, headed by our Magnolia neighbor Bill Clapp, focused on Federal Government Policy to end extreme poverty worldwide with private sector leadership. Even more of our neighbors, some of them born in Africa, are involved in fledgling projects in finance/micro lending and other innovative strategies to jumpstart a long-languishing economy. These are excellent examples of the tradition of outreach and concern expressed by the Magnolia community.
Why should Sister Schools go to all the trouble, you ask, when groups like these have got things “covered” on behalf of the poor? There are plenty more efficient ways to deliver educational supplies to children living in extreme poverty. Why not just get folks to write checks – certainly large groups, even our government, can handle that kind of outreach? In good faith, these questions will be asked. My response is that those are all fair questions. And I would actively encourage you to locate, investigate and consider regular contribution to groups working on these issues. Find your heart, link it with passionate concern – and over time you will have huge impact on individual lives and future generations. Sister Schools has found that any Kindergartner can tell you that!
Sister Schools is a little different – it wants to teach an entire generation of American children to execute on a mission: eradication of extreme poverty worldwide. It is going about that task in some innovative ways. First of all, Sister Schools is neither faith-based or government policy oriented, allowing it to operate in the public schools – and work with classroom teachers to facilitate the learning process. Second, Sister Schools has a very unique and (from the kids’ perspective, wonderful) element which goes “full circle” to bond young children here with that key concept: that dire poverty is no longer welcome on this planet. The doing of that is quite simple, but requires a huge follow up commitment: McGill reports back to the children here, with lots of photos and information regarding the trip - allowing the kids who conducted the supply drives to gain empathy for others, but also feel firsthand the power of turning concern into action. Classroom-based, with full follow-up to key contributors (who are not yet in high school!) makes Sister Schools unique in that regard. When I first learned about this program, my response was “Wow, when was the last time a charity asked me for a donation, and then personally followed up with me to report back what was accomplished with my help?” Third and finally, although Sister Schools has been up and operating with excellence for over a decade as a registered non-profit, it has not yet developed its, well, full financial potential.
You might say that McGill “chose well” in Uganda: the country has begun a process of economic and political transformation that few could have anticipated in the silence after the horror of genocide. Somehow, and the scope of this achievement cannot be overstated, Uganda in 2004 is the world’s tenth fastest-growing tourist destination. In many ways, though, Uganda chose McGill. Uganda: a place which will forever be associated with the bizarre horror of Idi Amin. Uganda: a people who still work to overcome this scourge and are building a future.
Terry McGill is doing us proud in Magnolia. If you are so inclined, drop him a line and let him know how much it is appreciated, neighbor to neighbor. A neighbor at work in Africa. terry@sisterschools.org
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