-by helping to ensure a safe, respect-filled space for project participants.
-by providing connections to specific workshops, eco-villages, community projects, and cool local events.
-by suggesting a framework to help make the summer an enriching, applicable and empowering experience.
History and inspiration:
In the summer of 2001, we took part in a similar project called the Solidarity Summers, which was organized by the Student Christian Movement of Canada. We thank the SCM for organizing space and framework for such an empowering project. With our fellow community members, we created a summer that I believe will resonate and inspire us for the rest of our lives. We continue to be a supportive community over a year after the project ended. With the blessings of our group and the SCM, we hope to spark an experience that will empower participants to create a vision of the future that is ecologically, socially, and spiritually sustainable.
The Ripple Project: a new growing season
An analogy the rings true for us about our role in this project is the idea of a garden. Having been a part of the Solidarity Summer, we have some idea of what it takes to develop a healthy garden ecosystem, the members of the community representing the plants of the garden. For that summer, emma and i experienced simply being plants amongst other plants in the garden. As the Ripple Project approaches, we see ourselves now as preparing the earth for a new season, we have an idea of what groundwork needs to be done before planting occurs. We each carry seeds to sow, as do all the rest of those who shall participate, and once all the seeds arrive and organize themselves, we shall all be equal plants, with equal opportunity to grow and nourish the overall growth of the community.
