Haverford House

During the past Haverford fall break, we hosted the inaugural AFB here at Haverford House! Although our attendance list was short and the weather did not permit many outdoor activities, we enjoyed ourselves and got to know a Haverford student better. It’s always great to meet another New Yorker (even though he ’says’ he’s from a different state). Below is the feedback from Travis West ‘13 after this experience:

“My name is Travis West and I am a freshmen at Haverford College. Over fall break I attended Haverford House’s Alternative Fall Break. Despite the rainy/windy weather, it was a adventurous time mostly spent moving about the city of Philadelphia. The first I was given a little tour of Philly. I was taken to the Redding Terminal Market to get some delicious cheesecake and visit one of the women in the house who worked there for a non-profit organization. Over the next few days we went to see the new Micheal Moore movie “Capitalism; A Love Story”, volunteered at a clinic for the homeless in Camden New Jersey, and ate a fabulous Middle Eastern restaurant that I wish to return to. My favorite time over the four day experience was hanging out with the occupants of the Haverford House. They were all really awesome people whose dedication to social justice I really admire. They could just as easily be off trying to advance their careers instead of taking a year off to do non-profit work in Philadelphia and Camden.”

I get these really delicious locally-grown apples at my farmstand. One day, Sarah D. and I decided to make Apple Pie, which we then shared with the house, even though we could have eaten it all ourselves it was so good.

Just so you all know, the Fair Food Farmstand is open in Reading Terminal Market! It was open before at a small stall in the middle of the market, but now we’re in a new big place by the windows! It’s SUCH a different feeling and it’s been so great to work at the new farmstand (which I do once a week). Our grand opening was this past Friday and Marion Nestle (she’s sorta a big cheese in the food world, she wrote a book called “Food Politics”) spoke! Anyways, if you want fresh, yummy, ethical food you should come shop here! Also, the meat is not only humanely-raised but – and this is for all you folks that read the scary article in the TIMES this morning about the E.Coli in the beef – it is COMPLETELY trace-able. Locally raised and slaughtered, small-scale, less potential for contamination I should think.

Read more about us in this article that was in the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER a few days ago:

 http://www.philly.com/inquirer/food/2009…

Here is the middle section of our farmstand – made of recycled materials and stuffed with yummylicious food.

And here is another pic of the middle section of the farmstand.

Not a good idea. I got a little too zealous after taking Max’s Bike Philly pledge. Yes, I will not bike on sidewalks and utilize public transportation over cars HOWEVER riding on Gray’s Ferry Bridge was frightening. I had to coerce myself not to stop halfway through as I saw a body of water out of the corner of my eye. I do love whoever decided to have a bike lane on that highway though, gosh bless you. Even though I hope one day that there are raised divisions to keep drivers out of biking lanes. I have a lot of respect for people who bike across the country ON HIGHWAYS (like “Just Cycle”, these ladies I met at BikePhilly who biked across. the. country).

That being said, it has been a good week. A few culinary mishaps in the kitchen but there is teamwork here so all is good (our smoke alarm works. I’ll leave it at that). Work is moving along, I enjoy being in a high school, even though I look like I am a student. I sometimes feel like an undercover agent, sitting quietly and watching the students interact. Today we had our first fire drill, it was weird not having to go to a class and stand in silence to be counted. Ah the freedom!

I’m meeting more and more students each day. Some feel more comfortable with me than others, as is to be expected. As more and more activities come up and I try to find students who might be interested, I’m finding myself leaning towards a group of students who have distinguished themselves as leaders. I’m trying to fight this trend because I remember what it was like to be that high schooler/college student who sometimes felt stretched too thin because of all the activities thrown her/his way. It’s important for me to remember this moving forward.

Today I had a discussion that made me feel like I was in an affinity group back at Haverford. One student was describing someone as an oreo and I pushed the student to unpack what that meant. I asked the student what being white meant, and conversely what not being white meant. I tried to get the student to explain how the description was being used, in a negative or positive way. The student wasn’t sure how to reply and seemed engaged in the question. If someone mentions “good hair” in the future, we will have another dialogue! It’s important for all of us to unpack our phrases and try to understand what we’re saying and the implications that go along with them. The way I see it, it’s all part of a socially just and peaceful world. And bam, isn’t that the theme of the school?

Next week I head out on a weeklong trip to the woods, canoeing time. Phew. All I hope is that my canoe does not flip over and no bears find their way into my tent. I’m a simple lady.

Until next time,
Sarah D

Today, I worked from a law office on 17th and Arch. The office was on the 38th floor, so the elevator was a combination of really cool (because it was so fast) and nausea-inducing (because it was so fast). I am currently doing research on different cities whose farmers markets are able, through a combination of private, state, and government funding, to double the value of SNAP, EBT, WIC, and Senior Vouchers at farmers markets. That is, when someone on Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as “food stamps,” or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) or Woment, Infants, and Children (WIC) or disadvantaged seniors can not only spend their assistance money at farmer’s markets (really great!) but for every $1, $5, or $10 they spend (depending on the market) they get that doubled. Because low-income neighborhoods typically have so few grocery stores and even fewer places to buy fresh food – especially fruits and vegetables in enough variety – farmers markets are a great way to get into communities and provide healthier food than what would typically be on offer at a corner shop.

Many cities have programs like this – Atlanta, San Diego, Boston, New York, to name just a few – but Philadelphia does not. However, my organization is partnering with a few other interested folks to really try and get this to happen for Philadelphia. There is such a vibrant farmers market community in all different neighborhoods in Philly, and Reading Terminal Market is actually the largest point of redemption for food stamps in Pennsylvania! So, there is demand for something like this to happen for Philadelphia. My role, which I enjoy (thanks Haverford! and thesis!) is to research. How did other cities implement this? What were the challenges they faced? Where did they get funding? We don’t want to reinvent the wheel for this type of program in Philadelphia.

Anyways, the reason I was working from this law office was because my office – Fair Food’s, rather – just moved. The new space is GREAT! Except that the floor is not done, the phone lines are not in, and neither is the internet, and there are no desks. So it is not an environment conducive to research. Nora who is working with us on this Market Bucks project (the double value farmers market vouchers all have different names like Fresh Bucks and Market Bucks and Fresh Fund and Market Dollars and so on) offered me the office of one of her assistants.

It was great being on the 38th floor! It’s a sort of heady, ruler-of-the-capitalist world feeling, like you’re standing on top of corporate America or something. The view – all of South Philly, everyone on their little rooftop pools, it’s fun to look at and wonder about people’s lives. Also – and I texted my housemates about this – they had TWO coffee makers and a coffee bean grinder and two water filters and free diet coke and a giant box of Advil in the kitchen. Yes, I am easily impressed, but in ONE kitchen you can caffeinate, pain-relieve, and drink purified water, all for FREE.

I had gotten to work early so I went running in the middle of the day, on my lunch break. I chose a route I have never done before – I ran the length of the Benjiman Franklin Parkway, under all the flags, and made a point of going around all the fountains, just for fun. I ran past all the museums and the big signs about the Barnes which they are unfortunately moving into Philadelphia from it’s lovely location near City Line Ave. I ran past the Rocky statue and past all the tourists posing in front of the Rocky Statue, and up the steps of the Art Museum, past all the tourists posing on the steps of the Art Museum and/or trying to run up it like Rocky. I ran across the big top plaza and up the final set of stairs and then when I turned around I saw the whole skyline of Philadelphia stretching away across the Ben Franklin Parkway and it was another one of those heady, on-top-of-the-world feelings. It is so interesting how different Philadelphia is in different sections … from my view at the front doors of the PMA, nestled between the elephantine, stately rock-solid columns that rose into the piercingly-white late-summer sky until they met, barely visible, on the mosaic-ed ceiling … to the hipster enclaves of West and South Philly, to the grungy side alleys of Center City murky with car exhaust and blocked by dumpsters … to the ritzy parks filled with lovers and dogs and morose ex-Yuppies nursing their lattes during lunch break … to the less ritzy parks where people without homes try to find a comfortable spot on a bench … to the twinking lights and clatter of the old city bars at midnight, to the grey clammyness of the trolley in early dawn … all of this and more is ensconsced within my view of Philadelphia on a beautiful, cool late-summer’s day. The contradictions and hustle-bustle and diversity of cities always fascinates me and can be a sort of humbling feeling. Especially from the work that myself and my housemates are doing – the glorified, gleaming Philadelphia full of history and planning is not even half of the story. Every city of course has human joys and travails interwoven into its every second, but in Philadelphia I feel that this is true acutely. Perhaps because I do live within it at one of its most diverse (and I do not mean this term just as race, age, sex, etc, although this is part of it, but also I am talking about a diversity of human experiences) areas in our little corner of West Philly.

Anyways, so, from there I ran around the back of the museum and along the Schulykill trail (NO ONE can spell that word so I am not even going to try) past the boathouses (which made me miss rowing!) and down for a ways until I decided that lunch break was half over, so I ran back and did the PMA stairs a few more times, just for the view at the top.

When I was leaving work I saw the CUTEST little Chihuahua in a tutu (and I hate Chihuahuas because they are pathetic excuses for dogs, and don’t even get me STARTED on putting dogs in clothes and handbags) (except sometimes I almost really think it and they are kinda cute ..) She belonged to a homeless lady who immediately offered her to me for $15, because she was moving to Florida (the Chihuahua’s owner, not the Chihuahua). She kept saying “oh look, she likes you!” and “oh, she is worth so much more than $15″ … and I really, REALLY almost bought this damn dog. The woman followed me for a block callng out “look, she likes you, she’s following you!” and it was heart-wrenching because I LOVE dogs, and only $15 for that cute little thing? I wonder if the tutu would be thrown in for free. What stopped me was that Sarah D is currently in a state of re-education about her feelings for animals, and Mary says she’s deathly allergic. But then I thought, well, there is not that much fur on this dog because it’s too little to have a lot of fur, so Mary wouldn’t be allergic to her. And I thought maybe Sarah D would like THIS dog, because who wouldn’t like a dog in a tutu?!?! And she was SO FRIENDLY. And so tiny …

I really, really want a dog.

Here are some pictures that I forgot to put up earlier:

This is Sarah D on her first day of work? Bellisima, no?

Mary and the boys on everyone’s first day of work. Oh, I remember this day! It wasn’t MY first day of work, because my first day started that Tuesday instead of on Monday like everyone elses’ … and I was SO sad and SO disappointed because I was SO excited to start work. I do not have very much patience. Never did.

This is Joe with our homemade wormery!

We made this sushi ourselves! oh yes we did.

Hey hey,
Last week Wednesday marked a day in history for us fellows. It was our first trip back to Haveford College as bona-fide alumnae/i (had to throw in some latin. Actually, upon thinking about it if bona fide is going to modify alumnae/i, it should be bonae/i fideles…hmm I’ll leave it alone). We attended the non-academic registration for the Haverford College Class of 2013.

Sarah M

That’s right, every freshman got their keychain, ID card, and 30-second (more or less, depending on how in a rush they were and how energetic they seemed) description of what Haverford House is, what we plan to do, and a map of Philadelphia. It was a great success, and great to see old friends as well. Even nicer was that we had some animal crackers to feed us on the ride back to West Philadelphia (just kidding).

Customs people doing their thing

I’d like to end with a pita bread shape that we saw at dinner last night (courtesy of Joe’s mom who gave him the recipe for pita bread), via Mary’s plate and Sarah M’s blueberry:

I’ll let people guess what it is, but that blueberry is a peninsula. That’s the only clue I’ll give.

Ciao for now,
Sarah D.

post scriptum (I’m done with the latin for today, really)-for Haverford students who wanted a handout and didn’t get it/misplaced it, we will have more this THURSDAY FROM 8-10 AT THE STUDENT ACTIVITITES FAIR! And we’ll post it afterwards.

Going home for the holidays (I kept slipping and calling it “break”) was both a pleasant throwback to college breaks (hours of bad television, without unread thesis articles hanging over my head!) and a not-so-subtle reminder that this fellowship has an end point. After ducking questions of “so what are you doing next year?” and ignoring my goal of staring down my darn MCAT review book once and for all to decide if I’m ever going to open it, I find myself with several giant question marks in my head when I try to picture the year(s) to come.

I’d been warned by friends who have completed 1-year fellowships right out of college that they usually postpone the post-college crisis mode one more year, and then you have to deal with it long after everyone else you graduated with has moved on to adulthood. And I think all of us in the house have started thinking about, if not planning for, our post-HH lives. But it’s not so much a fear of the “real world” that’s hitting me now, just a sense that after this year I want to start working toward something, if only I knew what that something was. I worry that working a mostly 9-5 job, while the job itself is interesting and challenging in so many ways, without having my schedule filled with much else, has flattened me. Now I’m pondering how to take advantage of the professional development funds we get for this gig to stretch my brain in a different way as I think about grad school, med school, or just heading off to another country for a bit.  All the while, I hope that my anxiety about the future doesn’t pull me out of the present too much– there is a bunch to do at the office and we’ve got a couple ideas for Haverford projects that haven’t gotten off the ground yet, so a lot to be excited about.

I’m going to make sure that all their doors are open. –Photo and Voice by Shearine M.

I’m not sure what I expected from the Witnesses to Hunger panel last week, but I definitely didn’t expect it to be so emotional. I guess that’s what happens when even-keeled academia collides with real-life struggles. I didn’t expect tears, but that’s what we got, from the panel and the audience. Which was good, I think. Because it felt like people cared, like we were all in it together, at least for that moment.

I always wonder what the point of these events are, especially when it’s the hour before the event and the labels for the exhibit haven’t been put up yet and I’m convinced that more things will go horribly wrong. But then, as Jane said, it all became worth it when the Witnesses to Hunger photographers walked into the CPGC Cafe and we heard their responses– that was when the tears started to flow. I think it could be enough for me if all this event meant was that these wonderful, strong women got recognition for their art and expertise and for opening up to an audience about their lives. But I don’t think that’s all that happened– I think the audience gained a lot, and maybe a few were unsettled or inspired or affected in some small way.  I hope that those who came to the Conversation du Jour we conducted on Friday also gained something, as well as those who have just wandered in to view the exhibit on their own (it’s up in the CPGC Cafe and the MCC until at least the end of the semester).

I want to encourage everyone to come out to Drexel this Thursday evening, December 11th, for a much larger exhibit opening and one that nearly all of the 40 mothers involved in the project will attend. There will be photos, videos, discussion, food, wine, and a chance to hear from policy makers and meet the mothers. I’ve attached more information below. I hope you can make it and bring others.

We encourage you to attend the opening night of Witnesses to Hunger on December 11, 2008, 6:30-8:30pm presented by The Philadelphia GROW Project & Drexel University School of Public Health.  The exhibit runs December 12-18, 9am-5pm (weekdays), 12pm-5 (weekend) at Bossone Center/Drexel University, 3128 Market St, Philadelphia.

Witnesses to Hunger is an invitation to enter the lives of 40 women in Philadelphia who show the experience of hunger and poverty through their digital images and their stories.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please check website http://www.witnessestohunger.org or call 215-762-1945.

It’s late, I know, but it’s still pretty amazing.  On October 25th, a number of community groups from across the city filmed interviews and neighborhood sites for the videos they’ve been planning since the summer.  The event is part of Precious Places, a program I coordinate at Scribe.

Here’s an article about Greenbelt Knoll, one of the groups, and here’s another about the Unity Garden.

Below is a sneak peak back in time: (in order) Greenbelt Knoll, Bethany African Methodist Episcopal Church, Johnson Park in Camden, and Oaklyn Memorial Library in New Jersey.

I am not exactly the most artistically inclined person.  While I love going to galleries and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and could spend hours staring at a sculpture on the street, my own art is usually limited to hand-made greeting cards and coloring books.  Therefore I never imagined that part of my Haverford House experience would be spent organizing, designing, and setting up an exhibit of photographs for the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship Cafe and the Multicultural Center, both located in Stokes Hall.  Yet these photographs are also beyond the ordinary, they are works of art that were created by mothers on public assistance in Philadelphia.

These women are part of a project called Witnesses to Hunger, which is project that is run out the Drexel School of Public Health. Witnesses to Hunger brought together 40 mothers and had them document their lives through digital photography.   Through presenting these images at Haverford we are working to open up dialog on campus about public assistance and hunger and how do we choose to recognize or to ignore these issues that are a reality for many families in the city that is a few miles from Haverford’s gates.

For me, this project represents what Haverford House should be all about.  I am collaborating with two of my house-mates to put on this exhibit and discussion and we in turn, are being supported both financially and organizationally (not to mention emotionally) through the Hurford Humanities Student Arts Fund and the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship.  We are working with professors, students, staff, advocates and residents in Philadelphia, and with each other to connect Haverford students to Philadelphia in a way that provokes conversation, reflection, and potentially action.  These photographs are both beautiful and powerful and are not always easy to look at; they are reminders of poverty, desperation, and hope.

While the next few days before our exhibit goes up are sure to be stressful ones, filled with levels, sticky corners, mat board, frustration, and late nights.  Yet we will keep at it, because we know that on this Wednesday evening, looking into the faces of both the photographers and the Haverford community members, it will all be worth it.

We hope to see you at the panel (Wednesday 12/3, at 7:30 in Stokes Auditorium) and checking out the exhibit which will run in the CPGC Cafe and Multicultural Center from December 3rd until December 19th.  Please contact me at  jweber at haverford.edu with any questions or thoughts and check out the Haverford calendar listing.