The Southwest Georgia Writing Project

It's true- we have been both recently.  Joye from National and Ellen from Mississippi flew in to help us think, rethink, and eat a lot of fried food.  We met on Friday, August 7 to discuss where we've been, where we're going, and how in the world we plan to get there.  It was a great help to talk to them both, people who had been where we were and who had been so involved in the work of NWP.  Peg amazed us all by putting all of our work in a binder- it wouldn't close very well.  We're still on the road, work ing through the work, but we've done so much already. 

Saturday dawned bright and early for some as we met at GSW for our journal and a smattering of breakfast foods from our local bakery.  We then loaded up and headed to Global Village, a project created by Habitat for Humanity.  We toured the grounds where they have poverty housing recreated along side the houses that Habitat builds in countries around the world.  It was humbling to walk through the shanty town and imagine what it was like to call that place home.  Many of us wondered at the Habitat housing, thinking "my, this is much too small for a family."  As soon as we thought it though, we were able to turn around and see where many of these families were moving from- tin shuttered shacks- and we were humbled again. 

A short stroll down the street brought us into the warm aroma and cool darkness of Cafe Campesino where a friendly Joe behind the counter poured iced joe for the group.  We met Bill Harris, a man on a mission, who helped found the coffee roastary and who told us the story of this little coffee haven.  As Peg sipped a "Pat Fox" - two shots of espresso over ice, add milk- we listened to Bill explain how his co-op works.  They buy organic, fair trade coffees from eleven countries around the world.  Bill says that they do business "by the Golden rule" and treat everyone involved- farmers, workers, staff, the environment- as they would like to be treated.  He took us on a tour of the roasting room and the coffee lovers were in heaven with the heavy smell of freshly roasted coffee thick in the small roasting room. 

After our tour, we met back in the coffee house to write about the connections we have between us all. 

Farmer-importer-roaster-seller  

Teacher-student-parent-citizen-world

Before we left, we heard from another member of Americus and the charitable community that surrounds us.  A very funny, very charismatic representative from the Fuller Center for Housing spoke to us about Millard Fuller's last great work.  He spoke to us about Millard seeing African students in the Atlanta airport after her left Habitat for retirement.  Millard asked his friend, "How can I turn my back on those people?"  From there, he opened his heart once again and started another housing foundation.  This time it's to help the disabled stay independent by rehabilitating the houses in which they currently live, or in some cases, build houses so that they can become independent.  We were all moved by his stories of going to the poorest of the poor in foreign countries, into countries Habitat couldn't afford to go, and building houses just the same.  Dr. Ellington shared her story from El Salvador about the woman who worked to shelter her family and move them from the tarp house they had always known as home.   

It was a fantastic day, and all hats off to Irm who organized a meaningful experience for us all.  We wrote, talked, and thought about social action, social justice, and social responsibility.