Entries Tagged 'Whaz up DAWG' ↓

We are back from the conference in Canaan Valley. Say some old friends and learned some new stuff. Everything went really good.  The teens did a great job with their workshops and had a blast at the dance.  Everything ran so smoothly that I even had a chance to take a dip in the hot tub on Saturday night.  If you want to check out all the great phots click here.

Well the students left on Friday. Saturday I slept and Sunday I cleaned my house. Even though the students were only here a week it seems enough time to form a bond.  I will miss them.  Now I have to play catch up and settle back into the everyday craziness of running DAWG and trying to change the world.  Not to mention ……the state legislative session began while the students were here and I haven’t even had time to finish reading Gov. Machin’s State of the State let alone started following any of the bills yet.

This was the first time we have ever hosted such a large group for this length of time.  It was a great learning experience for the entire organization.  We have some lessons learned like don’t always rely on Internet directions and just because a speaker was good once doesn’t mean they will be someone you want to ever hear again.  Such as a certain Pastor, that will remain nameless, who referred to all children without fathers in the home as orphans and tried to justify it by calling it a Bible reference.  That was a lesson for me in “good ol’ keep your mouth shut”.  That was one argument I knew I could never win because he is staunch in his views and I really didn’t see wasting my time trying.  There are more important battles to be won.  Needless to say, I don’t think we will explore further collaboration. 

Being with the Appalachian Immersion Trip participants really gave me a chance to recharge my batteries.  Sometimes it is hard to continue to fight the good fight and just when I was really having some doubts about myself and DAWG, these wonderful people show up and let me know how great we are and what an amazing thing we are doing here in West Virginia.  It has made me take a look at what we really are doing and what we want to continue to move forward with in the organization.  I am pumped and ready to hit the ground and do some organizing. I am really excited about the great connection we made with the WV Head Start Association and the video we are working on.  It is really encouraging for me to find people who get what we are doing and who want to get more involved.  I look forward to the work we - DAWG and the Media Mobilizing Project - are going to be doing with the WV Head Start Association. 

View pictures of the Immersion Trip

Today is the first full day of our new endeavor.  We are hosting a week long Appalachian Immersion trip for the Poverty Initiative of Union Theological Seminary.  We have about 35 people - students, community organizers, pastors, etc. from various parts of the east coast mainly the New York area.  This morning Rev Dennis Sparks and Rick Wilson spoke to the group about justice issues and organizing.  Prior to arriving in Charleston they were in Wheeling and Philippi. 

If the Wheeling DAWG had her Internet service she could blog about what happened with the group in Wheeling.  But as we all know paying the rent and keeping the heat on comes before paying the Internet bill. 

I know that in Wheeling they met with a group of Head Start parents and also were given a tour of the city by one of our board members and lifelong Wheeling native.  Tonight they are going to hear all about our work and Teen DAWG and then in the morning we are off the Matewan and Big Ugly.