Visions from Costa Rica

Come with me to the land of the Incas in Costa Rica as we take a pictoral journey to one of the most beautiful places on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is a small tourist town five hours outside of San Jose, the capital with a population of about 2,000 . It is known for its beaches and surfing. Unlike other areas it is not developed and doesn't have golf courses or a lot of condo's etc. (yet). It is still undiscovered. The trip from San Jose is spectacular. The drive takes you through the mountains, then through banana and pineapple farms and then the Coast where you see the beautiful beaches and the waves rushing to meet you.
Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah


Kathryn and I decided that we would take a full day and go on a field trip to a nearby town that she was told had the best seafood in all of CR. While the person exaggerated the food was good but fairly typical of the good food we had grown accustomed to. Little did we know that Kaleema would make a feast that night that put Maxie's, the name of the restaurant to shame.

So we rented bikes and rode over an hour after having walked to the bike rental. That day we ended up swimming, having lunch and riding back to return the bikes. But things didn't end there. We went to a Butterfly Garden. You will see some of the pictures we took.


This is the bike that I rode to Manzanillo. Part of the trip was through a State Park. It was a glorious ride. I had not ridden a bike in years. It felt good. Fortunately, I had been exercising almost everyday in CR and so I was in decent shape.


Kathryn stopping to take one of our rest breaks.


Qiyamah stopping to take a rest break.


Melanie enjoying the coolness of the water at the local waterfall.


Kathryn looking like Eve in the Garden of Eden. lol


L-R Kaleema and Qiyamah posing at the waterfall


L-R Kathyn in her swimsuit and Melanie enjoying waterfall


Kaleema at the beach in her itty bitty bikini!


We visited a local water fall. While there is a much larger one outside San Jose, the capital which is almost five hours away, this local waterfall suited us just fine. We had it all to ourselves for over an hour and so Kathryn went skinny dipping. As you can see from the later pictures the rest of us were content to merely dip our toes in the cool waters. lol


Here I am cooling my heels.


Kathryn Liss and I posing at the waterfall.


L-R Kaleema H. Nur and her friend Melanie.

Both Kaleema and I invited friends to join us in CR. Her friend Melanie accepted the invitation as did my friend, Kathryn. Both Kaleema and Melanie had just taken the bar right before coming to Costa Rica so it was a treat to themselves. Kaleema related a story about one of her Jamaican friends whose grandmother sat outside the building where her grand daughter was taking the bar and prayed the entire time. What a powerful image that evoked when she recounted the story to me.We also had a prayer circle going for Kaleema. She told me that she and another friend she roomed with built an altar in the course of the two days that they sat for the Bar.


Keep an eye on this leaf. It will be used very strategically in a later scene!


Melanie cooling her heels


This is one of the insects that they had on display at the Butterfly Garden that Kathryn and I visited. It is non poisonous and was not alive. It was a good three inches in diameter. We constantly were reclaiming the house we stayed in from his spider relatives and their intricate webs. I found few in the house but they were everyplace outdoors, in the trees, right outside our kitchen window weaving their webs. One sat in his web above the refrigerator for over two weeks with no discernable movement. I finally touched it to see if it was in fact alive. It was! I drew a truce and my compromise was to place it outdoors! I didn't think our guests would appreciate having a spider spinning over the refrigerator.


If you look very carefully you can see two brown butterflys, one in the right hand corner and the other is in the left corner. These were two of the butterflys that survived at the Butterfly Garden.


Hibiscus trees and bushes grow wild in Costa Rica. A local woman made a concoction of hibiscus leaves and black root and told me to put it on my hair as a conditioner. I folowed her instructions and blended the mix. But I forgot to strain it and I was picking leaves out of my hair for days! lol My daughter enjoyed telling the story to her friends when we went to town.


The Bird of Paradise grows wild in CR as shown here!


I visited a butterfly garden with a friend, Kathryn Liss and we saw many beautiful butterflys. Unfortunately, this was the season that they naturally die off so we saw a lot of dying butterflys and witnessed part of their cycle of life and death. We had to climb a long and steep gravel road to get to the garden. It was a little disappointing to see almost as many dead or fluttering butterflys close to death as those that were alive and flying around. They are enclosed in a huge net canopy where there is a path to walk around and see them in a "natural" habitat.


We were not prepared for the breathtaking view in the back of the building at the Garden. Evidently a staff person lives there. Can you imagine waking up to this every morning.


Here are more of the beautiful hibuscus bushes that are everywhere.


The lush vegetation present in Costa Rica is incredible. I overheard a mother informing her child that, "there are species of plants in CR that do not exist anywhere else in the world!" I can believe it. Plants like Bird of Paradise that we pay a fortune for at the florists in the USA simply grow wild in CR. I picked some right out of our garden for a floral arrangement to welcome our two guests.


Just behind these trees is the beach and the ocean!


Kaleema taking a walk to town. Most smart people rode bikes!


Qiyamah taking a walk to town.


A picture perfect scene of the ocean and some driftwood.


This is a view of the house and garden - Casa Cacoa that we stayed in in Cocles. It was several miles from the town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We walked whenever we went into town and if it was after dark when we returned we rode a taxi home for safety. The walk along the mostly gravel road was very dusty. So we got smart and walked along the beach and then when the beach ran out we walked the path in the woods. That route was cooler and gave us a view of the ocean along the way. The walk into town was an hour but we didn't mind because the path was so interesting and enchanting.


La Cocina de la Senorita Kaleema - The kitchen of Kaleema. Kaleema prepared all the meals and treated us to some exquisit food delights. She was also very bossy about her kitchen and I made a sign that read, La Cocina de la Senorita Kaleema.


This is a view of the porch. Notice how the porch and interior of the house flow into each other when the shutters are open. It was a wonderful feeling to bring the outdoors inside and the indoors outside.


I wasn't the only one having a working vacation. This is a picture of Kaleema standing at her "post" where she stationed herself to work on her laptop. She also has the coolest collection of downloaded music that included Sweet Honey in the Rock, Ben Harper, Cassandra Wilson, lots of reggae etc.

Kaleema actually had an interview via skyp while in Costa Rica. We called it her guerilla interview because of the way and where it took place. She arranged with the local internet cafe to borrow their earphoness because the interview was earlier than they opened. So imagine her sitting outside the cafe on the lawn at 8:30am getting ready to connect with an interview committee for an important two year fellowship. She has just completed the bar and so she was being very strategic about her first position post graduation and wanted to make a good impression. Before she connected with the interview committee a dog comes charging at her all bandaged up and sits down beside her and starts howling. A rooster had already been crowing and alerting everyone in hearing distance that it was time to get up. Fortunately, the rooster stopped crowing, the dog stopped howling and my daughter was invited to join the staff at the University of Austin's School of Law's Human Rights Program. The positioin fits her like a glove. We are all so excited for her!


This is my work space and the inspiring view that provided my inspiration for writing. Unfortunately, one has to pay for internet by the minute at internet cafes so I did no blogging while in Costa Rica. During my previous visit I had access to internet and was able to blog almost on a daily basis. It really makes a big difference.


This was one of the last pictures I took on my way home.My daughter, Kaleema and the caretaker and housebuilder, Leo assisted me in my departure back to Chicago. We lived down a gravel road that defied rolling suitcases and hence the need for the assistance. At night it was pitch black and we would walk down the road to our house with the help of flashlights.


This is the beautiful house that we stayed in. It had floor to ceiling shutters that opened up the entire downstairs which we took full advantage of even though we paid dearly for it at night with mosquitoes. Most places have mosquito nets but somehow only one out of the three bedrooms had a net.




This is the view from the kitchen window. There was not a window that did not have a spectacular view.


Opps! This is me caught in the act of taking a siesta!



In retrospect it is much too difficult to try to capture the array of feelings and emotions that my nearly month long visit to Costa Rica elicited for me. My trip was not about a typical tourist experience, although I did some touristy things. More importantly, it is about stepping away from my life as I know it in the USA and creating an experience with family and friends that invites me into a different encounter with myself and others that pushes me out of my comfort zone and invites me to witness to some degree or another what the world is like for others. I also did some basic research on domestic violence in Costa Rica. So while some things are different, other things are very similar and familiar to me.

At First Glance
I first traveled to Costa Rica in January, 2008 while my daughter,Kaleema, was doing an internship at the Inter American Human Rights Court. My friend, Stephanie Berry joined us in Puerto Viejo where we stayed at Tierra del Suano, a resort center in Playa Chiquita. This time we rented a house for an entire month.

It was a working vacation for me. I rested, read, sat in the sun, lazed in the hammock and did some touristy things. Other times I worked to put together a Handbook for a Program that I will be involved with called, Community Partnership Program. Having the advantage of a beautiful environment with the leisure time to be creative was very inspiring and led to very productive work for me.

Pictures
While pictures are a poor substitute for sharing my experience, it is the most efficient way to even try to share my experience. So in closing, I leave you with the following wisdom:

*Costa Rica is a beautiful country. If you are into nature you will want to create the opportunity see it for yourself. San Jose, the capital, is like most urban cities. It is the country side with its lush tropical rain forests that is breath taking. Seeing the effects of globalism and the politics of American capitalism reminds me of our overwhelming influence on others and the need to be mindful of the fact that we share the planet with others.
*If you are of African descent you will be reminded of the diasporic nature of African peoples as you see blacks presence in Caribbean countries like Costa Rica
*Seeing Americans that had relocated to Costa Rica gave me some models and reminded me that I want to seek a simpler and less expensive lifestyle in my senior retirement years and that want to be planning and identifying a place now.
*Everytime I place myself in different settings I am forced to tap different parts of me that might otherwise possibly lay dormant.
*Spending time with my daughter and friends always allows me the opportunity to practice grace and gratitude as I work to be in integrity with them and learn more about engaging on deeper and deeper levels.

Question: When was the last time you stepped away from your everyday life and had time to think about your presence in the world and what that means for you and others?
Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah

Hatred Culminates in Tragic and Senseless Shooting

By now many of you have heard about the tragic shooting in the sanctuary of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN where two individuals were killed and seven wounded in a senseless shooting by a disturbed individual that targeted liberals.

I speak the names of Greg McKendry age 60 and Linda Kraeger age 61. May their deaths not be in vain. May we be reminded of the all too common scenarios that manifest when we allow twisted notions of hatred based on biases and discrimination to take root in our hearts againt others.

Memorial Service
First Unitarian Church of Chicago in Hyde Park held a Memorial Service on Wednesday, July 30 to commemorate the lives of those killed and to pray for the injured. We sat outdoors with about thirty five individuals in the relentless heat of Chicago's summer in folding chairs on the beautiful lawn amidst the colorful flowers. Vehicles carrying passengers passed by while pedestrians made their way at the close of the day to their various destinations. Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger will never have the opportunity to greet friends, family and loved ones again at the conclusion of their day. They will never see the inside of a sanctuary in their beloved congregations where they were active members. Memorial services will be held in a few days in those very same sanctuaries where family, friends and loved ones will bid them farewell and ponder the tragedy that has taken their loved ones away so unexpectedly. When will we learn and when will it end?

The words spoken at the Memorial Service were comforting to me while at the same time they made me weep softly and sadly. So I offer them to you. May we continue to work toward a violence free world where we do not have to fear for our lives simply because of our religious or political beliefs:

In Gathering
We gather together at this time, we come together in this place,
We are drawn here, confounded and confused
By the terrible and fearful events of our days and years.
Once again, as so often,
In the face of senseless violence and meaningless chaos,
We are drawn together by our aching hearts.
We are bound together by our quest for peace-serving justice-serving ways.
We would be the promise-seekers, the promise-makers, the promise-keepers.
We seek ways that will lead us toward deeper understanding, broader compassion.
We seek ways toward greater service, strengthened resolve, wider unity.
We seek ways to resist the violence and overcome the chaos of our time.
We seek life-sustaining and life-serving ways,
Ways that lead toward peace, foregiveness, reconciliation
among peoples and nations.
Rev. Jim Hobart

Prayer Meditation
Life presence, Spirit of Love,
addressed by amny titles, and by none at all,
Known in nemerious ways and circumstances,
with us in life and in death,
We come in humility, and with heavy hearts
to these moments of mindful reflection, meditation and prayer.
We seek understanding. We strive for direction.
We are determined not to be ruled and silenced
by our all-too-real fears, anxieties and confusions.
Our living and aour dying are framed by the twin human capacities
for violent nihilism and courageous life-reverence.
Once again we are stunned by sensless violence and brutal killings,
Even as we know these are the lot of people across our city,
throughout our country, across the world.
At the very same moment, we are lifted up and inspired
by a person who sacrificed his own life to protect others, and by people who reiske dtheir own safety to stop the killings.
In this service, let us claim our inherent power to join in partneship
one with another.
Let us together fervently seek to act in harmony
With Creative Power, in concert with Creating Process
wich uphold the cosmos,
which sustain lie and loving ways,
which are the ground of our restless yearning and our greater vision.
This is our intent. This is our promise. This is our resolution. AMEN
written by Rev. Jim Hobart

Tonight, we remember all who suffer, all who are degraded,
all who perish through human acts and neglect.
Our thoughts and our prayers especially are directed
to adults and children in Knowxville,
who suffer in body and in spirit.
May we do our part to restore them to well-being.
Let us as well take our responsibility and our opportunity
to seek and find ways to reduce the world's suffering and grief.
In this spirit we come together. In this spirit we voice our fervent prayer.
AMEN
written by Rev. Jim Hobart

BENEDICTION
Let us be ready to address the worst in life,
As we are prepared to serve the best in life.
On our many paths, this is our common work and destiny:
Reducing unnecessary suffering and death,
REsisting oppressing and humiliation,
Increasing the ways of justice and peace,
Serving love and compassion,
Discovering grace and joy,
Offering our heart-felt gratitude for and our generosity in response to
the precious gift of life.
AMEN
Rev. Jim Hobart

On Your Mark Get Set Go! - Retooling For the Classroom

One of my passions is pedagogy, that is, teaching. I am equally keen about learning as well. Recently reviewing some of Mark Hicks essays on transformational education I gleaned the following observations about learning:

*our brains are both storing and processing units
*learning has little meaning unless it produces a sustained and substantial influence on the way people thik, act and feel
*effective learning involves students assessing their efforts and making progress and making appropriate changes
*effective learners usetheir knowledge to deelop techniques for grasping fundamental principles, and organizing concepts that others can use to begin building their own understanding and abilities. They know how to simplify and clarify complex subjects, that is, the abiity to think metacognitively.

Effective teachers do some or all of the following:
*provide tools of analysis and of creativity to allow students to situate their experiences across contexts, to define their intellectual itineraries on their terms, and to find a voice to speak
*Instead of putting emphasis on mere acuisition and accumulation of knowledge in research, an effective teacher stresses the role that knowledge plays in the constitution of self and other, or in the students' daily life and practices that the theory that arises from their own contexts and interactions.
*Effective teaching does not merely transmit knowledge, but introduces a substantial difference in the students relation to knowledge. Furthermore, the teacher breaks the circular relation of supplier and consumer between student and teacher, and to gain theoretical dimensions and scope in the way we conceive of our society and ethical every day.
*good teaching can be learned
*includes a natural critical learning environment. In such an environment students learn by confronting task/problems/experiences that challenge themto grapple with ideas, rethink their assumptions and examine their mental modes of reality
*reflect a strong trust in students
*help learners grapple with ideas and information to construct their understanding and abilities
*teach how individual parts relate tot he whole and kinds of decisions students will be able to make with comprehension developed
*offer non-judgmental feedback
*stress opportunities to improve
*encourage cooperation and collaboration
foster intrinsic motivators (as opposed to external motivators)

Praxis
In the work that seminarians at Meadville Lombard will do in their sites located in the 20th ward, some of the questions for faculty will include:

what can we do to help students effectively learn in their sites?
How do we make the site the focus of the learning experience?
What key information or concepts can faculty present to students to build their understanding?
what voices do they need to hear esides ours?
How can we create a safe learning environment?
How will we survey students intersts in particular issues or questions?
How can we stimulate students to take charge of their learning exxperience?
How do we build a community of learners?
How do we teach observation, analysis and synthesis?

Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah



Use of Questions
The writer contends that questions play an essential role in the process of learning and modifying mental models. Questions help us construct knowledge and point toholes in our memory structures and are critical for indexing information that we attain when we develop an answer for inquiries. If we are not seeking an answer to anything, we pay little attention to random information.

Putting Down Roots

This week I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to retrieve my babies that had been in storage for over a year. In addition, I stopped off at Clark Atlanta University to work on obtaining a copy of my doctoral degree. It has been like pulling teeth. But that is another story for another day. lol

But back to my babies, that is, my books. I sat in the god awful hot storage patiently sorting through books and pictures, realizing that while some folks collect clothes, real estate and shoes - I collect books. I had finally come home to Atlanta to collect those scattered pieces of myself that had felt cut off and banished. And now I could gather all my children and bring them home. Only a writer can understand what I am feeling and talking about. It is a time of gathering so that I can put down roots after being homeless since January, 2007. And while I have been exceptionally good about making home where ever I was and in whatever circumstances I found myself, it has been hard not having my own place/space. But I will soon have a home to call my own.

By the Sweat of My Brow
Hats off to folks that do manual labor for a living. The hours of back breaking labor to pack and transport boxes from storage to the post office have been a grueling reminmder that for some people this is the day to day reality. Each night I am so exhausted that I can barely fall into bed - I am delirious with fatigue. I am aware of my aching body and my need to veg out in front of the tv. What would my life have been like if I were a mover or ditch digger or a farmer required to push my body to the limit each and every day in order to keep a roof over my head and bread on the table? I have had a brief glimpse into what it means to tax the body not for recreational purposes but to pay the bills and keep food on the table.

May I always be mindful of and grateful for the sacrifices that others make that I benefit from.

Question: When was the last time I took note of those around me that are working and performing manual labor, or any kind of labor that benefits me that I do not acknowledge? Have I made efforts to thank them sufficiently?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah

Service of the Living Tradition

Every year at the Service of the Living Tradition held at General Assembly, graduates are honored that have achieved Preliminary Fellowship along with deceased ministers, retired and those that have gained Final Fellowship. This year was my opportunity to be showcased along with others. Here are a few pictures from the occasion.

Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah
Question: What are you doing to show up in all your greatness and to testify to your call to life?

Cheers from Chi Town

L-R Qiyamah and Libra


L-R Qiyamah and Libra M. Finley (oldest daughter) in front of Fideity Bldg. in Chi Town


L-R Libra and Brandon (her son and my grandson-age 15 years)


L-R Qiyamah and Libra

I love it when my family comes to visit.
Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah
Question: Have you told your loved ones how much you love and appreciate them? What do you do to demonstrate your love and appreciation?

Community Partnership Program - Changing Lives to Change the World!

Dr. Mark Hicks, new faculty person at Meadville Lombard listening attentively to Father Bruce Wellums inside the Holy Cross Church in Back of the Yards.


L-R Father Bruce Wellums of Holy Cross and Mike Hogue, Professor of Theology at Meadville Lombard


L-R Father Bruce Wellums, Mike Hogue and a police officer from the 9th district


Interior picture of the Holy Cross Church located in historic Back of the Yards in Chicago, IL

These pictures were taken on June 19 during a tour of the 20th Ward that I conducted to introduce faculty (Sharon Welch, Mike Hogue and Mark Hicks) to some of the sites that will be hosting our first year students in our Community Partnership Program at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Through Meadville Lombard's new Community Partnership Program, due to begin Fall, 2008, we will introduce first year students to practicums located in the 20th ward community in Chicago. Holy Cross will be one such site that will engage them with staff and clients that provide critical services, and allow the students to explore and enhance multicultural competencies and learn how to be present with others different from them in environments where residents are underserved with minimal resources. Site experiences will be complemented by weekly faculty led reflection groups that focus on the theoretical, ethical and theological implications of service to marginalized populations and what it means to be of service to others.

May we be blessed to stand up and be present with others in their joys and sorrows; in their triumphs and despairs as we build a life worth living in times when hope is sometimes fleeting and a kind word and a smile are few and far between. May we know hope when the sun does not shine and when the light is cast aside by darkness. But still our hope springs ever eternal. Amen

Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah
Question: What are you doing to change the world, beginning with yourself?

Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History

Thomas Norman DeWolf, author and past member of the Oregon Arts Commission and elected official.

..."And when darkness came to me, my visions brightness gave me hope, and I moved on to find tomorrow." Debbie Kennedy - Founder of Global Dialogue Center

The gentleman in the picture above is Thomas Norman DeWolf. He is the author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History. I recently had the opportunity to hear DeWolf at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly June, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale. In an hour and a half workshop, DeWolf recounted his family's involvement in the slave trade that resulted in great wealth for his ancestors on the one hand represented a tragedy of epic proportions that is only still being comprehended among the descendants of African people.

Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights leader, chair emeritus of the NAACP and widow of the late Medgar Evers contends that the book is "required reading for anyone interested in reconciliation. Healing from our historic wounds, which continue to separate us, requires us to walk this road together."

I am still absorbing and processing my feelings having sat in the midst of about 75 to 100 European American Unitarian Universalists and hearing this story directly narrated by someone that had traced their ancestors dastardly deeds. It is one thing to read about it. But another to hear it from such a direct source. I think that I disconnected from my feelings and emotions so that I could hear his words. Before I left I took his picture and obtained contact information so that once I am past the initial emotions I can talk with him about how he is using the proceeds from his book and video to help make a difference? I will grant that his book alone can be a part of a powerful healing but there is something perverted about making money off of the story of his slave trading ancestors that is disturbing. But so as not to sound like a hypocrite I Ghanaians.

Time does not allow me to linger but my thoughts will be on this troubling problem of healing and how best to create spaces to do so. Unitarian Universalists are in a particularly unique position to pioneer such work as religious liberals dedicated to the inherent worth and dignity. Furthermore, the publishing company, Beacon Press is a UU company whose mission if furthered by the successful pursuit of this work and marketing of the book.

Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah
Question: How are you working to dismantle racism? What actions have you taken to interrupt racism? How are you working to foster healing in yourself and others?

Mis-steps, Milestones and Miracles

Nancy is a prison chaplain in North Carolina for 850 men in a medium security prison. She spends her days with men named Mad Dog, Porkchop and Pookie: murderers, rapists, child molesters and others who have made poor choices in life and committed acts of violence against others. Still others have messed up their lives over minor things and gotten caught by mandatory sentencing laws such as "three strikes and you are out" which include victimless crimes such as parole violations and possession of small amounts of substance abuse. Nancy talks about the Department of Corrections being a place of "unrelenting hopelessness, a place of darkness, where it is hared to see the light shining through." The first day on the job, the Lieutenant stopped by her office, "I'm not glad you're here. Women don't belong in a men's prison, they only make more work for me and my guards," he said. And this is how their professional relationship began.

After a few months,the Chaplain and the Lieutenant stepped into an altercation between prisoners and together stopped a fight. Later when things had quited down, the Lieutenant stopped by the Chaplain's office. "I know that you need me here," he said. "What I hate to admit is that I need you here." "You're right, Lieutenant, I do need you here to keep order on the floor, but how do you need me? She replied.

"I need you here to restrain my inclination to physical violence," he answered, "I need you to show me another way, another kind of force.

Source: recorded by Bob Reister in the newsletter of the Allisonville (Indiana) Christian Church http://www.zionvillecristian.org/sermon.html

Question: What are we teaching by our example? How do we let our light shine so that others might be influenced to try something different or inclined to a different path that might transform their lives?

...I've saved some sunshine should you ever need a place away from darkness for your mind to rest." Rod McKuen

Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah