September 9, 2013
Claire:
Hello Folks!
My name is Claire, my preferred pronouns are she, her, and hers, and I am one of the new interns at Windward. Here is a bit of a blurb about me:
I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, attending private Catholic schools for thirteen years. Although I suffered in religion classes because of my own stubborn ethics, I thrived in other places. At Nerinx Hall, the high school I attended, I got the chance junior year to travel to El Salvador. This wasn't one of those trips where we went in and fixed a few things and left. We sat and listened to people who had been in the war. Who had lived it. Who had seen death. We also sat, listened, and observed what they had become after the war. In the town of Guarillla, they ran out missionaries and elected a blind man as their mayor. There is a group of women that make the uniforms for kids who can't buy them or don't have parents who can make them. There is a clinic that serves the town and feeds the under-nourished children, run by locals! It was the first real community that I had ever seen and it had survived so much. It helped to tumble me into the role of an immigrant and food rights activist, community builder, and avid "solidarity not charity" supporter.
Right after high school I went to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, to study architecture. I was in school for roughly four years before I finally decided it wasn't for me and left. I decided I want to learn hands-on, by experience. I want to learn the things they don't teach you in school. Basic skills of life. Food production, animal husbandry, foraging, construction, community building, non-violent communication skills. While I was "in school" I was always finding something other than architecture to do. (Warning: I'm going to name drop here. Apologies in advance.) I worked in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee workers, went on alternative breaks to a Navajo reservation and the Mexico Solidarity Network in Chicago, was part of the local and campus Occupy movements, was involved with Solidarity Library, did various fundraisers, was a member of the student housing co-ops and NASCO, planted gardens, and re-started Lawrence Food Not Bombs. I tried to get my interests outside of school to fit in with my architecture classes. There wasn't much support.
After I left school I joined Americorps and worked at The Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence. This was one of the more challenging experiences of my life. I worked with children who came from spaces where they didn't know what respect was and so didn't respect others or themselves. To me it felt like there was a deep absence of feeling valued. I became much more conscious, patient, and a more confident leader because of this experience. I will always love, miss, and value my Lawrence kids.
I also lived in a housing co-op my last year in Lawrence. Well, I lived in an intentional community for a few months and then moved to a housing co-op. Living in these spaces also helped me to learn to respect and love myself. I was surrounded by beautiful, supportive people who valued me. To me, cooperative living makes so much sense. Sharing, working together, and building relationships is sustainable and key to our future.
I ended up at Windward because I was looking for a place to WWOOF. I looked in Washington and Oregon mainly for the change in climate and the fact that I had never really been West. I found Windward through searching for the words "construction", "art", "animal-husbandry", "community", and "consensus". It seemed like a community in which my previous experiences and skills would be welcomed while it would also challenge me in many ways. I also wanted to be invested in a community. (So far, I'm feeling really very good about being here and confronting many of those challenges as head first as I can.)
I think what I want to ultimately do is stop the cycle of children not feeling valued growing up and therefore becoming adults that don't show that they value others. I don't know where this will take me. I think that living in cooperative communities where everyone supports each other is very important in my goal. Whether I end up in a city or in the countryside, who knows, but being in touch with the land, your food, and your community is key in valuing yourself, others, animals, and the environment as a whole.