THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408190078
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: POTTSTOWN, PA. LENGTH: Long : 180 lines
Some of Sarah Garvey-Potvin's friends went to camp this summer to sharpen their basketball or tennis games. Others just stayed home and cooled out.
Sarah, 16, a rising senior at Norfolk's Maury High, went to camp, too - but not to sharpen her athletic skills.
She and 40 other teenagers from around the country went to Pottstown, Pa., to the Future Leaders Summer Network Camp to learn how to organize their communities to fight for social change.
``I've always been interested in social issues, and I want to make a difference. At the camp, I'm around other kids who feel the same way I do; they want to do something to make the world a better place,'' said Sarah who lives in the West Ghent section of Norfolk.
Sarah, who is attending the camp for a second year, and her fellow campers will spend 10 days at Fellowship Farm in Pottstown, a 120-acre retreat about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia. It is financed by philanthropic foundations.
Campers attend workshops on how to make visual presentations, how to get other people involved in issues and how to conduct meetings using a standard handbook, Robert's Rules of Order.
They also swim, play tennis and basketball and do other activities that kids at camp do. After all - they may be socially conscious, but they're still teenagers.
Teenagers who wear jeans with holes in the knees, T-shirts three sizes too big and ball caps or bandannas. They pop gum as they talk about such heady issues as AIDS, the homeless and racism.
Diversity is key at the camp. The kids range in age from 13 to 19 and come from a variety of backgrounds. Some live in upscale suburbs and summer at resorts such as Martha's Vineyard. Others live on Indian reservations.
Some of the kids wear Nikes; others tool around in motorized wheelchairs. They are African-American, Latino, Asian, Indian and white - make that European-American. Camp counselors stress that people should be never be identified by color.
``Each and every one of you came out of a beautiful human being with a beautiful culture, not a crayon box,'' counselor Shafik Abu-Tahir told the group of teenagers at this year's opening session.
``One of the best things about the camp is the emphasis on culture,'' Sarah said. ``And they teach that all cultures are considered equally important. They don't try to make me feel guilty about being European-American.''
Students also are cautioned against using the term ``disabled.''
``Cars can be disabled, machines can be disabled, but people cannot,'' Abu-Tahir said. ``They can have disabilities, but they are not disabled.
``But just like they have disabilities they have gifts, and those gifts should be recognized.''
Chuck Williams, 17, from a low-income neighborhood in Richmond, was wearing a red, No. 23 Chicago Bulls basketball shirt and black sneakers the night the kids described physical things that best symbolized themselves.
Chuck had been keeping to himself, barely talking to other campers who had been chatting before the seminar. He leaned back in his chair with his arms folded and listened as others shared their thoughts.
One boy said a pen best symbolized him because he was a writer. A girl said the necklace that she wore that bore the feminist emblem best symbolized her because she was interested in women's issues.
When it was Chuck's turn, he kept his arms folded and said, ``My symbol is coal, because it's just a regular dull substance, but it has the potential to become a spectacular gem.''
There was silence for a moment.
``Deep,'' one girl said. The others nodded.
The Future Leaders Summer Network Camp was started in 1988 when a group of activists from around the country met in Ohio to discuss the lack of formal training for youngsters. They came up with the idea to have a summer camp.
``We wanted to develop a network of youth who are concerned about the future of this society and provide them with skills to organize for change,'' said Bahiya Cabral, a coordinator of the camp. ``We want to give them the skills to oppose oppression.''
The teenagers sit through seminars dealing with racism, sexism, homophobia and youth violence. Sensitivity training of sorts. But they all have their own issues.
Some are interested in organizing around education, the environment, the homeless situation or even abortion rights - some for, some against.
``We've had people who have come with different feelings on that,'' Cabral said. ``One year, the teenagers had a debate on it, so everybody could voice their views and listen to the views of others.''
And camp counselors don't hesitate to teach organizing skills to teenagers who might someday organize around issues the counselors don't agree with.
``We don't tie organizing skills to any particular issue,'' Cabral said. ``We want young people to come to their own viewpoints based on their own observations.
``Of course, we hope that the kids will use their skills to bring about positive change, but one of the things that we stress in the camp is critical independent thinking.''
Olivia Salazar, 18, from Seattle, is a musician with a rhythm-and blues- band. She said she plans to integrate some of the information she learns at the camp into the songs she writes.
``It will be good to not only point out the fact that there are problems, but to also put solutions,'' Salazar said.
Sarah, is president of Maury High's chapter of Amnesty International, which she helped organize two years ago. It now has 15 to 20 members.
``There wasn't any group like it at Maury that I could get involved in that was political or had any viewpoints that I shared,'' Sarah said.
Early last year Sarah and her parents received a brochure in the mail detailing various summer camps for teenagers. The Future Leaders camp caught their eye, and Sarah filled out the required application.
``I had to write an essay on something I considered an important issue, and I wrote on the image of the family in American culture, the misconceptions and all, and the disintegration of the family,'' Sarah said.
A few weeks later, she was notified that she had been accepted, and she attended last year's camp.
This year, Sarah said, there was no doubt in her mind she wanted to return.
``I just loved it, it was one of the best experiences in my life. It really opened another realm for me and allowed me to meet people from all over the country,'' Sarah said.
Sarah put some of the things she learned at last year's camp to good use. She gave several presentations on youth violence at local churches using techniques taught at one of the workshops she attended.
Not all of the campers plan to be full-time community activists. Some want to become doctors, some lawyers and some rap stars. Sarah said she plans to study acting and have a career on the stage.
But she maintains the training that is taught at the camp will benefit her in whatever profession she chooses.
Said Sarah: ``The information I've learned here will stay with me throughout my life, and I know it will help keep me focused, no matter what I do.'' MEMO: CAMP FACTS
The Future Leaders Summer Network Camp is held every August. Tuition
is $350, but some scholarships are available. Sponsors include the
North Star Fund, New York City; Bread and Roses Foundation,
Philadelphia; Hazen Foundation, New York City and Aaron Diamond
Foundation, New York City.
For information, contact Shafik Abu-Tahir at (215) 472-4024 or Ted
Glick at (718) 643-9603.
Organizing people around social issues
Tips from the Future Leaders camp on organizing people:
1. Understand you need help. No man is an island, and no man or woman
can change the world alone. You need to find like-minded people to help
achieve your goals.
2. Enlist someone to take care of you while you're trying to change
the world. Batman had Robin, Thelma had Louise. You need someone who
will make sure you have proper food and sleep and don't overtax yourself
in pursuit of your goals. The person does not necessarily have to be
involved or even care about the issues you're involved in, they just
need to care about you. For most teenagers, the obvious person for this
role is a parent.
3. Figure out other, not so obvious, people who care about the same
thing as you. If you want to get wheelchair ramps installed at a school
or recreation area, the obvious people to have stand with you would be
people in wheelchairs. But what about people who like to skateboard or
bicycle? Chances are they would like to have ramps installed also, and
chances are they'll rally behind you to achieve the goal.
4. Sit down and talk to the people who share your concerns and make
sure you're able to work together. Let's say two groups want to decrease
police brutality in a community. One group thinks it can achieve this
goal by lobbying to have more minorities put on the force. The other
group wants to use violence. These two groups have the same goal but
could not work together.
5. Figure out who you need to approach to get your goal achieved. If
you want to get more people of color on the police force, go to the
people who can make it happen - the mayor, city manager or city council.
Chances are your congressman will be sympathetic but not very useful. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff
Above: Sarah Garvey-Potvin, a senior at Maury High, plays a camp
game to show independence.
Left: Campers catch a teen doing the free fall in a game designed to
build trust.
Above: Campers play a game in which the group as to piece six
squares together without communicating.
Right: Sarah guides blindfolded Cardelle Mix through the fields.
Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff
Tania Falbo, one of the founders of the leadership camp, leads a
discussion on male-female roles.
by CNB