4-H Camp & Open Space

kenoli Oleari kenoli at igc.org
Fri May 25 07:58:06 PDT 2001


Chris -- What a huge testimonial, both to your clear and obvious good
work and leadership and to the powerful ownership that comes from the
full participation of stakeholders from the earliest stages of
creating and implementing a vision.  Vision and hope breed vision and
hope.  Thanks for the light that this project will clearly bring into
the world and thanks for sharing it with us.

I know from a recent workshop on the subject I attended that there is
much interest among people familiar with Open Space Technology in
"Open Space Organizations".  I hope you will continue to share your
experiences, progress reports and insights with us as your camp
proceeds to the success I am sure it will find.

In Solidarity an Hope -- Kenoli

Kenoli

>Dear Open Space Colleagues,
>
>I have a report from the field to share with you, and an invitation to help.
>
>Two months ago I accepted the directorship of an 80-acre 4-H youth camp in
>the Black Mountains of North Carolina, a stone's throw from the high-point
>in the eastern continental US.  It is a place of extraordinary beauty -
>70-year-old camp buildings set in a great diverse forest, with creeks and
>meadows and at the moment a profusion of blooming mountain laurel bushes and
>wildlife.
>
>For my international friends, "4-H" is the youth component of the
>"Cooperative Extension Service," a state-university-supported outreach
>program in the United States traditionally based on agricultural research.
>4-H has always stood for public hands-on learning of land-based knowledge.
>
>Since becoming the director, I have been re-creating this 4-H camp as an
>Open Space Organization.  I have facilitated a number of OS events at the
>camp, and have engaged deeply in the steep learning curve of being a
>designated organizational leader and OS facilitator simultaneously.  Our
>emerging vision is broad and powerful - hands-on camps for children and
>youth using OS principles, OS conference- and retreat-center for schools and
>non-profit organizations that serve young people, and much more.
>
>I share this introduction for two reasons.  First, I look forward to sharing
>the story with this list on an ongoing basis, and I KNOW that my
>participation in this list community will be of extraordinary value to the
>project in the coming months and years.  Already this has been the case -
>two dear list-friends have visited in the last two weeks - Joelle Lyons
>Everett from Washington State and Alan Stewart from Adelaide Down Under.
>Alan facilitated a "conversing cafe" at the camp last Friday night which
>worked magic beyond description in our community.
>
>Second, I am moved to share our current crisis with you.  A few weeks ago,
>the state of North Carolina announced the elimination of my position and the
>impending closure of the camp on June 1 due to a severe state budget
>shortfall.  Due to our Open Space work since March, an extraordinary and
>diverse group of supporters in the community has rallied to raise the funds
>to reinstate the directorship and keep the camp open according to our new
>vision.  We are more than halfway to our goal, with less than a week to go.
>
>If you would like to know more, including how to help with our effort, I
>invite you to visit the website below.
>
>Yours in the Abundance of Open Space,
>Chris
>
>http://www.springbranch.net/pages/campfriends.htm
>
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--
Kenoli Oleari, Horizons of Change, http://www.horizonsofchange.com
1801 Fairview Street, Berkeley, CA  94703   Voice Phone: 510-601-8217,
Fax: 510-595-8369, Email: kenoli at igc.org (or click on: mailto://kenoli@igc.org)

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