September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Members Retreat at Blue Mountain Center
May 27-31, 2009  
Lake
Loon
Mountain
Moon
Food
Rest
Needs
Met
Members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows gathered for the gift of a rare face-to-face meeting in Blue Mountain Lake, New York for four days, from dinnertime, Thursday, May 27th to mid-day, Sunday May 31, 2009.
The occasion was made possible by:
The folks at Blue Mountain Center.
The Peaceful Tomorrows members who accepted the invitation to come.
The good wishes of all the Peaceful Tomorrows members who could not be there.
The contributions of the consultants who facilitated our sessions in nonviolent communication.
As an organization we have existed since shortly after the tragic day that ended the lives of our loved ones. Our individual experiences have strengthened and been strengthened by community formed by the Peaceful Tomorrows members. Individually and as an organization we have experienced many changes in the years since our founding. The flow of life has called some members away from active involvement, and brought new members to rewarding engagement. All we have accomplished as an organization has been due to our commitment to ourselves and to each other to work for nonviolent solutions to the world's - and to our own - conflicts. Not easy.
But we have done it, nevertheless, and we have many good fruits of our efforts as evidence. It is no admission of weakness, but rather a sign of our strength, that we recognize our need for refreshment in the company of one another, a time to reflect upon our history and a time to renew our commitment to our organization, and to our personal, mission.
Our time at Blue Mountain Center was full of the beauty of nature and art, and the beauty of human beings working hard (and having fun) at recognizing and connecting with the universal needs that unite all of humanity. There could be no better end to this introduction to the report of our time together than sincere thanks for the opportunity we had and took to enrich and strengthen Peaceful Tomorrows and ourselves.
Anne Mulderry
On Behalf of the Steering Committee of Peaceful Tomorrows
BMC Retreat Report
Prepared by Katharina Feil, Project Coordinator
Thursday, May 28  During and after dinner we greeted one another and studied the PT chronology and bios of participants. These are now posted on our wesite.
As the new Project Coordinator, I met most of the people for the first time and tried to speak with almost everyone present that night.
Friday, May 29
Martha Lasley, trainer, and Kobi Skolnick, trainer and a member of "Combatants for Peace," were our nonviolent communication [NVC] facilitators for the retreat and started the morning session by leading us in introductions. Part of the exercise was to tell each other what we feel passionate about and what inspires us.
We spoke about and identified human needs such as safety, love, food, etc., and heard that every action is an attempt to meet a need. Martha gave examples of various manners of speaking, some of which conceal the needs we might overlook if we just take the words for what they are and do not look deeper. 
The rest of the afternoon was spent on an overview of the work we do and how we work with the Tides Center. Both Martha and Kobi sat in all the discussions to help us identify needs and practice empathy. Old stories and histories unfolded and disagreements of the past became tangible. It took some interventions from our facilitators to help people hear each other, and acknowledge and respond to one another.
Valerie Lucznikowska, Guantanamo Program Manager gave a concise and informative presentation of the work she has done and will be doing on the topic. She presented her research, and briefed us on the history of Guantanamo, including two Executive Orders pertaining to GITMO. Valerie helped lead a discussion around the issue, including which goals PT should be focusing on during our work on GITMO. Out of 6 goals, the one about “Accountability” proved to be the most contested and we decided to form a taskforce to further explore it. All of Valerie's wonderful materials are also posted on our website.
The day ended with presentations by PT members and the projects they are working on. For levity we watched Ken Williams' Apollo Theatre performance and then moved on to the following items:
- Michelle Little's work for “United for Peace”;
- Bruce's work for “121 Contact” - putting Iraqis in touch with Americans one at a time.
After the presentations, a short discussion was had about the possibility of connecting the PT website with all the websites of member projects and vice versa.
The day ended with Antonio's drumming and some impromptu dancing.
Saturday, May 30 
More practice in NVC communication and close listening. We started the day by working in pairs. The exercise was meant to practice empathic listening. During the exercise, some of us realized HOW hard it is to really listen and not to immediately try to fix the situation.
Next we heard more member presentations:
- Andrea spoke about her experience working with “Combatants for Peace.” Bassam, a former Palestinian freedom fighter who had been jailed, was one of the speakers who came to the U.S. His story inspired her, in particular his will to educate himself, his resolve to speak to “the other side” by learning Hebrew and his commitment to peace.
- Terry spoke about “LaOnf” and presented a 15-minute video that describes “LaOnf's” work in Iraq. We are very excited that La'Onf has just won the Pfeffer International Peace Prize awarded by our good friends and allies at the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
- Loretta announced an upcoming lecture at “The Al Filipov Peace and Justice Center” on September 26, 2009.
After dinner, we held a PT business meeting focusing on three areas:
- New volunteers for the Steering Committee:
Ryan explained the responsibilities of the steering Committee, the weekly hours it takes to stay in the loop and pointed at the newly drafted Operating Manual to find more information. After the discussion, Donna Marsh O'Connor and Robyn Bernstein expressed interest to be part of the S.C.
- How to reach more members?
We spoke about the surveys we had conducted in the past - how some members have remained silent or anonymous.
Donna encouraged us to take our listeners seriously and accept the fact that some prefer to remain silent. They DO listen and one day, they might be ready to participate in a more active way and contribute to the organization.
We try to reach our members by hearing their interests and channeling our energies towards those interests. Terry used the example of our GITMO effort.
We need to get better at organizing more frequent membership meetings in regionally diverse places.
- Contingency Planning for our organizational survival:
Terry reported we are short $21,000.00 for our rock bottom budget for 2009, which does not include a rent increase to $900.00 per month (up from $333). To meet these increased costs, we need to raise $50,000.00 this year. In addition, PT will not have a Project Director as of September 1, 2009.
Possible solutions: Bruce will make membership calls; Michelle suggested we find a grant writer amongst our members; Antonio will explore online fundraising; Kobi suggested we mine the membership database since most donations come from individual donors; Terry stated that our best bets are family and church foundations.
The meeting ended with lots of volunteers offering to help in different areas to guarantee the survival of PT.
Drumming and dancing!!!
Sunday May 31
(Report prepared by Katie Randall, one of our members, a student at Bryn Mawr College and PT's summer intern.) 
More discussion of Community Building within PT; it was agreed that we should aim for more frequent community meetings, particularly in the NYC Boston, and (possibly) Washington DC areas. It was suggested we could have coffee meetings, open to old and new members, and charge a small fee (which would also help with fund raising).
It was agreed to have podcasts of meetings, and/ or Skype meetings, for those on the West Coast and others who could not make it to NYC or DC easily.
INP
Andrea gave an update on the International Network for Peace [INP] whose network has been launched thanks to support from PT. Check it out at http://www.internationalnetworkforpeace.org/
Afghanistan
We had an open discussion on PT and the military conflict in Afghanistan that is now spreading to Pakistan.
PT's current position on the war in Afghanistan is expressed in the report Afghanistan: Ending a Failed Military Strategy.
On the discussion list serve, PT members have been asking to have more information about the proposed surge before opposing it.
Terry pointed out that from the beginning, PT has been a group opposing any type of military violence-- we shouldn't change our position because of Obama's election.
It was suggested by several members that a proposal on Afghanistan should be clear, firmly against military action, and remind the Obama administration of its commitment to ending war.
It was then suggested that the PT position on Afghanistan should be restated and put out to the PT discussion list. This position includes: swift removal of US troops and their replacement with multinational peacekeeping troops, as well as a immediate cessation of air strikes.
We also acknowledged that members should be reminded of the PT mission statement, which PT should be guided by-- but the process also needs to be democratic, so that members can reflect upon and own the mission statement.
AGREED: We will send out the current position on Afghanistan, and allow 30 days for the membership to review it and send in comments, questions and suggestions 
Becoming a Registered UN NGO:
Something that our long-term supporter, Cora Weiss, has urged. We were fortunate that a member, Robin Della Rocca, who works at the UN could share her knowledge.
There are different types of NGOs, associated with the Department of Public Information or the Economic and Social Council, or both.
PT might have to be its own 501c3, or might be able to claim the status through its affiliation with Tides.
Benefits include access to more information, to UN meetings, and to weekly briefings; some of this information can be available without an official partnership.
This year's annual conference for NGOs concerns Nuclear Disarmament and ending Nuclear Proliferation, topics PT very is concerned with.
PT is currently looking into becoming a member-- information on this issue will be sent out to the discussion list
GITMO and our other work Beyond 4 Months:
Bruce requested that we make the 4 month plan known to the whole membership, and then ask what they want of the future.
The 4 month time frame is how long we know we can keep working on GITMO: it is how long we can afford to pay Valerie as head of the Project.
This led to a discussion of what the main PT Projects are: GTMO, La'Onf, Afghanistan, and the International Network for Peace.
Michelle suggested a diagram of who is currently working on this projects and how they are organized, to be posted on the website.
Antonio suggested an ongoing community newsletter or continually updated web page as a way of clarifying what is going on-- this requires volunteers and effort.
Terry brought up the problem that no one is currently in charge of the Afghanistan project.
We closed with a final lunch together and a Farewell Circle.
With love and peace to all,
PT Members who attended the BMC Retreat include: 
Ryan Amundson
Antonio Aversano
Robyn Bernstein
Robin Della Rocca
Katharina Feil
Loretta Filipov
Barbara Fyfe
Martha Lasley
Andrea LeBlanc
John & Elaine Leinung
Michele Little
Fiona Lovell Horning
Valerie Lucznikowska
Donna Marsh O'Connor
Mary Ann Moran
Anne M. Mulderry
Katie Randall
Terry Kay Rockefeller
Kobi Skolnick | 
Fair Use
