Service, Quaker Faith in Practice
»Quakers are actively working to make the world a better place. We seek to live out our testimonies every day. Below are some of the efforts that our members and meetings are working on.
Orchard Park Meeting Supports Kenyan Orphanage
Orchard Park Meeting is a partner with other churches, schools, organizations, and individuals in sponsoring Crossroads Springs orphanage in Hamisi, Kenya. The AIDS crisis was placing many children at risk and something needed to be done to provide a safe place for the children and to give them an education. Since that time money has been raised and the first building has been completed. There are 250 children receiving an education, through the 6th grade and about 50 children have been living there since 2008.
Friends Peace Teams' Indonesia Initiative
The Indonesia Initiative of Friend's Peace Teams
Seeks to connect communities of conscience between the U.S. and Indonesia to provide opportunities for conscientious service. With friends and partners in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java and Central Java, we support early childhood development, human rights defenders and nonviolence workshops. We work with human rights defenders, conflict "refugees," and teachers of young children in East Aceh, Tamiang & North Sumatra.
Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF)
Bolivia, the poorest nation in South America, has the highest proportion of indigenous people. These people have only a fraction of the economic means and political power of those of European extraction. Bolivia's 30,000 indigenous Friends constitute the third largest Quaker population in the world. Today Quaker schools founded by Bolivian Friends must scramble so that their unique values are not lost for lack of updated equipment, facilities, and services.
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)
This is an international project that Quakers helped to create. The Alternatives to Violence Project is a grassroots, volunteer program dedicated to reducing violence in our lives, in our homes, in our schools, in our prisons, in our streets and in our society. The Alternatives to Violence Project provides a space for us to practice transforming conflict into win-win outcomes. No one loses. Conflict becomes an opportunity for greater understanding, an opportunity to deepen relationship.