November 12

East Timor Action Network / Seattle

Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 PM: Elaine Briere's film "Bitter Paradise," followed by UW Political Science Professor Daniel Lev discussing the U.S. government's diplomatic and military support of Indonesia before and since it invaded East Timor. Room 1B Gowen Hall on UW campus. ETAN/Seattle member Neil Planert, who has visited East Timor, will give his impressions about what he saw. (Presented jointly by ETAN/Seattle and UW Political Science Department.)

Sunday, November 23, location and time TBA: Speech by a British member of the group Plowshares, which used direct action to prevent a shipment of military aircraft to Indonesia by destroying the aircraft before they could be shipped. Jointly sponsored by ETAN/Seattle and the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia.

Nike continues to operate in Indonesia in an environment of extreme labor repression and military involvement in labor disputes. Workers earn less than $2/day and are subject to all forms of harassment. If they organize, they are fired or even killed. Just Don't Do It!

Capitol Hill Community Council

Seattle City Councilmember Margaret Pageler will give a presentation on the proposed Cedar River Watershed Habitat Plan, at the November CHCC meeting. This plan is controversial because it calls for logging in the watershed to fund the plan. Ernesto Dominguez will propose how to turn the Lowell School into a community center. The CHCC will meet Thursday, Nov. 13th at 7:00 PM at Seattle Central Community College Room 1110.

Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association

The Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association will meet Friday, November 14th at 7:00 PM at the Broadway Performance Hall at 1714 18th Avenue in Seattle. All are welcome to attend. A social hour and optional Polish home dinner follow. The 1997 Polish Film Festival is now running (November 7 through 16) at the Broadway Performance Hall.

November 9

Save Lake Sammamish

A toxic algae bloom developed in the lake at the end of September and persisted into mid-October. Tests resulted in the death of lab mice within one hour of injection with the algae, indicating a high level of toxicity. Apparently, a dog has also died as a result of ingesting lake water. For a scientific discussion of this problem, link to the King County Lakes Monitoring Program. For more information, see the Seattle Times article Lake is put on toxic alert.

To do your part to keep our lakes and streams clean, follow the Bellevue Utilities Clean Water Practices. Public Access TV (TCI Channel 29) will air discussions of Bellevue lake issues:

• Phantom Lake - Tuesday, November 19 at 12:00 Noon
• Lake Sammamish - Tuesday, December 2 at 12:00 Noon

Women Climbers Northwest

WCN is a non-profit organization formed in 1983 to promote climbing and other wilderness activities among women. It aims to enhance the enjoyment of life, develop leadership, safety and decision-making skills, attain physical fitness, and develop sensitivity toward and stewardship of the out-of-doors.

WCN organizes "meets" so that members can get together and rock climb, peak climb, ice climb, hike or ski together. It publishes a monthly newsletter, Chock Full O' Nuts, and schedules activities where women can socialize, plan adventures, enjoy slide shows or discuss topics such as avalanche safety, endurance training or sports medicine. WCN maintains an e-mail mailing list for members who want to advertise "meets" or sell or trade equipment.

UNCHS East African Resource Facility

UNCHS (Habitat) is preparing an "East African Resource Facility" (EARF) involving Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Thirteen years of community projects development has given the UNCHS experience and skills in participatory development. Its success in Ghana, Uganda and Zambia has demonstrated its capacity and know-how to work with central governments in partnerships with communities, non-governmental organizations, associations of municipalities and the private sector.

Most cities in Africa cannot respond to the rapid rate of demographic growth to supply enough shelter, urban services and basic infrastructure. Problems with land tenure and access to land perpetuate slums and squatter settlements. Poverty, lack of access to finance and the high cost of building materials excludes low income communities from developing their shelter. With structural adjustment in most African countries, there are fewer state funds to be invested in community services.

EARF's objectives include, in part:

• Identify national priorities related to policy, national programmes and operational strategies for poverty reduction.
• Assess strategies for promoting partnerships in community based human settlements development.
• Assess prospects for regional cooperation among the partner countries, and appropriate linkages with EAC.
• Prioritize needs, strategies, activities and institutional arrangements in a regional programme of action on human settlements development.
• Identify key actors and their roles.
• Propose a time frame for implementation including national budgetary contribution.

October 31

Food Not Bombs Seattle

Food Not Bombs is a group of volunteers who serve free vegetarian meals to people in need. FNB is committed to building a vital and caring movement for progressive social change and to challenging the invisible barrier that separates the poor and homeless from a so-called "normal" society.

Why give away food to the hungry? Because food grows on trees. FNB serves meals every Sunday at 5:30 in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square. FNB always needs volunteers, bulk food, cooking equipment, vehicles for transport and money for gas and sundries.

October 25

Puget Sound Welsh Association

PSWA sponsors Welsh musical, cultural and educational activities, and participates in many ethnic fairs and Celtic festivals. You can hear Welsh music on St. David's Day in March, at Gymanfa Ganu in October, at the Christmas Concert, and at public performances by Cor Cymraeg (the Seattle Welsh Choir) and folk musicians Band y Ddraig Goch. You can learn Welsh with the Dosbarth Cymraeg, the Welsh Language Learners. You don't need Welsh ancestry or prior knowledge of the Welsh language for any of PSWA's activities, only a willingness to have fun.

UNCHS Uganda Community Management Programme

The Uganda CMP is a pilot project of the UN and the Uganda government that contributes to improving the living and working conditions of low-income people, and aims to strengthen community management. It encourages women, youth, the landless, the poor and the vulnerable to break apathy and participate in managing their own community development. It focuses on human settlement services and facilities like roads, water, sewerage, drainage, clinics and schools and their construction, maintenance, and operation, while also listening to a community's own self-determined priorities.

The CMP trains community members and leaders in practical techniques of community participation, development and management. It emphasizes training civil servants and ministry technocrats in how to change from providing services to passive recipients to facilitating self help and community-centered development that puts end users of services at the center of decision making. It works to institutionalize these processes and make them sustainable, within the ethical, environmental, democratization and human rights issues of the UN.

October 4

Sharehouse for the Homeless

The Sharehouse is a furniture and basic necessities bank. The personal care supplies and other goods that that it collects are kept in a warehouse at the Coast Guard station, and distributed to staff members from member agencies.

"Each year, The Sharehouse runs out of the 8,000 blankets we collect. We never have enough toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant and other personal care supplies that are needed by people living on the street. When you buy disposable diapers for your baby, buy a bag for a homeless child. Or buy a set of the kinds of things that you use every day. The Sharehouse will get them to a homeless person for you - and we'll be grateful you took the time to help out. Call us at 527-5956 about where to take your donations."

Friends of Nelson Bentley

FNB sponsors the Bentley Master of Fine Arts Fellowship in Poetry and Fiction at the University of Washington in memory of Professor Nelson Bentley, and sponsors poetry readings in the Seattle area. Nelson Bentley was a Professor of English at the UW from 1952 to 1989. No one who had the privilege of taking a creative writing or literature course with Nelson will ever forget him. His lifework as a poet and teacher celebrated the coming together of language and imagination.

Nelson's wit, charisma, and poetic insight drew students in droves to his classroom over the years, where they congregated to share in the creative process and grow as writers. A small group of Nelson's former students founded FNB in 1991, to recognize in a concrete way the influence of his teaching during his 38 years at the UW.

September 23

King County Seniors Online

King County Seniors Online is a volunteer effort "to exchange ideas, opinions, experiences and knowledge to help all of us get more out of life." One goal is to contact all the senior centers in King County and encourage them to provide connections to all the local information of interest to seniors that's available over the Internet. If you're retired, please contribute any local senior information that you've found.

Port Angeles Journal Online

The Journal reports each week on events at City Hall, Clallam County government and local businesses. It prints community features, letters to the editor and classified ads. The Journal is an alternative source of news for the north Olympic Peninsula. It's available on the Web and by free e-mail subscription.

Lakewood REACT

REACT is a public service organization whose members monitor Citizens Band emergency channel 9, amateur radio transmissions and other radio services. REACT volunteers use Citizens Band, General Mobile Radio Service and other radio links to provide communications for travelers, help with communications for community events, and help the public in times of distress and disaster.

September 17

Escola de Samba Seattle

Escola de Samba brings extravagant Brazilian carnival music and dance to Seattle festivals and parades. Escola's next performance is Sunday, September 28 at the AIDS Walk. Yoshe Amayo's eight-week class in Brazilian dance starts October 12, presented through the UW Experimental College. Get energized by the beat of Samba. If you'd like to perform with Escola this fall, you can learn the tunes at drum rehearsals on Fridays.

Spectrum Dance Theater

Spectrum Dance Theater opens its new season with jazz performances at the UW's Meany Theater this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 19-21. Fuerza Viva is "an exhilarating experience with its high energy and sophisticated rhythms." Seattle favorites Waiting for the Sunrise and Of Passion, You Have Plenty are on the program too.

Spectrum offers children's dance classes about Movement with Your Toddler, creative dance, ballet and jazz. Adult classes feature ballet, jazz, Tai Chi, gentle aerobics, yoga and African dances from West Africa.

September 12

Ravenna-Bryant Community Association

RBCA works to maintain the quality of life in northeast Seattle's Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood. Members are involved in tree planting, park cleanup projects and Ravenna Creek daylighting. RBCA is concerned with the Seahawks at Husky Stadium, neighborhood traffic, parking and many other issues. All neighborhood residents, property owners and business owners are members of RBCA. The board is elected by the members, and anyone can attend its meetings on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 or 7:30 PM in the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center. You can subscribe to these SCN mailing lists to keep up with Ravenna-Bryant activities:

• ravennatime@scn.org
• rbcanews@scn.org
• rbcaboard@scn.org

September 8

Ustawi: Promoting Self-Sufficiency in Africa

Ustawi fosters sustainable economic and environmental alternatives through education and grassroots partnerships. Ustawi partners with local development committees, governmental agencies, companies and non-profit organizations in Africa and the United States to support educational, health, environmental and economic self-suffiency ventures. An example is helping a school in Touldoro district, Cameroon. Ustawi also carries out projects in Seattle, like a recent clean up project in the Central Area.

The Disavowed

For most people there are still few experiences more unsettling than losing a job, changing a job or looking for a job. Several people who have recently changed jobs describe their feelings about it, and offer a list of online job resources, with some advice about using the Internet in a job search. Another page reviews some Seattle-area recruiters.

(See also SCN's Seattle Area Employment Guide.)

Northwest Stone Sculptors' Association

Sculptors from the Western US and Canada meet every two months, and also gather periodically for symposia in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. These events welcome people of all levels of experience, and always have a blend of masters and students. The University of Oregon now offers college credit for all of NWSSA's symposia. The NWSSA publishes Scuplture Northwest, a bimonthly trade journal for sculptors, a Sourcebook that includes a list of regional public art created in stone, and an artist's guide to geological and scientific information about stone.

September 7

Washington State Neighborhood Networks Consortium

Neighborhood Networks is a program that encourages community centers, senior centers and owners of low-income housing to install computer learning centers in their buildings. Some surplus GSA computers are available, and NNC is looking for donations of used computers from local businesses. The Neighborhood Networks FAQ describes how to set up Internet computers in senior citizens' residence homes. NNC needs volunteers who are interested in helping with these efforts.

Questions: webeditors@scn.org