[BWNA] VBC 7

[Albert Kaufman]

I've known about City Repair for years – been to a couple Earth Days,
volunteered here and there and this year, worked with my Neighborhood
Association to get a couple projects onto the drawing board and now
into a school, intersection and park.  This year's building
convergence is happening right now.  It's a lot of local projects,
enthusiastic volunteers, and nightly celebrations of building
community.  The event's headquarters are in the Disjecta building at
3rd and Burnside, just south of the bridge, and within are wonders.
There's a café that serves everyone yummy vegan food every night, an
art gallery, yoga space, massage area, kids' village, and many other
stations making the two floors of the building seem more like village
center.  The atmosphere is celebratory and welcoming.

Last night's program featured Starhawk who spoke about Herstory and
then led us all in a beautiful spiral dance.  There was also a woman
who spoke about ecovillages she's helping build in South Africa which
also combat AIDS.  The evening's music topped everything off – the
Mambo Queens and Jujuba got us all dancing.

I spoke to two women who'd traveled far to participate in the VBC.
One from San Francisco said "I've always wanted to get involved in
something like this in SF, but we don't seem to have anything like it,
really".  The woman from Brooklyn spoke of wanting to move here to be
a part of this segment of the community-building revolution.

I'm writing to tell you about this because I believe it is something
special.  There is a movement in Portland and though it's a bit under
the MSM (mainstream media) radar, something important is being built.
It's more than just cob benches and pretty intersections – it seems to
be about building a culture of community and care for one another.  My
dream is that City Repair would eventually get a portion of the PDC
budget to do their work – imagine a million dollars, for starters,
going to an organization that takes such care in the materials it uses
and the way people treat one another.  I think it's worth the
investment in alternative forms of building alone for them to receive
a percentage of what's going to the PDC.

There are a few nights left of speakers and entertainment.  Rabbi
Michael Lerner (Editor of Tikkun Magazine and one of the "founders" of
the Jewish Renewal movement) is speaking tonight and you'll find me in
the front row.  Also, the various projects around town are well
underway and I challenge you to go and find the project closest to you
and see what it's about.  http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects

Kudos to City Repair – you make living in Portland that much greater!