November 2025 - Dialogue - lists.wedgeblade.net

Have I mistakenly blocked our community from my email?
by ballardica＠gmail.com 23 Nov '25

23 Nov '25

6 7

Accessing documents in the Archive
by Blase Sands 22 Nov '25

22 Nov '25

I was trying to access documents in the Archive using Google and no documents would load. Then I switched to Microsoft Edge and viola! Everything loaded easily. Just and FYI. Blase Blase Sands 1714 S 173rd Plaza Omaha, NE 68130 blase_sands(a)hotmail.com Cell: 402-957-5345

1 0

Fwd: Maasai
by Richard Alton 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

*The Smoke That Thunders* The ICA has tried to have a global conference in Africa for many years and now we have finally done it. People from 20 countries (10 from Africa) gathered in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to look at how we all are responding to the times we are living in. At these conferences one is always shocked by the people one meets and the projects one visits. Although the Falls, the smoke that thunders, is amazing. I was struck on the first day by a Maasai women fully dressed in her tribal garb. We broke into our working groups, and I found we were in the same group, Climate Change. Her name was Josephine Ndirias from Kenya. She turns out to be the Executive Director of the *Mukogodo Girls Empowerment program*. It turns out she is from Nanyuki, Kenya. I had been to Nanyuki to visit the ICA Canada project, ilnqwesi, and had lunch with one of the Maasai leaders, Saaya, who turned out to be Josehine’s cousin. “My goodness, what a small world.” It turns out that Josehine’s work is the continuation of the Maasai work started by by Asha Spencer and Miriam Patterson many years ago. Asha and Miriam were there in Nanyuki for a year. We spend the next couple of days chatting about people we knew- Josehine’ still talks with Miriam Patterson on a regular basis. And we went through all the people I use to know: the late Vice President Biwott who use to demand money and vehicles from ICA if we cared about our lives. I was totally startled by Josphine and our meeting. We could have spoken together for the whole Conference. Conferences do that for you- the people you meet! Over 100 people to meet in person. Wow, 4 from China and one from Hong Kong plus 15 from Nepal. But not only the people but the projects you visit! We visited *Ele Collection* (www.elecollection.co) whose purpose is to Remove all Plastics. They have women plastic bottle collectors all over the Town/Park collecting bottles. They pay them by the pound. The Ele-Collections says its goal is to clear Victoria Falls and the National Park of Plastics. Ele processes the plastic bottles into building and road material which they sell. This all came about from the owner and a friend walking in the National Park and being attacked by an elephant. The owner’s friend was killed. They finally killed the elephant. When they opened the elephant’s stomach, they found it was full of plastic bottles. No wonder the elephant was mad! Ele Collection is about saving the animals from the scourge of plastics. Ele is a business who gets a lot of support from local companies and is constantly expanding. We were all struck by the methodology and skills shown. They claim they are the only local plastic re-cycling system in the world. We had to come all the way to Victoria Falls to find them. On the way to Victoria Falls I read two books. Just finished Paul Kingsnorth book, *Against the Machine, on the Unmaking of Humanity*. He points out that we are facing “increasingly impossible lives in the high-tech globalized world that has resulted from the consumer economy”. We are slowly being capture by a world that is unreal and losing a sense of being human. This second book, *Inspiring Transformative Change*, is on image shift and its focus on enabling group processing is what will allow us to rediscover the real world of personal interaction and human consciousness. The *Change* book is written by Elise Packard and Jane Stallman. It will come out in early 2026. Great Conference- the people and projects were worth it. Conferencing is an amazing way to find the Human Element in Global Development! Go Africa, where we all find our roots! Dick Alton, lives with ICA’s Greenrise Community, helps manage ICA USA’s Global Fund and way too involved in the Methodist Church’s Net Zero by 2050. Getting ready for his 84th birthday. *Southern Africa is gifted with * On Sun, Nov 9, 2025 at 10:29 AM Richard Alton <richard.alton(a)gmail.com> wrote: > -- Richard H. T. Alton ICA Global Fund United Methodist Creation Care The Last Chapter T: 773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2 Won't you be my neighbor?

10 10

Obituary for Jim Baumbach
by Karen Snyder 17 Nov '25

17 Nov '25

Alice Baumbach is sharing information about Jim Baumbach’s death last Friday, November 14. His obituary (https://www.wichmannfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/james-baumbach-phd) reminds us of the work he and Alice did with the Ecumenical Institute/Institute of Cultural Affairs: He met his wife, Alice (née DesJardins), at Michigan State University and they were married in Warren, MI in 1962. In 1969 they joined the Order Ecumenical and the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago, IL, whose mission was to teach religious and cultural courses across the country and build models of community reformulation that could be replicated around the world. Except for one year on the north side of Chicago, they lived on the west side in a ghetto community. While Jim worked at Nalco, Alice worked in-house with the preschool and the community center. One member of each family was assigned to work out so that the project could be funded. All of those who worked out donated their salaries. Both Jim and Alice felt this was the most empowering work of their life.

1 0

Mary Lou Vergara Memorial Service - Saturday, September 13 at 11:00 AM Eastern time - zoom link below
by Karen Snyder 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

From: Margaret Gergen <margergen(a)gmail.com> > > > The celebration of life for Mary Lou Vergara is this Sat, 9-13-25. It would have been Mary Lou's 80th birthday! > > The service will be at 11 am Eastern time at St. Francis UMC in Cary, North Carolina where Mary Lou lived for the last several years since her retirement. I am here is Cary for the celebration and understand that Mollie Wallsteat and Rosa Torres are also on their way to attend. Mollie and Rosa worked with both Mary Lou and me during the years we were at the North Shore in Evanston (we called it our dream team!). > > For those of you who knew Mary Lou, who appreciated and admired her great gifts and who would like to be here in person, but can't, the service will be streamed via the link below. > > Please join us, if you are able, to celebrate the completed life of this remarkable woman. We were fortunate to have had her in our lives! > > Here is link > https://www.youtube.com/live/21kpUy7mO14?si=edhc4robjpnSfahn > > Take Care, > Margaret

4 3