Members of the“Young Friends”, the youth group of the Downingtown Friends Meeting, participated in service work with the Joint Service Project/Western Quaker Workcamp at Pine Ridge, the Lakota Native American Reservation in South Dakota., from July 8-16, 2009.

Six adults and twelve young adults helped repair houses on the reservation. They stripped and caulked, then painted windows and garages. Most importantly, they participated in a cross-cultural exchange with Lakota youth. They learned about their culture and their living conditions. They also visited the Red Cloud School, a Catholic reservation school that integrates cultures. 

When not helping the Lakota with their homes, they attended a community “pow-wow,” a celebration of Lakota heritage. Cheryl McVickar, an attending adult and member of Downingtown Friends Meeting, felt a very real connection to the Lakota values, specifically that of “generosity and kindness.” As visitors, the Lakota welcomed encouraged them to enjoy the food that the Lakota community had prepared, including buffalo stew and frybread. Their welcoming spirit touched McVickar, particularly when a Lakota elder in full dress instructed them in dance steps. The Lakota also welcomed one of the visiting adults to ride a Lakota horse during the pow-wow.

Brad Ogilvie, a visiting adult and employee of the William Penn House in Washington, D.C., commented, “[when we begin] looking at what is, and what was…and consider what is ours to do, [we] often get stuck on ‘if it’s ours, I can’t do anything myself."

The Lakotas urged them to learn their stories to gain a greater understanding of native peoples, and in Ogilvie's words , “[to learn] what is ‘mine to do’.”

From Ogilvie's blog:

“Among the things we saw and visited was Wounded Knee, where we heard history presentations about the various treaties, broken promises and violence that took place in this region, including that stone carvers created Mount Rushmore on land that had been previously given to Indians.”

To raise money for this trip, the Young Friends sold T-shirts with original designs. They also created eco-friendly tote bags from recycled T-shirts.

In the past, the Young Friends have participated in and planned many fundraising events, including a car wash various events as part of the annual Downingtown Friends Meeting Fall Festival, and a hunger meal, which illustrated the disparity of resources in first, second, and third world countries. 

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