Creating a Healthy Gathering through Handwashing

One thing that goes a long way to keeping folks at a gathering healthy and safe is washing hands - a lot. And I don't mean just rubbing your hands with sanitizer, but actual biodegradable soap (Dr. Bronner's is great) and filtered or boiled water. Some awesome Rainbow engineers have designed a hand wash station that's transportable and light weight. One goal of a Rainbow hand wash station is to make it hands free, so no one picks up germs in the process of washing their hands. (A smaller setup of this same type can be used for soap dispensing).

Here's a great drawing of what I'll explain in words below. Thanks TimBear.



"From our experience, the primer bulb check valve can fail if the water gets trash in it. The solution we found was a small piece of filter material (like the filter from a wet vac) or fine mesh screening (a couple of layers of panty hose) around the end of the water intake. The pvc pipe allows you to direct the water where you want it, even if there is no tree where you want the water." - TimBear's words, not mine. What ever you do, make sure the grey water is at least 300 feet from creeks, rivers, and ponds and preferable somewhere where no one is walking. Dogs and people can get into the grey water and spread the germs all over the place and that's not healthy.

The key is a one-way siphon valve. It's made of rubber and can be squeezed by hand. Each end has a place to clamp hose onto. I usually get them at my local Marine supply store. Hook it up to some clear plastic tubing - one end to go into a bucket of filtered water. It looks like this:


The other end should be fastened somewhere (if not using TimBear's Pipe method) and hopefully have a drain system so people aren't standing around in gray water. To conserve water, get spare sun shower nozzles and put it on the end. These are $5-10 each from a camping supply store. They work great for the "faucet" end. Here is a photo of one.



Then to wash hands, all people need to do is pump the black siphon ball with their feet, and water comes out the shower nozzle. Portable hands free hand washing and kids love it!

Filtered water is best for hand washing. Providing an alcohol based hand sanitizer and/or a bleach wash as a final step is a great idea, but please label the ingredients so people can make informed decisions.

I also like to make a sink to minimize the amount of mucky grey water around the faucet. I've used a plastic bowl in a round tomato cage. Then drill a hole in the bottom and put in a connector so you can clamp a discharge pipe and run the waste water into a gray water pit. WARNING! HIPPIES CAN BE DUMB. Every time I use my sink setup, someone thinks we should recycle the gray water by putting it back into the fresh water container. THIS IS UNSANITARY AND IS WORSE THAN NOT WASHING YOUR HANDS AT ALL. So if you use a sink, please make a sign telling people that the drain DOES NOT go into the water source.

If someone(s) are looking for a great public service project for this year's gathering, here's a great one. Let's make sure we have enough hand washing stations scattered around the gathering so that people can't help but wash their hands at least twice a day. Every year I promise to make them at home and bring everything but the sink, but it doesn't seem to happen. Sure is easier at home with my tools.

Clean hands creates a healthy gathering.

Just a quick reminder, no soap in any surface water. Biodegradable soap only biodegrades in the soil.  All soapy water should be kept 300 feet from surface water like creeks, rivers, ponds and springs.  Don't be the dufuss who tries to wash your hands, clothes, hair, body in the creek. All you're doing is creating dirty water for the animals (2 and 4 legged) who drink the water.

Spring Council/Counsel/Circle

Updated June 13 at 11:55 a.m. Eastern Time

Spring council is over and seed camp has started. For directions to the gathering, click here.

Spring Council/Counsel/Circle (spring ccc)is where the site for the 2018 gathering will be determined and gathering layout begins. There may be travel to see sites the scouts propose, lots of walking, discussion and/or consensus. All are welcome to participate in the process.

However, if you come, please be self sufficient. Bring clothes for warm, wet and cold weather, good boots/shoes. Water and Food to share, shelter (tent, sleeping bag, etc) your own cup bowl spoon, all the stuff you'd need for gathering & a sense of humor. 

Spring ccc is usually but not always in the area of where people who have been scouting feel the best sites are located. As information on spring ccc unfolds, I will update this post with the area and then eventually the exact directions.

As a refresher, the purpose of spring ccc is to determine where home is. The individuals who have been out to the potential sites will have information to share about the site(s) they found and the family on the land at spring ccc will have to reach consensus by silence or by foot on where we will be. 

Please be advised that from spring ccc, the gathering moves into Seed Camp.  Folks at seed camp find and develop water sources,set up the first kitchen and dig the first latrines, locate and mark out the parking lot, lay out trails and remove obstructions, locate Main Circle and dig the fire pit, and set up a welcoming entrance to the gathering.

This is a time when you can work intensely with a few other people and form some deep friendships.

From this seed grows the flower of our Gathering.

Just an FYI, early in the gathering is when law enforcement presence can be the most intense as ratio of cops to gatherers may be high. 


This is a great time to form relationships with the USFS resource personnel and set up a process by which the USFS personnel can meet with gatherers on-the-land to discuss issues of mutual concern. Some time the discussion of the operating plan starts at spring ccc and then continues into seed camp.  Having a  specific location and time for regular circles with the USFS is a really good strategy as then everyone in camp knows where/when to be if they want to meet or not meet with the forest service. It takes many voices to do this work.  If you are not sure what an operating plan is, check out the collection of past operating plans on-line.

For more information on how home is found, click here.

Spring ccc location:

The council will take place in southwestern North Carolina,  just north of Georgia. The location is in the Nantahala National Forest on Buck Creek Road, which is approximately 19 miles southwest from Franklin, North Carolina on Hwy 64 or approximately 18 miles northeast from Hayesville, North Carolina on Hwy 64.  You can google map Buck Creek Road or use these coordinates 35.076624, -83.610653



Buses are encouraged to park on the "wings" an abandoned section of 64 that provides an easy pull thru.  And for them to shuttle in to the right fork dead end road Forest Service Road 350-A past left fork Perry Gap/Forest Service Road 350.  Additional information may be available on the  Atlanta Lightline 770-662-6112.  

On peeing in the woods for those without a protruding thing

A message primarily for those without a protruding thing that sticks out a few inches.

If you're drinking enough water to stay hydrated, you're probably peeing a lot. Now when you pee, hopefully you'll be peeing behind a tree or a bush or somewhere in the woods (Not the shitter). If you're like me, you like to wipe after you pee. But then you have some slightly used toilet paper to dispose of - and NOT by burying it under two inches of duff. Some one will have to pick up that tissue - let that someone be you.

I've taken to bringing extra wash clothes to the gathering. I keep one in my day pack at all times. Then when I need to pee, I wipe with a washcloth. I put it in a plastic bag in my pack. The next day I grab a new one. The old one gets rinsed out and left to dry for a day or two. 4 or 5 wash clothes will last me 3 weeks using this method.

The other option is to carry all that used TP to the nearest shitter and toss it in. Or burn it in a fire. Or carry it home with you. I like my washcloth movie a whole lot more.

Please do not leave toilet paper on the ground!

Tips for a Safe Journey Home & a Positive Gathering

If you plan on driving, make sure your car and driver is 100% legal-all lights work, valid insurance and registration, seat belts for all passangers, car seats for children. Our government assumes that we are criminals. Please try to arrive during daylight hours as the roads into gathering sites can be tricky and we want you to arrive home safely. If you can make space in your vehicle for a rider or you need a ride, ride share is happening at your local craistlist.org or on FaceBook.

If you will be sharing a ride, please meet the folks you'll be riding with at a local coffee shop, make sure you feel comfortable traveling a long distance with them, and establish the ground rules. If you are coming via bus, plane or train, try to connect up with a ride from your destination before you get there. If you are planning on hitchhiking, please travel with a buddy, only bum rides during the day and if you get a bad feeling from a ride, PLEASE don't take it. There will always be another one.


I strongly recommend you plan on arriving home in the morning - the earlier the better. If you are coming home and it's late, my best recommendation is you kick it at a campground, roadside rest area, or motel as you sit fit. Then get up at dawn and come on home.  The roads into the gathering can be challenging, the signage can disappear, and you will be tired. Keep in mind that your journey really begins once you park your car. From there you'll have to hike into the gathering with your gear and try to find a place that meets your needs -- very hard to do after dark.  It can easily take 6 hours from the time you park your car until you have your tent set up. Doing it in the daytime is fun, doing it at night when you are exhausted is not my idea of a good time.

*Always* say no to requests for search, no matter what they tell you. It is not illegal for cops to lie to you, and they often will do so to get your consent to search. "You might as well give us permission, because if you do not, we will go get a warrant and you will be here for hours." This is a bluff. Don't fall for it. Their time is much more valuable than yours.

If they insist on searching over your objections, don't prevent them physically in anyway - but continue to repeat "I do not consent." Ask for names and badge numbers, write down time, place, and what happened in detail. Every little thing matters in a court of law, even the things that don't mean much to you or me. If you or someone else can, take pictures, videos, and/or tape recordings.

Also, if they ask you if you have contraband, and tell you that if you have just a little bit and give it to them that they will not search you, tell them no. Never, never, never incriminate yourself. That means don't consent to anything, don't give them anything but your license, registration, and proof of insurance, don't admit to anything. When approaching the Gathering site, remember that you're coming as friends in somebody elses back yard. Treat the local folks with the courtesy, respect and concern that they deserve as members of the Family of Humankind. Be Loving and Kind. Don't be rude, steal, trash the town, disturb the Peace, or try to "shock" people. Be mindful of others' sensitivities. Remember the original Golden Rule when dealing with BOTH Babylon AND Rainbow: Treat Others the Way you want to be treated! Please, make your journey a safe one. Don't be under the influence while driving.

Let's all get home safely.

DRIVE SAFELY!
Ignore all rumors of cancellation or organization!
Live Lightly with the Land and People!

Water Is Life

Following Standing Rock, the saying Water is Life or Mni Wiconi in Lakota has become a familiar saying.  Most of us know what that means in relationship to the struggle to protect water sources from pipelines, but how many of us really understand what that means in relationship to the gathering?

When people scout for a gathering location, they always look for sources of water that can keep our camp alive.  Finding water is hard. Finding water that is uphill from where we want to gather is critical as gravity can help transport water to our population centers, kitchens, medical care, etc.  Protecting these water sources is important.  The water we drink keeps us alive, maintains our health, and can contribute to or prevent the spread of disease among gatherers.

Anyone remember the vomiting and diarrhea extravaganza in Oregon in 2017?  Now I'm not saying that water caused it because we also do a lot of hugging and sharing of smokeable things, but making sure each and everyone has enough clean and safe water to drink is critical to maintaining your health and protecting against dehydration.

 Nearly 1 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water.  Living in the United States, most people have access to relatively safe drinking water (concerns of chlorine and fluoridation set aside for this blog post). We can get water from the taps, many parks, water vending machines, stores, etc. This leaves many of us in blissful ignorance of how hard it is to drink enough safe water to stay healthy.

However, when we go to the woods, we are in a more precarious situation.  Children, the elderly, and those with health conditions are especially sensitive to water quality. Every year, gatherers have many ailments that often could have been prevented by drinking enough water. How much is enough?  If it's a warm or hot gathering, please try to put at least ONE GALLON OF WATER PER DAY in your mouth.  If you are not peeing every few hours you are not drinking enough. Take responsibility for your health: drink water!

So where does this water come from?

Send all your love to the people who tap water sources, run pipe, and provide filtration systems so that everyone has access to clean and safe water.

Send all your love to the kitchens that bring water filters or boil water to set up hydration stations at their kitchens to keep you all hydrated.

Why not drink from the pipe like our lovely little girl in the photo?  Because, our pipe is not a closed system. It's just PVC or black pipe lying on the ground.  Even if the water source tests clean for water on day 1, all it takes is one off-leash dog pooping at the source. All it takes is one person tripping over the pipe to create a crack that then get something nasty in it (like dog poop).   All it takes is one person who was sick and repaired the pipe without washing their hands first to get a whole lot of people sick.

We give away all the water we pipe, filter, boil, or share for free.  Remember that folks, drinking healthy water is a human right not just for gatherers but for those around the world.  Water is life. Water at the gathering is 100% free. But that doesn't mean the pipe is free, or the water filters are free, or the connecting devices are free.

A trusted friend of mine has a PayPal account that you can use to donate money to help purchase these things.  http://tinyurl.com/rainbowwater.

I have another friend who is making water filtration systems and giving them to family in exchange for the cost of the materials.  If you are interested, please email k z i r k a t e a r t h l i n k d o t n e t your email address and I will pass it on.

Water filtration systems are much easier to build at home than in the woods. The more safe and clean water we have for our family, the healthier and less stressed everyone will be.

How to Gather (AKA gathering basics)

Just an FYI, no one speaks for the gathering and there are as many different opinions as there are gatherers. For a hipstorical perspective, click here. For a more recent perspective, here's a great video for those new to the gathering that was done by some folks in Oregon in 2012.

Karin's 2 Cents on Sexual Assault at the Gathering

Disclaimer

Many kind siblings have shared knowledge with me over many years and I have been included in or guided my own share of movies addressing the aftermath of sexual assault.

I am not the master of this by any means, but want to take the time to share with you what I have learned over the years either by my own experiences or by others sharing their experiences with me and others.

The big picture

First off, every situation is unique. Each individual involved in a situation is a unique being on this planet. In a true loving, caring, and creative community, I do not believe in a one size fits all approach to dealing with sexual assault.  Some of the most beautiful moments I have experienced at a gathering have been when we came together as a community to address issues of sexual assault.

Just to be clear, what I mean by sexual assault is non-consensual sexual activity or sexual activity with children.  Just to be clear on my perspective, I don't automatically believe sex with a minor in the 15-17 age bracket is sexual assault. Specificity counts with me.  The perspective of the 15-17 year old counts with me.

So this leads into two important terms.  "Victim" and "accused" or "suspect."  A victim is anyone who feels they have been sexually assaulted.  The voice of the victim should be in the center of anything that happens next. The wishes of the victim (short of inciting violence) should be at the center of anything that happens next.

The  "accused" or "suspect" is just that. The suspect has been accused by the victim of a sexual assault. Please keep in mind that just because someone is accused, does not make them guilty. Keep in mind that some situations are muddled and some people are muddled. Keep in mind that people at the gathering do mind altering substances that complicate people's perceptions, emotions, and actions. Keep in mind that this is tough stuff to deal with but the more we address it the better we all get at it.

However, we can't forget about the "Community."  The gathering is a community and when ever someone feels they have been sexually assaulted, the community suffers as well.

Please note I use the phrase "feels they have been sexually assaulted" not to dismisses the incident as unreal, but to honor the feelings of the victim.


When Sexual Assault Happens

If you feel you have been sexually assaulted, I strongly encourage you to seek assistance but I understand that you have the right to handle the situation in the way that works best for you (short of inciting violence).   My personal recommendations are that you confide in a close friend, talk to a trusted gatherer, and/or visit CALM, INFO, or one of the many camps with strong, peaceful and experienced family.  If you are new to the gathering, CALM and INFO are safe spaces with experienced gatherers who can support you.  If you are in immediate danger, please yell SHANTI SENA as loud as you can and family will be there to help you.


If someone you knows feels that they have been sexually assaulted, please lend an ear and ask them what kind of support you can provide. Ask the person if they are physically injured, have a safe place to stay, get them medical care if it is needed and wanted, and/or talk to someone else about the situation while maintaining everyone's privacy.  Anytime an accusation of sexual assault it made, the community needs to address it at some level.

So what next?

As with most gathering related issues, calling a circle is always a good option. Including a wide range of gatherers in the circle is always important. When we put our hearts together, the path forward will unfold our collective wisdom. This doesn't mean you need a circle in Main Meadow open to every gatherer.  Sometimes counciling in a remote calm space helps everyone listen from their hearts. In fact, many of these councils I have attended have been in somewhat private areas to help everyone feel safe.

Who participates?

In my opinion, both victim and suspect need to be included in a circle if they are willing. This doesn't have to mean the same circle although it can. There can be one circle for the victim and one for the suspect. Sometimes these circles are five or six people, sometimes they are twenty-five people. However, we always want to maintain the victim's privacy if the victim wants it maintained.

Having circles is important even if the victim and the suspect have no interest in participating.  When someone is sexually assaulted at the gathering, each and every one of us have been violated on some level and we need to address the situation. We address things by circling together and listening from our hearts. Circling can help us all increase our awareness, learn new strategies to prevent sexual assault in our community, and create the culture of caring which so many of us believe in deeply.

What happens in the circle?

No two situations are the same. No two circles are the same. I have experienced victim's tears, my own tear's, anger, lynch mob mentality (we are better than violence), people cross-examining victims / suspects / other gatherers. I've seen an accused wave a knife in people's faces. I've prayed with indigenous grandmothers. I've seen fights break out and get shut down quickly. I've experienced an emotional roller coaster and felt calm and focused.  I've experienced many people not wanting to press charges, but the circle asking the accused to leave the gathering and not return until they have learned the walk of peace and love. I've turned the accused over to the sheriff and cried about the lack of perfect justice in the world.

I've seen sister only and brother only circles when the assault took place between a sister and a brother. I've seen multi-gendered circles address the situation.

When we can circle with vulnerability and love, the universe generally reveals a path forward. Now I'm not saying the path forward is perfect, but finding a peaceful path forward for the victim, the accused, and the community is where the healing begins. I do not believe that using violence to address violence creates peace in this world.

No matter what else is happening, we respect the wishes of the victim (short of inciting violence) and protect the suspect from those whose journey on the peace way is a bit shaky.  Just to repeat: we protect the suspect from harm.

Keep in mind that just because you think you know who the accused is, doesn't mean you won't mix up that person with another random gatherer.  How many of you were in Wyoming in 2008? I walked a mother around the gathering for three days looking for her son. Many gatherers swore they had seen him last night, at the shitter, at dinner circle, etc.  Unbeknownst to anyone, he had been dead for at least a week before people "met him."

Violence never makes the less conscious more conscious. 

What about legal action?

Anytime someone is a victim of any crime at a gathering, they have the right to press charges against the suspect.   If the victim wants to press charges, we (meaning the gatherers on the land excluding Forest Service Personnel) need to call the local Sheriff and ask for the sheriff or the deputy to come take a statement.  If we have identified the suspect, we peacefully escort the suspect to the sheriff and/or deputies.  We should NEVER hit, harm, take property or be hateful to a suspect.  Be the love you want to see in this world. It's easy to love people who are kind. It's hard to love those who are less kind. Hating people does not increase the level of love in the world.  Hating people does not make the situation any better.  Hate does not erase what happened.

Other options

Sometimes we have a person who refuses to leave the gathering when asked by many people.

One good option is for peaceful people to supervise that person's every move. Following them around while keeping a respectful distance is important. Sitting outside the person's tent at night is important. With a 24-hour peaceful escort, many people decide they want to leave the gathering.

Giving someone green energy to help them get down the road can help.  Gas money or a ride to the nearest Greyhound station is one way to encourage someone to leave.

Healing circles with the accused can sometimes help someone learn new behavior if they are done in a respectful fashion with positive intentions and if the accused is open to learning from their mistakes. Many people come home attracted by new ideas and are willing to grow and learn and change their paradigm. We all can use some paradigm shifting.

Preventative Actions

I'm a firm believer that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In my blog post on Shanti Sena Basics I cover a lot of pro-active steps every gatherer can take to increase the peace and safety of each and every one of us. But the single most important part of creating gatherings where sexual assault does not  happen is to build our communities, connect with each other, and be our siblings' keepers.

Peace is a journey, not a destination