by Peter Jarrett, co-chair of the Social Action Committee

The EUU Social Action Committee (SAC) held its usual monthly meeting on January 22.

It was proposed that we not give so many small donations as we did in 2024. One member suggested that something between 500 and 1000 euros per donation might be optimal.

Martha Hicks, the long-time former editor of the Unifier, has proposed to self publish the set of all her newsletter articles from the Unifier and sell them to interested EUU Members. This could generate a further source of revenue for the SAC, as would the usual offering at the Saarbrücken retreat.

Discussion focused on a project run by a French NGO with which special guest Laurie Underwood (former Secretary of UUFP, now residing in Toulouse) has been associated for about a year. It teaches about 120 young female Afghan students English online so that they can move into higher education online with or without TOEFL qualification. It provides cell phones and internet subscriptions where needed, as well as conversation partners. Activities include Hang Out with Me (where they tour interesting places to show the students what life is like in the West), Master classes where teachers have special skills and talents that they share, as well as fundraising by producing a cookbook that will be sold to interested parties. The committee was enthusiastic about the project and asked Laurie to look into the possibility of expanding EUU support to include other modes of cooperation than merely a donation – such as conversation partners. She agreed to get back to us.

Subsequently she learned that the NGO is unwilling to take donations directly from religious organizations, and after an email discussion with the EUU Coordinating Council, it was decided that EUU members should be encouraged to support the project as individuals, but that EUU will not donate as an organization. If you are interested in learning more about the project and how to do more yourself, please write to SocialAction@europeanuu.org.

A couple of projects have also been identified in the Cologne region. One, called Handwerkerinnenhaus, provides rudimentary woodworking skills and summer camps to girls who have been struggling in school or are recent immigrants. A committee member agreed to try to visit the site and speak to a representative. A second NGO, called Simon Batta Jugendcoaching, which provides individual youth coaching and parental counseling and crisis intervention, might also be of interest.

Finally, we mentioned the French animal welfare NGO l214, and members were asked to give it a look.

Discussion then turned to the annual Transylvanian student visit. The Retreat Committee will be reminded to reserve three beds for the visitors in the spring (at the time of our meeting, it looked like there would be no Fall retreat), and we will contact Maria (in Cluj) to launch the process of identifying the two students and to book their transport to Saarbrücken for the relevant dates.

The next meeting was set for Wednesday February 19 at 7:30 on Zoom. Interested EUU members are invited to join the meeting. Write to SocialAction@europeanuu.org to get the Zoom link.