May 19, 2023
by Joan Botto, (first published on the Friends General Conference website)
Asma arrived at her first Gathering in 2022 after driving 10 hours with Friends from her monthly meeting in Florida to Radford University in Virginia.
“I was excited to meet people I didn’t know and who didn’t know me. We were in dorm rooms, as if we were in college. I was independent.”
During the day, the Gathering’s Young Adults and Youth (YAY) High School Program was filled with activities, games, a support group, and a multi-day anti-racism workshop. During the workshop, Asma and her small group drew “what a good neighborhood would look like.”
“We talked about what we wanted to see—equality, energy alternatives. Then we discussed how we could make it happen. The facilitator asked questions to help us explore challenges. We talked about power structures and how they appear in the education and justice systems, and how they contribute to racial injustice.”
For Asma, this was the first time she was in such a large group of Quakers.
“For some reason I feel like I’m in this bubble and Quakers are only where I live, but I met Quakers from across the United States.” She found it “fulfilling to talk with Friends who have had more life experiences than me and are also interested in learning from my generation. The youth coordinators were wonderful and made a very comfortable space for us.”
When reflecting on YAY, Asma feels grateful “for all the people I met and the experiences I had. And I’m grateful to everyone who organized this Gathering during such a stressful year. YAY has helped me be more sensitive to people’s feelings. For example, even when we’re being fun-loving, there are vulnerable moments. We talked about hard things. Some people can feel left out in a large group. I learned that you have to do as much as you can to help people feel included. You have to make the effort.”
