God calls us

to the riGht sharinG of

world resources,

from the burdens of

materialism and poverty into

the abundance of God’s love,

to work for equity throuGh

partnership with our sisters

and brothers throuGhout

the world.

second quarter, 2012volume XXXiX, number 21

editor: sylvia Graves

www.rswr.org

OF WORLD RESOURCESOF WORLD RESOURCES

david camp

rosemary coffey – recordinG clerk

mary lee comer – clerk

karen Grisez

lucretia humphrey

John norris

kent simmonds

John smallwood – treasurer

lynne sootheran

cynthia steele

emily stewart

linnea wanG

wilbur wood

Jean yeaGer

Right Sharing of World Resources is a Quaker organization which supports grassroots income-generating projects in the developing world and encourages economic discipleship in the United States.

Hello Friends oF rswr!It has been my privilege to serve since

early February as the interim link between Roland Kreager and the newly hired General Secretary, Betty Tonsing. When Roland moved on to different ministry in Cincinnati, my desire was to honor his 19 years of very effec-tive leadership by doing what I could to help with a smooth transition for the organization. Not only has Roland been a good friend to me, but RSWR is an organization that is dear to my heart. So, when the board invited me to help out for a few months, I gladly accepted. I can testify that I found things at RSWR in good order (which I expected), but it was also obvious that Roland had given much attention to paving the way ahead as RSWR took on new leadership. Cindi Goslee, the RSWR Program Director, has also left and will be expanding her counseling ministry. She, too, felt strongly committed to a smooth transition and did for RSWR all she could to assure success for the person who comes to do the work that was hers. Sarah Northrop, the administrative assistant, has been a cheerful and steady presence in the office, for which we are all grateful.

It’s not that we haven’t had some hic-cups. Months before Roland left, he had been in on the discussion about moving to a different office space in the Friends United Meeting building. And he had made plans to upgrade to a new network server. So, it seemed that while transitions in staff were happening, we might as well

make those office location and technologi-cal changes at the same time. Then, just a few days after the move, we hosted the Spring meeting of the RSWR Board of Directors right there in Richmond. So, it has been a bit of a challenge. But, it won’t

be long before things settle in and our new general secretary finds the most ef-ficient ways to get her work done on your behalf. We appreciate your patience. If you have tried to contact the office and did not get the response you needed,

please try again. This newsletter will include an intro-

duction of RSWR’s new general secretary, Betty Tonsing. We will also feature some highlights of the RSWR May Board meet-ing and reflections from some recent visits to RSWR projects in Kenya. We will also begin the first of several upcoming articles written by members of our RSWR Board of Directors. It’s likely that this issue and others in the future will look different than we are used to. You are welcome to let this office know your ideas about what you would like to see in your upcoming quarterly communication.

Thank you for your interest and participation in Right Sharing of World Resources. We are so glad for your help! I’ll continue helping, too, but have handed the office keys, desk and chair to Betty. May God continue to bless the givers and the receivers in this empowering ministry.

Sylvia GravesInterim General Secretary

this newsletter will include an

introduction of rswr’s new

General secretary, betty tonsinG.

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“I can’t think of a more perfect job!” said Betty Tonsing to the interview team as her enthusiasm danced in her blue eyes. What Betty meant is

that her life experi-ences which have been packed full of global work and study, along with her passion for so-cial and economic justice, she believed, made for a very good fit with the mission and work of Right Sharing of World Resources.

Betty received her PhD in History at Rhodes University in South Africa. She

has worked for the United Nations, USAid, and the Catholic Relief Services. Including her time for study in South Africa, she has spent thirteen

years overseas serving in areas of education, family/women’s issues, and in not-for-profit organizations in Lesotho, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, England, France, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, Mexico and Malawi. She is a Fulbright Scholar and has written several publications, including a book titled Quakers in South Africa: a Social Witness, published by Mellen Press. She has been an adjunct professor at Indiana University South Bend. Betty also has extensive management and fund raising experience.

Betty’s children were adopted from Taiwan. Her daughter is currently in a graduate medical program in Indianapolis and her son is doing graduate study in Lafayette. Sadly, Betty’s husband George, a life-long Quaker, passed away just days before she began her work at RSWR. She has relocated from South Bend to Greenfield, Indiana. Betty is eager to get beyond the initial learning challenges that come with a new job so that her energy can be spent on implementing the goals of the organization. She is also eager to get acquainted with you, the donors, who make up the backbone of the Right Sharing ministry. Welcome, Betty!

introducing Betty tonsing

Betty Tonsing

Board MeMBers Begin a new cHapter in rswr History

Oh, how you would have loved to hear the RSWR board members as they introduced them-selves to Betty Tonsing, our new General Secretary, at our May board meeting! Not only were they asked to tell about the ways they can be helpful to the board but they were invited to share their global experiences and what motivates them to serve on the board.

We heard accounts of visits and extended work terms not only in countries where RSWR projects are located (Sierra Leone, Kenya and India) but we learned about experiences board members have had in the USSR, Ghana, Malta, Egypt, Japan, China, Central America, Brazil, Germany, France, Wales, Fiji, and more. Two board members served in the Peace Corp. Another has experience with the U.S. immigration process. Others have had careers related to domestic violence, mediation, interracial relations and peace education. We were thrilled to

hear from three board members who had just re-turned from attending the FWCC World Gathering in Nakuru, Kenya.

Many individuals spoke about how they came to be Quakers and how they feel called to the work of Right Sharing. Some expressed that they own RSWR as a very suitable and personal channel for living out the testimonies of Friends for them. Several have served on boards of other Friends or-ganizations such as Friends World Committee for Consultation, American Friends Service Committee and Friends United Meeting.

One unexpected commonality was that most board members are musicians! Perhaps in future meetings there will be time for some after-dinner jammin’ with the RSWR ensemble!

We’re glad to be welcoming four new board members who will attend their first meeting in October: Beth Henricks from Western YM, Bruce

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Birchard and David Camp from Philadelphia YM, and Roger Conant of New England YM. These Friends will add even more expertise, global experience and passion for the work of Right Sharing.

Some of the highlights from the business session of the board are:• Inlightoftherecentfundrais-

ing campaign and leadership transitions, the board spent considerable time in identify-ing strengths, opportunities, & aspirations that will be part of future planning.

• Suchgoverningmatters as theprocess to name officers and new board members were more clearly defined.

• Positive financial re-views have been con-ducted annually, but it was agreed to hire an auditing firm to be-gin with 2011 finances. Many grant applications require audited finan-cial statements and the RSWR board wants to position itself to apply for grants. It was also approved to change the fiscal year from January 1 – December 31 to July –June 30, beginning in 2013.

• Astatementofaccount-ability was approved and will be made available on the website.

• Itwasapprovedtoaward$66,000ingrantsthis funding cycle. The following projects were selected from approximately 200 applications and include two that are continuing projects.

in india:Association for Needy People Guidance of Economic

and Literacy, mat weaving, cotton weaving and terra cotta toys

Atshayaa Grama Mahalir Munnetra Sangam, Includes training for marketing tea, snacks, vegetables and for tailoring

Children Watch , brick making to ben-ef i t educat ion centers for chi ldren Grace Trust, small business management training with six groups that include tailoring, Cheese/milk sales, calf rearing, mushroom cultivation, clothing sales.

People Living with HIV/AIDS Welfare Trust, AIDS victims can participate in four initiatives: thatch making, petty shop, flower garlands, goat rearing

Rural Woman’s Development Trust, cane furniture production

Social Awareness and Female Education Develop-ment Society, Women will form a federation

The Shikulu women show John Norris their vegetable garden.

Agnes Godeka of the Shikulu women’s group demonstrates how she makes a table cloth to sell.

The chair of the Shikulu Women’s Group, Grace, shows how arrow roots are planted.

4

for the development of business in dairy, jasmine, sheep, and vegetable

Success Trust, production of farm produce and animal husbandry

Women Empowerment and Development Trust, train-ing on dairy and animal husbandry and compost making

Women’s Solidarity Foundation, dairy establish-ment

in sierra leone:Grassroot Women’s Association, food production

and marketingKumbehun Farmers Association, women farmers

who are extremely poor and walk miles to the nearest market to sell their produce

in Kenya: Kimabole Friends Women Group, vegetable grow-

ing and poultryMalinda Friends Women Group, Tree nurseries,

poultry, cabbages & tomatoesSirisia Friends Church Women, Production of poul-

try, cabbage, tomatoes, maize & beans

These mushrooms are ready for harvesting.

Mama Baraza and Stellah Naliaka takes the visitors through the steps of mushroom growing.

5

MiniMize your stuFF, MaxiMize your giFtFroM Board MeMBer Kent sootHeran, decoraH, iowa

families. At the May meeting, for a variety of reasons we will again turn down many wor-thy applications due to lack of funds.

I am aware that this particular way of sharing rightly the world’s resource is not the only way of doing so. There are many, many ways of address-ing the injustices and inequities and miseries that afflict the world. Friends (Quakers) are not the only ones who know well how to mend the world. RSWR won’t prevent the collapse of the planet’s biodiversity, but it does work to enable those who are caught in this collapse to address their condition.

So, unaccustomed as I am to such invi-tations, this clearly is my invitation to you to consider supporting this work with me. Lynne (editor’s note: Lynne is Kent’s wife who is also on the RSWR board) and I have decided to bracket our traditional financial support of a myriad of many and varied well-deserving organizations. Instead,

we are putting almost our entire available financial resources toward supporting the work of RSWR. We feel confident that this is a suitable decision for our consciences. I do not, of course, have any idea what the most suitable decision might be for your consciences. If I can be of any help to you in this, do not hesitate to ask.”

–Kent Sootheran

“I am in the process of focusing my principal energies toward inviting, welcoming, encouraging, and enabling myself and others to learn better how to share rightly the world’s resources. For almost forty years I have recognized Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) as an institution, a program, and a practice that transfers funds from those who have more than sufficient for their needs to those who have less than sufficient for their needs. RSWR provides grants to partners who practice micro-credit loans to women who are too poor to provide capital for sustainable income generating projects, but who have already the skills necessary (or at least the capacity to develop the skills) for cooperating with others in the village in a business venture.

As important as anything in this practice is the work of grounding this transfer of funds in the love of those who give and deepening the love of those who receive. Indeed I think of this transfer as a sharing of Love, visibly expressed in the joy of those who extend themselves to some of the poorest of poor women as well as in the growing gladness of those who are enabled, mostly for the first time in their lives, to provide sufficiently and sustainably for their families’ needs. Of course, it doesn’t always work perfectly. But I am amazed how often the stories seem so beautiful.

RSWR has come a long way in developing useful part-nerships with the poorest of poor women in the world since its beginning forty years ago. In recent years, we have hired staff in India, Kenya and Sierra Leone to help women develop their skills in organizing and managing their projects.

As I participated in a Board meeting for the first time in October of 2011, I learned how many projects remain unfunded, how many more poor remain without the grants that enable them to develop sustainable means of providing for their

“i am in the process of focusinG my

principal enerGies toward invitinG,

welcominG, encouraGinG, and

enablinG myself and others to

learn better how to share riGhtly

the world’s resources.”

“as important as anythinG in this practice is the

work of GroundinG this transfer of funds in the love of those who Give

and deepeninG the love of those who receive. indeed i think of this transfer as

a sharinG of love...”

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It was opening day of the 2012 Major League baseball season when Carl Berkhout of the Vander-zyen Sports Card Company picked up RSWR board member Jean Yeager’s collection of more than 5,000 sports cards. Some of the cards were clearly old and valuable, as Yeager had been collecting them for more than 50 years.

“It started as a 10-year-old boy’s collection in the 1950’s and grew from there. Over the years, I acquired quite a number of cards, some of which were worth a lot,” said Yeager. “My idea now is for Carl to sell the collection over time, so that I can free the financial value locked in the cards and make a gift of those funds to Right Sharing of World Resources.”

“Selling my collection is not about sacrific-ing anything,” he added. “It’s about transforming cardboard into capital and capital into micro-grants

that create change half way around the world. I am always amazed by how very tiny bit of capital can make a significant difference.”

Each year RSWR has more proposals that it can fund. We depend on our field staff in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and south India to generate valid proposals, conduct capacity-building workshops, monitor the project’s progress and gather reports at the end of the grant period. Our field staff offers training for the poor and helps them develop a vision of community and commitment to peace and justice.

Might you have a collection that would be worth something to Right Sharing? Perhaps you, like Jean, are downsizing and can’t take everything with you to your new home. Think about what you might sell to clear up your clutter! Using the proceeds to help support RSWR becomes a win-win situation for everybody.

wHat’s in YOUR closet?

on tHe ground, Feeling tHe HopeIt was a special opportunity for John Norris to visit some of the Kenyan

RSWR projects following the FWCC World Gathering. He is pictured here with Ababu Samson, RSWR Field Staff, and other members of the tour group: Lucy Fullerton from Seattle, WA, Susan Greenler from Stoughton, WI, Deborah Lewis from Port Townsend, WA, and Kerstin Reimers of Bat-tery Point, Australia.

Samson reports that the tour was “fruitful.” He was pleased that the group, after spending three days visiting projects, concluded its mission “safe, secure and in one spirit.” Besides visiting the projects the visitors also had time to interact with locals in the African villages, experiencing a broad cross-cultural exchange. Photos scattered through this newsletter are some of the images Samson took during the tour.

staMp out povertyMany of you have been saving and sending postage stamps to RSWR. Our office receives colorful and

unique stamps from India, Sierra Leone and Kenya on project applications. Recently, our “Stamp Manager” Earl Walker called the office to encourage a larger participation in this effort to collect stamps. But, he says he is looking for more than just stamps. Domestic stamps attached to envelopes prior to 1940 have value. Post cards (new and used with stamp attached) from the U.S. and from foreign countries as well as old birthday cards, get-well cards and special occasion cards from the 1930’s and before are valuable as well.

What does Earl do with what we send him? He sells them to dealers and returns 100% of what he earnsbacktothreeFriends’organization,includingRSWR.Hejustsenttoourofficeacheckfor$400,which he does perhaps quarterly. Continued on next page

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How to support rigHt sHaring

FinanciallyMAKE A ONE-TIME GIFT

A) Mail (mail-in form provided); B) On-line (www.rswr.org); C) IRA distribution; D) Stocks and bonds. Contact the RSWR office for details.

MAKE A GIFT WHICH PROVIDES AN INCOME TO YOU

Charitable Gift Annuities are available, done in co-ordination with the Friends Fiduciary Corporation.

MAKE A DEFERRED GIFTA) Make a bequest (include RSWR in your will); B) Designate RSWR has a beneficiary of your life insurance; C) Designate RSWR as a beneficiary of your retirement plan (annuity, pension, Keogh, 401-k, 403-b, or IRA).

BECOME A RSWR REGULAR DONORYourgift(ofatleast$10)canbemadetoRSWRregularly (monthly, quarterly, or other donor-definition). Such gifts can be made be either a withdrawal from your checking or savings account, or your credit card (Mastercard, Visa, Discover). Visit the “Donors” tab of the RSWR website for information, and to become a regular donor.

MAKE AN INTEREST-FREE LOANLoans can be recalled within 30 or 180 days. Current interest-free loans provided RSWR with

$4,160in2011.ContacttheRSWRoffice,orseethe website, for details and a loan form.

special events and activitiesHOST A RSWR PRESENTATION

RSWR staff are available for presentations on Right Sharing’s grant-making work, simplicity as a spiritual discipline, and Sabbath economics.

SAVE STAMPSStamps should be sent to Earl Walker (Quaker Missions West), Claremont Friends Meeting, 449 Alamosa Drive, Claremont, CA 91711. This project, and its predecessor, Quaker Missions, hasprovidedover$50,000toRSWRandotherQuaker organizations.

REMEMBER RSWR AT SPECIAL TIMES In lieu of gifts at Christmas, birthdays, marriages, or other special times, ask that a gift be made to RSWR. Make a gift to RSWR in honor of the life of a person who has recently died. Cards are available on-line or via the office.

HAVE A SIMPLE MEALContact the RSWR office or RSWR website for resources to do a Simple Meal. The Simple Meal is a wonderful way to have fun raising money and awareness at the same time.

rswr projects around tHe world

india

Kenya

sierra leone

And, if you don’t col-lect Box Tops for Educa-tion for your children and grandchildren’s school, please collect them for Earl who will donate them to Whittier Friends School in California. He says 10,000 box tops would pay the tuition of a new student for a year.

You can send these collectable stamps, en-velopes and cards to the RSWR office at 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Rich-mond, Indiana 47374, or directly to Earl Walker at 449 Alamosa Drive, Claremont, CA 91711. Thank you!!!

tHanK you!Right Sharing of World

Resources is a program which is “owned” by many people. The Committee and staff have certain responsibilities but the program would not be successful if it were not for contributors, people who send in ideas and those who are critical or give encouragement. Your suggestions and comments are welcome.

Name _________________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________

City __________________________________________________________________

State ______________________________________Zip _________________________

Email _________________________________________________________________

Yearly Meeting __________________________________________________________

RIGHT SHARING OF WORLD RESOURCES projects are supported by individuals, monthly meetings and yearly meetings. Contributions are tax-deductible in the USA and may be sent through your own meeting or church or directly .....Right Sharing General Secretary and newsletter editor: Betty Tonsing.

to our donorsApproved project support for 2012 totals 225,000. We currently have 33 project partners, and welcome your gifts to meet the needs of all of these projects. For a complete list of these projects, and a description of their work, go to the RSWR website. Meetings and churches which would like to be involved in any special way with any of the projects should contact:

Betty Tonsing General Secretary 101 Quaker Hill Drive Richmond, IN 47374 765.966.0314765.966.0325(fax)bettytonsing@rswr.org

Right Sharing News is available via email. Contact the RSWR office to request an electronic version (PDF format) of the newsletter.

i would liKe inForMation aBout:q Becoming a regular donor q Planned giving (annuities and bequests) q Making a gift of stock q Making an interest-free loan

rigHt sHaring news101 QuaKer Hill drive

ricHMond, in 47374

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PAIDPERMIT NO. 7312CINCINNATI, OH

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