National Dewan E-News #15
July, 2012
From the National Committee
Items in this E-News
New National Committee and Board Members
2012 Subud USA Bylaws Approved
Summary of Resolutions Passed at the National Congress
Results of Raffle, Silent Auction, and Gift Shop
National Office Move Update
Administrative Assistant Still Needed
News from Susila Dharma USA
Fasting
National Helper Liaisons
Subud Educator’s Group Listserv
Zone 7 Initiative for Cuba
Subud International Cultural Association Peace Initiative
New National Committee and Board Members: Much news has already been sent out, but for anyone who hasn’t yet heard, the new members of the Subud USA National Dewan are as follows:
Chair: Shoshanah Margolin (Chicago)
Vice Chair: Daniel Stralberg (Seattle)
Secretary: Hamidatun Karapetian (Los Angeles)
Treasurer: Morris McClellan (Portland)
(Committee Councilor Lucian Parshall continues for 2 more years)
Susila Dharma: Evan Padilla (Seattle)
Subud International Cultural Association-USA: Mhd. Isman Kanafsky (Monterey)
Subud Enterprise Services: Hanafi and Levana Fraval (Los Angeles)
Subud Youth Activities: Almut Zieher (Albuquerque), Andres Paglayan (Santa Fe)
Subud International Health Association-USA: Ann Padilla (Seattle)
New or Renewing SD-USA Board Members: John Schoenthaler, Evan Padilla, and Marilyn Schirk (They will join board members Lusijah Marx, Lucia Ryan, Rob Dodson, Michael Shaver, Hamid Alexander, Mardiyah Tarantino)
New or Renewing SICA-USA Board Members: Mhd. Isman Kanafsky, Leonard Dixon, Lorraine Tedrow, Peter and Alexandra ter Horst
These are in addition to the regional chairs now serving on the board:
East Coast: Amelia Casilli, provisional (Pittsburgh regional member)
Midwest: Mary Wold (Ohio regional member)
Rocky Mountains: Myrna Ramsey (Phoenix) -Elections for new chair in fall
South: John Schoenthaler (Dallas)
Pacific Northwest: Ramon (Seattle) – Elections for new chair in Sept.
California: Daniel Foster (Santa Cruz)
Pacific Islands: Daniel Murren (Oahu, Hawaii) – Elections for new chair in August
2012 Subud USA Bylaws Approved: The revised bylaws worked on since 2006 by past committees, by a Bylaws Subcommittee, by a specially created Governance Committee, by pre-congress working parties, and by working parties set up at the National Congress have been passed and adopted. One of a number of changes approved is giving the secretary and treasurer of the national committee a vote on the Board of Directors.
Summary of Resolutions Passed at the National Congress (brief description only):
1. Space being rented by Subud USA in the Washington DC house is for a national office, not a national center.
2. Create a subcommittee to examine the congress delegate system currently in place.
3. Terms of office for the officers of the association be examined at a later date, after efficacy of the Executive Director has been determined.
4. Further develop continuity by examining staggered and longer terms for regional representatives/chairs.
5. The national Board of Directors include all ex-officio (non-voting) members in informing them of all aspects of Board activity with the exception of executive sessions.
Results of Raffle, Silent Auction, and Gift Shop: Mary Bond (Los Angeles) was the winner of a free registration to the International Congress in Puebla, Mexico in 2014. The gross amount raised from this fundraiser was approximately $2500. The silent auction coordinated by Sonya Shooshan (thank you Sonya!) took in approximately $1000 for the Subud USA general fund. The congress gift shop apportioned about $500 to Subud USA. We won’t know the amount of profit, if any, from the National Congress until later in the month.
National Office Move Update: One shipment of seven boxes has been delivered and arrived safely. Another will be sent this week. The last shipment of current files will be sent at the end of the month. Susila Dharma and Subud USA have signed an agreement to share the temporary office space in the Twin Oaks house that is next door to the property owned by Washington DC for the construction of their center. After August 1, mail should be sent to 4216 Howard Road, Beltsville, MD 20705 (new phone number to be announced soon and operational on August 1). A team of volunteers will assist both Subud USA and SD USA until one or two Administrative Assistants are hired. Oswald Norton, Executive Director, will be traveling to the temporary office at the beginning of August to help set up the electronic technology.
Administrative Assistant Still Needed: We are still searching for a part-time employee for the national office. Several people were interviewed, but the right person has not yet been found. There are definite possibilities that whomever becomes the new AA will have the opportunity of adding additional hours; Susila Dharma is currently looking for an AA and the Washington DC center will eventually need a site manager.
News from Susila Dharma USA: Fredrick Branchflower received the Humanitarian Award for his years of service to Susila Dharma and involvement with a number of social projects including recently one for homeless people in his area. The matching fund of $2000 from Subud Portland yielded over $6000 to help support humanitarian projects nationally and internationally.
Fasting: Many of us in Subud fast during the month of Ramadan whether we are of the Islamic faith or not. According the www.moonsighting.com , the 30-day fast in North America begins on the evening of July 19 (Thursday) and ends the evening of August 18 (Saturday). The feast celebrating the end of the fast (in Islam called Idul-Fitr) is on Sunday, August 19. More information about this is forthcoming. In Ibu Rahayu’s words,
“But perhaps some of you are not Muslims, or of the Islamic faith, yet you fast too. It is normal for Subud members from other religions, in Indonesia and overseas, to do so, because when we look at or consider the fast from a spiritual perspective, it is a beneficial training for the human soul. This is because through fasting we have the chance to know or feel our true self. By this I mean that when we fast we separate from our desires, we work to set aside our desires. It is as if our desires are before us, they are in front of us.”
National Helper Liaisons: Pairs of National Helpers liaise with regional dewans, wings, and various committees. Here is the current list of their major liaison responsibilities (not including back ups):
Regions:
Pacific Islands: Suzanne Renna and Humphrey Williams
Pacific North West: Suzanne Renna and Sjarifuddin Harris
California: Aminah Ulmer and Sjarifuddin Harris
Rocky Mountain: Laurie Lathrop and Humphrey Williams
Subud South: Alexandra Boyer and Humphrey Williams
Midwest: Laurie Lathrop and Hoan Toan Phan
Subud East Coast: Alexandra Boyer and Hoan Toan Phan
Wings:
SICA: Aminah Ulmer and Humphrey Williams
SD: Suzanne Renna and Hoan Toan Phan
SIHA: Aminah Ulmer and Sjarifuddin Harris
SES: Alexandra Boyer and Humphrey Williams
SYA: Suzanne Renna and Sjarifuddin Harris
Member Care: Aminah Ulmer and Sjarifuddin Harris
Joint Wings: Alexandra Boyer and Sjarifuddin Harris
Congress Planning: Aminah Ulmer and Sjarifuddin Harris
Other:
Zone 7: Laurie Lathrop and Hoan Toan Phan .
National Committee: Laurie Lathrop and Hoan Toan Phan .
Kejiwaan Councilors: Laurie Lathrop and Hoan Toan Phan
Subud Educator’s Group Listserver: The activities of Subud Educators at the national congress will surely result in more activity on the Subud Educators listserver. If you would like to be added, please send an e-mail to melinda.wallis@gmail.com There are already 79 educators there from around the world.
Zone 7 Initiative for Cuba: The Zone 7 Council had a two day meeting at the America’s Gathering in Vancouver. Canada, Mexico, Suriname and USA were all represented. It was determined that travel funds set aside for representatives from Cuba could be better used in Cuba for internal travel. The IHs provided a more extensive report on the challenges facing our brothers and sisters in Cuba, including government recognition, isolation, and working with helpers. This prompted an extensive discussion on what the Z7 Council could do for Cuba that was more practical. Council members had a broad discussion, the outcome being that Zone 7 will budget $1,000 to make copies of Subud material (already translated into Spanish) and mail the material to Cuba. Our sister from Mexico will gather the material and reproduce it and Hardwin along with the IHs will work with our Cuban members to get copies into the hands of its membership.
Subud International Cultural Association Peace Initiative: SICA is inviting you to publicly recite/share a POEM FOR PEACE (your own original or a favorite) at DAWN and at DUSK on September 21, 2012 — wherever you are in the world. Gather friends together and share together. It will be the SICA contribution to celebrate Peace.
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What is Subud? See www.subudusa.org
Subud USA, 14019 NE 8th St #A,Bellevue, WA 98007
425-643-1904