We arrived to Columbus Saturday morning, with thousands of others who had come for the 18th annual School of the Americas Watch vigil. Estimates of the crowd this year are at 25,000! We set up our tables and the Cost of War banners, but decided it would not be possible to set the boots up with everything else that was going on. We spent the day talking to hundreds of people who were interested in the work of AFSC and GPJC. The Cost of War banners were a big hit and we gave out hundreds of Cost of War brochures. Everyone agreed that having a clear breakdown of how much we are spending on one day of the war in Iraq ($720 million!!) and how that money could be spent domestically (for example, 423,529 children with healthcare) is a great resource. We also invited Georgia activists to our meeting later that night.
Due to a misunderstanding when I booked out hotel "suite" we ended up holding our GPJC Statewide Meet and Greet in the lobby area of the Econo Lodge in downtown Columbus. We had about 20 people show up and it was a nice relaxing time to hear about work around the state and for us to give a quick report on the tour. We also made a great connection with a member of the Columbus Peace and Justice Coalition. We look forward to continuing to work together in the future.
Witt played a song to give folks a taste of the tour.
After the meeting was over we were all so tired that we worked on the blog for a while and then called it a night.
Christina Repoley
AFSC/ GPJC
Photo by Al Viola
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