Published: April 15, 2022
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Four dozen people attended (via Zoom) Julie Harlow’s presentation to Lopez Island Friends Meeting about Friends House Moscow on April 10, 2022. Julie is prepared and eager to share her knowledge, personal experiences, and insights about life in Russia with as many Friends as possible, so contact her today, and invite her to talk to your meeting:
Julie Harlow with Friends House Moscow: fhmus[at]sbcglobal[dot]net
Julie was in Russia when the Soviet government fell in 1991. One day she was in Leningrad, and the next day, she was instantly in St. Petersburg. She had spent the previous seven years leading tours of Russia for Friends and friends of Friends, carrying a traveling minute from Pacific Yearly Meeting.
Julie speaks with great empathy and knowledge about the general outlook of the Russian people, whose lives have been constricted by poverty, government corruption, and lawlessness, all of which have worsened dramatically since the fall of the Soviet Union. She speaks with equal empathy about the outlook of contemporary Ukrainians, whose culture was forcibly suppressed and “Russified” under Soviet authority, resulting in a “pressure cooker” of resentments among Ukrainians against ethnic Russians.
Friends House Moscow has been a candle in the dark in Russia for twenty-five years – sponsoring programs that provide material aid and education for orphans, offering workshops by the Alternatives to Violence Project, translating Quaker reading materials into Russian and publishing them, providing venues for worship, meditation, peaceful fellowship, and much more.
Invite Julie to talk to your Quaker meeting: fhmus[at]sbcglobal[dot]net