Lori
Way of Fort Wayne, Indiana sent us this message regarding her efforts
to help organize Six Days of Seva to remember the six individuals who
were killed in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012.
"Our
acts of seva are not for one community or another. They are for the
greater sangat of our future, in which we all hope to honor the words
of the mool mantar – nirbhau, nirvair – without fear and without
hatred."
Two years ago, a peaceful sangat in
Wisconsin, not unlike the one in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
was shattered by a man who feared and hated what he didn’t
understand. In honor of the victims of the Oak Creek gurudwara
massacre, the Sikh community of Fort Wayne organized a series of
events known as Six Days of Seva. The goal of these events was to
spread awareness of what happened to the six victims and pay tribute
to their lives, but it also allowed us to strengthen our bonds with
others in our own community.
There are two gurudwaras in the
area: the Dashmesh Sikh Gurudwara (located at 15020 Illinois Road,
Fort Wayne) and the Sikh Gurudwara of Fort Wayne (11431 Lower
Huntington Road, Roanoke, Indiana). Both gurudwaras were involved
with the events, and I also relied heavily on my friend, Carl
Jylland-Halverson, who is the chair of the psychology department at
the University of Saint Francis and a well-known human rights
advocate within the Fort Wayne area. Together, we were able to
network within our respective universities (USF and Ivy Tech
Community College) so that they were involved with the events as
well. I also have to thank my brother, Mark Rensberger, who lent his
considerable gardening talents to our rose planting projects.
-
In honor of Satwant Singh Kaleka, former Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
president and gas station owner, I approached our local gas station
owners with the idea of offering free coffee to customers from July
31st to August 5th. Carl and I distributed the free coffee coupons at
USF, Ivy Tech and another local campus, Indiana University-Purdue
University at Fort Wayne. The Offices of Diversity at USF and Ivy
Tech also distributed the coupons. My thanks to Aman Dasson,
Gurpinder Singh, Onkar Singh Mann, and Kulwinder Nagra for offering
free coffee at their locations.
- In honor of Suveg Singh
Kattra, an elder at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin who freely shared
his knowledge of Sikhi, I put together library displays at USF and
Ivy Tech which helped to tell not only the story of Oak Creek, but
also provided information on 1984 and the basics of the Sikh
religion. Preet Kaur from Taj Food and Gifts in Fort Wayne also let
us borrow items to be used in the USF display.
- In
honor of the brothers Ranjit Singh and Sita Singh, who had lived in
New Delhi prior to coming to the United States and had worked hard so
that their children could have a quality education, I sent a donation
for school supplies and art materials to a school in New Delhi. The
school had requested inexpensive cloth so that the students could
learn how to sew, and we ended up sending them six feet of cloth in
six colors. I also made book donations at Ivy Tech and USF, which
included generous donations from Harjit Kaur, Meeta Kaur, Simran
Kaur, Rajdeep Singh Jolly and Winty Singh of the Sikh Coalition.
-
In honor of Paramjit Kaur, who served her family and her sangat with
the meals she made with her own hands, we did a canned food drive at
the Dashmesh Sikh Gurudwara which benefited the Community Harvest
Food Bank of Fort Wayne. We ended up collecting two carloads by the
end of the night on August 5th – a total of 353 pounds of food!
-
In honor of Prakash Singh, a spiritual leader at the Sikh Temple of
Wisconsin who was known for the loving care in which he maintained
his gurudwara, we planted six roses at both gurudwaras. (Thanks to
Harjit for suggesting this activity.) The rose planting took place at
the Sikh Gurudwara of Fort Wayne on August 3rd after langar, and the
Dashmesh Sikh Gurudwara held their service on the night of August
5th.
I would like to publicly thank everyone who helped make
these events a success, including my family, the members of the
Dashmesh Sikh Gurudwara and the Sikh Gurudwara of Fort Wayne, the
Sikh Coalition, the staff of the University of Saint Francis and Ivy
Tech Community College. It was truly a team effort, and I appreciate
everyone who came forward to offer support.
My original vision
for the Six Days of Seva was to honor the contributions of the
victims individually, but as my planning progressed, I could see that
the days and events seemed to run together. What was intended for one
day was spread into six. It was as if the victims were trying to say
to me, “We lived as a sangat, we died as a sangat - remember us as
a sangat.” I can also see that each of these small projects have
built bridges between groups who had never considered working
together before.
Our acts of seva are not for one
community or another. They are for the greater sangat of our future,
in which we all hope to honor the words of the mool mantar –
nirbhau, nirvair – without fear and without hatred.
~ Lori
Way
Members of the Dashmesh Sikh Gurudwara at the rose
planting ceremony, August 5th, 2014 (photo by Lori Way).