Sojourner Truth Farm School - Our Vision and Goals

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We believe that young people act and interact differently when exposed to a rural setting and natural order; therefore our aim is to provide this opportunity for them by offering seasonal sessions in basic agricultural skills and care for all living things.

We believe that the principles that guide basic garden cultivation skills are the same principles that guide cultivation of the self and human spirit, namely preparation, nourishment, and ongoing care; therefore we aim to provide this instruction for the youth in a hands-on way and eventually with the guidance of a series of our own booklets.

We believe that the reason many youth lack knowledge of themselves and their place in history is because they do not know or understand the past, thus leading to a confused present and blurred future; therefore as a reading and instructional component of our program, we aim to provide them with an accurate historical analysis of the American experience in particular and world history in general, including all perspectives, such as Indigenous Africentric, Latino, etc and not Eurocentric only.

We believe that many youth experience anger, frustration and stress today because of home and cultural factors, and often they can channel these emotions into activities such as sports, music, chess, etc; therefore we aim to provide a musical component which will offer instruction and opportunity to perform in the school's choral group and rappers group.

We believe each generation has an historical obligation and that when one has acquired certain skills and knowledge, they should be shared; therefore, in keeping with the purpose of establishing peace and eliminating conflict, we aim to equip our youth with the skills and desire to return to urban neighborhoods and initiate a Gardens of Peace project, i.e., turning open vacant unused lots into gardens where peace will be maintained with the help of older volunteers and produce will be shared with the community, especially seniors and the homeless.

We believe that we have an obligation to those incarcerated in the U.S. prison system; therefore, since numbers of youth are already involved with the criminal justice system and may be headed towards prison, we aim to provide a prison outreach service.

We aim to communicate through our newsletter "Earthways."

Dr. Dorothy Blake Fardan, P.O. Box 311, Poolesville, Maryland. 20837.
dfardan@sojournerppn.org
Phone: (301) 860-3105.
(301) 407-0451