Katy Dickinson, Lee Satterfield, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022
As 2022 is ending, I have been reflecting on how busy these last few months have been. In October, I mentored the remarkable and inspiring TechWomen Team Tunisia, and was one of the 21 mentors honored by the U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for ten years’ service to the TechWomen program. (I was the TechWomen Process Architect 2010-2011, and have been a mentor each year since.) Also that month, my husband John Plocher said a fond goodbye to Apple, and started a new job at Ford Greenfield Labs.
Katy Dickinson, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022Katy Dickinson, TechWomen Honor, 20 October 2022Katy Dickinson, Tunisia TechWomen, 16 October 2022John Plocher with Ford Mach-E
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The lyrics of “When I’m Sixty-Four” by Paul McCartney of The Beatles start, “When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending me a Valentine, Birthday greetings bottle of wine. If I’d been out till quarter to three, Would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four?” Tonight, I end my Beatles Year!
I start my new half-decade tomorrow. Such a delightful adventure!Katy Dickinson 1957Katy Dickinson 1961Katy Dickinson 1967Wade, Eleanor, Mark, Peter, Katy Dickinson, Bachelor of Arts Commencement, University of California at Berkeley, 1979Katy Dickinson 1980Wade, Eleanor, Katy Dickinson with baby Jessica 1989Jessica and Paul, Nut Tree Railroad, 1995Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Wedding 2000Jessica and Matthew wedding 2011Jessica and Katy, Beirut, Lebanon, 2013Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Lalibela, Ethiopia 2014Katy and Jessica, Sierra Leone 2019Katy and Jessica, Horseshoe Bend, Arizona 2019Paul D Goodman and Katy Dickinson, Cielo Lodge, Golfito, Costa Rica, August 2021Graduate Theological Union, Master of Theology Commencement, 7 May 2022John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022
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I am proud of my daughter Jessica whose annual Yosemite camping trip for her Palestinian mentees has evolved into a TechWomen tradition. This year, there were enough mentors and mentees for two weekends. I was a driver last weekend, joining about thirty others – many of them camping for the first time. We stopped over in Columbia for lunch on the way to our campsite at Tuttletown. We had a lovely time getting to know each other, figuring out how to raise a tent, singing pop songs, and eating s’mores – and Safa of Libya got to touch a river for the first time ever!
TechWomen going camping, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Kate’s tea, Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen Jessica and Samantha, Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022sunset at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022sunrise at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022
TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East together with their professional counterparts in the United States for a mentorship and exchange program. I have been working with TechWomen since I helped to design it in 2010. Launched in 2011, TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
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TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022
Today was TechWomen Volunteer Day and twenty-three of us gathered at St. Stephen’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church – Community Garden in San Jose, California, to work together. We divided into three groups: the Hunters (looking for oak seedlings to pot), the Killers (taking down an oleander hedge), and the Diggers (making an accessible path for elder gardeners). We included technical leaders from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, some of whom were novices and others who had deep gardening experience, as well as two regular community garden volunteers and four TechWomen mentors. My daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, manages the community garden but she was managing another TechWomen volunteer group today, so I was in charge. It was a fun and productive day!
St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022Lizard, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022
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I put this information on my own Facebook account but when I tried to re-post a version of it, Facebook blocked me. Apparently Facebook objects to posts about praying for Gaza and making charitable donations to the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Please continue to pray and donate anyway.
Katy Dickinson and TechWomen presenting in Gaza City, Feb 2016
Jessica Dickinson Goodman and TechWomen presenting in Gaza City, Feb 2016
TechWomen at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza City, Feb 2016
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza City, Feb 2016
Church of Saint Porphyrius, Orthodox Christian church of Gaza, Feb 2016
TechWomen at Church of Saint Porphyrius, Orthodox Christian church of Gaza, Feb 2016
Eileen Brewer at Gaza City harbor, Feb 2016
Gaza City beach, Feb 2016
Gaza City, Feb 2016
Gaza City, Feb 2016
Gaza City, Feb 2016
25 May 2021 Update: In addition to donating to Episcopal Relief & Development which supports Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza (including the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City), here is the list of reputable first responder organizations recommended by Ryan Sturgill, Director of Gaza Sky Geeks:
Thank you for your prayers and generous donations.
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John and I are looking forward to our 20th wedding anniversary this weekend. Thinking back on some of our adventures and looking forward to many more. It is fun to be married to your best friend!
2020 virtual family dinner 2020 Mother’s Day 2018 family vacation 2018 Paul SJSU graduation 2018 St Andrew’s 2017 Reno 2016 Ashland 2016 Ashland 2016 Dunsmuir 2016 Klamath River 2015 Amtrak trip 2015 St Andrew’s 2014 Lalibela Ethiopia 2012 St Andrew’s 2012 Natural Bridges 2012 Jessica CMU graduation 2011 Jessica + Matthew 2011 Jessica + Matthew 2010 Lair of the Golden Bear camp Lair of the Golden Bear camp 2010 2010 Teatro Zinzanni 2010 Teatro Zinzanni 2010 Teatro Zinzanni 2010 Egypt 2010 Cairo, Egypt 2008 Flying to Baja Mexico 2008 Baja 2007 India 2007 India 2007 WP668 Caboose move 2007 WP668 move 2006 Dead Sea, Israel 2006 Dead Sea, Israel 2006 St. Peterburg, Russia 2006 Russia 2005 Beijing, China 2005 China 2000 2000 wedding 2000 wedding
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I recommend to you the poems of Dr. Mohja Kahf, whom you may know as the author of “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears.” Poet and scholar Mohja Kahf was born in Damascus, Syria. Her family moved to the United States in 1971, and Kahf grew up in the Midwest. She earned a PhD in comparative literature from Rutgers University. Her remarkable poetry books are:
We read Kahf’s poem “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet…” every term in the weekly classes I lead in Santa Clara County jail. It is one of the most popular selections in our Transforming Literature of the Bible course at Elmwood Jail. We read the poem to complement the story of Joseph in Egypt, as part of a discussion on being a bridge between cultures (Genesis 37-50). Volunteer jail chaplains are locked out now because of the Covid-19 quarantine but I look forward to returning. I miss my students!
In Hagar Poems, I found this one which seems very appropriate for the conversations our country is having now:
“Most Wanted”
by Mohja Kahf
Warning: God has slipped the noose.
We must confirm the worst
of our righteous fears –
God has escaped the mosque,
the synagogue, the church
where we’ve locked up God for years.
God is on the loose.
Henceforth beware:
You may find God in heathen beauty.
You may stumble upon God unaware.
Take appropriate measures:
You may have to behave
as if each human being
could reflect God’s face.
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