Shanti Project memorial for Scott Barnard, 1983.
Credit:
One feature at Shanti trainings was having a memorial or altar present to honor former clients that had passed on. Scott Barnard was an early member of the KS support groups that Jim Geary facilitated. In June of 1983, Scott was one of four men who died of AIDS in San Francisco, including activist Mark Feldman.One feature at Shanti trainings was having a memorial or altar present to honor former clients that had passed on. Scott Barnard was an early member of the KS support groups that Jim Geary facilitated. In June of 1983, Scott was one of four men who died of AIDS in San Francisco, including activist Mark Feldman. The Bay Area Reporter made their rapid succession of deaths front page news.You can read the article here
This tradition would continue in trainings until the 1990s.
Called “In Memory Of…” this exercise was meant to allow volunteers to honor their own losses and to perhaps discharge some emotions that have been triggered during the course of the training. The presenter or facilitator would dim the lights of the training room and begin the exercise of multiple loss/compounded loss in San Francisco as it related to their personal lives. Trainees would have been told by their facilitator during their support group meeting to bring a memento they connected to loss to add to the presentation. The table would stay set up during the rest of the training.
