From the Atlanta Journal Constitution - September 24, 2001
Atlanta Group Promotes Harmony Through Nature
By Danny C. Flanders
Laura Dorsey's voice cracks with emotion when she talks about the World Trade Center attack - not just because of the lives lost there but because it reminds her of Vietnam, Nairobi, Kenya, and Tblisi in the former Soviet Union. It's in those once violence-wracked places and elsewhere that the Atlantan has waged a quiet war for peace, using nothing more than the garden as her offering. "Our gardens are all very different, but they are sacred spaces to people of all cultures," says Dorsey, who in 1984 founded Gardens for Peace, an international network of gardens designated to make people stop and think.
And since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, visitors to the 10 gardens, which include four in metro Atlanta, have done just that. They've left flowers, wreaths, notes, candles - all confirming Dorsey's mission. "It says something that this is so universal," she says, "that people are reaching out for the garden. "There's nothing new about gardens as havens for peace; nature has long provided solace. But somehow, the designation of these spots - marked by plaques - as places to reflect, to purposefully slow down and take stock, has prompted a response.
On a crisp afternoon last week, Wanda Hopkins found herself following the Swan Woods Trail behind the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead to the first garden organization established, in 1988. There are no flowers or gushing fountains, just the Peace Tree, a powerful, lifesize bronze sculpture surrounded by figures holding hands, representing continents. "I just came here to be in the woods," says Hopkins, who lives nearby. "It' so important when something like this occurs not to re-enter our busy lives without taking the time out to reflect on what's happened."She stares at the memorials left at the foot of the sculpture - candles of varying sizes and colors, handwritten notes protected by Ziploc plastic bags stating: "In memory of the victims of New York and Washington: You will live in our hearts forever. Let us work for peace in the world and within ourselves in remembrance of this tragedy. "Within a few minutes, Hopkins smiles, turns and climbs the steep hill, back to her busy lifestyle, her family, a normal Tuesday in Atlanta.
Dorsey, who grew up around gardening in her native Atlanta, has long known that feeling of renewal. But it wasn't until after her husband Tom was wounded in combat during the Vietnam War that she decided to share it with others. While spending four months at his bedside at a military hospital in Japan, she was able to escape the grim setting by going for walks.
"I didn't speak the language, had no support," recalls Dorsey, now 57 and a staff chaplain at Northside Hospital. But after pausing in a nearby garden, she found new resolves. "Now, when I watch these rescue attempts on television, trying to get word to folks, it's all real familiar," Dorsey says. "These times are different, but the feelings and emotion are the same." Years later, when the idea of designating gardens as places for meditation and peace came to her, she marshaled the support of friends and community leaders to form the nonprofit organization, based in Atlanta. Its board selects the gardens for nominations. The sites must be public gardens that offer a sense of enclosure and safety as well as beauty.
Ten gardens in 17 years may not seem like a lot, but from the outset, the groups has sought to maintain a balance between the number of sites in this country and abroad. "That was a hard assignment, and some countries took a while to open up to the idea, to realize just why it was important to establish a network," Dorsey says. The gardens can be found in Nairobi, site of the bombing of the U.S. embassy in 1998; Tblisi, site of violent anti-Soviet protests in 1989 and now capital of independent Georgia; Madrid; Tacoma, Wash; New London, Conn; and Durham, N.C. Locally, besides the one in Buckhead, there are three in Decatur, including Oakhurst Community Garden.
At Oakhurst, neighborhood kids participate in programs aimed at teaching environmental awareness. Its Garden for Peace consists simply of a peace pole, a rock with a plaque and bed of flowers, which, on Thursday, children replenished with new plants in their own symbolic act of renewal. "A lot of college students are also coming to the garden, especially early in the morning and at twilight," says Sally Wylde, Oakhurst's director. "They're just sitting and just sort of having their own quiet thoughts."
Dorsey expects the gardens will see more. "The appreciation has grown strong in recent years," she says, "until I think awareness for them as symbols of peace around the world is forcing hands to reach out and connect."