Posts by Saloma Furlong
Widespread Abuse and Massive Coverup in Amish Country
“The Amish are not exempt from an independent investigation, and yet as soon as the CCI gets involved, it is no longer an independent investigation.” ~ Fellow Pennsylvania Advocate Recently there was a report about an Amish mother reclaiming her children in the York Daily Record after the children had been separated from her for…
Read MoreSexual Abuse of Amish Women and Teenagers – The David Clark Case
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou There was widespread abuse of Amish women and teenagers that took place in Oak Grove, Missouri, by a man named David Clark who posed as a naturopath with a chiropractor license. He targeted Amish women and girls who had little…
Read MoreBuilding a Cultural Bridge in Lancaster
Several weeks ago, I started a part-time volunteer job at Safe Communities. I wrote about the restorative experience here on this blog of being a participant at the retreat led by Linda Crockett and Mark Harris in the spring. I was already in awe of Linda and her leadership skills, and at the retreat I…
Read MoreSounds and Reflections from Pennsylvania Amish Country
I should write, “from Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonite Country.” Until I moved here, I had no idea how many Old Order Mennonites live in the county. On the road one can tell the difference by the buggies. The Amish in this county have gray (or open) buggies, while the Old Order Mennonites have black ones.…
Read MoreMy Journey, Part 2
By Aleta Schrock Continued from Part 1. After I had returned home from teaching at the Old Order Mennonite church school in Ohio, I worked as a nurse’s aide in a local nursing home. I enjoyed my new job, but my heart longed to be back in the classroom teaching children. One day I drove…
Read MoreMy Journey
By Aleta Schrock, Part 1 I hated to see the end of my eighth-grade school year. Learning was fun, but the expectation was that after the eighth grade my formal education would end and I would either work at home or get a job. I worked up the courage to ask my mom if I…
Read MoreMaking Space for the Unforeseen
It seems our five-year-old friend was wise in giving his advice. We landed in a small apartment on Main Street in Ephrata, five minutes from his house. His dad and a friend of theirs helped us move our furniture into the apartment on Saturday, July 15. Then it took David and me three days to…
Read MoreNew Horizons
In my last post, I promised to bring you some news of what is happening in my life. David and I have decided to move to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There are many reasons why we’re making this decision, which I will name later. The easy part was selling our house here in Broadway, Virginia. If…
Read MoreFrom a Humble Amish Childhood to an Education that Spans the Globe
This is a bit later than I expected to be publishing the second story in the series I started in my last blog post, but I feel it was worth waiting for. Today I bring you the story of Esther Yoder Stenson, who grew up in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. I first met Esther in 2017…
Read MoreFrom an Eighth-Grade Education to a World-Renowned Pediatric Surgeon
I promised a series of stories from those who have emerged from a Plain community with an eighth-grade education and went on to earn a college education. Today I begin that series with Freeman Miller, M.D. who is a world-renowned pediatric orthopedic surgeon. His distinctions include being listed in Best Doctors in America and U.S.…
Read More