Meg Randa

Meg Randa has been teaching at The Life Experience School since the fall of 1979 when she met Lewis Randa with whom she co-directs the programs at Strawberry Fields Alternative High School. Meg moved to the Boston area after attending college in San Francisco where she studied dance and specialized in movement therapy. Meg performed with several dance companies before moving to New York to teach dance with the National Dance Institute.

It was meeting Lewis, soon after, that brought her to Sherborn where she utilized her training in movement and special education in working with the students in attendance at The Life Experience School. Meg's love for animals also brought to the program a specialized riding program, animal care and habitat design and maintenance, therapeutic training for animal visits to nursing homes and hospitals, and the creation of the Peaceable Kingdom Animal Sanctuary on the grounds of The Peace Abbey.

Meg has continued her involvement in the dance community performing with several Boston-based companies over the past 25 years and founded The Serendipity Dance Co. which has been comprised of the students in attendance at the School. Meg and Lewis live in Sherborn and have three children, all of whom have grown up at the Life Experience School and The Peace Abbey.

The Boston Globe
AT HOME WITH PEACE ACTIVISTS MEG AND LEWIS RANDA
Whether it's kids, pigs, plants... all are welcome
By Sue Davis, Globe Correspondent, 2/12/2004

SHERBORN -- Meg and Lewis Randa, 47 and 56 respectively, had a fairy tale-esque start to their life together: Their first date was riding horses bareback on a beautiful summer day. Twenty-four years and three children later, the romance is still going strong. They attribute the success of their marriage to a shared commitment to peace. The couple runs multiple "compassion-based" organizations such as the Peace Abbey in Sherborn; the Greater Boston Vegetarian Society; Veganpeace Animal Sanctuary; Strawberry Fields, an alternative high school in Millis for special-needs students; and the Special Peace Corps, which provides community service opportunities for students 22 and older.

They moved from a farm in Millis to their current house in 1991. Down a dirt road in Sherborn, it is far removed from traffic and the outside world.

The contemporary Colonial has huge windows that let in the light and views of the spacious yard, small barn, paddock, and surrounding forest.

The furnishings are comfortable and eclectic: Contemporary couches flank a large-screen TV in the family room, antiques abound in the living room. An antique spinning wheel hanging in the dining room has Guatemalan prayer shawls woven through the spindles that Lewis brought back from his work with the University for Peace in Costa Rica. A large stained-glass panel was crafted by local Sherborn artist Paula Williams from a design inspired by the Hopi tradition.

Their love of nature is evident in the lush indoor plants, and reinforced by the view of trees outside that's reflected on a glass tabletop indoors.

There are four tables, actually, each of which is used for family meals depending on the occasion and the time available to sit and talk. The family-room table is used most regularly for family meals, with a fire blazing in the floor-to-ceiling fieldstone fireplace; the kitchen table and counter are for when everyone is eating on the run; the dining room is for holidays and company; and the screened porch overlooking the serene backyard is dependent on weather, and "lets us be with the horses and birds while we eat," said Meg.

A constant stream of activity flows between their home, the Peace Abbey, and the Life Experience School, the umbrella organization that encompasses Strawberry Fields and the Special Peace Corps. Along with caring for their own children (Chris, 20, a student at Pennsylvania State University; Mikey, 16, a student at Dover-Sherborn High School; and Abbey, 14, an eighth-grader at Dover-Sherborn Middle School), their many students, two dogs, four cats, two horses, pigs, goats, geese, and guests at their bed & breakfast at the Peace Abbey, they have hosted international figures such as Mother Teresa, Muhammad Ali, writer Maya Angelou, and physician and social activist Patch Adams.

Last spring, they had a piglet living in their kitchen. The piglet's pregnant mother had jumped off a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse and was given refuge at the Randas' Veganpeace Animal Sanctuary. "Henry" was sickly, and Meg brought him home to nurse back to health. Today, he weighs 350 pounds.

Henry is only the latest animal the Randas have rescued from the slaughterhouse. The most famous was Emily the cow, whose demise from cancer last year brought condolences from around the world.

Their concern about not killing other living beings led them to become vegetarians, and then vegans.

"Lewis was able to do it right away," said Meg, but it was harder for her to give up all animal products because she cooks for their children. One son still eats meat.

"We want to teach our kids about Karma," explained Meg, while Lewis finished her sentence: "That what you put out in life comes back."

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.