The first full week of February is International Development Week across Canada. It’s all about:
Learning more about Canada’s role in international development, and discovering more about life in developing countries.
Finding out how YOU can become an active global citizen and get involved in international development.
Check out Roberta Gramlich’s video I AM MAKING A DIFFERENCE with Development and Peace.
Development and Peace is involved in all of the following councils – made up of organizations who seek to end global poverty and to promote social justice and human digntiy for all.
The councils are a great place to find out about action and advocacy in your city, as well as the best go-to place when looking for internships, volunteer opportunities and jobs in international development.
Jesus felt compassion when faced with human suffering. We are called to feel that same depth of compassion when faced with the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
Through your generous donations to Development and Peace this and every Lent, you help build a world of justice.
A blog for Share Lent!
This year, in addition to the printed material, Development and Peace has also created an interactive blog that will use the testimony of members to publicize the work being carried out by its partners in the Global South.
There you will find photos, videos and articles to share.
The blog will be active starting on the first day of Lent, March 9, 2011. You can subscribe to the blog right away! You will receive an invitation to follow the blog during its launch and a weekly update of published articles.
In the meantime, you can receive daily information about Development and Peace, its campaigns and its partners in the Global South by becoming part of our community in the social media:
New: Participate in fundraising online
This year, for the very first time, you can participate in our online fundraising efforts for Share Lent by creating a personal page. Offer your talents to those who need them (music, gardening, cooking) and, in exchange, ask your entourage to give to Development and Peace.
Fundraising online will be possible starting on March 9, 2011. You can sign up now to the blog to receive the necessary information in the week before Lent.
Share your comments and questions here and stay tuned for updates from the Share Lent Blog 2011.
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.
Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Corrupt governments use water for economic and political gain. Military control of water emerges and a new geo-political map and power structure forms, setting the stage for world water wars.
We follow numerous worldwide examples of people fighting for their basic right to water, from court cases to violent revolutions to U.N. conventions to revised constitutions to local protests at grade schools. As Maude Barlow proclaims, “This is our revolution, this is our war”. A line is crossed as water becomes a commodity. Will we survive?
The Water Front is the story of an American city in crisis but it is not just about water. The story touches on the very essence of our democratic system and is an unnerving indication of what is in store for residents around the world facing their own water struggles. (53 minutes, 2007)
Bottled water: Safer and cleaner than tap water, easy on the environment…or maybe not. Look a little deeper and you’ll see that these claims don’t hold water. In fact, the very opposite is often true. The bottling and selling of water creates a culture where drinking water is viewed as a commodity or a private good, available only to those who can afford to pay.
In the Global South, sales of bottled water are on the rise. At the same time, water sources are increasingly being privatized. Bottled water should never be viewed as an alternative to safe, accessible public water systems.
By signing this pledge, I commit to supporting publicly owned and operated water systems. One of the ways I can do that is to choose tap water over bottled water, whenever possible.
I commit to working to create bottled water free zones in my home and in the public places where I spend my time. These include my university, school, parish, workplace and community. I will also support efforts to have bottled water replaced by tap water in all municipal and provincial public spaces where safe water is available.
Ever thought about trying STREET THEATRE but don’t know where to start?
Street Theatre is a fun, creative way to raise awareness and share your message – plus, people love to see something interesting going on while they wander the downtown on a Saturday afternoon. All you need is a few people, an afternoon and a public location.
The theatre is the hook, and you have volunteers with the petitions ready. By the end of it you will want to do Street Theatre again and again.
To get you started here are two YouTube video clips which show you a Street Theatre performance in Toronto (March 2010) and the “Kernels of Truth” play from our No Patents on Life campaign at World Youth Day in 2002.
You can read more about the March 2010 Street Theatre in Toronto through this posthere.
Street Theatre tips
Any successful performance has certain key roles. For a Street Theatre performance these roles are a Narrator, Actors and Educators.
Narrator:
Good street theatre has a “voice” or narrator to give context to the acting. The “voice” should be someone who does not mind speaking like they are someone’s “moral” voice. Their voice should carry, by talking loudly without intimidating or insulting observers.
Actors:
This role in street theatre involves acting by creating evocative images. The role is not to confront or challenge people, but rather to use emotional arguments to help them “see” the problems you are presenting. Actors are generally confident, and able to communicate through imagery. Each time you do the skit you will get better and better.
Educator:
In street theatre some people are “educators”. Their role is to diffuse tension and to speak with people who want more information. They can describe the campaign, hand out flyers and offer the petition for people to sign. Usually, educators have a good understaning of the issue and share it with others.
You can download this info in our ”Street Theatre Package” here.
In Montreal in February 5 of our Partners visited us for a weekend of visioning and planning. We took a few minutes to interview them and now we are sharing their messages with you!
These are special messages of solidarity and thanks to THINKfast participants across Canada:
Our Just Youth group at Carleton University in Ottawa hosted a screening of the documentary Food Inc on campus last week.
I had never seen the film before. After having familiarized myself with the D&P campaign on food sovereignty, I figured I was fairly up-to-snuff on where my food was coming from and the injustices that are perpetuated by the way we, especially in the Global North, eat. But whoa! Is there ever a lot to learn!
Even in North America, the lack of control that farmers have over their land and the way that they use it is astonishing. Seed patents prevent farmers from being able to save their seed from year to year. The incessant corporate desire to increase “efficiency” forces farmers to construct the dankest, most poisonous environments possible in which to raise their livestock.
What a world we live in. Traditional farming practises are so undervalued.
The seemingly endless web of connections between big agri-business and government agencies that regulate food policy was astonishing as well. The sheer number of people doubling as government advocates for fewer restrictions on corporate farming and higher-ups in the actual corporations is wild.
How it came to be that farming elites with virtually no connection to on-the-ground production can exert so much control over national and international food policies is beyond me. These monetary hierarchical structures need to be changed.
The consensus within the group was that the film is really calling us to take a good, hard look at the way we eat. Every day, we vote with our dollar in grocery stores and local farmers markets.
But in addition to purchasing more organic, local food, we must also advocate for political change. Because so much of big agri-business relies on subsidies from the government (especially in the United States), we must continue to advocate for change at the policy level as well as at the local level.
Finally, the film presented an interesting perspective on the affordability of food. Essentially, the cheapest food is often also the unhealthiest. This puts people with a lower income in a severely disadvantaged position, especially health wise. In North America, the highest rates of obesity are found in poorer demographics because good quality food is simply too expensive. We must be aware of and work to correct the structures of power and privilege that are present within our society and, by extension, within our food systems.
by Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikatt, Eastern Ontario Youth Rep
This year’s THINKfast campaign is rockin’ it all over the web!
Students are creating their own videos (way to go Thomas Aquinas in Brampton!) or link their online fundraising page to their local parish to promote their THINKfast (nice site!).
It’s great to see that so many young people are participating in this campaign and are supporting and spreading the word about the work of Development and Peace and its partners in the Global South.
Over 150 participants are using our new online fundraising tool (click here for direct access) to collect their pledges.
Organizers and participants can easily set up their group and personal profiles and reach out to family members and friends who live further away via e-mail or social media applications like facebook and twitter.
AND, this tool also allows D&P to save on staff and mailing costs because tax receipts are emailed out immediately to donors.
Go check it out and we wish all participants and organizers a great time at their THINKfast 2010!
As always, send us in your photos, media, flyers and we will put them up! 
