A video of members talking about their best practices organizing local groups, campaigns and activities is now available on YouTube!
Filmed at the 2007 Growing Justice leadership conference, a selection of leaders from across the country reflect on those practices that have worked best for them. Get inspired! Click on the links below.
Ottawa members enjoy meeting
Three Eastern Ontario Fall Action meetings reached 68 members and parish reps. Highlights included members acting out the “We are not going away” play, and the participation of parish representatives who are or have been farmers and are very interested and involved in land and food security issues already.
Another highlight was the full participation and leadership of Diocesan Council members Larry Martin, Joan O’Connell and Paul McGuire. Each had participated in the August Fall Action training with staff in Arnprior, near Ottawa. Says new Ottawa-based Eastern Ontario animator Ann-Christina Gamillscheg, “They passed the knowledge and tools on to me and to the other diocesan leaders at the mini-regional in September.”
These members showed a great deal of leadership at all three Fall Action meetings. One leader said that they felt very empowered by the experienced, another that even though it is a lot of work, it is an energizing experience.
The Ottawa DC hopes to follow a similar model next year for involving leaders in the planning and implementation of the Fall Action campaign throughout the region.
The Mining Association of Canada recently published Fact and Figures 2008. One chapter of this annual report is dedicated to the presence and influence of Canadian mining companies in the world. According to this text, nearly 1,000 exploration companies are operating abroad, and Canadian companies have around 4,900 mining projects in different stages of development overseas.
To see the complete report, click here: http://www.mining.ca
CAFOD, a sister agency of Development and Peace in the UK, recently published an enlightening report on how BHP Biliton, one of the world’s largest and most powerful mining companies, has not lived up to its responsibilities to meet the high corporate standards demanded by its role.
Kept in the Dark, part of CAFOD’s ongoing Unearth Justice campaign, contains evidence supporting community members’ claims that they have been excluded from discussions and prevented from having an informed say over this proposed nickel mine.
Community members say that bribery by AMCOR, a Billiton partner, has been used to buy support and silence opposition. They fear that their local environment, way of life and means of earning a living are under threat.
Read the executive summary to find out more kept_in_the_dark_exec_summary
Visit the CAFOD website for more on the campaign, including the full 36-page report. www.cafod.org.uk
Bishop Albert LeGatt of Saskatoon signed the action card for Development and Peace’s Fall Campaign on mining as part of the Saskatoon Diocese’s October 23 kick-off of the 2008 campaign. The event was organized by members of the St. Thomas More Just Youth group, which has set a goal of returning 750 signed Action Cards this year.
Tor Iorapuu of Development and Peace’s Nigerian partner YARAC is currently visiting the Atlantic provinces in a tour organized by young leaders of local Just Youth groups. In his presentations Tor will describe how theatre and sport can be used as tools for healing, social change and responsibility, and how YARAC pushes the boundaries of theatre to organize communities.
The young leaders were part of a solidarity trip to Nigeria in August 2008, where they were hosted by YARAC.
Click here for more information on Tor and how to contact him. youth-programs-solidarity-visitor-fall-20081
Ottawa members took the lead in presenting this year’s Fall Action campaign at their Eastern Ontario mini-regional this autumn.
Larry Martin, Joan O’Connell and Paul McGuire had attended the Development and Peace education staff’s day of Fall Action preparation at their August team meeting in Arnprior.
They used this experience and the Formation materials to prepare a full day of training for 12 member-leaders from the Diocesan Councils of Ottawa, Pembroke, Kingston and Alexandria-Cornwall. According to their recently-hired animator Ann-Christina Gamillscheg, “They did a great job!
Members training members in just this way is one of the objectives of the Membership-Leadership program. Congratulations to this team for taking it on. The training was held at Waupoos Farm near Ottawa.
Today is World Food Day, and according to the FAO, nearly one billion people will go hungry. Food shortages throughout the world earlier this year, paired with unusual flooding in Haiti and Southeast Asia and the current economic crisis have increased the challenges that the poor face in order to feed themselves.
This is particularly relevant in the context of this year’s education campaign. The activities of some Canadian mining companies lead to lower agricultural production in countries in the Global South, as they take over fertile land and contaminate water sources. As Fidel Mutumbo, a consultant for Development and Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warns: “Mines run out, but the earth can feed us forever, if we treat it with care.”
Holding Canadian mining compagnies accountable for their overseas activities will go a long way to ensure that next year, less people will go hungry on World Food Day.
Animator Roberta Gramlich reports on a successful Fall Action meeting in Northern Manitoba, revitalizing the Development and Peace network in that area. “The members have decided to reform their DC and already have their own DC blog!” she says. Under the leadership of June Haybittle of Keewatin-The Pas and Mary Lemaitre and Verden Jeancart of St. Boniface and Winnipeg DCs, this inter-diocesan collaboration was made possible by the membership-leadership program. Members organized the event, the agenda and delivered presentations.
Just as impressive was the commitment and experience of participants. “One participant drove 10 hours to get to the meeting,” says Roberta, “A priest who came in from Northern Saskatchewan was the director of Caritas Columbo in Sri Lanka.” Benefitting from the support of Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie (third from left in the photo), Development and Peace certainly has a committed and enthusiastic group to work with in Keewatin-The Pas.
Practicing an invitation to sign the postcards.
On the last weekend of September Prince George DC members enjoyed sunny weather and spectacular scenery as part of their Fall Action formation workshop at Camp Emile, Mobile Lake.
Participants found the timeline exercise, the Wall of Justice, to be one of the workshop’s highlights. Adding their local actions to the national ones gave them a sense of pride in what they’ve achieved in the past two years, and helped them feel part of a truly national campaign. Many good ideas for future local actions came out of the process.
It was also an occasion to say good-bye to their temporary animator, Paul Corcoran, whose contract is coming to an end.
The Wall of Justice activity is described in this document: c_social-justice-workshop-pdf1 To access the full workshop, members are invited to use their password to find it under Fall Action 08 in the Workshops section of the Formation website. Or contact your animator.
