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CBC.ca

Some of you may remember hearing parts of his story several years ago. Now, Hassan Al Kontar has written a book about his experience, since he was welcomed into Canada as a refugee. I haven’t read the book yet, but it is on my e-reader, waiting for me to start (hopefully soon!)

Here is a bit of an update – and his perspective on what he has learned, as a refugee, and in a pandemic.

A group of volunteers, headed by Laurie Cooper of Whistler, B.C., learned about Al Kontar’s plight and organized on his behalf.

Cooper dubbed herself Al Kontar’s “Canadian mom.” She crowdsourced money for him, helped him navigate the asylum system, lobbied the government and co-ordinated with air travellers around the world to hook him up with food, money and supplies — including, of course, his much beloved coffee.

“They restored my faith in humanity,” he said.

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“That’s why my story is not only the Syrian war story. It’s also [about] a country called Canada and people called Canadians,” he said. “Because of them, I am now permanently safe.”

CBC

In addition to working on and speaking on refugee related issues, now that he is safely settled in Canada, Al Kontar has also spoken with the CBC of the impacts of the pandemic, and the related restrictions, especially as they started relatively soon after he had arrived in Canada.

The key to resilience and survival, he says, lies in having empathy for others. During the first couple of weeks of the pandemic, Al Kontar opened his door to find a bag of snacks that an anonymous person had left for him. He took this as an inspiration to volunteer at a food bank.

“If we are going to manage to beat this virus it’s through this kind of behaviour,” he said. (Bold mine)

CBC

It is imperative that we change our systems (including ending wars, actively and seriously addressing our climate crisis etc), so that people are never forced to flee their homes, and make difficult choices. At the same time, there remain countless reasons why people may want to – or need to – leave and resettle somewhere else. It is, without a doubt, our job to welcome others with open arms, every time. It is the right thing to do, and we need to find ways to be welcoming and inclusive, every time. 😀

More details:

• BBC Hassan al-Kontar: Who is the man trapped in an airport helping now?
• Globe: I was a Syrian refugee, trapped in an airport. Now, Canada is my home – and this is what that means to me

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Looking for zero-waste, plant-based or sustainable items? Check out the MennoAdventures online store! There are always lots of great deals to be found, with our many amazing partners! Happy browsing!

After a brief delay (from when we actually got the MennoAdventures IG page set up), everything is now (hopefully) working correctly, and everything that posts here (on the website) should now also show up on IG!

Some of the older posts will be shared over, for reference, and everything new should show up every time there is a new post. Please check out the page, if you are interested, and consider inviting others to follow (on IG, other social media, or here on the website) as well. The more the merrier! 😀

Have a great day!

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Looking for sustainable, zero-waste or plant-based items? Check out the MennoAdventures online store. Looking for more info or resources? Check out the website!

As with most things in life, we can not resolve problems until we fully, honestly admit the truth. Whether it’s the Middle East, COVID, the climate crisis, an inter-personal issue or anything else, we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge. With honestly, hard work and determination to face problems head-on, we can create a better world. 💛

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Looking for zero-waste, plant-based or sustainable items? Check out the MennoAdventures online store! There are always lots of great deals to be found, with our many amazing partners! Happy browsing! 😀

Guardian

This is a lovely story, from the LEGO headquarters in Denmark. While one act like this does not make up for bad policies, or replace the need for good policies, symbolically, it is a great step in the right direction, towards greater inclusion, recognition of diversity, and acknowledgment of gender and sexuality as more than how it’s been represented in the past.

In the “spraying room” at Lego HQ, tiny figurines are layered with bright, glossy paint before being placed on a rainbow-esque arch. The result, a waterfall of colour with 11 brand new minifigures striding purposefully towards an imagined brighter future, is the Danish toymaker’s inaugural LGBTQIA+ set, titled Everyone Is Awesome.

The colours of the stripes were chosen to reflect the original rainbow flag, along with pale blue, white and pink representing the trans community, and black and brown to acknowledge the diversity of skin tones and backgrounds within the LGBTQIA+ community.

Guardian

In addition, as noted in the article, the company has started selling their marriage sets separately (as opposed to a man and a woman, together in one box), so that couples can choose any two individual pieces that best represent their relationship.

This is one more step, in the right direction, for inclusion, welcoming for all, and a greater respect for the full range diversity within humanity. Let’s hope that these symbolic steps lead to both more similar changes, as well as real-world, actual policy changes – including full rights for everyone, and an end to all discrimination, whether based on gender and sexuality, or anything else.

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Looking for zero-waste, plant-based or sustainable items? Check out the MennoAdventures online store! There are always lots of great deals to be found, with our many amazing partners! Happy browsing!

Along with resources and lots of great info, you may not know that Menno Adventures has a new and improved online store experience, complete with access to countless sustainable items, through various partners.

No matter what you are looking for to guide your sustainable goals, one of our amazing partners probably has it! In fact, they might even have things that you didn’t know could help you on your sustainability journey. Ordering couldn’t be easier – all you need to do is go to the Menno Adventures website, browse the categories under the online store, find the partner(s) you would like to check out and click on their link. From there, you are redirected to the partner store, where you can browse and order. Ordering and shipping all happens directly through the partner website, the same as any other online ordering experience.

Whether you are looking for clothing, tech (compostable phone cases), food and related items or other sustainable solutions, you will (hopefully) find what you are looking for here. 😊

What difference does it make to order through MennoAdventures?

• It saves you the work of researching and finding great stores that sell amazing, sustainable items. All the work is done for you – and there are lots of great options, all in one spot! 😊
• Plus, by clicking on the link on the MA website, before continuing on with your order, with one simple click, you are helping support the work that this website is doing.

What cool things can I find in the online store? Lots of great things (all sustainable, plant-based, mostly zero-waste), including, among many other great options…

• Upcycled Yarn products at Darn Good Yarn
• Comfy clothes, made in Toronto from Encircled
• Zero Waste laundry detergent strips from TruEarth
• Reuseable replacements for single use items at LastObject
• Amazing plant-based sauces, from Good Food for Good
• And so much more!

Each of the partners in the MA online store has amazing products – and there are often sales or discounts that come up as well (too many for me to list here…). So, check Menno Adventures often, see if any new partners have been added, click on the links and enjoy the amazing selection of sustainable, zero-waste and plant-based options that they offer! Know of others who might be interested? Please share widely in your circles. Have a great weekend!

The ways we do things, within and outside of the non-profit world, is constantly evolving. COVID, along with many other challenges, are forcing a reckoning on what our “new normal” will look like. In my opinion, one of our biggest shortfalls, in the NGO world, is the frequency with which organizations compete for donors/funds/projects – or start a new org instead of supporting an existing organization – when supporting/collaborating would be a much more appropriate choice.

We work in this field because we desire a better, fairer, more equitable world – but sometimes forget to make sure that our actual work methods follow the same high standards we set for our external projects. If we are working on a peacebuilding project, why can’t we make peace with another NGO and collaborate instead of competing?

Although based on the US (and written for the American context), Non-Profit Impact Pledge is one step in the right direction, and is just as applicable globally as within the US. The commitments have two parts: From NGOs and from Funders and Donors. Both are important, in their own way, to helping reshape the sector as a whole, and to creating more positive change in the world — which is so critically needed.

To our communities and all those who benefit from the work of nonprofits…,

Our country is at a turning point, and so is the nonprofit sector. The disparate economic and social fallout from COVID-19 and the widespread reckoning with racial justice have put a spotlight on many long-standing problems with philanthropy and with the way nonprofits work. We cannot avoid these problems any longer, nor do we wish for things to return “to normal.” Our old way of existence, and many of our sector’s past practices for collaborating with funders, donors and our communities (while often well-intentioned), are broken. Instead, we wish to create a new future for the nonprofit sector, for the good of all.

As our country starts down the long road toward recovery from a tumultuous 2020, demand for our services continues to grow, resources continue to shrink, and outmoded systems and ways of thinking seem determined to keep our impact small. It has never been more challenging to run and sustain an effective nonprofit organization, but it has also never been more important, and we will rise up in the face of these challenges.

That is why we take this pledge and double down on these 10 commitments to you, the people and communities we work with. We also ask our donors, funders and those who support the sector to make a similar set of commitments to us.

Together, we can create a better future for our sector, for the good of all.

NP Impact Pledge

Among the 10 commitments in the pledge, all are important in their own way, and all contribute to better organizations, which are better able to make positive contributions, both locally and globally. Here is one example.

Commitment 1
We will collaborate, not compete.
We recognize that we can do more good for our communities together than we can do alone. We will focus our efforts on making a specific contribution that only our organization can make, and when we encounter other organizations doing similar work, we commit to closely collaborating, partnering or merging with them rather than competing in an effort to maximize our collective impact. (Bold mine).

NP Impact Pledge

And, I would add – we commit to supporting others before staring a new NGO that is likely to compete with others, when supporting or joining is a more appropriate and sustainable choice for the sector as a whole.

Want to add your name to the pledge? Follow the link to sign up – and add your name, with others, to commit to a better NGO sector.

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Looking for more NGO resources? Check the website for more info. Looking for more sustainability/zero-waste resources? Check out the online store!

News@UofT: Is a calorie always a calorie? Not when it comes to almonds, U of T researchers find.

Looking for more great reasons to eat nuts? In addition to the lower emissions from a plant-based foods (more details on the website) compared to animal-based foods, here’s some more research, from the University of Toronto, looking specifically at the health benefits of almonds.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed when the food source is almonds.

The findings, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, should help alleviate concerns that almonds contribute to weight gain, which persist despite the widely recognized benefits of nuts as a plant-based source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

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The researchers found that after digestion, about 20 per cent of calories derived largely from fat in almonds remained unabsorbed, which they observed in stool samples. That translated to about two per cent less energy absorbed from the diet overall among study participants. (Bold mine).

A person eating the same amount of almonds in a daily diet of 2,000 to 3,000 calories would absorb 40 to 60 calories less than would be predicted by Atwater factors, on which many food labels are based. 

News@UofT

The research does not specifically identify other nuts, but it’s certainly plausible/logical to guess that some of the same benefits would apply to other nuts, as well. So, here’s yet another reason to eat lots of nuts! Happy snacking!

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Hint: There are lots of great, sustainable and zero-waste items in the online store! Check the online store section of the website for details!

Exclusive: documents seen by Guardian show companies fought clean-air rules despite being aware of harm caused by air pollution Guardian

As with the climate crisis, further documentation has emerged that demonstrates that the fossil fuel industry knew – at least 50 years ago (before I was even born) – that their products cause significant negative health impacts. Despite that, they have spent decades not only continuing to produce something that is known to be harmful, but actively fighting against regulations.

The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large amounts of air pollution, that pollutants could lodge deep in the lungs and be “real villains in health effects”, and even that its own workers may be experiencing birth defects among their children.

But these concerns did little to stop oil and gas companies, and their proxies, spreading doubt about the growing body of science linking the burning of fossil fuels to an array of health problems that kill millions of people around the world each year. Echoing the fossil-fuel industry’s history of undermining of climate science, oil and gas interests released a torrent of material aimed at raising uncertainty over the harm caused by air pollution and used this to deter US lawmakers from placing further limits on pollutants.

Guardian

And yet, despite the overwhelmingly negative impacts of fossil fuel use -for people and the planet – not only are we not doing everything in our power to end the fossil fuel industry’s damage, nationally and globally, we are still actively subsidizing the very industry that is causing so much damage. So, things need to change – and this is not a “tweak around the edges” kind of change, but rather a complete, top to bottom systems change. Fossil fuel producers know that they are causing harm, and are actively taking massive public subsidies (direct and indirect) to continue to do things that cause harm. Essentially, we, as taxpayers, are paying them to cause harm, and then paying again to clean up the mess that they made. A radical systems change is needed (and should have started 50+ years ago, when the harm was first known.)

Among other changes, one of the most basic is to stop paying others to harm us, and require that companies (and others) pay the full price for their pollution, while actively supporting more positive options.

Clearly, pricing the negative consequences of fossil fuels, especially carbon dioxide, is critical. “If fuel prices had been set at fully efficient levels in 2015, estimated global CO2 emissions would have been 28 percent lower, fossil fuel air pollution deaths 46 percent lower, tax revenues higher by 3.8 percent of global GDP, and net economic benefits (environmental benefits less economic costs) would have amounted to 1.7 percent of global GDP,” according to the IMF report.

VOX

I firmly believe that we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge. Denying the scale and scope of a problem does not help us get to a solution. In this case, fully understanding the scale to which some governments and major corporations are actively working against humanity is the first step towards positive change. With this info, we are now better equipped to:

• take individual action to reduce our own carbon footprint
• work in our communities and groups to collectively reduce our carbon footprint
• actively work to elect governments that are serious about tackling the climate crisis at a national and global level.

All problems are solvable, and we can do this, too, if we work together to create the positive future that we all want for future generations.

Further reading:

• Fossil fuels are underpriced by a whopping $5.2 trillion: We can’t take on climate change without properly pricing coal, oil, and natural gas. But it’s a huge political challenge. VOX
• The Guardian: UN secretary general urges all countries to declare climate emergencies.
• BBC News: Climate change: ‘Default effect’ sees massive green energy switch.

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There are always lots of amazing deals on sustainable, zero-waste items in my online store! Check the website for details!

It is shocking (and quite disturbing) to me, that some faith groups still believe that they are called to a mandate of exclusion, instead of inclusion, on any of a wide number of otherwise protected identifiers, including gender and sexuality. Over and over, to the best of my knowledge, faith group and their major texts call for love of neighbour, welcome of the stranger, living simply and service to others. Nothing in that suggests, or allows, discrimination based on who we are at our core, or an acceptance of destruction of creation. And yet, some faith groups still fight for the right to discriminate, and avoid talking serious action on the climate crisis – and it must end.

Major Evangelical Adoption Agency Will Now Serve Gay Parents Nationwide

NYT

At a time when we are facing multiple global crises (including a pandemic and a climate crisis), faith groups should be leaders, setting an example of how to care for all of creation – including all people, animals, and the environment. Instead, some groups still put their energy into excluding others, and denying women the right to a full range of reproductive health services, as though that is the way to a better world for everyone.

A justification that I sometimes hear from others is that something can be found somewhere in one’s ancient texts to justify discrimination. In response, I would suggest that many people only take texts literally on things that are life-limiting for others, without requiring us to change ourselves. I’m suggesting a different approach (along with countless others).

Want to take the Bible or other ancient texts literally? How about focusing on the countless times that we are told not to accumulate wealth? Living simply requires a lot more from us than telling someone else how we think they should live their lives.

Think swapping out “My faith says that you should be straight” and replacing it with “My faith says that I should be less wealthy, live in a smaller home, eat more lentils, help others more, create less garbage and drive less often.”

Likewise, the admonition to not kill or steal features in many faith texts: how about putting our energy into banning militaries and the theft of natural resources (and extreme wealth discrepancies, locally and globally) that is contributing to climate change? The list could go on and on…

For faith groups to be relevant into the future, we need to, collectively, move beyond this idea that we can live our own lives as we wish, while excluding others, and destroying the planet. We can, and must do better, together. We can do it. 🙂

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There are lots of amazing, sustainable and zero waste items in the online store! Check out the website for details!

Winter may be almost over, or spring may feel a long ways away, depending on where you are living. Either way, the Encircled Winter Clearout sale is now, some items have been reduced by 40%. Looking for cozy items for next winter, or something for cool evenings in summer? Now’s the time to put an order in!

Want more details on Encircled? Click here

(Note: Discount code should apply automatically when you order items from the winter discount collection. Having trouble? The code is at the top of the Encircled page on my website for reference.)

Looking for other cool, sustainable stuff? Check out all of the amazing partners in the online store.

Not sure what you are looking for? Check out all of the partners to find zero waste, plant-based food, sustainable tech, sustainable laundry detergent strips, upcycled yarn products and so much more!

Happy Spring!