January 21, 2008
Those who wander are never lost
respect to all the travelers of the world
love,
m.e.
October 08, 2006
Thirty years ago, in the country of Kenya, 90% of the forest had been chopped down. Without trees to hold the topsoil in place, the land became like a desert.
When the women and girls would go in search of firewood in order to prepare the meals, they would have to spend hours and hours looking for what few branches remained.
A woman named Wangari watched all of this happening. She decided that there must be a way to take better care of the land and take better care of the women and girls.
So she planted a tree. And then she planted another. She wanted to plant thousands of trees, but she realized that it would take a very long time if she was the only one doing it. So she taught the women who were looking for firewood to plant trees, and they were paid a small amount for each sapling they grew.
Soon she organized women all over the country to plant trees, and a movement took hold. It was called the Green Belt Movement, and with each passing year, more and more trees covered the land.
But something else was happening as the women planted those trees. Something else besides those trees was taking root. The women began to have confidence in themselves. They began to see that they could make a difference. They began to see that they were capable of many things, and that they were equal to the men. They began to recognize that they were deserving of being treated with respect and dignity.
Changes like these were threatening to some. The president of the country didn't like any of this. So police were sent to intimidate and beat Wangari for planting trees, and for planting ideas of equality and democracy in people's heads, especially in women's. She was accused of "subversion" and arrested many times.
Once, while Wangari was trying to plant trees, she was clubbed by guards hired by developers who wanted the lands cleared. She was hospitalized with head injuries. But she survived, and it only made her realize that she was on the right path.
For almost thirty years, she was threatened physically, and she was often made fun of in the press. But she didn't flinch. She only had to look in the eyes of her three children, and in the eyes of the thousands of women and girls who were blossoming right along with the trees, and she found the strength to continue.
And that is how it came to be that 30 million trees have been planted in Africa, one tree at a time. The landscapes--both the external one of the land and the internal one of the people--have been transformed.
In 2002, the people of Kenya held a democratic election, and the president who opposed Wangari and her Green Belt Movement is no longer in office. And Wangari is now Kenya's Assistant Minister for the Environment.
She is 65 years old, and this year she planted one more tree in celebration and thanksgiving for being given a very great honor:
Wangari Maathai has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first African woman to receive this award.
After she was notified, she gave a speech entitled, "What Do Trees Have To Do With Peace?" She pointed out how most wars are fought over limited natural resources, such as oil, land, coal or diamonds. She called for an end to corporate greed, and for leaders to build more just societies. She added:
"Our recent experience in Kenya gives hope to all who have been struggling for a better future. It shows it is possible to bring about positive change, and still do it peacefully. All it takes is courage and perseverance, and a belief that positive change is possible. That is why the slogan for our campaign was 'It is Possible!'"
"On behalf of all African women, I want to express my profound appreciation for this honour, which will serve to encourage women in Kenya, in Africa, and around the world to raise their voices and not to be deterred."
"When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. We also secure the future for our children. I call on those around the world to celebrate by planting a tree wherever you are."
As she received the Nobel Peace Prize this week in Oslo, she invited us all to get involved:
"Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."
October 07, 2006
Seven Steps to Organizing a Local Food Not Bombs
At the outset, starting a Food Not Bombs might seem like more than you can handle. Work on the basics, taking one step at a time. There is no need to feel pressured into accomplishing everything all at once. It might take a couple of weeks to get things rolling or it may take months. One person cannot be a Food Not Bombs group, but one person can start one.
Once you have made the decision to start a local Food Not Bombs group, talk to some other people you know who might be interested in working with you. It might be a group of friends, or members of an existing group, or you can put up flyers announcing your intentions and see who responds. Pick a meeting date, time, and place and gather everyone who is interested together to talk about what you would like to do. The following is a step by step process to get your food operation up and running. Again, these are suggestions. Because of your unique situation, you may need to add steps or ignore steps or do them in a different order. Whatever works for your group is the best path to follow.
Step 1: Start by getting a phone number and a mailing address. By using either a voice mailbox or an answering machine, you can have an out-going message with information about the next meeting time and place and you can receive messages so you never miss a call. Besides, who wants to sit by a phone waiting for it to ring; we`d rather be out in the streets feeding people. Likewise, use a commercial mailbox or post office box for your permanent address. As your membership changes, your mailing address can remain the same and you wonÕt have to redo your literature. Responsibility for collecting and responding to the mail can be easily rotated. And, most importantly, you won`t have uninvited guests showing up at your house wanting to know where is the free food.
Step 2: Next, make flyers announcing the existence of a local Food Not Bombs. By handing them out at events, posting them around town, and/or mailing them out to your friends, you will start getting phone calls, mail, and additional volunteers. It is helpful to have regularly scheduled weekly meetings or always know when the next meeting is so you can ask people to attend. This helps newcomers feel welcome and tells them how to become involved in your program.
Step 3: The next step is to arrange for the use of a vehicle. This can be a major challenge or it might not. Between the members of your group, there might be enough vehicles of the right size for your needs. If not, you might be able to arrange borrowing a van or truck from a sympathetic church group or similar organization. If you are very lucky, you might be able to convince someone to donate one to you. And, if none of the above leads to obtaining a vehicle, you can always hold fundraising events to raise money specifically for the purchase of a van.
Step 4:With flyers in hand, begin looking for sources of food. The first places to approach are the local food co-ops and health food stores. These types of stores tend to be more supportive and are a good place to practice your approach. Ask the produce managers if they ever throw away any excess produce. Explain that you are willing to collect any food which is still edible but which will not or cannot be sold. Tell them you plan to give the food to shelters and soup kitchens to feed hungry people. (You need to decide if you want to tell them that some of the food will be used for political organizing or even to tell them the name of the group. At some stores, this might not be an issue; at others, it might be better left unsaid, especially at first, until they get to know you better.) If they are interested and willing, arrange for a regular time to pick-up the food each day or as often as is practical. Early on, also visit bakeries and ask for day old bread, muffins, and bagels. Eventually, when you are able to handle the volume, start approaching food distributors, warehouses, and producers. When and where it is appropriate, leave literature which explains what Food Not Bombs does.
Step 5: Deliver this bulk food to shelters and meal kitchens. It is important to get to know the food pantries and soup kitchens in your area. Learn where they are located, whom they serve, and how many they serve. This information will help you plan your delivery route and distribute appropriate types and amounts of food to each program. Usually, it is desirable to arrange a regular delivery schedule with each kitchen. As your delivery route develops, the schedule of free food programs in our community will become clear to you. With this information, you will know where and when there is a need to provide a hot meal and, therefore, where and when to set-up a Food Not Bombs table out in public on the street or in a park.
Step 6: It won`t be long before the network of a few stores and bakeries will be giving more food than you will be able to distribute to shelters. (Even if this doesn`t happen right away in your area, you can still start to skim some food out of the flow without affecting the bulk food distribution part of the program.) With the extra food, start to prepare meals to serve on the streets. At first, go to rallies and demonstrations. There, the group can recruit more volunteers, collect donations, and lift the spirits of those at the event. Giving out meals at a rally builds community and supports the cause in a very direct way.
Step 7:Once there are enough people involved, consider serving meals one day a week to the homeless on the street in a visible way. Organize into teams; one to cook the food and one to set-up and serve the food. Cooking and serving in teams builds community within the group and is great fun. Every group has different kitchen arrangements. Some use several people`s home kitchens, some use a donated church kitchen or other industrial-strength kitchen, and some use propane stoves and cook right at the site. Pick areas which have high volume and diverse pedestrian traffic. Locations which are highly visible are desirable because part of our mission is to help make the invisible homeless more visible to those better off, economically. Also, we want to reach out to everyone with our political message; and we want to be very accessible. Often people without homes gather near the government center because they are seeking assistance of one kind or another. Why not set-up once a week outside the federal building? Over time, it is possible to grow to serving food on the street every day of the week at a different site each day!
All our food is vegetarian, that is, no meat, dairy, or eggs. This is for many reasons, but for now, two will do. First, the potential for problems with food spoilage are greatly reduced when dealing strictly with vegetables. With the process we use, we rarely hold the food we collect for more then a couple of hours. Second, teaching people about the economic and health benefits of a vegetarian diet is directly connected to a healthy attitude about ourselves, each other, and the planet as a whole. It is also a direct challenge to the injustice of the military/industrial economic system. This is not to suggest that it is our policy that everyone should be vegetarian or that eating meat is wrong. We encourage awareness of vegetarianism for political and economic reasons. We only prepare food which is strictly from vegetable sources so people will always know and trust Food Not Bombs food has this standard whenever they come to our table. At times, we do serve already prepared dairy and meat products which are donated to us because we believe eating is more important than being politically correct; however, we do not cook with animal products.
|
