February 20, 2007

WINNIPEG, Man. - Over 8,000 olive tree saplings will be planted this spring in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to replace olive
groves that have been uprooted.

The campaign, Keep Hope Alive, makes it possible for individuals,
churches and organizations from other countries to help Palestinian
farmers maintain their land and source of income, said Mennonite
Central Committee peace development worker Timothy Seidel.

The campaign, initiated by East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of
Palestine in 2002, is well on its way to meeting its campaign goal of
replanting 50,000 trees, said Seidel. Each year bus loads of visitors
participate in two international tree planting days. This year tree
plantings take place Feb. 3 and March 3.

Although MCC is not directly involved at an organizational level in
this campaign, Seidel said he personally supports this campaign
because it helps create international awareness of the challenges
facing Palestinian farmers and the deteriorating economic situation
in the Occupied Territories.

"The whole idea is to use this as a form of non-violent action to
protest the violence perpetrated against the Palestinian people,"

said Seidel, explaining construction of the wall and ongoing tension
and violent clashes with militant settlers restricts access to land,
traditional water sources, markets and cities.

Olive trees, the universal symbol of peace, have been part of the
Palestinian landscape for thousands of years. In addition to being a
valuable source of food, olives provide jobs and income from the
production and sale of olive oil, olive wood and olive based soaps.
The olive tree typically has a life span of 800 to 1,000 years.

Since 2000, nearly half a million olive trees and thousands of
hectares of farmland have been destroyed by the Israeli army to clear
land for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and for the
construction of the controversial separation wall in the West Bank.
As well, thousands of ancient trees have been destroyed by militant
Israeli settlers in an attempt to drive Palestinian farmers from
their land.

"The olive tree is more than a source of living for Palestinians,"
said Seidel. "These ancient tree have been inherited from one
generation to another over hundreds of years. These trees represent
their deeply rooted history in the region, a history that Israel is
trying to uproot by uprooting ancient olive trees and replanting them
in their own settlements."

"Hope for Palestinians is a tenuous thing," he added, noting militant
settlers have already uprooted 14 newly planted trees planted on
privately owned Palestinian land as part of the Feb. 3 International
Planting. "Yet the efforts of Palestinian farmers to replant those 14
uprooted trees bear witness to the steadfastness (sumud in Arabic) of
their hope and resistance."

Sponsoring the trees and participating in actual tree plantings
"helps get people involved in what is happening here," said Seidel.
Greater awareness of the issues, he explained, usually leads to
support for other non-violent actions that promote sustainable peace.

Trees planted in the Keep Hope Alive campaign are three year-old
young plants provided by the tree nursery of the YMCA Women's
Training Program, a program supported by MCC, and other local
nurseries. Plantings take place in agreement and cooperation with
landowners and farmers.

MCC has had a presence in Palestine for almost 60 years, first coming
to the region in 1949 in response to the refugee crisis that followed
the 1948 War in which over 800,000 Palestinian refugees were expelled
from their homes and over 500 of their villages were destroyed.

MCC's partnership with the East Jerusalem YMCA (http://www.ej-
ymca.org/) in both their women's training program as well as their
rehabilitation program is just one example of how MCC works with
local organizations to support victims of dispossession and occupation.

The YMCA's women's training program organizes comprehensive training
and provides resources in agriculture, farming, bee keeping, soap
making, food processing, management and other topics that meet the
needs of women, particularly in rural areas.

The YMCA's rehabilitation program supports individuals with injuries
and disabilities resulting from Israeli military violence against
Palestinians. It also provides medical aids and accessibility
facilities to help physically disabled people integrate into their
own community.


Gladys Terichow is a writer for MCC.

the ever sustainable pb&j

A PB&J will slow global warming. Next time you have one you'll reduce your carbon footprint by saving the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets. That's about forty percent of what you'd save driving around for the day in a hybrid instead of a standard sedan. If you were going to have a ham sandwich or a hamburger, you save the equivalent almost three and a half pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

A PB&J also saves about 962 gallons of water over the hamburger. To put this in perspective, two PB&Js a month instead of hamburgers will save about as much water as switching to a low-flow showerhead.

Have a PB&J and save 12 to 50 square feet of land from deforestation, over-grazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution.
sustainablog: PB&J: The Climate-Friendly Lunch

I have some friends that might be eligible for something like this...

http://mcc.org/salt/

it's 4:30 am

I got called in to the shelter tonight. It's been a slow night (if you don't count the heart attack and the sudden seizure in the office doorway). I'm hanging with "brother dave" tonight. He's older with arthritis and can't lay down for very long, so He and I have been chillin at the front desk. He has family in dayton, but got hung up in cbus for a stint. He is a rather impressive man with great knowledge ranging from help with my math homework to community development. We were discussing our move to franklinton and he gave me this piece of advice:

"Eric, a neighborhood is only as bad as the people in it. And if your in it, and you're a light, then the neighborhood just got a little bit brighter."

__________________________________
currently playing::psalters

Democratic Republic of Congo

Readings:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12;
Psalm 51:1-17;
2 Corinthians
5:20b-6:10;
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.

Fasting and Repentance

by Claire Evans

Ash Wednesday is a day set aside by Christians for fasting and repentance, a
time to examine our lives and return to God's path. Fasting can be a
spiritual discipline that undergirds prayer. In a small way, it can put
those of us who are well fed in solidarity with the poor.

I have often wondered how people who are hungry not by choice but as a way
of life view these calls biblical calls to fasting. When over lunch
conversation I asked a recently returned member of CPT's Congo delegation,
"What do the Congolese people eat?" she said simply, "They don't."
Presumably, she was exaggerating a little - but not much. Over the past ten
years, some four million people have died during the conflict in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)--mostly due to malnutrition and
preventable diseases exacerbated by hunger.

Everywhere they visited, the CPT delegation observed dire poverty. They
also heard the stories of women, health care professionals, and human rights
advocates who clearly connected the violence with the hunger.

Militias and the DRC military alike use systematic and brutal rape of women
and girls as an "inexpensive" weapon of war. Estimates of the number of
rapes range from 50,000 to the hundreds of thousands, and ages of the
victims from two months to over seventy years. Because armed groups attack
women as they work in their fields or collect water, they are afraid to
carry on these normal tasks essential to feeding their families. Once
attacked, survivors are often stigmatized and unwelcome back into their
communities, further shredding the social structure necessary for healthy
survival.

"Before the war," Jeanette, a rape survivor and member of the Church of the
Brethren in Bukavu, told the delegation, "I used to be just like the rest of
you. We were peaceful and were able to live in our homes." Many women
emphasized that if the violence ended, they would not need material aid from
outsiders. If the Congolese could control their own natural resources, they
might even prosper.

Since the nineteenth century, multinational corporations have been
exploiting the natural resources of the Congo--first rubber and ivory, now
gold, diamonds, and coltan. Even if you have not bought gold or diamonds
recently, there is a good chance you have used a laptop computer or a cell
phone. Coltan is an essential component of these items, and 85% of the
world's reserves are located in the Congo. Even if we want to distance
ourselves from the Congo's tragic colonial past, our use of laptops, cell
phones and digital cameras implicates in the current conflict.

What does this mean for our Ash Wednesday themes of fasting and repentance?
Confession - acknowledging our complicity in the exploitation of Congolese
resources by benefiting from it as consumers--is the first step. The next
is taking action to move forward on a path toward justice. We need to
educate ourselves and seek out groups that advocate for a more just economic
system.

Work for and pray for a world no one will need to fast involuntarily.

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to
undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break
every yoke." - Isaiah 58:6.

+++Prayer:

Loving God, We know it is your will that none of your children should
hunger. May we help bring in your reign of justice
and peace, as we look forward to a day when all your children partake
together from your abundant table.

Amen.

*See: www.friendsofthecongo.org/action,
www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds,
www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/campaigns/no_dirty_gold.

what do you think of this?

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2846568

A brief update...

I'm half way through my first qtr of "back to school". If you read my wife's blog (kerristetler.blogspot.com) then you might already know that I'm going back to school to become a nurse. Reason: we are moving to franklinton (largest white ghetto in the nation only 2miles from where we live currently) and Kerri and I decided to fully involve ourselves in that neighborhood however we can. That involved finding work there. Mount Carmel West is a huge employer in the neighborhood, and they also have a school of nursing that offers a second degree accellerated program. If all goes well, I will start there in January of 08 be an RN by January of 09. Until then, I am aquiring a few science courses that are prerequisites for the program at Columbus State.

I work rather close to school at a homeless shelter called Faith Mission. I work front desk/do perimiter checks/wake men up/make sure they have bedding/etc. At first, the job seemed overwhelming, but now I am liking this job more each day. It is pretty amazing to listen to the stories of each one of these men. I realize that most of the time they are just that, "stories," but seeking to connect with the men there has taught me so much about pain, struggle, humiliation, and the will to live. This is definatly the closest I've ever been to hearing the deep groans and the "crying out" of my city. I feel like this job is a training ground for what lies ahead of me and my family. I feel like such a "beginner" when it comes to serving the poor, those in need, the forgotten, the unheard voices of society. I don't have any answers... I don't know how to prevent homelessness... I have no idea what these people need. But I'm committing to listening for a season.

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Thurs., Feb. 01, 2007

Pray for the small Christian Peacemaker Team in northern Iraq. They are under considerable stress right now as they deal with difficult situations in new and uncertain conditions. Pray for wisdom and safety.
--------------------------
Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto ON, Canada

Restorative justice pioneer to speak during Bluffton University Forum

Dr. Howard Zehr, professor and co-director of the Center for
Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), will
present "Doing Justice on the Healing Edge" at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13,
in Founders Hall, as a part of Bluffton University's weekly Forum
series. This event is free and open to the public.

Zehr is widely known as a major restorative justice pioneer. His
work with the first victim offender encounter program in the United
States helped his insights on the topic grow and his book, Changing
Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice, is considered foundational in
the restorative justice movement.

Prior to his time at EMU, Zehr served as an associate professor and
co-director of the Social Science and the Law Project at Talladega
College in Talladega, Ala. Zehr also served as the director of the
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Office on Crime and Justice, as well as
founded and directed the Elkhart County PACT, the first U.S. victim
offender reconciliation program, now known as the Center for Community
Justice. On top of his restorative justice work, Zehr has also worked as
a professional photographer and photojournalist throughout the world.

Zehr continues to give frequent lectures and serve as a trainer and
consultant to community groups, justice practitioners, criminal justice
officials and universities throughout the world. Zehr was also appointed
by the federal court to assist the defense and to work with victims
during the Oklahoma City bombing trail of Timothy McVeigh in 1997, which
continues to this day.

Anna Yoder, public relations office