Restorative justice takes root in Zambia and Malawi
A restorative justice curriculum has been introduced at 100 correctional facilities in Zambia and Malawi. In 2019, Rod Friesen, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario Restorative Justice Coordinator, was invited to facilitate a week-long training session for officers in the Zambian Correctional Service (ZCS). This training session was part of a pilot project of MCC Zambia…
Making Wars Cease: Charting the evolution of MCC peace work
In 1841, Ontario Mennonite bishop Benjamin Eby wrote that the time would come “when all Christians, and indeed all governmental authorities, will acknowledge that the waging of war is evil and does not belong in the kingdom of God.” Eby’s words echoed Psalm 46, which says, “Come, behold the works of the Lord. . .…
Horsing around for global relief
Mission is the place where your passion and the needs of the world meet. Donita Wiebe-Neufeld’s passion for horses led her to participate in a unique fundraiser for Mennonite Central Committee. The Edmonton resident has undertaken a fundraising project called “Faces with Ace” as part of MCC’s annual Go! 100 campaign, which invites participants to…
Quilting across continents
Great winter warm-up By Nikki Hamm Gwala Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba For Judy Hildebrand of Crystal City, Man., brightly coloured comforters add cheer to long prairie winters. Hildebrand is a seasoned Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) comforter maker and member of the Crystal City Ladies Aid which began making comforters for MCC in the basement of…
MCC gala dinner features Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, a widely acclaimed writer and podcaster, drew a crowd of 650 people to a fundraising dinner hosted by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario on Oct. 27 at Bingeman’s in Kitchener. As is his style, Gladwell wove together interesting stories, while the audience wondered about the connections between them. But the strands came together…
MCC begins 2022-2023 meat canning season
As Mennonite Central Committee begins its 2022-2023 meat canning season, the need for food in Ukraine and other countries around the world is growing. In Ukraine, millions of people have been displaced, and many are without access to food, water and healthcare since the Russian military invaded in February. This summer, MCC’s Ukrainian partner organizations…
Growing hope, one acre at a time
“We all believe that in our core values it’s important that if there is something that you can do, you do it,” says Emily Lappage of Gatez Farms. She is the eldest daughter of Blaine and Laura Gatez, and has grown up surrounded by farm life and family values. Gatez Farms is a third-generation family…
MCC supplies arrive for displaced Ukrainians
Before the fighting escalated in Ukraine this year, Nadiya O.* and her husband lived near the city of Uman, Ukraine. Together, they grew a vegetable garden and kept bees, selling their honey to make some extra cash. But shortly after the conflict worsened, her husband died from a heart attack. Then Russian military…
‘We have no safe area under the sky’
For much of my life I associated Ethiopia with famine. I’m just old enough to recall the searing scenes from Ethiopia in the mid-1980s: windswept, dull-beige landscapes; skeletal cattle; distended bellies; flies; people crowding trucks laden with sacks of food; and charitable rock concerts. It was the most famous famine of modern times, made so…
MCC calls on PM to remove barriers to humanitarian assistance
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada has joined other leading Canadian aid organizations to launch Aid for Afghanistan, a national campaign calling on the Government of Canada to immediately act to remove barriers that have blocked and deterred the provision of lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan for the past year. The campaign encourages Canadians to take…
