Eating on a Budget with a Conscience Challenge!

In partnership with Gender Equality and Social Justice at Nipissing University, NUPRI is hosting an "Eating on a Budget with a Conscience Challenge". This challenge will be part of the programming for International Women's Week 2012, the theme of which is The Grocery Bag. 

The Challenge is: make a meal for 10 dollars or less for yourself and 3 of your favourite friends using as much local, organic and ethical food as you can. Take pictures or videos of the whole process--where you got the food, how much it cost, how you made it, and how you eat it! Be sure to show us the finished product with you and your friends sitting down to your inexpensive and globally conscious meal. If you win (the way to win is to have the most ethical and cheep meal!) then you'll get a prize full of local and organic goodies! 

Then, go to our youtube page and upload your video response: http://www.youtube.com/user/EBWCChallenge. 

To see what people are saying about eating consciously on a budget visit our Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/channels/291668

If you want to be involved in the challenge, or know someone who does, send us an email at nupri.lieann@gmail.com or nupri.johanna@gmail.com. The deadline for the challenge is Friday, March 5th.

Eddson Chakuma Chicken Project Well on the Way to Success

Happy New Year from the Nipissing University Peace Research Initiative! 

In 2011 NUPRI held a fundraiser for Eddson Chakuma, one of the activists charged with treason in Zimbabwe for watching videos of the Arab Springs. 

Thanks to the support of the students, faculty and staff at Nipissing University, as well as the generous donations of many other individuals in our community and beyond we were able to raise enough money to help Eddson start up a Chicken Project to help take care of his family, pay for his education and offer continuing support for his activism as he works towards freedom and justice in Zimbabwe.

We are happy to announce that as we sail into 2012 Eddson’s chicken coop is full of healthy chickens, which will be sent to the market this week.  

On behalf of Eddson and his family as well as all the members of NUPRI, we would like to thank you for you support in this endeavor. This project is a great help to Eddson who, along with his comrades, is still in the midst of the groundless trial that began last March. 

Eddson Chakuma Trial Postponed

The trial of the six Zimbabwean activists charged for watching videos of the Arab Springs has been postponed once more. The new date for the trial is September the 7th 2011.

These activists were originally arrested in February along with more than 30 other individuals who were later released due to international and public outcry. They were kept in a flee ridden prison and tortured--denied medication and medical care. Upon release from prison Eddson was fired from his position as the United Food and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe.

The charges against Eddson and his comrades were changed to Conspiracy to Cause Public Violence on July 18th and on the 22nd of August the trial was postponed until today, and today a judge was appointed and the trial postponed again until September 7th 2011.

Our fundraiser for Eddson continues and you can visit http://nupri.chipin.com to donate.

Please also be sure to sign this petition http://www.petitiononline.com/amne5ty1/

Thank you to everyone for your continued support.

NUPRI

Johanna's Letter to the Editor

Below I have pasted the letter which I submitted to the North Bay Nugget today. Please be aware that all thoughts and ideas are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or perspectives of NUPRI, its directors, employees or interviewees. 

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On Tuesday August 9th at 8:30 am the North Bay Peace Alliance gathered in front of city hall to commemorate the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki--again. This small but resilient group of community peace activists have been doing this for more than 15 years.

I went to the event, inspired and excited to meet with other like-minded individuals--expecting a far larger turnout than the 6 others I found gathered there.

While it might well have been the weather which dissuaded ample attendance at this event on that dreary tuesday morning I am not convinced that this is the case. Looking through the last few issues of the North Bay Nugget I am led to the conclusion that it is in fact a general community-wide apathy which generally leads to the poor attendance at events such as the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration--an apathy that is egged on by local media. 

I understand and respect that this is a community newspaper and therefore community news takes precedence. However, looking back to Monday August 25th, right after the dreadful bombings in Oslo and the shooting which happened shortly thereafter, I am disturbed to see that we are shown a giant picture of a man eating a chicken wing on the front page of the paper. I enjoy a good ol' fashioned eating contest just as much as the next guy, but I think in the case of a huge tragedy with such international implications, it is important that we have some perspective.

I would be very pleased to see more emphasis in the Nugget of important international events, even if it is merely a larger focus on the acts of local individuals and groups such as the North Bay Peace Alliance on days such as the 66th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. There are many individuals in this community that would love to become more involved in the international community to which we belong--beyond learning amusing facts like the 22 new fake Apple stores found in China (with all due respect to the author and to this publication.)

Individuals in a Organizational World

What is the role of the individuals in the peace-building process? Through our interviews with Agents of Peace worldwide we have come to realize that the individual is in fact very important to peace realization and actualization.

It is not uncommon for us to believe that the only way for us to truly make a difference in this world is to support large, well-established organizations. Even then, we often think "what is my contribution going to do? How can this minuscule donation of my time or money help affect change?"

Speaking with Marianne Elliott on the telephone earlier this month I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had come to terms with this dilemma is a dramatic and life-altering way. As a Human Rights Lawyer with the UN in Afghanistan, Marianne had first hand experience of the inability, sometimes, of even the big organizations to make a difference (visit this link for more information). Through her experience in Afghanistan she went from believing that the only organization that was big enough to really make any difference in Afghanistan was the UN to realizing that the only way that she could truly contribute to peace was to "behave in a way that [she was] contributing to peace and not contributing to conflict."

This is interesting given the nature of this project and the question arises again: are individuals important to the peace-building process? Marianne explained during the interview that she saw first hand the affects of individual leadership on the actions and outlook of peace-keeping troops in Afghanistan--but how does this translate into non-military groups? How does this translate into grassroots peacekeeping?

Do an individual's motivations and emotions regarding peace and peacebuilding have an effect on the project and process itself?

It is something to ponder.

Be sure to listen to the interview with this inspiring woman on our NUPRI website. Also check out our interview with Peter Singer for another take on individuals and peace.

Political Representativeness and the Politics of Sheep-Rearing

On Friday July 22nd 2011 the world suffered yet another great loss--and in my opinion that great loss was not of beloved, rebellious singer Amy Winehouse. Rather, in Norway, more than 70 people were killed by terrorist attacks--some by bombings in Oslo, and at a camp about an hour away from the Capital. A terrible act of terrorism with a complete lack of rational political motivation by a crazed individual bent on ridding the world of "Islam". How this man hoped to achieve this goal by shooting tens of innocent youth at a summer camp is beyond me. But that aside, this post is not about the bombings and tragic events of the past weekend. Rather it is about our political leaders.

What responsibility to our political leaders have in the face of the public? Does their obligation to the public stop at the boundaries of their power? Or as public figures, do they have a responsibility to put forward a face of informed concern for public safety, politics, terrorism and international issues?

The simple answer would be "yes". As our public figures, and as our representatives to the world political leaders do have a responsibility to publicly show concern for the issues effecting our globe, beyond celebrity gossip and pop culture it-subjects. Further, political representatives from all sectors of government--local, provincial, federal--have the pull to influence the thought processes of the represented. If our PM or MP of Mayor tells us that popular culture issues, such as the death of a celebrity, or the personal goings on of a famous golfer, are important, but fail to note that political issues, such as terrorist acts, government activities, and international issues are also, if not more, important than it is not surprising that those they represent, it can be expected, will act accordingly.

That is not to say that all citizens necessarily act as sheep in relation to important political issues. The question is, can they be expected not to?

I would love to hear your responses to this!

Happy monday!

Peace,

Johanna

Support for Eddson!!!

Hello friends, family and followers. We are still looking for support for Mr. Eddson Chakuma. Eddson is one of 6 activists held on charges by the Zimbabwean state for gathering to watch videos of the Arab Spring uprisings--particularly those in Tunisia and Egypt. Zimbabwe's POSA law disallows individuals to gather or organize in any way that could be construed as "activism". 


Eddson was fired from his job for missing work while he was kept in a flee-ridden prison and tortured. Now, as the case continues--the Zimbabwean state seemingly grasping at straws to keep charges against the 6 activists--Eddson is feeling the financial strain. He has had to move his family away from him so that they may avoid harassment and the costs of maintaining his household, paying his bills, buying food and traveling to his hearings are overwhelming. In order to help Eddson in his time of need, NUPRI and the Agents of Peace project have started a fundraiser to help Eddson and his family start a Chicken farm which will provide sustainable support to them not only during the case but afterwards as well. 


Eddson was hesitant to write us a proposal for this project. He wrote to Dr. Toivo Koivukoski "it is difficult when you are the one asking for help." During our interview with him on the 15th he told us "I can not be seen begging forever", but we do not think that he is begging at all. Eddson is a proud man with mouths to feed--a difficult situation for anyone to be in. But he is not to proud to ask for assistance when his wife, children and retired father are on the line. For that we applaud him. 


Please take the time to donate to Eddson's chicken project. It costs $500 for 500 chicks, and the feed for these 500 chicks will cost $1450. The chicken run, where the chicks will be kept until maturity will cost him $400. 


A donation of $10 will buy Eddson and his family 10 Chicks! Likewise, a $30 donation will feed those ten chicks until maturity! So think about it: for about the cost of a family dinner at KFC or another food outlet you can provide Eddson and his family with 10 chicks and enough food to take care of those ten chicks until they are old enough to sell! 


If you are one of those people who ask yourself "I am just one person, what can I do?", this is a perfect opportunity to have that question answered once and for all. 


The answer is... tons!