Love is a house / featuring author Yann Martel
Relief, development and podcast
Release Date: 12/14/2023
Christ (still) under the rubble / Reverend Munther Isaac and Anthony Khair
Relief, development and podcast
This episode features a conversation between Reverend Munther Isaac and his former student Anthony Khair. The two Christian Palestinian men talk about how they are navigating grief and the immense loss in Gaza, while cultivating courage and resilience. Their conversation covers challenging truths and talks about the importance of language in this moment. Full transcript and show notes available .
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Talking climate, practicing peace / Jessica Stoltzfus Buller
Relief, development and podcast
With Canadian thanksgiving just past and the United States election around the corner, some people are psyching themselves up for the awkward conversations that can come up. Sometimes this means talking about difficult topics. Bumping elbows with people who have conflicting worldviews. Maybe it involves passing gravy to an uncle that likes to play contrarian. In this episode, we're taking questions from listeners. Jessica Stoltzfus Buller, a facilitator, trainer, mediator and peacebuilder joins us to talk about how to navigate conversations with more curiosity and compassion. Full...
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Group of helping hands Nepal / Surendra Shrestha
Relief, development and podcast
Surendra Shrestha, Executive Director of SAHAS, discussed the challenges faced by Nepali farmers, including lack of irrigation, poor seed quality, and climate change impacts. He emphasized the importance of community-based organizations (CBOs) in addressing these issues, highlighting their role in accessing resources, developing leadership, and fostering social capital. Fish farming initiatives, supported by CBOs, provide economic benefits, environmental sustainability, and fresh fish for local communities. Surendra's dedication to improving agricultural practices and community well-being is...
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The lost story of Dr. Dismukes - Black history in Appalachia
Relief, development and podcast
Rediscovering black history in Appalachian coal town, MCC staff in Kimball West Virginia piece together a story of a Black owned hospital that used to sit on the site of the current Appalachia Build program site. Dismukes project cordinator Tylah Cline
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Behind the scenes with MCC emergency relief / Bruce Guenther
Relief, development and podcast
Bruce Guenther remembers his grandma describing the smell of the bread at the MCC soup kitchen in Ukraine. She received food from MCC over 100 years ago. Today, Bruce helps coordinate MCC's relief response, getting food and other basic needs to those who need it most. View full transcript .
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A field trip: growing safer vegetables in Bangladesh / Jahangir Alam
Relief, development and podcast
When pesticides are used so much it starts to harm the community, MCC partners are looking to find natural ways to grow a safe vegetable. Go into the field with us to Bogura Bangladesh where MCC staff member Jahangir Alam shows us exactly what that looks like and the challenges that come with it. Learn more and see images from this story on MCC's website
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The Enneagram Prison Project
Relief, development and podcast
"I didn't expect something like this program to be in jail," says EPP participant Chantelle Peele. "It was very compassionate and understanding. And it came from a place of true caring. You can sense it right away when you walked in the room that the guides, and the facilitators cared, and they genuinely wanted to help." The Enneagram Prison Project uses a personality test called the Enneagram to facilitate trauma healing and self-awareness training for people in prison and jail. If you don't know what the Enneagram is, don't worry, we get into that in this episode... Featuring EPP...
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Distributing aid in Myanmar at great risk / "Mr. Khong"
Relief, development and podcast
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power again in 2021. Distributing aid is dangerous, so MCC's partners in the region face significant challenges. Meet Mr. Khong (not using his real name for security reasons), an MCC partner in Myanmar. He shares how he is navigating these dangerous conditions, talks about the moral obligation he feels as a peace worker, the livelihoods being impacted, families fleeing from their homes, the unpredictability of the army and the constant worry about being a target. "Being meaningful to my country, being meaningful to my community,...
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Nonviolent resistance: Just peace in Palestine and Israel part 2 / Jonathan Kuttab, Alain Epp Weaver and Jad Issac
Relief, development and podcast
Part two of the conversation with Jonathan Kuttab and Alain Epp Weaver focuses stories of Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation. We also hear stories from Jad Issac, the director general of the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ), an MCC partner of over 40 years.
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Gaza update: Just peace in Palestine and Israel Part 1 / Jonathan Kuttab and Alain Epp Weaver
Relief, development and podcast
Gaza has seen so much devastation over the last few months. In this episode we are joined by Palestinian human rights lawyer and former MCC volunteer, Jonathan Kuttab, as well as Alain Epp Weaver, director of MCC's planning learning and disaster response department, to talk about the current situation and the history that has brought us to this point. MCC has continued to respond through local partners, Seth Malone and Sarah Funkhouser , MCC representatives for Jordan, Palestine and Israel, tell us how.
info_outlineIn his book “The High Mountains of Portugal,” Yann Martel writes...
“Love is a house with many rooms, this room to feed the love, this one to entertain it, this one to clean it, this one to dress it, this one to allow it to rest, and each of these rooms can also just as well be the room for laughing or the room for listening or the room for telling one’s secrets or the room for sulking or the room for apologizing or the room for intimate togetherness, and, of course, there are the rooms for the new members of the household. Love is a house in which plumbing brings bubbly new emotions every morning, and sewers flush out disputes, and bright windows open up to admit the fresh air of renewed goodwill. Love is a house with an unshakable foundation and an indestructible roof.”
In this episode, we’re bringing you a story about a house. A house that belongs to author Yann Martel and now houses newcomers.
We explore what it takes to sponsor a refugee family. How it takes a village. A community. A network of people working together, using their strengths. How anyone can get involved with the resources, time or skills they have to offer. We speak with Yann and a number of people connected to the home he gifted—a family member who was once a refugee herself, someone from the sponsorship group and a neighbour.
Full transcript available here.