Civic Hub – 2nd Small Groups Summit hosted by @SPCofKW

Dear All,

It has been a year since our initial mobilization around the idea of a Civic Hub. A number of us continued meeting throughout the 2018 and worked on grants, connections and the first vision statement: A home, a landmark, accessible to everyone interested in civic and grassroots groups to showcase what is being done in the community, to allow groups to support each other, recruit, communicate and build credibility and capacity for advocacy and delivery of services to the community.

The number of small groups and organizations interested in the initiative is growing. A number of projects bringing together ethnocultural groups in Waterloo Region in 2018 testified that common, affordable space is a foundation for communication, collaboration and growth for many groups who feel isolated, under-resourced and in constant competition for supports.

However, there is little understanding of the core work that civic groups and small non-profits do in Waterloo Region.

We can learn together with other non-profit networks who want to create hubs for their sectors, such as WR Environmental Network and WR Arts Council.

Our strength is in our diversity and our common vision.

On January 21st 2019, we will gather again to share updates and brainstorm ideas about the next steps in creation of a Civic Hub.


6pm at SDC Office Map
in St John Church,
23 Water St North in Kitchener
Entrance and doorbell on Duke St.

RSVP by January 15th. Please get in touch if you need more information or have ideas/comments to share before the 21st.

Wishing you only the best to come in 2019.
Warmest Holiday Regards,
Aleksandra Petrovic

Executive Director
Social Development Centre Waterloo Region
23 Water St. North, Kitchener ON, N2H 5A4
(entrance and doorbell on Duke Street)
Phone: 519-579-3800

Your Voice and Your Donation Count!
Give for A Better Common Future

We will gather again in the New Year! | Social Development Centre Waterloo Region office reopens on January 2nd 2018 (people sitting in a discussion group with notetakers in the background)

Trudy Beaulne, Executive Director of the Social Development Centre, has passed away

Trudy Beaulne
Trudy Beaulne in January 2016
I am very sorry to hear that Trudy Beaulne has passed away.

Trudy was the Executive Director of the Social Development Centre, a community leader, and a dear friend.

I first met Trudy at Connect with TransitionsKW, SPCKW and Leadnow where she spoke passionately about community involvement. We met again during the election of 2015, when she invited me to the New Hamburg debate and several educational opportunities for candidates hosted by the Social Planning Council of KW. Our paths crossed again and again at social justice events, when Trudy was speaking at the Basic Income consultation, and when I was invited to speak on election reform at a meeting of ALIVe.

Most recently Trudy joined KWPeace at our potluck in the spring. As a result of that meeting, Trudy started to work with some KWPeace groups on setting up a community hub, intended to provide meeting space and to provide guidance in getting funding for community groups.

Trudy was an inspiration to me, and taught me much about social justice. I will miss her.

–Bob Jonkman

In The News

Trudy Beaulne’s Funeral

Visitation: 10:00am to 2:00pm, Friday 12 January 2018
Sharing Memories: 2:00pm, Friday 12 January 2018
Where: Henry Walser Funeral Home
Location: 507 Frederick Street, Kitchener Map
Phone: +1-519-749-8467

Cropped from Aleksandra Petrovic Graonic & Trudy Beaulne (Social Development Centre of Waterloo Region), © 2017 copyright by Laurel L. Russwurm and used under permission of a CC BYCreative Commons — Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Stop Deportation of Issam al-Yamani

Hello friends of Palestine in KW and area,

A lot going on right now, here in Canada.

  1. This urgent action came in today from Canadian Friends of Sabeel. Mr ISSAM AL-YAMANI, a Palestinian-Canadian activist in Mississauga, is about to be deported. LETTERS NEEDED BY FRI AUG 4 if possible. At this link Action: Letters of support requested for Issam Al Yamani, facing deportation threat from Canada you will find more information and a sample letter. Issam has lived peacefully in Canada since 1985, and has no country to return to. Here is a letter I wrote today to Ministers Goodale and Hussen. Please act today.

    From: Eleanor Grant <eleanor7000@gmail.com>
    Date: Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 12:58 PM
    Subject: Stop Deportation of Issam al-Yamani
    To: Goodale.R@parl.gc.ca, Hussen.A@parl.gc.ca
    Cc: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca, Rempel.M@parl.gc.ca, Mulcair.T@parl.gc.ca, matthew.dube@parl.gc.ca, Kwan.J@parl.gc.ca, Virani.A@parl.gc.ca, Chagger.B@parl.gc.ca

    To the Honourable Ahmed Hussen and Ralph Goodale, Ministers of Immigration and Public Safety:

    Re the deportation order against Mr Issam al-Yamani

    Please grant Ministerial Relief from deportation to this man, who has lived peacefully in Canada for more than 30 years.

    And please review his case and reinstate his permanent resident status.

    I draw your attention to this informative letter from the Ontario Civil Liberties Association:

    http://ocla.ca/letter-canadas-record-regarding-the-civil-rights-of-mr-issam-al-yamani/

    In addition to the facts mentioned in the letter, I would add that the PFLP was not a banned group in Canada until 2003, long after Mr Al-Yamani ceased association with it; and that Mr Al-Yamani would become stateless if deported to Lebanon, where he was born a refugee.

    Mr Al-Yamani has no national home but Canada and he has been an exemplary Canadian resident and family man.

    I urge you to let him stay in Canada and to drop all threats against him.

    Yours Sincerely,

    Eleanor Grant
    Waterloo Ont

    cc Opposition critics Tony Clement, Michelle Rempel, Tom Mulcair, Matthew Dube, Jenny Kwan

    cc Arif Virani MP cc Bardish Chagger MP

    I made 2 small mistakes in the recipient list cc line:

    1. Instead of Arif Virani MP I meant to cc it to Omar Alghabra, who is Issam’s own MP.
    2. The address for Matt Dube (NDP critic for Public Safety) should be matthew.dube@parl.gc.ca .

    You will of course want to change Bardish Chagger to your MP if you don’t live in Waterloo.

  2. You may also be interested to hear that Canadian-Israeli journalist DAVID SHEEN is facing a defamation lawsuit by an unsavoury Israeli general. David does exceptional work making known in the West the increasingly racist culture happening in Israel at present; I heard him speak at U Waterloo in 2015. Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is asking the Cdn govt to get involved:

    Defamation suit against Israeli-Canadian journalist David Sheen must be dismissed – CJFE | Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

    As yet they have not requested mass support.

  3. If you’ve been following the case of HASSAN DIAB, the Lebanese-Canadian professor being detained in France on flimsy charges – his supporters are requesting financial support for his mounting legal costs:

    Justice for Hassan Diab | Bring Hassan Home!

    Click on How You Can Help.

  4. Lastly, close to home in London Ont, an assortment of Islamophobic hate groups are getting a foothold. I heard today that a Christian Peacemaker Teams group in Kitchener has been asked to support a Speak Peace rally in London on Aug 26 at one of these hate events. To attend, some training in nonviolence is required – the training will take place in London on Aug 25 and 26. IF YOU THINK YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE PART IN THIS TRAINING AND THE RALLY, I will put you in touch with Esther of CPT in Kitchener.

Thank You for all you do to be a light in these times.

Eleanor Grant
on Twitter @eleanor70001

CBC News reports on Cross Cultures event

Kitchener marks UN Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination

We need to “treat each other as human beings instead of labelling and stereotyping,” organizer says

CBC News Posted: Mar 21, 2017 7:00 AM ET

This flag was used at a Walk Against Racism in Regina in February. A day-long event at Kitchener City Hall Tuesday is dedicated to the United Nation's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

This flag was used at a Walk Against Racism in Regina in February. A day-long event at Kitchener City Hall Tuesday is dedicated to the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (CBC)

External Links

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)

An all-day event at Kitchener City Hall Tuesday is meant to open the discussion on racism in Waterloo region.

The event marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and is organized by the editor of the local website Cross Cultures, Gehan Sabry.

In the past year, there has been a lot of talk about racism in the region and Sabry hopes this event — now in its 16th year — will help kickstart more dialogue about the issue.

“There is racism,” Sabry said.

“Sometimes it’s more obvious and to the surface,” she added. “We’re hoping that people, through understanding each other, that there will be less of the unknown and treat each other as human beings instead of labelling and stereotyping and being leery of other people because they just don’t understand them.”

Everyone has talents, passions

The day will include several speakers, presentations, booths, music and discussions. The morning and early afternoon is largely for high school students, but the public is encouraged to take part in events starting at 2 p.m.

One of those talks will be by the organization Bridges to Belonging. Executive director Cameron Dearlove said that group is known for helping people with developmental disabilities or mental health issues, but he says they help anyone who struggles to build a full life in the community.

He said their message will be about how we need to see each other as people first.

“Everybody, whether you have a disability or not, has gifts, has talents, has passions,” he said. “If people aren’t sharing those, that’s our job to help people uncover those and find the places where they can share those and build their life within the community.”

‘More peace, more respect’

This year’s theme is Our Home On Native Land, and Sabry said it’s important because we need to remember “we are all guests of the Indigenous people of this Turtle Island.”

Sabry, who is Muslim, said she hopes people will come, listen and then go back to their communities and talk about the issues.

“I’m hoping people will be encouraged to share this information with others: Their family, their friends, their colleagues. And that we can promote better feelings amongst us, more peace, more respect, mutual respect,” she said.

Kitchener marks UN Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Kitchener-Waterloo – CBC News

Our Home On Native Land – Tuesday, 21 March 2017

please join us

Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 8:45am to 8:45pm
Rotunda, Kitchener City Hall


(even by Skype – that can be arranged)

Cross Culture’s
annual commemoration of the

UN International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2017

in our 16th year

a FREE public event

8:45 am

Opening Ceremony

Elder Jean Becker
&
O’Canada
dignitaries bringing greetings

theme for this year:

Our Home ON Native Land

  • speakers
  • multimedia presentations
  • panel discussions
  • essays on various related topics
  • booths

Inspector Mike Haffner

Mike Haffner is the WRPS Executive Officer to the Chief and is there on behalf of the Chief – will give acknowledgement of our indigenous peoples land

Hate Crime Presentation

WRPS

Kristin Little is an extremely valuable civilian member of our police service. She is an Open Source Analyst with the Hate Crime and Extremism Investigative Team. She monitors social media for 15 different police services in Ontario. She will be talking about hate crimes and the different types, hate incidents, why people commit hate crimes, types of extremism and the importance of reporting hate crimes

Our Home ON Native Land

  • are indigenous people history and culture being taught in your school? If so, by whom?
  • where are you getting your information from?
  • what do you need to inform yourself ?
  • what is your extent of awareness, your experience, your interaction with indigenous people and in what capacity ?

The Winemaker

Narsiesse

Narsiesse a First Nation writer, director, and filmmaker will open up about THE WINEMAKER film series and discuss some elements of the film’s origins that cover many of his passions, including First Nation mythos. Narsiesse will show phase one of THE WINEMAKER film series, then will share various artwork created by artists from around the world, who were inspired by THE WINEMAKER imagery and many of its First Nation themes and symbols. An interactive discussion and an opportunity to speak with Narsiesse and other members of THE WINEMAKER cast follows

Two videos

Home To Me & Outsiders

two lovely music videos done my First Nations, Metis and Inuit students in Canada followed by group discussion(led by Marianna Worth & Tammy Webster)

Presentations by

Islamic School of Cambridge & others

Unity banner

to include all students signing

Closing remarks

Bring your own lunch

schools usually attend from the morning till approximately 2:00pm when they need to return to their respective schools
however . . . students are welcome to stay and attend .. but at their own responsibility or accompanied by their own adults

Afternoon Session
2:00pm – 7:00pm

we continue with
more speakers & interactive dialogue

discussions around
discrimination against “other”
the emerging / surfacing biases and fear of unknowns

2:00 pm

The different labels attached to Muslim women

Fauzia Mazhar

2:15 pm

Skypeing with Wendy Goldsmith

A social worker and mother of three from London Ontario

As a social worker she has worked with many marginalized and traumatized individuals, families and communities and began her work in Palestine after Operation ‘Cast Lead’ and saw through photos and direct accounts of the horror and devastation inflicted by Israel on Gaza. Wendy is a member of the steering committee of Canada Boat to Gaza, a representative at Freedom Flotilla Coalition and on the Media team for the Women’s Boat to Gaza. Wendy recently returned from Barcelona, Spain, Ajaccio, Corsica and Messina, Sicily where she participated in the sailing of the Zaytouna

2:30 pm

The Political Meaning of Teaching Introductory Psychology to Indigenous Students

Dr. Richard Walsh

A retired professor of psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he specialized in community psychology and in the history, philosophy, and ethics of psychology. He is the lead author of the 2014 book, A Critical History and Philosophy of Psychology, published by Cambridge University Press. In 1999 he received Laurier’s outstanding teaching award.
Richard is an active member of a local faith community; he sings in its choir and in Inshallah, the local interfaith choir
Richard was the Green Party candidate for Waterloo in the 2015 federal election. He serves as critic for mental health in the Green Party of Canada Shadow Cabinet. He is also the critic for poverty reduction in the Green Party of Ontario Shadow Cabinet
Locally, he is a founding member of the Alliance Against Poverty

3:00 pm

Bridges to Belonging

Cameron Dearlove – executive director
Carmen Sutherland – community relations

“Bridges to Belonging ‘s vision for “a Waterloo Region where everyone belongs- where we value meaningful relationships, honour choices and dreams, and celebrate the uniqueness of each person”. How do we get there? How does inclusion and belonging interact, and how are they different? How can you build bridges to belonging in your community?”

3:45 pm

Wasai Rahimi

Current president of the Afghan Association of Waterloo Region, Wasai was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and for over 22 years has served with numerous non-profit organizations, here in Canada and overseas and has been living in Kitchener for the past 14 years

  • he is serving at the Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee, at the City of Kitchener
  • he is representing Kitchener residence at the Safety-Kleen Public Liaison Committee
  • he is a Board member of Bridges to Belonging Waterloo Region
  • he is founder and Executive Director of iHelp International
  • B A -Kabul University diploma – Conestoga College in Electrical Engineering Technology where he also studied Civil Engineering and Management

4:00 pm

The Laurier Friendship Dinners

The Laurier Friendship Dinners brought forty Laurier students, fourteen Syrian newcomer families and 40 community members together for a series of celebratory, welcoming dinners in the fall of 2016. Come and listen to a group of students, Syrian newcomers and community members share what they learned about refugee realities and building cross cultural friendships through this initiative in which students and community members collaborated through family visits, menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking Syrian feasts and celebrating together

Syrian refugees — newcomers — integration

…the existing homelessness & poverty

the concerns of a community split between prioritizing:

  • addressing the existing poverty and homelessness
    vs
    being sensitive to fellow human suffering
  • hospitable
    vs
    suspicious
  • resentful of the funding allocated to accommodating and integrating refugees
    vs
    contributions and benefits to the economy of bringing newcomers
  • and whatever more comes up in the discussions

5:00 pm

Political Policies for Indigenous Peoples

Bob Jonkman

Resolutions passed by the Green Party at last year’s Special General Meeting.

5:15 pm

The Disconnect

Dimitri Lascaris

Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, activist and journalist. He is the former justice critic in the shadow cabinet of the Green Party of Canada. In 2012, he was named by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as one of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada, and in 2013, Canadian Business Magazine named him one of the 50 most influential persons in Canadian business. He is currently a board member and correspondent of The Real News Network, based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dimitri will discuss the disconnect between Canadian public opinion and the Canadian government’s unqualified support for the government of Israel.The International Court of Justice has held unanimously that Israel’s settlements constitute a grave breach of international law. Virtually the entire international community, including Canada’s government, agrees with this assessment. Yet the Canadian government continues to support Israel lavishly. A new poll leaves no doubt that Canadians do not agree with its government’s approach to Israel. Why does this disconnect exist?

6:00 pm

Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak

Good Hearted Women Singers

Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak (Good Hearted Women Singers) are an Indigenous and non-Indigenous women’s drum circle following the teachings of Community Elder Jean Becker and led by Songkeeper, Kelly Laurila. Our outreach and singing in public has much to do with building positive relations with Settler peoples. Although Canada is in a process of reconciliation, colonization and assimilation policies still permeate the lives of many Indigenous peoples today. In addition the water, mother earth and our environment need everyone’s help. We believe that building relationships with one another can help us understand one another and work towards the good of all peoples.

All My Relations

Kelly Laurila
Songkeeper

Songs our drum circle will sing:

Nibe — We ask for respect, gratitude and love for the water. respect you, we thank you, we love you
(Song created by Anishinabe woman, Josephine Mandamim)
Humma (Ulali. A lullabye to comfort in difficult times)
Friendship (Mohawk Friendship song. We extend our welcome and friendship to all of you)
Seven Grandfathers (love, respect, truth, honesty, humility, courage, wisdom). For reconciliation.

Kip Carpenter

I am from Ontario and grew up along the mazina’iga-ziibi/Missinihe-ziibi (Credit River) and the springs of the Naadaw-zaaga-ziibi (Nottawasaga River). As far as I know my ancestors are of Irish and English decent. I have relatives from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, known as Cross Lake, and other connections to the original people of Turtle Island. My given name is Kip Matthew Carpenter.

The first time he met Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak it was a true honour to offer a poetic blessing to these Good Hearted Women. Having been born on Turtle Island it is deeply humbling for him to be able to express support in anyway possible for the international day to end racism. Much of his time has been spent in what is now known as Ontario and if there is ever a chance such as this to express and pray for more progress or healing, it is with deep gratitude he offers much more than his words. He will and does listen. He hopes semaa will keep him strong as he offers this same blessing again to all today. Acknowledging this land was taken in broken treaties, his support to the best of his ability is freely offered, he currently lives in Guelph and his given name is Kip Carpenter.

G’chi miigewetch, Kip

PEACE VIGIL

followed by the

PEACE concert

and the visual artists extravaganza …

Brenda Lewis

Brenda Lewis is a professional musician – Jazz Soul & Roots vocalist, publicist and human rights advocate, longtime Guelph resident she was most recently featured in The Jazz Room’s celebrated concert series in Uptown Waterloo, and currently performs with some of Canada’s finest musicians, including Margaret Stowe, Tony Quarrington, Jeff Bird, John Zadro and Gayle Ackroyd in this region, Toronto and across Ontario in acclaimed venues and festivals. Her CDs have been played on CBC, BBC and Jazz.FM and her new jazz release “Far & Near” (her third) is quickly garnering critical praise

Rhythms in Steel

Rhythms in Steel have been playing for about 3 years as a six piece acoustic Steelband in Waterloo Region. Band members include

  • Lisbeth Haddad on the tenor pan and vocalist
  • Murchison Callender on the tenor pan
  • Wendell Claxton on double seconds
  • Carol Taylor on the guitar pan
  • Karen Asumang and Chloe Callender on percussion

The band’s repertoire has a Caribbean flavour of reggae, soca, calypso and folk songs of the Caribbean. They perform at Parties, Churches, Retirement homes, Schools, Community Festivals and Fundraising Events for Charities.

Dance Performance

by students from the African UBUNTU kids club
Acoustic Steel is a six member acoustic steel band. The musicians are:

  • Carol Taylor on first pan (melody)
  • Cheryl Dietrich on double seconds (harmony)
  • Rob Hartung on cello (bass)
  • Sam Ogilvie on electric bass
  • Dick Smith and Kerren Asumang on djembe

The band started playing together seven years ago and play a diverse selection of songs suited to the unique sound of the Steel drum and rhythms of the Caribbean. Events at which the band has been invited to play include
Community Festivals, Charitable Fundraising Events, Weddings, private parties and Corporate functions

Brenda Hodge
Sylver Dragon

  • demo on how to do a memory bracelet … they are fun and fairly quick
  • poem

Canoes Eye View

one of the regular participants over the years will be performing as a three piece this year


This is always a work in progress … it grows as you:

  • contact us saying you will participate
  • present, have a booth, etc
  • help us spread the word among your contacts…

please feel free to call or email me to participate

  • present / share
  • have an information booth
    and
  • for further details


Gehan D. Sabry
Editor / Publisher
Cross Cultures magazine (since 1991)
POB 20002 Kitchener ON N2P 2B4
Tel: +1–519–748–9520
Fax: +1–519–893–4259
email: crosscultures@bellnet.ca
www.crosscultures.ca

Peace Camp Workshops: A huge success!

Peace Camp is an initiative housed in the MSCU Center for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel University College. The 2016 Directing team is made up of Kaitlyn Skelly, a current University of Waterloo student going into her 4th year of Speech Communication and Peace and Conflict Studies and Rebekah DeJong, a recent University of Waterloo Alumni of Peace and Conflict Studies.

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The Peace Camp Team is happy to share that we have completed another successful workshop season! The Peace Camp 2016 season resulted in 101 peace education presentations facilitated at 30 different schools across the region, reaching an estimated 3235 students. Throughout the hour long workshops Rebekah and I had the chance to work with youth in elementary schools ranging from Grade 3 to Grade 8. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore ideas of social justice and peace building with youth and to empower students to use their abilities to have a positive impact on their communities.

Our activities ranged from Peace Postcards that became random acts of kindness to team building activities that challenged participants to complete a bridge building task without verbal communication. Junior students experienced a Circle Process that explored the impact our words have on the feelings of those who hear them. Intermediate students tried their hand at conflict analysis to understand the root causes of problems and create solutions that turn conflict into a peace building opportunities. These activates highlighted the workshop participant’s peace building skills and demonstrated how each individual is capable of being peace builders in our communities.

untitled26untitled23

We loved seeing students experience “aha!” moments when ideas and concepts we were discussing clicked for them, especially when talking about how we can apply peace building to our everyday lives. It was exciting to witness the creative ideas students had to solve problems, express themselves and the depth of understanding for peace and compassion they demonstrated in our sessions.

Students we worked with were enthusiastic and engaged with the topics of social justice and peace building. In our feedback from teachers we were told that,

“the students were highly receptive and reflective based upon the ideas discussed”

and that they were impressed with the level of engagement their students showed while participating in the workshop. Another teacher said that “the message is positive and important and having it come from young adults is great”. Educators were pleased with the connections their students could make with local university students, “Thank you, so impressed with the many programs coming out of the University of Waterloo”. Rebekah and I are glad to hear about the positive impact this program has had on students and are grateful to the educators who welcomed us into their classrooms.

untitled25

Throughout the 2016 workshop season one of the questions students ask us most often was “Is there a real Peace Camp in the summer?”, and the answer is YES! We have a week long day camp in August for youth ages 11-14. The camp is located on the University of Waterloo Campus at Conrad Grebel University College. This summer’s theme is ‘Peace In Action’ and the goal is to show campers that whatever their interests may be, whether it is art, music, math, engineering, business or even fashion, be they can use them to pursue peace. Registration is still open and we have a few more spots available.

Click here for more information or to register for Peace Camp

Welcome to the new home for KWPeace

KWPeace logo
KWPeace
Thanks to the sponsorship of Educators for Justice and the generosity of web hosting provider CCj/Clearline the KW Peace blog has moved to a new site at http://kwpeace.ca/.

An initiative of the Kitchener Waterloo Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium, the new site gives more flexibility to add things like a comprehensive calendar of all Peace and Social Justice events in the Kitchener–Waterloo area, and mailing lists for the KW Peace groups to coordinate those events.

Thank you for joining us on our new site!

–Bob Jonkman,
KWPeace Blog System Administrator.

Amnesty International: Write for Rights — Saturday, 5 December 2015

Write For Rights -- Amnesty International
Amnesty International — Write For Rights
Here is the poster for the December Write for Rights event of Amnesty International Group Nine. Please distribute it as widely as you can, either electronically or in printed form.

The seven cases upon which we will be focusing this year can be found at www.writeathon.ca. If you want to bring printed letters with you to Seven Shores on the 5th, we’ll be happy to mail them for you. If you send them yourself, either by post or electronically, please let us know so that we can get a count of the total sent from Group 9 (Amnesty Canada asks us for this).

Many thanks to all,

David Lubell and Margaret Jackson


What will you be doing to change a life?

Write For Rights - Amnesty InternationalI will be writing letters of solidarity to prisoners of conscience on International Human Rights Day

Join Amnesty International’s Write for Rights letter writing event and your words can change a life.

Time and Date: December 5th, Noon to 4:00pm

Location:
Seven Shores Cafe Map
10 Regina Street North, Waterloo

Contact: groupnine@gmail.com
Facebook: Amnesty International Kitchener Waterloo Chapter, Group 9

Take Part: www.writeathon.ca

Kitchener Waterloo Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium, 29 October 2015

Minutes of the Symposium are now online!

20 Oct 2015: Note from Emily Mininger:

We are pushing the symposium back a half hour because of a book launch that Project Ploughshares is hosting. Project Ploughshares and the Centre for Peace Advancement are presenting the launch of Ernie Regehr’s book, “Disarming Conflict: Why peace cannot be won on the battlefield.” This event is on the 4th floor of the Centre for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel in the gallery space. Feel free to stop by before our symposium event!

The symposium will be held from 5:30-7:30, also on the 4th floor of Conrad Grebel in the Centre for Peace Advancement, in the Fretz Seminar Room.

Who’s involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo Peace and Social Justice community? And do we all know each other? Emily Mininger from PeaceQuestKW wants to meet us all, and is hosting a Peace and Social Justice Symposium:

From: Emily Mininger <e.mininger@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 20:40:54
Subject: Kitchener Waterloo Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium

Hello!

You’re invited to a Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium. We’re inviting different groups active in the area of peace and social justice in the KW community to come together, share their work and experiences, and brainstorm about future possibilities for collaboration in an effort to obtain a “snapshot” of the KW Peace and Justice community as it is currently. We have many people in the KW community working for peace and justice, and there is a wealth of knowledge to be shared. Come participate in this community conversation and help us learn together.

This event is taking place at Conrad Grebel University College on October 29th. The program of the evening will run from 5-7pm 5:30pm – 7:30pm and include introductions, a brief roundtable about who people are and what work they do, discussions about challenges and strengths of working in the KW community, and brainstorming common goals and possible avenues for collaboration.

Please RSVP to Emily at peacequestkw@gmail.com by October 22nd.

A light dinner of vegetarian chili and bread will be provided free of cost — please let me know if you have any dietary restrictions.

Cheers,

Emily

Emily Mininger
PeaceQuest KW Affiliate Facilitator

Email: e.mininger@gmail.com
Phone: 519-568-3879
Twitter: @PeaceQuestKW
Facebook: PeaceQuest.ca | Facebook
Website: http://peacequest.ca/

I’m planning to attend — hope to see you there!

–Bob.


Conrad Grebel University College Map
140 Westmount Road,
Waterloo, Ontario

Film about Missing Mexican Students — Cinema Politica, Wednesday, 23 September 2015 at 7:00pm

Almost missed this. Via e-mail:

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:24:09 -0400
Subject: Film about Missing Mexican Students
From: Group Nine <groupnine9@gmail.com>

Here’s an event not to miss: Cinema Politica is showing Ayotzinapa: Chronicle of a State Crime in room 301 of the RCH Building at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday, 23 September 2015 at 7:00pm. This film is an exposé of the Mexican police and military authorities in the armed kidnapping and disappearance of 43 students. This is one of the cases that Group 9 featured at our table this summer.

Ayotzinapa: Chronicle of a State Crime | cinema politica


This is the official Group Nine e-mail address.

Group Nine is the local chapter of Amnesty International Canada in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. We normally meet at 7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of every month in Room 4224 (The Fretz Seminar Room) at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo (140 Westmount Road North, Waterloo N2L 3G6). Please confirm by email or on our Facebook page.

www.amnesty.ca
groupnine9@gmail.com