CNN: Taking a Stand - Making a Difference (Part 3)

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/23/ways-to-help-making-a-difference

CNN: Taking a Stand - Making a Difference (Part 2)

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/23/ways-to-help-making-a-difference

CNN: Taking a Stand - Making a Difference (Part 1)

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/23/ways-to-help-making-a-difference

CNN: Bras Liberate Women from Sex Slavery

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/22/bras-liberate-women-from-sex-slavery

P.S. - There is a second video that I wanted to include, but for some reason my blog is not allowing me to include both of them in 1 post - click on the link to check out the other video.

Jolica

www.jolica.com/ladawn.siemens

Remind Me of Who I Am ~ Jason Gray

When I lose My way,
And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the loneliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't receive your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,
Remind me who I am.
If I'm your beloved,
Can you help me believe it?

I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.

"It's not that they are taking stupid people."

I think one of the most naive ideas about human trafficking is that it can't happen here (as in our 'civilized' society) or that it can't happen to people we know (which includes ourselves).  Please read the following article from the Winnipeg Free Press:

www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/hundreds-of-ugandan-women-trapped-in-malaysia-by-prostitution-rings-report-says-139688883.html

CNN: iReport Challenge - Fair Trade Chocolate Creations

Since it is the One-Month Challenge in Manitoba (buying Fair Trade chocolate, coffee and tea for 30 days, starting February 14) and many of you enjoy cooking, check out the iReport Challenge from CNN regarding Fair Trade Chocolate Creations at:

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/ireport-challenge-fair-trade-chocolate-creations

CNN: Trafficking in Mozambique

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

World Day of Social Justice

Today is the World Day of Social Justice and I ask that you would take a few minutes today to see how you can get involved - locally or globally - in fighting injustice in our world.  Maybe it's volunteering to serve a meal at a homeless shelter or asking the women's shelter what kind of needs they have and helping them out.  Maybe it's planning a fundraiser for a charity and getting your family and friends involved to make it a successful day of creating awareness and collecting funds.  Maybe it's using your social media connections to start the discussion about justice and seeing where it takes you and the other people who choose to get involved.  Maybe it's deciding to buy fair trade even when the budget is tight because it honors people around the globe and guarantees that their business not only survives, but grows.

There are a million ways to commemorate the World Day of Social Justice.  It's your choice how you get involved - my concern is just that you do get involved.  Feel free to leave a comment here about how you make a difference in the fight against injustice (because I'm sure you do, otherwise you probably wouldn't follow my blog!).

CNN: Children of the Trash Dump

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

"Unbreakable"

"This is the music video for 'Unbreakable', a song about the importance of the empowerment of women and girls in our world, written, composed and recorded by eight young people from around Manitoba. These young people are Akina Kennedy-Shirt, Dani Chalus, Jeremy Ryant and Sharlene Nicole Mabasa from Winnipeg, Andrew Chudley from Oakbank, Kat Klassen from Steinbach and Callum Spencer and Jayde Clendenning from Flin Flon."

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

One-Month Challenge

Today is not only Valentine's Day, it's also the start of the One-Month Challenge - Go Fair Trade for 30 Days!  Join Manitobans in supporting fair trade and sign up for the One-Month Challenge at www.fairtrademanitoba.ca.  Pledge to have only fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate for 30 days.  Sign up as an individual or in a group and participate with your workplace, school, congregation, organization or anyone else who supports fair trade!  (info taken from the One-Month Challenge brochure)

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

The Show ~ Kerris Dorsey (MoneyBall)

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go I can't do it alone I've tried
And I don't know why

Slow it down
Make it stop--
Or else my heart is going to pop
'Cause it's too much
Yeah, it's a lot
To be something I'm not

I'm a fool
Out of love
'Cause I just can't get enough

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go I can't do it alone I've tried
And I don't know why

I am just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out
It's bringing me down I know
I've got to let it go
And just enjoy the show

The sun is hot
In the sky
Just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the signs
And synchronize in time
It's a joke
Nobody knows
They've got a ticket to that show
Yeah

  Just enjoy the show

dum de dum
dudum de dum

Just enjoy the show

dum de dum
dudum de dum

Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back

Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back

Just enjoy the show

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

mcic.ca

i am making a difference

February 5 - 11 is International Development Week and Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC) has some great video clips of Manitobans who are making a difference in our world.  Check each video out in its entirety (either on the MCIC website or right here for the next few days), and be entered to win a $250 Fair Trade wardrobe!

mcic.ca

CNN: The New Christian Abolition Movement

 

 religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/05/the-new-christian-abolition-movement

"I don't think I'm any different than anyone I work with, in vulnerability or dignity."
~Danielle Mitchell, World Relief

World Vision Trauma Centres

You can help by going to link and making a donation today:
catalogue.worldvision.ca/Gifts/Forms/Gift.aspx?giftId=2485&mc=4249801&lang=en

International Guild of Visual Peacemakers (IGVP)

Thanks to my photographer friend Judith who posted about the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers today, and I could not help but follow her lead.  This is such a cool idea and literally makes me want to dust off my camera (that's been hibernating this winter!) and go out and shoot for peace!

visualpeacemakers.org

"images free us to see. . .
the stories within our eyes,
our shared gestures,
our unique expressions,
the mysteries we ponder,
the struggles we share,
the undeniable power of love,
& our journeys of faith"

CNN: What's the Role of Faith in Fighting Slavery?

It has been a privilege to highlight The CNN Freedom Project, not only because human trafficking (and other injustice issues that are interconnected) is close to my heart, but because in their reporting, they have not shied away from the faith aspect of the fight.  They could have easily looked the other way in this regard and not bothered to report about faith, but they haven't, and for that, I commend them.

As you read the following article by David Batstone (Not for Sale) or when you think about injustice, if you ask yourself the question, "Should I get involved?", I think that you're asking the wrong question.  As people of faith, it is God's call to all of us:

"He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?"

~Micah 6:8

I believe that the question you should be asking yourself is, "How can I get involved?"  And the best thing is that it doesn't matter what you decide to do - feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the widows and orphans - the one thing that I can guarantee you is that you will meet God there.  We think we do these things to bless others and we find that we leave blessed.  People of faith need to stand up and literally be the hands and feet of Christ right now.

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.

God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child

with a virus that will end both their lives.

God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.

God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives,

and God is with us if we are with them."

~Bono

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/03/whats-the-role-of-faith-in-fighting-slavery

Freedom February

Check out more information about Freedom February at www.freethem.ca:

"We have come up with 29 things you can do this February to express, remember, and raise your voice for freedom sake.  29 Days to Love"