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documenting the efforts of Peterborough working towards faith, hope and love both here at home and around the world
Printed in the year of our Lord 2010
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troduction
Injustice is amidst us. Everyday. Our level of consumption is dependant upon cheap labour in poor countries. You call it embracing neoliberalism. You say that it is celebrating globalization. You accept the status quo of modern day capitalism. I call it injustice. We take fathers and sons from Mexico and ask them to work our fields. We take mothers and daughters from the Philippines and ask them to raise our children and clean our houses. Our agriculture and economy depends on migrant labour. I call it injustice. A refugee is someone who has fled his or her home country because of persecution. Sometimes, via ingenuity and desperation for their families, they arrive here after harrowing journeys, requesting protection from Canada’s benevolence. Our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration calls them ‘bogus’ refugees because they fought, rather than waiting in a refugee camp, for our charity. You could call it appeasing the political right. You could be concerned about the security of our borders and the integrity of our social welfare system. I call it injustice. A homeless man named Jesse falls in the creek and dies. He’s lived a life of sorrow, having seen two wives and four children die before him. He drank to his death. And there are more men and women like him, living here in Peterborough, dying here in Peterborough, masking their pain with vice. Society calls them vagrants. We send them to the Brock, but if they’re intoxicated, they sleep outside. You call it unfortunate, and that’s if you’re nice. I call it injustice. And I’m guilty of it. And so are you. Breathe it in if you will. Roll it over your tongue like a bitter wine. Swallow it and let it fester in your stomach. But don’t let it kill you. Everything is terrible, so get out there and do something about it. And I am attempting to imitate Christ, and I do so poorly. But give me grace, and I will give you love. - Michael VanDerHerberg
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Everything is not ok.
Justice, as far as I have come to understand it is, in simple terms, people getting what they deserve and due to the actions of a certain character on a cross a couple thousand years ago people, all people mind you, deserve life and life abundantly. Now I challenge you reader to look at the world around you and tell me if you would characterize it with the word justice as I have defined it. I would not. Justice is something I struggle with, which is to say that I don’t really believe in it. I recognize it on a theoretical level for there is of course justice in the platonic sense, the “idea”, but justice on a practical, tangible level? I don’t buy it. I’d be more comfortable cataloguing it with other utopian ideologies like communism, dictatorships, democracy… all great ideas that we as a human race have no graspable chance of obtaining in any true, full sense. And despite these initial observations I would definitely assert justice as something to which I strive, just as I strive for the perfection of my faith recognizing that to be a goal wholly unobtainable but for the coming of Christ. And I will readily recognize instances of justice available in daily life, micro-justice as it were, but I’m concerned with justice on a macro scale, a justice that permeates the world. I have done a fair amount of hitchhiking in the past several years. I love it for the opportunity to encounter people I would not otherwise encounter, people of varying, disparate walks of life. I have met many different people, I have heard many unique stories, I consistently encounter a plethora of injustice. My travels have presently taken me to Edmonton where I am currently working as a frontline worker at a drop-in for the poverty stricken. Every single day I’m there I face numerous tales of injustice, tales of how people who deserve more, get less. The other night a teenage girl came in and cut her arm up with a shattered porcelain mug and we, having neither the means nor the resources available to help her, had to turn her out onto the streets. She is not healthy enough and not sick enough to get the help she desperately needs. I leave the drop-in to work my other job, which
is fundraising for non-profit organizations in wealthy neighborhoods and streets with high-end shops and business’. Here I watch hundreds of people walk by who will not give me the time of day or are commonly quite rude to me. Why? Because I was presumptuous enough to ask them for a minute of their so very valuable time when obviously they can’t be bothered to spare two minutes to find out how they can contribute towards working for justice. Upon reading all this, how do you feel? Do you feel encouraged to go out and make a difference, to be an agent of justice in the world? or are you thinking, ‘I’m not surprised, that’s just the state of the world today’ or maybe even ‘why do I keep trying to make a difference when there’s so little anyone can actually do, when justice is so far from being achievable’ I fear the latter. And so I generally hesitate from discussing things of this nature at any length. Here especially, because the alltoo likely reality is that everyone reading this doesn’t need to hear this. We go to school or work and hear about how terrible everything is, we read in books how terrible everything is, we hear on the news constantly how terrible everything is and then we get together with our friends and family and talk about how terrible everything is. I think at this point it’s safe to say we know full well how terrible everything is. Know this, all of that isn’t helping. It’s good to be informed, don’t get me wrong, but constantly ramming today’s tragedy down everyone’s throat makes everyone feel miserable and doesn’t promote change. What promotes change is you (yes, you) doing something, doing what you can, trying to manifest justice in every area of your life in the ways that you can, trying to focus on the positive things in the world, working towards those things and encouraging people in those things rather than pointing out and discussing (just discussing mind you) at great lengths all the terrible injustices that
are going on and all the people who don’t care, who aren’t doing more. That’s unjust. Again I ask, how did the recitation of the injustices I’ve encountered make you feel? Think about it, I could ramble on until I was blue in the face about all the injustice I encounter on a daily basis, but that’s not going to get you excited about making a difference, that’s a going to depress you to the point of nihilism. Instead I should talk about how the work we do at the drop-in has lead to some significant positive changes in people’s lives, that people have made it off the streets due to the relationships they’ve formed there. I should mention the fact that talking to a few people on the street who have listened will eventually lead to thousands of dollars for charitable work in the world today, work that will save countless lives. These are the things that would get you excited about how one person can make a difference, how one person can promote justice if even on an micro level. If I encourage you in the areas you are trying to make a difference, talk about the positive elements, not ignoring the negative but not focusing on them, undoubtedly you would find that you would be pushed in the direction of taking those areas your working in to the next level. It’s basic psychology. I have had enough of reading books, going to lectures and seminars and having conversations about why the world sucks. Knowing something doesn’t change that something and focusing on a negative something doesn’t lead to a positive something. We’ve become so focused on the injustice we’re fighting against, that we’ve forgotten about the justice we’re fighting for. And why is it we bother? Simply, in case you’ve forgotten, beyond our individual desires and passions we seek justice because justice is what we have been called to and created for. God is justice, we have been created in his image and if we aspire to actualize the image we bear we must aspire to justice and we aspire to justice through a life that is focused on justice rather than injustice. -Chris Jardin.
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H a i t i . Grande Goave, Haiti. This is a place not exempt from the poverty issues of a 4th world country. There are only 5,000 living inside the main city center leaving an estimated 110,000 outside the city limits, among mountains which are beyond road access. You don’t have to look very far before you see the desperation and need in the lives of the people who live there. With a staggering unemployment rate of 98%, the need for aid is endless. In Grand Goave the family structure, as we know it, does not exist. Fathers continually abandon women and children. Kids are forced out to fend for themselves in the dangerous, hostile surroundings. Seeds of Hope (SOH) is a registered non-profit organization working to help the lives of people in the community of Grande Goave, Haiti, with a mission to feed, clothe, house, and educate. This organization started in Peterborough by my family, the Rodin’s, in 2008, and has since developed many branches as we learn where the strongest needs are. Gord and Heather are the co-founders and administrators, Pete Rodin is lead multi media and I, Becki Rodin, am spokesperson. Most all of us have travelled to Haiti and experienced the desperation first hand. Through this, we have and continue to gain a heart to help the people in this seemingly forgotten part of the world. Though it’s mostly my family that runs the back end of the organization, Tony Jones, a Peterborough native, has since moved to Grand Goave and established a life there. He is currently working as the field rep and is able to coordinate each program from an educated perspective as he is immersed in the local culture. So far the organization has established feeding programs, medical clinics, continual repair of dilapidating homes and school sponsorship for over 700 children. With no road access to the mountain region, the people are forced to walk hours and hours in order to reach the city market to make any income possible. Most of the time they must walk throughout the night to reach the market by day break. Due to the remote locations, the government stopped funding for the teachers and the schools began to close leaving the kids with no chance for education.
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Currently, SOH is sponsoring 5 schools in order to keep them open. Sponsorship includes paying teachers, providing school supplies and curriculum and structural upkeep of the schools. Outside the city limits is where the medical teams will be working. Peterborough’s Medical Brigade, a team of doctors, nurses and other volunteers are travelling to Grande Goave this January to set up a week long clinic to give medical attention to the people who have never had access to it before. The feeding programs involve hiring a local family to cook for its neighbourhood. All families participating must be registered to be part of the program and would pay pennies for their meal, except for children who eat free. SOH provides the host family with rice packs from Kids against Hunger and they are able to keep whatever they’ve collected for the meal. Currently there are almost 250 people being fed a nutritious meal every other day. Future hopes include building an orphanage for so many of the children who are legitimately abandoned. The corruption in Haiti is so unimaginable that it’s not uncommon for the children in orphanages to have been kidnapped from their families and held hostage, providing the orphanage owners more money from child sponsors in America. The number of abandoned children, as young as 2, who wander the streets late at night without homes would absolutely break your heart. The situation in Grand Goave seems bleak but Seeds of Hope and all who are associated with the organization believe that every little life matters and they are committed to seeing the Haitians restored so they are able to lead their own people towards growth and change for the generations to come.
As per Wikipedia, the 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake. Its epicentre was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-auPrince, Haiti’s capital. The earthquake occurred on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. Given Becki’s involvement in Seeds of Hope, we thought it appropriate to ask her to give us an update.
Since the earthquake happened, we have been in contact with Tony and he himself barely escaped his house alive. The whole town has collapsed and he said it looks like a war zone. Dead people line the streets and there are still so many who are trapped under the rubble. This city is in trouble also because it is located at the base of the mountains and right on the coast of the ocean. When the earthquake hit, all the mountains collapsed and has covered the roads out of the city. They are basically trapped and cannot receive aid by land. They have no medical supplies and no doctors. Their food and water supplies are running out quickly. Right now, in Peterborough, we have doctors, volunteers and medical supplies ready to go but we can’t get them there! We have spent the last week trying everything we can to get a helicopter to get the people and supplies flown into Grand Goave. Right now all our money is going to flying the medical team into Grand Goave - because it will be so long before they receive any other aid from another organization because it all seems to be going to Port au Prince right now.
plies as soon as we can get it to them as they will be facing diseases now. Of course on the horizon we are looking at re-building, which will take a lot of time and a lot of money. Right now the number one problem is the children. There are so many orphaned children right now just wandering the streets. They need immediate attention. The Canadian government has also agreed to match all donations to Canadian charities! That’s us too. In the past week, we have raised almost $30,000 and since Seeds of Hope is completely run by volunteers, 100% goes to the community - there are no administration costs. Tony Jones just caught a cargo plane to Montreal, transferring to Toronto tonight with his wife, Edna and her three month old son, Ben. Now they are facing diseases, Tony wanted to get his family out as soon as possible. It’s a miracle he was able to. Tony will be putting together a team and returning to Grand Goave as soon as possible with supplies and manpower. www.hopegrows.ca
A week later, the situation is Grand Goave is bleak. It is no longer a rescue mission but a relief effort. They need food and sup-
- Becki Rodin
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Finding Home My name is Jennifer Knight. I grew up in a pretty suburb in Mississauga, just outside Toronto. I had a loving home, and my concept of injustice was very limited- to not being invited to birthday parties or getting a bad dessert in my lunch. I remember distinctly the first time I saw a homeless person- I was maybe 7, walking downtown Toronto with my Mom. When I saw him I was struck with such compassion, and such fear, that I asked if she could give him some money, but I would walk behind her so he didn’t know I had played a part. He was dirty and scary and I was just a little girl. As I walked by he looked at me and nodded. I jumped and ran ahead to join my mom, and spent months trying to forget what I had seen. I never could. My teenage angst was more against shopping and expensive vacations than anything else. I didn’t see justice in that- so I used to go down to the local coffee shop after school and sit there for hours, doing homework and talking to all kinds of people that hung around there. There is a fair-sized community of ‘homeless’ people in Mississauga, though many remain unseen. I met a woman there named Teresa* who was schitsophrenic, and often hung out on the streets just outside. I was nervous, at first to talk to her, but determined, and she soon became a friend. I learned that Teresa had an apartment, but the conditions she lived in were pretty bad, and she wasn’t being taken care of. I used to buy her coffee and talk to her, and sometimes we would pray. Teresa would be classified as homeless, (even though she had an apartment) and mentally ill. She probably got funding from ODSP and didn’t have much family. Teresa often had to go to the hospital- and hated it. She would always come back to the coffee shop and often was pretty lonely, but I think she felt more at home there than in any of the places she ran away from every day. The summer after my first year of university, I gained a little independence and drove west to Fort McMurray, to work with a radio station and youth center, directed at homeless youth. I was still troubled by this problem of homelessness, by my own failings and my fear. Every day I would drive by ‘homeless people’, crack addicts and prostitutes (these are just labels) who lingered on the roadsides of that city, on the steps of the church I went to , and I had no idea what to do. Every day I would pray, and began to spend my days in soup kitchens and handing out jellybeans, playing basketball, listening to or praying, with that community. I met a lot of
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people there who lived on the streets, but had houses elsewhere. Usually there was some kind of family or bad living situation that drove them out, but their lack of home was not always a lack of available accommodation. They found a home on the street. There was always enough food in the soup kitchens, and their community looked out for each other fiercely, and it was the only family many of them knew. A lot of them wanted out though, because the ‘family’ was also a gateway into drugs, and alcohol and prostitution. While there is a notable lack of affordable housing Fort McMurray, I began to think that maybe there was more to homelessness than this. In the bible, finding ‘home’ is usually talked about by leaving it. Jesus called his disciples to leave their nets where they were, and follow him. He said that birds had nests and foxes had dens, but the son of man had no place to lay his head. He said if we were to gain our lives, we must lose it. Jesus loved the poor. He served them. This summer I have spent a lot of time hanging out at the local homeless shelter. It’s called the Brock mission, even though it’s not on Brock Street anymoreit’s on Murray. I started hanging out there in the winter time because some of the teenagers that go to the youth center I volunteer at eat there. I love these kids with all my heart and so I started going there to share a meal. When school got out, almost half the people eating at the shelter would be under 20 years of age, some as young as 14. Some of them were classified as ‘homeless’- but many of them were not. Almost all of them had a place to go at night. They all had access to clothing, food and water, and often cell phones and other things. But I knew that for these youth, ‘homelessness’ was something very different. There was a reason these kids were showing up at a homeless shelter, even if they had a place to live. They considered it home. This broken, messed up community was home for these kids. So I’ve started thinking that maybe this was homelessness- not just people that didn’t have a house, but not having a home- and thus the need to find a home in something else- in broken relationships, in drugs or alcohol or loneliness. So we started to paint the shelter. I took these kids (and adults) and gave them brushes and we painted. It definitely wasn’t perfect- but we talked and laughed and while I couldn’t give them a better place to call home, I tried to love them, and make what they called home a better place- to give them some integrity and let them know they meant something. I think that homelessness is not just a matter of house-lessness (although this is part of it). Home embodies love- it is safety and security, a place we can come back to. I believe that Jesus Christ is love. If God is love, then maybe finding home means coming back to him. If this is true then fighting against homelessness, which often results in inadequate social planning and people still finding their home in destructive things, transforms into fighting for the homeless- which is a matter of restorative justice, a matter of love. And may-
be restoration requires us to live in that love, to really address a person’s need, to serve them. That’s definitely not easy, it can be
B
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K
E
The Peterborough Community Bike Shop is an incorporated not-for-profit organization offering a supervised learning environment with the tools, parts and expertise for bicycle repair. I know a bike, a growing machine, tightened together by a community quietly swelling in a church basement. In this basement, the bike is built as the beloved and myriad product of an unlimited idea with good hands. The bike is creativity borne of grease-filled fingernails. It tips gently forward, held wantingly in the repair stand.
complicated and messy- it’s easier to give a couple bucks and walk (or run) away. In a lot of ways I am still that frightened little girl, and want to do just that- but I believe that there is hope that’s bigger than me. *not real name
Expectations burn and burst under every corrective touch. Selfassured: I know I can build this, fix this, change this. The closest we come to certainty, maybe to completion. This bike, every bike, is closest we come to making something perfect. --I stumbled into B!KE nearly two years ago, answering an ad I’d seen around town offering bike mechanic training in exchange for some volunteer time. At the time, I had been quietly looking around for something new, something good, to throw myself into.
- Jenn Knight
I came early and stood kicking at dirt in the Sadleir House parking lot. After a short time there came a sight surely familiar to B!KE’s members: I was greeted by the beaming smile of B!KE’s founder, Sarah Follett.
We immediately dug in to a training free-for-all; I knew nothing, and was humbled by Sarah’s enduring patience and hospitality as we worked steadily through the beautiful complexity/simplicity of bike repair.
Other folks came by throughout the session, learning how to put their own bikes in good working order: a mother and son, some Trent students, a teenaged girl. It was immediately apparent that the work was mechanically and aesthetically satisfying for all, and more importantly, this fledgling organization was doing something really interesting and important. I decided to stick around. It’s such a simple idea: teach people how to fix their bikes. B!KE does just that, but so much more. With nearly 250 members representing virtually every demographic in Peterborough – seniors to teenagers, students to daily commuters, low-income families to well-heeled professionals – B!KE is a wonderfully diverse and welcoming space to be a part of. We work hard to make everyone feel good. And this work, teaching self-sustainability through
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skill-sharing and community-building, represents mobility and independence for the people living car-free/lite, and empowerment and excitement for the casual cyclist.
Bicycles are subtle machines pouring out 100% guaranteed goodness. They’re so much more than just toys for neighbourhood kids or gimmicks for spandex superheroes (though both have their place in the bike universe!). Look around: bikes are the background players for basic mobility in our city and across the world, almost invisible in their ubiquity. And as more people get on two human-powered wheels, a slow and welcome change creeps into the general perception of bikes. Cycling isn’t about poverty or “hardcore” behaviour. It’s about being – really being¬ – an integrated element of your community, feeling independent and empowered, traveling on your own power, an ambassador for calm in a noisy world of cars. Need cycling clothes? Open your closet: it’s full of them. Need some confidence building maintenance/repair skills? Come visit B!KE. You’re all set.
Two years after my first morning at Sadleir House, B!KE has grown from a small, sporadically open operation in a shared workshop into a settling community institution. In Summer 2008 the Third Space Church generously offered B!KE a space in their massive basement, and the organization moved from Sadleir House to Knox United Church (400 Wolfe St @ Park and Wolfe). We quickly filled it up with workstations, tools, parts and donated bikes – and, at times, over 25 members working at once! B!KE became incorporated as a non-profit in January 2009, and received a few small grants from Sustainable Trent and the City of Peterborough in the Spring of that year. While those grants helped us purchase some of the more expensive tools on hand, Pedal, pedal, pedal, coast. - Cliff McCarten
Clifford McCarten is a mechanic at B!KE and chair of the board. By day he works as the Shifting Gears Ambassador for Peterborough Green-Up (peterboroughmoves.com). While developing his love affair for bicycles, he became similarly smitten with Sarah Follett, and they now live happily together with too many bikes and a cat. www.communitybikeshop.org 400 Wolfe St (Third Space at Knox United Church, corner of Park and Wolfe)
we’ve been largely sustained by the money from memberships and small part sales. Every dollar gets reinvested in the shop – better workstations, better part selections, better tools. With those investments, the organization is strongly equipped - materially - to support growth for some time to come.
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J o n a h .
“It was a life changing experience” (without all that highminded crap) titles Jonah’s blog post from Thailand. There is a certain self-delusion about going abroad sometimes. For some, the delusion is dramatic; a person fleeing from circumstances in their home country, another person trying to “reshape themselves” in the context of another society or culture, another still who views it as a cleansing experience. Some think that the emotional or behavioral baggage that they carry with them will somehow by checked at customs, and once they cross that border they are a new person with a wholly different world of opportunity.
you initially wanted can be changed as well. It gives new meaning to the phrase “growing in ways you never imagined”. We sometimes interpret that to mean in “depth” (for lack of a better word) of the attributes we wanted, but it literally means that what you will have your preconceptions challenged, and will change in ways you hadn’t realized you would. And that can be really difficult. You are in totally new surroundings, with different mannerisms, traditions, and ethics. You can find yourself not knowing the language, and without any of the support structures that you would normally fall back on in difficult situations. And this is both a good thing, and a bad thing. The good news is, that you change and grow in adverse situations. That’s why it can be a great thing to put yourself in difficult situations, so that you can learn and grow. But the bad news is, it can be really hard. The change is gradual, and sometimes you can feel like Sisyphus, constantly pushing a boulder up a big hill, only for it to roll back down again and again. You can get discouraged for it not going the way you had hoped.
Then there are those who find the delusion to be much more subtle. People who go abroad thinking that they will suddenly be more able to help others more dramatically. Others who think that the grass will be greener on the other side of the world. Others still that view their effectiveness in one place to be transferable to an entirely different society. Maybe it works for some people. I know that, in time, the aforementioned scenarios actually can become reality. I know that you absolutely do go through changes when you go abroad. But what has been my experience is not that you gain these characteristics that you longed for upon arrival, but that the characteristics of yourself, both your strengths and your flaws, are so much clearer, or even amplified, when thrown into an new environment. Because that is what going abroad is, being put into a new environment.
This is why so many people who go abroad to work, head home before they originally planned to. Many are looking for the comfort and familiarity of home, to be put back in their niche. Others though, stick with it and do change. They take on new world-views and characteristics. But even for them, when they return home, find that they no longer fit in their niche. Their personality has changed shape and they no longer “fit in” where they used to. Going abroad is a changing experience. And we all, myself included, need to realize that comes with good and bad. There is so much value to going abroad, and discovering and absorbing new ideas, viewpoints, and experiences. I wish that more people would step outside their box and discover it. But like any situation that changes a person, it changes aspects of your life forever. - Jonah Clifford
If you are a stubborn, bullheaded person at home, you will be a stubborn, bullheaded person abroad, until you work through your problems. Even characteristics of yourself that you hadn’t realized come more into the spotlight when you are in an entirely new situation. And even your perception of which characteristics
http://jonahcliffordtravel.blogspot.com/
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S o
W h a t ?
I first knew of the New Canadians Centre when I was an international student at Trent University. Responding to a posting for volunteers needed at the day care centre for children whose parents were attending ESL classes, I became a Teacher’s Aide. Since the Day Care Centre was at the basement of the school where the classes were held I didn’t really meet the rest of the staff of the organization. Outside of this volunteer experience I did not know anything else about the New Canadians Centre. The second time I came in contact with the organization was when I received my permanent resident status in Canada. I went to the Centre for information on how to go about finding a job. I was interested in joining job-finding-clubs and to connect with other newcomers like myself. After a photocopy of my record of landing was made, I was directed to the “red brick building” (HRDC now Service Canada) with my file folder bearing a post-it-note with these words: “looking for a job, wants to join job-finding club”. The instruction was for me to show this to the HRDC front line staff and where another photocopy of my record of landing was made. I was asked if I was on EI (then called UI) and when I replied “no”, was informed that, unfortunately, I didn’t qualify. From there I was sent to the March of Dimes office; this time a change of a post-it-note revealed another description: “not on UI, wants to join job finding club.” At the March of Dimes office, I was again “processed” via photocopies of my immigration documents and was asked what my disability was. At this point, I started to become light-headed. I worried with the fact that in one morning three offices had copies of my immigration document when I was not even a client of these offices! I wondered “What will they do with it?” Slowly I began to realize the ironic answer to the question of what my disability was. I began to feel that being an immigrant was my disability and I didn’t even have a place to go and show for it. I was angry and frustrated by that experience. I questioned the decision of living in Canada. I, for the first time, critically looked at Peterborough as a community which immigrants like me claim their home. After some time, I realized that what happened to me that morning happened because those organizations and
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people working there did not know what to do with me. Even the New Canadians Centre did not know what to do with me. One year later from the date I was sent around (more like passed on) by the New Canadians Centre, I met a person at a conference sponsored by the local Training Board (now Workforce Development Board) on Equity Issues. He asked me if I knew of the New Canadians Centre and we talked about the organization and I told him how I would not go back there even if I was going to be deported. He asked me questions like how an organization like that could best help new immigrants, the type of programs and services that should be available and the meaningful ways of reaching out to newcomers in the community. We had a very good discussion about these issues. I shared with him my ideas and experiences as an immigrant in Peterborough; after all, I thought it was not every day that somebody would sit down with me and ask me about these things. Later that day I found out that he was the new Executive Director of the New Canadians Centre and at that point the only staff person. It turned out that the agency was undergoing through a major restructuring programme which resulted to the previous staff being laid off. He informed me of a job opening that they were posting and invited me to apply. I did and was interviewed by two other people from their Board, thus the start of my employment at the Centre. This was in 1997. Since then, a big part in the way I approach my work at the New Canadians Centre has been not to lose the client in me. I am convinced that it is one effective way of keeping me on track and making the organization relevant vis-àvis its clients. I always remind myself by asking these questions repeatedly: If I were a new immigrant in Peterborough today, would I know of the New Canadians Centre? If and when I go see somebody in this agency, do they have something to offer that will help me? Would they know what to do with me? Would they have an idea as to the kind of help and support I need?
the financial grants or contributions I get from funders. This is the reason why all the more I am very keen in nurturing a team that is relationship rich, aligned towards a shared purpose and who are able to think critically because they are well informed. To have all these conditions in place and with the kind of people I have who are committed to helping newcomers to Canada, my hopes are high for our organization and community to be a welcoming place for immigrants. - Carmela Valles
SO WHAT? This is the bottom line for me professionally and personally. So what if the New Canadians Centre exists? Does it do what it is supposed to do: help immigrants get settled and integrated in the community? So what if the New Canadians Centre helps immigrants in the area; is it being effective? Is it good at what it does? So what if I work at the New Canadians Centre; am I making a difference to the organization and to the lives of my clients? So what if I am the Executive Director; am I aware of where the organization is at right now? Am I positioning the agency in a way that would allow it to be able to manage the conditions for which changes happen? So What?
Carmela began working at the New Canadians Centre in 1997 as the Host Program Coordinator. As an immigrant from the Philippines, Carmela experienced what it is to be an immigrant in Peterborough. She was the executive director at the NCC from 2000 to 2009 and has recently started her own immigration consulting business where she continues to serve New Canadians in Peterborough.
Capacity for Change – this is my ultimate goal for the organization, for it to be able to change to keep up with the changing needs of its clients and for it to be able to effect change in the community. In working towards this goal I had three guiding principles: The stakeholders especially the Board and Staff had access to abundant information on everything affecting the organization, The environment and atmosphere of the organization is one of respect and appreciation for what everyone can offer and contribute, Everyone should be aligned and should share the same purpose for what the organization is all about. The way I see it, if my organization had a sound governance model where everybody was clear of the roles they play; where everybody had access to key information pertaining to our organization; where all feel appreciated and sense that they are making a difference in the organization; where everyone is aligned towards a common shared goal, our organization can be and will be proactive (rather than reactive) to change. I think all the above are the conditions with which change can take place. What I see in my organization is a group of people whose work and life experiences speak of a commitment to help immigrants and refugees to the Peterborough community. I think that, as an Executive Director, this is my greatest resource more than
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Declaration of Sentiments Adopted by the Peace Convention Assembled in Convention, from various sections of the American [and Canadian] Union, for the promotion of peace on earth and good-will among men, we, the undersigned, regard it as due to ourselves, to the cause which we love, to the country in which we live, and to the world, to publish a declaration, expressive of the principles we cherish, the purposes we aim to accomplish, and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful, universal reformation. We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we oppose any such government by a resort to physical force. We recognize but one king and lawgiver, one judge and ruler of mankind. We are bound by the laws of a kingdom which is not of this world; the subjects of which are forbidden to fight; in which mercy and truth are met together, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other; which has no state lines, no national partitions, no geographical boundaries; in which there is no distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex; the officers of which are peace, its exactors righteousness, its walls salvation, and its gates praise; and which is destined to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests, rights, liberties of American [and Canadian] citizens are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race. Hence, we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury. The prince of peace, under whose stainless banner we rally, came not to destroy, but to save, even the worst of enemies. He has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We conceive, that if a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies, or to punish its invaders, no individual possesses that right in his own case. The unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If one man may take life, to obtain or defend his rights, the same license must necessarily be granted to communities, states, and nations. If he may use a
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dagger or a pistol, they may employ cannon, bomb-shells, land and naval forces. The means of self-preservation must be in proportion to the magnitude of interests at stake and the number of lives exposed to destruction. But if a rapacious and bloodthirsty soldiery, thronging these shores from abroad, with intent to commit rapine and destroy life, may not be resisted by the people or magistracy, then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troublers of the public peace or of private security. No obligation can rest upon Americans [and Canadians] to regard foreigners as more sacred in their persons than themselves, or to give them a monopoly of wrong-doing with impunity. The dogma, that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of God, and that the powers that be in the United States, in Russia, in Turkey, [in Peterborough,] are in accordance with his will, is not less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial Author of human freedom and equality, unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be affirmed that the powers that be, any nation, are actuated by the spirit or guided by the example of Christ, in the treatment of enemies; therefore, they cannot be agreeable to the will of God; and therefore, their overthrow, by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects, is inevitable. We register our testimony, not only against all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; against every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification; against the militia system and a standing army; against all military chieftains and soldiers; against all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military or naval exploits; against all appropriations for the defense of a nation by force and arms, on the part of any legislative body; against every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service. Hence, we deem it unlawful to bear arms, or to hold a military office. As every human government is upheld by physical strength, and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bayonet, we cannot hold any office which imposes upon its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right, on pain of imprisonment or death.
We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly honors, and stations of authority. If we cannot occupy a seat in the legislature or on the bench, neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity. It follows, that we cannot sue any man at law, to compel him by force to restore anything which he may have wrongfully taken from us or others; but if he has seized our coat, we shall surrender up our cloak, rather than subject him to punishment. We believe that the penal code of the old covenant, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, has been abrogated by Jesus Christ; and that, under the new covenant, the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined upon all his disciples, in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, or set them upon a pillory, or cast them into prison, or hang them upon a gallows, is obviously not to forgive, but to take retribution. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration; that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated from the earth only by goodness; that it is not safe to rely upon an arm of flesh, upon man whose breath is in his nostrils, to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, harmless, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth, for the violent who resort to the sword are destined to perish with the sword. Hence, as a measure of sound policy, of safety to property, life, and liberty, of public quietude and private enjoyment-as well as on the ground of allegiance to him who is king of kings and Lord of Lords, we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle; being confident that it provides for all possible consequences, will ensure all things needful to us, is armed with omnipotent power, and must ultimately triumph over every assailing force. We advocate no jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder. It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with the spirit of Christ. If we abide by our principles, it is impossible for us to be disorderly, or plot treason, or participate in any evil work; we shall submit to every ordinance of man, for the Lord’s sake; obey all the requirements of Government, except such as we deem contrary to the commands of the gospel; and in no case resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience. But, while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and spiritual sense, to speak and act boldly in the cause of God; to assail iniquity, in high places and in low places; to apply our principles to all existing civil, political, legal and ecclesiastical institutions; and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever. It appears to us a self-evident truth, that, whatever the gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world, being contrary
to it, ought now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it follows that all who manufacture, sell or wield those deadly weapons, do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the Son of God on earth. Having thus briefly, but frankly, stated our principles and purposes, we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt, in carrying our object into effect. We expect to prevail through the foolishness of preaching, striving to commend ourselves unto every man’s conscience, in the sight of God. From the press, we shall promulgate our sentiments as widely as practicable. We shall endeavor to secure the co-operation of all persons, of whatever name or sect. The triumphant progress of the cause of temperance and abolition in our land, through the instrumentality of benevolent and voluntary associations, encourages us to combine our own means and efforts for the promotion of a still greater cause. Hence, we shall employ lecturers, circulate tracts and publications, form societies, and petition our State and national governments, in relation to the subject of universal peace. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings, and practices of society, respecting the sinfulness of war and the treatment of enemies. In entering upon the great work before us, we are not unmindful that, in its prosecution, we may be called to test our sincerity, even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The ungodly and violent, the proud and pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, may combine to crush us. So they treated the Messiah, whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. If we suffer with him, we know that we shall reign with him. We shall not be afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. Our confidence is in the Lord Almighty, not in man. Having withdrawn from human protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, as though some strange thing had happened unto us; but rejoice, inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings. Wherefore, we commit the keeping of our souls to God, in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. For every one that forsakes houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for Christ’s sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the sentiments contained in this declaration, however formidable may be the opposition arrayed against them, in solemn testimony of our faith in their divine origin, we hereby affix our signatures to it; commending it to the reason and conscience of mankind, giving ourselves no anxiety as to what may befall us, and resolving in the strength of the Lord God calmly and meekly to abide the issue. - William Lloyd Garrison, September 28, 1838
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Response to Garrison Martin Bosfelt
[in] justice asked two people, each with a bit of reading and action under their belts, to respond to the ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ made by William Lloyd Garrison on September 28, 1838. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said. Here is their response.
The main thrust of the document seems to be that neither individual nor nation has the right not only to engage in offensive violence (fair enough), but also (problematically) not to defend ourselves from any sort of attack, no matter who the attacker might be. The Bible is used to make this argument but the references in this declaration are not well balanced by other words of scripture; specifically “act justly”, “look after orphans and widows in their distress”. This Declaration also leads us to never have the right to physically defend anyone, ever, under any circumstance. Also, if we can’t defend ourselves physically in deference to other’s rights how can we choose any persons rights over another? That would require a choosing of sides, which this document seems to have a problem with. This would ultimately result in no rescue for victims of violence or oppression and ultimately a choice to support the oppressor. This is a problem. As much as it is scriptural that “he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword” and “vengeance is mine, says the Lord”, the Bible speaks often of justice, and coming to the aid of the defenseless and vulnerable. The Book of James speaks of a religion that pleases God by coming to the aid of the widow and the orphan. James also speaks of a faith that acts to relieve the suffering of hunger or nakedness, not just acknowledging it. The reality of these things is to be met with action. So, if someone is being violently oppressed, or forced into a life of pain and abuse, how can we as people who have been told to “act justly” (Micah 6:8) simply speak of the tragedy, and not act against it? Of course every effort should be made through advocacy and education, but there will come a point where public sympathy is not enough and physical intervention is required. An example of this might be one of the one million children who are kidnapped and sold into a life of forced prostitution every year. This document suggests that they have no right to attempt freedom on their own and that it would somehow honour God to do nothing about their own situation. “That if a nation has no right to defend itself… no individual possesses that right in his own case.” My own declaration would shout loudly that they are in need of our intervention. Can we just print flyers and have preachers preach, but never send law enforcement to set them free? Their very lives are crying out, and I believe God would have us respond through well trained men and women. At the same time as speaking and publishing on their behalf, faith shown by works would result in a need to act physically against their oppressors, to stop the oppression and to gain freedom for the victims. To stop short of that would be empty words and useless faith.
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Albert Lindt My first thought after reading this declaration was that everyone who says they take the Bible literally needs to read this. So often parts of evangelical Christianity have boldly proclaimed that their church is “Bible based” because they believe that the Bible is inerrant and to be taken literally. So they militantly proclaim the evils of evolution, the sinfulness of homosexuals and that all those who have not asked Jesus in their heart will go to hell. Yet the radical ethic set forth by Jesus in the four gospels is largely ignored. In supposed bible based churches you will seldom hear a sermon on the evils of going to war, or hear a call to civic action calling our government to repentance (unless it is about homosexuality or abortion). Most of what Garrison calls for in this declaration would be seen as inappropriate for our churches yet all he is doing is taking literally the ethical teachings of Jesus. Why in our churches are we comfortable basically ignoring Christ’s teachings on how we are to live a Christian ethic? The late, great, Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder lists, in his book The Politics of Jesus, six reasons why we feel justified in not taking Jesus at his word when it comes to ethics (he then spends the rest of the book arguing why these reasons are mistaken). One of the reasons Yoder points out is that often we argue that Jesus dealt with spiritual, not social matters. He did not care about social change but rather a new self understanding. The evangelical mantra of “saved by faith, not by works” nails this understanding home. We understand faith as thinking the right things, holding the right doctrines. What we think is more important then what we do. Garrison’s declaration stands in opposition to this sort of thinking. Jesus was not killed for just teaching new doctrines. Jesus was a social revolutionary, he introduced a new way of life, a new kingdom, one that operated in a totally new way, and he was calling everyone he met to join. The signing of this declaration was basically a group of people pledging to follow Christ’s kingdom, to follow his direction. It is a pledge of allegiance to the cross. This is not to say that I agree with everything Garrison says. I would have to say that I do not think that it is impossible for a Christian to be fully living a Christian ethic while in the military, or in public office. That being said, though I think it is possible, I do believe that being a Christian in the military means saying no to killing or any type of violent coercion. How one can be in the military and not be an institutor of violence, I have no idea. It would most likely end in martyrdom. I also think if one was to take seriously the ethics of Jesus and ran for public office they would not last very long.
Where I disagree with Garrison the most is his apparent belief that humans, through our calling of governments and institutions to repent, can hasten the full realization of the Kingdom of God that is sprouting up around us all the time. Though we are called to live out the ethic of this kingdom now, it will only ever be fully instituted by Christ himself. We have been called to work toward this kingdom, and have been promised that the work we do will be used in the building of this kingdom, but it will always be Jesus, not us, who brings it to its full realization With all that being said, I found this to be one of the most challenging documents I have read in a long time. I found myself asking if I could sign this document. Am I willing to follow Christ into this exciting and revolutionary way of life? Will I pick up my cross? I pray that Christ will grant me the courage to continue in that direction.
That’s it for [in] justice 102. The purpose of this publication is to document efforts of justice work in Peterborough and to showcase how those from Peterborough have linked into international justice work. The play on words of ‘injustice’, coinciding with being ‘in’ justice, means that although we intend to love, hope, and work our way into a better world, there is much injustice in our midst that should not go unnoticed. We hope to be a voice to the injustice in our city alongside the work currently being done against injustices. What do I mean by justice work? For our purposes, justice work is to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners. You may not agree with everything written in this publication. Actually, it is my hope that you do not. If our perception of justice were perfect, then we could close our hearts and minds, and be unwilling to allow ourselves to be moved emotionally by other people’s pain. Let us continue to write this story together. [in] closing, in a 1955 response to an accusation that he was “disturbing the peace” by his activism during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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[IN]
written by beautiful people from Peterborough, Ontario edited by Michael VanDerHerberg designed by Ben Tyne
we are [in] complete.