Vero-and Chinyoya hill

Vero-and Chinyoya hill
Originally uploaded by jo-muthoni

vero and I crowded together on the way to a funeral of a little girl called Happiness who died last month from chicken pox in Mirembe hospital, she is one of the children registered in the compassion international program at our mennonite church

this made my day!

http://www.mcc.org/thrift/secondhandpants/secondhandpants.mov

let it be morning

Last night I finished a novel called, "Let it Be Morning" about an Israeli Arab journalist who lives in a village that becomes blocked and closed off by Israeli security forces. It is defenitely worth a read. I think it gives a pretty good idea/picture of the realities of what it would be like to undergo a military closure/blockade---extrememly inhumane and diffcult. It gives a range of different Palestinian, Arab Israeli voices as well.

I got this in my inbox too this morning and wanted to post it. I pray for the people in these Palestinian villagers in their continued non-violent resistance who face almost an impossible task and get little attention. Do not forget these people who struggle daily with an incredible amount of courage and integrity.


CPTnet
22 June 2007
AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Behind the scenes of a civil war


by John Lochtefeld


Life slows down in At-Tuwani as the weather gets hotter. Both Palestinians and settlers take refuge from the afternoon sun, reducing the amount of
confrontation that occurs. It does not, however, stop. Young settlers still find opportunities to launch rocks at Palestinian shepherds.Bored soldiers roll through the village in their jeeps, stopping randomvehicles, sometimes unscrewing and confiscating the license plates from Palestinian cars, alleging they are stolen or their Israeli plates faked.

Worst of all, the nearby village of Susiya is under imminent threat of
the army destroying it, and no amount of cooperation on their part with the
Israeli civil authorities seems to be good enough. So when news comes
through word of mouth of the intensifying conflict between Hamas and
Fatah,it still seems far away, even as it spills into the West Bank from Gaza
and creeps down as far south as Ramallah.

The South Hebron Hills remain a world apart. Here the threat of violence
remains the monopoly of extremist Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers.
Here the conflict is still defined by an ever-tightening occupation and
efforts by Palestinians to go on with life in its shadow. Here a group of
villagers, shepherds and farmers, carry the struggle forward by meeting
on ahot Friday afternoon to strategize on how to prevent the dismantling of
Susiya and the subsequent loss of land.

Resistance in At-Tuwani retains a level of integrity that seems to have
beenlost in not so far away cities where cousins have turned their guns on
eachother, fighting over the scraps of food that fall from the oppressors'
table. Sadly, he fratricide occurring to the north and west will
overshadowthe nonviolent efforts of the villagers. Cable news stations will
descendupon Gaza and Nablus like vultures, looking for sensational stories of
civil war. They will probably not pause to consider any of the underlying
causesof the strife, such as the tightening Israeli noose that reduces
Palestinians to desperation, or the crippling international sanctions
levied upon them as punishment for their exercise of democratic choice. And
thepress surely will not take time to report on the people of At-Tuwani,
Susiya, Bethlehem, and Bil'in--among many other places--who carry the
struggle forward nonviolently.

Their courage and commitment is on parwith that of Mandela, King, and Gandhi. Yet, they do not ask for the fanfare these giants enjoyed, but merely a little moral support from the outside world.

Hey Little Grizzly....Here girl, are you hungry?

picture courtesy of the great photographing Stutzman family, who journeyed north from the colorado rockies to meet us tanzanian vagabondes in the much more rustic and romanesque canadian rockies, i was shocked that they caught a new pet, mama grizzly adams with two youngins, when all the tourists saw this beloved bear on the side of the road they all got out of their cars and started taking pictures! um, yeah, not so safe. kinda naive. very naive. actually pretty dumb. anyway, it was my first time to see a grizzley bear in the wild. as well as so many unabashedly interested and mal-informed touristidos who forgot to take a lesson in grizzly sight-seeing from smokey the bear who must be retired by now. but it was a beautiful bear, i wanted to sing to her and her cubs... next time, when there are not so many ungaurded nikon-carrying bystanders around.

Mary Benjamin Tumbo

speaking at the west coast mennonite mens choir tour in abbotsford

this picture was taken one evening when we spoke in front of 1000 people! Mary shared her story, and I translated; she has quite a powerful and inspiring story. People flocked her at the end of every event to give her a hug and tell her how much they appreciate her courage.

my colleague getting on a horse in brownfield alberta

this picture just makes me laugh everytime i remember the instance. there was a bit of trouble getting on =)

"the force of a pigeon on grandville island, vancouver"

i love this shot of this little boy, who's name i do not know =), mary and i spent a day in Vancouver with Bridget and Dave from MCC BC, and we decided to take Mary to the "Canadian market"...