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info@windhouseresources.com
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Date/Time
Date(s) – 22/03/2018 in GHANA
All Day
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Location
Chief’s palace
Sankofa: Reclaiming relevant indigenous cultural and ancestral values to make a case for nature-based solutions
The chieftaincy, elders and people of Funko community-located in the Western Region of Ghana- honored World Water Day by creating awareness about the need for circumspection when adopting vices or policies which consequently cause public health problems and are detrimental to the environment. Illegal/unsustainable mining – popularly referred to as “Galamsey”in the country- and fringe activities which indirectly empower the practice are examples of such vices.
The Funko community is close to the Ankobra river and, symbolic of the strong inter-connectivity still existent between most societies and their natural environment. This river is an important source of drinking water for many communities in the Western Region of Ghana- and beyond- but continues to be polluted through illegal mining activities. It flows at least 120 km south to the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic) and is located very close to the western part of Axim, a commercial center of the river basin.
In celebrating this important day, we sought to highlight the important role some historic cultural practices (spoken word, dancing and drumming) and community dialogues can play in influencing the re-adaptation of relevant conservation values which were more commonly applied by the ancestors. Overall, the concept of Sankofa is espoused. Sankofa is a Ghanaian-originated cultural principle which literally means to take back what was lost in order to protect the future. This -arguably- manifests the tenets of sustainability. There are many of such doctrines in many communities across the world.
The principle teaches communities the importance of going back to their roots- and reclaiming worthy values- in order to move forward. For example, the indigenous and unadulterated local anthropological cognition reveres some key natural receptors – such as rivers, wetlands and forests- as deities. By tapping into the novelty of such values, the current mega trend of sustainability would be well anchored and in a way which significantly addresses most of the conservation, food security and sub regional stability challenges existent now. A cultural dance and community dialogue were among the activities undertaken to commemorate the day.
On World Water Day, the funding partner and collaborator for the performances –who is also the founder of Windhouse Resources Systems (WRS)- would reach out to stakeholders to solicit input on case studies concepts intended to be develop in order to make a stronger case for nature-based solutions. WRS is a boutique sustainability consultancy located in Ghana – West Africa.
Contact information
Email Address:
info@windhouseresources.com
Date/Time
Date(s) – 22/03/2018
All Day
Location
Chief’s palace
‘GRANDMOTHERS ON THE MOVE’ Podcast Episodes
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Grandmothers To Grandmothers Campaign
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign exists to support the indomitable African grandmothers who are caring for the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Members of the Grandmothers Campaign share three goals. They work to:
- Raise funds to meet the needs of African grandmothers and the children in their care;
- Listen to African grandmothers, respect their expertise and amplify their voices, in order to promote authentic and substantive responses to the epidemic in Africa;
- Build solidarity among African and Canadian grandmothers in order to motivate and sustain the vital work of turning the tide of AIDS in Africa.
Canadian grandmothers groups are tremendously active in their communities. They put on concerts, organize card tournaments, and sell jewellery. They visit countless schools and community organizations. They bake, cook, sew, knit, paint, write, organize cycle tours, walks, and even ride motorcycles – all to raise funds and awareness for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To learn more about how you can get involved in the Campaign, write to Ilana here.
Articles About The Campaign
What started as a conversation around a kitchen table has grown to become a movement to empower women, especially grandmothers, in Africa.
The Grandmothers Campaign, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is known as Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers in Regina, which was among the very first places in Canada where women took on projects to support families in Africa.
‘We know the power of women’s organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.’– Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
As Ilana Landsberg-Lewis explains, the movement arose in response to the human crisis, observed by her father Stephen Lewis during his time as a special envoy for the United Nations, afflicting the African continent during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Millions of children were orphaned by the deaths of their parents. Their grandmothers were left to raise them, with little or no support.
Ilana Landsberg-Lewis is co-founder, with her father Stephen Lewis, of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. One of their main campaigns supports grandmothers in Africa. (Lisa MacIntosh/Stephen Lewis Foundation)
“Grandmothers were just in an agony of loss,” Landsberg-Lewis said. “Death was everywhere. They were left with no income and often isolated by the terrible stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS.”
Landsberg-Lewis recalled how requests seeking aid referred to the grandmothers as “caregivers” and when she asked why, she learned there was a strong bias in play.
“Nobody wants to fund them because they’re older women and nobody sees them as a meaningful investment,” she learned.
“We decided if Canadian grandmothers knew what was happening on the [African] continent then it would surely resonate with them and boy did it ever,” Landsberg-Lewis said.
“I wish I could say that I was prescient but it would be overstating it,” she said, talking about how the success of the organization, which quickly grew from a handful of activists brain-storming at a kitchen table (her own) to over 250 chapters across the country.
Since 2006 they have raised about $25 million.
“It was really extraordinary but I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said. “Older women in our communities, we know the power of women organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.”
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The Campaign currently boasts more than 240 grandmothers groups across the country. Many of the groups have organized into regional and national networks in order to support each other’s efforts in solidarity with African grandmothers and the children in their care.
Resources from the Grandmothers Campaign go to grassroots organizations that support African grandmothers with food, health care, school fees and school uniforms for their grandchildren, income-generating programmes, counselling, social support, essential shelter, and other necessities. Throughout Africa, grassroots organizations run by and for grandmothers are sharing insights, deepening their expertise, collaborating with other local organizations, and building their capacity to turn the tide of AIDS at community level.
HONOR NATIVE LAND:
A GUIDE AND CALL TO ACKNOWLEDGMENT
IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, AND AMONG TRIBAL NATIONS IN THE U.S., it is commonplace, even policy, to open events and gatherings by acknowledging the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of that land. While some individuals and cultural and educational institutions in the United States have adopted this custom, the vast majority have not. Together, we can spark a movement to change that.
We call on all individuals and organizations to open public events and gatherings with acknowledgment of the traditional Native inhabitants of the land.
Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth. Imagine this practice widely adopted: imagine cultural venues, classrooms, conference settings, places of worship, sports stadiums, and town halls, acknowledging traditional lands. Millions would be exposed—many for the first time—to the names of the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of the lands they are on, inspiring them to ongoing awareness and action.
For more than five hundred years, Native communities across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. They remain at the forefront of movements to protect Mother Earth and the life it sustains. Today, corporate greed and federal policy push agendas to extract wealth from the earth, degrading sacred land in blatant disregard of treaty rights. Acknowledgment is a critical public intervention, a necessary step toward honoring Native communities and enacting the much larger project of decolonization and reconciliation. Join us in adopting, calling for, and spreading this practice.
Download the Guide: Created in partnership with Native allies and organizations, the Guide offers context about the practice of acknowledgment, gives step-by-step instructions for how to begin wherever you are, and provides tips for moving beyond acknowledgment into action.
Download the #HonorNativeLand Guide
Fill out the form to download the guide
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT?
- Offer recognition and respect.
- Counter the “doctrine of discovery” with the true story of the people who were already here.
- Create a broader public awareness of the history that has led to this moment.
- Begin to repair relationships with Native communities and with the land.
- Support larger truth-telling and reconciliation efforts.
- Remind people that colonization an ongoing process, with Native lands still occupied due to deceptive and broken treaties.
- Take a cue from Indigenous protocol, opening up space with reverence and respect.
- Inspire ongoing action and relationship.
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. It becomes meaningful when coupled with authentic relationship and informed action. But this beginning can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.
CREATING COMMUNITY
Boulder, CO
Free
August 22, 2019
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM MDT
Join Loam on August 22 for a Loam Home strategizing session and sweet summertime picnic. We’ll gather together in the garden to break bread, savor herbal tea, and talk about tangible next steps for Loam Home.
Loam Home is an emerging community center and creative co-working space in Boulder, CO committed to serving as an intentional container for climate adaptation and eco entrepreneurship. From hosting permaculture workshops to farm-to-table suppers, we envision Loam Home as a vibrant hub for our community to explore regenerative living in practice. We want Loam Home to be a true collaboration and hope you’ll bring your radical skills and big dreams to share with us.
Location will be e-mailed to registered participants the day before.
We’re so excited to connect with you all!
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Loam is a movement of compassionate and creative activists who strive to support one another as we find our footing in the heart of the climate crisis. Our community is passionate about seeding regeneration, resilience, and joy through embodied experiences that inspire the cultivation of sustainable activist practices, foster inter-sectionality across movements, and help each one of us to heal our connection to our earth.
From publishing vibrant print publications to facilitating immersive workshops, Loam’s constellation of creatives is committed to building a better world through arts-as-activism.
We are endlessly grateful to the Kalliopeia Foundation for supporting this work. Loam would not be possible without our community!
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Reconnecting Ecology, Culture, and Spirituality
Kalliopeia Foundation is responding to a need—a global challenge—to take spiritual as well as physical responsibility for our common home. Our programs and those we support engage with contemporary issues at their root, with the understanding that ecological, cultural, and spiritual renewal are interdependent.
We envision a future rooted in fundamental values, such as compassion, respect, dignity, reverence for nature, and care for each other and the Earth. Our work strives to embody the following core principles:
- Life Is Sacred: Honoring all life as sacred; expressing reverence for one another, the Earth, and life as a whole.
- Interconnectedness: Approaching ecology, culture, and spirituality as inextricably interdependent.
- Innovation: Generating creative ideas and outcomes through simple, meaningful engagement with others and the Earth.
- Service: Embracing an ethic of care—the essential and natural aspiration to respond to needs beyond our own.
Kalliopeia’s Story
In 1997, Kalliopeia was founded as an independent private foundation to help support people and organizations who are working to bring spiritual values into institutions and systems of everyday life and work. The name “Kalliopeia” means beautiful voice and refers to the first of the nine Greek muses. She is associated with heroic poetry, justice, and transforming lower qualities into higher.
https://kalliopeia.org
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