Relief, development and podcast

On this episode, an interview with a partner in Afghanistan who is teaching  women to read in country where that's become increasingly difficult since the Taliban took control . We're not using the name of the guest or the partner for security reasons. Full transcript and show notes available here . 

W e're taking a break from the usual programming to bring you an episode from our sibling podcast Undercurrents, produced by MCC Ontario and hosted by the very wonderful Ken Ogasawara. In this episode, Ken speaks with best-selling autho r , public speaker and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell. They cover a lot of ground—from pacifism, to soccer, climate change and more . This episode has been edited for...

" There [will] always be hope somewhere but now, everything is destroyed. There are still areas that were not affected directly, not destroyed but the people there are destroyed from inside." Today on the show, an update from MCC staff Petra Antoun in Syria on the aftermath of the earthquakes and how MCC is responding.  Full transcript and show notes available here .

In this episode we bring you to the Mwenezi district of Zimbabwe t o a  program that cooks up more than just food. ..they're also ... stirring up the patriarchy !   A story of what happened when Zimbabweans from MCC's local partner SCORE Against Povert y came together to create a program t hat address es gender inequities in their community .   The program is called Men Can Cook!   Full transcript...

On this bonus episode, on-the-ground interview clips and audio diaries from Emily Loewen's recent trip to Ukraine. Emily is the head producer of this podcast and MCC Canada's marketing and communications manager.    Full transcript available here .

A gift of a pig can bring peace in a household, but how?  Today on the episode we speak with Mary Ilero, a recipient of a pig from MCC's partner in rural Uganda. Many MCC supporters have participated in Christmas giving this past year and so we wanted to share Mary's story so you can see the impact a small gift can have.  We hear first-hand from Mary how a pig and the support of an MCC partner can...

Today on the show, we feature an interview with Girl Named Tom – a sibling music group with Mennonite roots and an affinity for MCC – who won "The Voice," a national U.S. singing competition in December 2021. Shortly afterward, their father died from cancer. They carry his love with them as they perform in large venues across the country. Their music is a gift, full of exquisite harmonies and infu...

Today on the show, we're talking about a difficult, but important topic. Abuse. And more specifically, abuse in the church community.  We'll explore how church culture can sometimes enable abuse, how to prevent it and how to best respond when it happens.  Our guests are Jaymie Friesen and Val Hiebert, Abuse Response and Prevention coordinators for MCC in Manitoba. This episode deals with sensitive...

The latest shelling on cities across Ukraine has killed and injured dozens of people and led to widespread damage to civilian areas. Many MCC supporters have a soft spot, maybe even a personal connection, to Ukraine. Maybe you're watching closely and wondering about the safety of MCC staff and partners in the area. We are too. Today on the show, we check in with one of MCC's partners, Max. We're o...

Daniel Ameny arrived in Uganda as a refugee from DRC when he was only ten years old. Today he is 35 and helping other refugee children in the country get an education, through the local MCC partner organization that he helped found. "Education is my only hope, was my only hope to change my life," he says. On this episode, we bring you Daniel's story. Full transcript here: https://mcc.org/sites/mcc...

Much of the farming industry across the Americas has been industrialized over the course of colonization. Storyteller Ricardo Salinas in Guatemala is learning how Indigenous farming methods are making a comeback in the San Marcos community to help combat the effects of climate change. He says sharing the stories of the people who are using these communal practices is essential and shows the value...

It's been over five months since the Russian military invaded Ukraine and, because of the war, supply chains in-country have been disrupted. Many essential items are difficult to find.  Recently, a shipment of emergency supplies sent from the United States and Canada arrived in Ukraine and are being distributed to the people who need it most. Today on the show, MCC staff Nadiya (full name not used...

Right now, around the world hundreds of millions of people go to bed hungry. 50 million have exhausted all options and are teetering on the edge of famine. That's up from 27 million in 2019 before the pandemic began. A substantial increase. Today on the show, we're bringing you a bonus episode about the hunger crisis. Our guest is Andy Harrington, Executive Director of Canadian Foodgrains Bank, al...

Dr. Sibonokuhle Ncube says climate change chose her since she learned as a child that people in her rural village in Zimbabwe suffered from drought and hunger. But today she doesn't focus on all that is broken and what to fear, she focuses her energy on working towards a better future. You're going to want to listen to this one...    Full transcript and show notes here: https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.o...

We talk with Rony Janvier, MCC Haiti rep, and Naomi Docilait, program director, about the current unpredictability in Haiti. Gang violence, natural disasters and climate change are all factors making life difficult for a vulnerable population. Transcript https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/pressure_on_top_of_pressure_in_haiti_ep_27.pdf

While it has barely made the news, the northern part of Ethiopia has entered its 17th month of civil war. On this episode we hear from two Ethiopians––Asiyah Mohammed, a pastoralist, who fled the Afar region after a shell landed near her home and Desalegn Abebe Ejo, a pastor from Addis Ababa who recently travelled to the conflict zones to supply emergency aid.   Full transcript and show notes here...

For years Anna (full name not used for security reasons), an MCC staff person, supported people who were displaced from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Now she is one of those people and, in this bonus episode, she shares a bit of what it was like to quickly pack up and leave her home behind.     Full transcript and show notes here:   https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/episode_25-anna_from...

On this episode we're talking about refugee sponsorship with Kaylee Perez, MCC Canada's migration and resettlement associate . She talks about how relationships between people from different cultural backgrounds can be powerfully transformative. She also shares what the work of sponsorship has been like during the pandemic, and how Canadian government plans for Ukrainian refugees are a departure f...

In this bonus episode, we get an update from Maxym Oliferovski, program director for an MCC partner in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. He and his wife decided to stay to help distribute emergency supplies and help other people evacuate. At the time of recording, they were less than 100 km from the front lines of the conflict, with things changing hour by hour. Full transcript and show notes available here:...

On this episode of "Relief, Development and Podcast , " we're bringing you the stories of Sadia and Najia––two people from Afghanistan who left their homes and now live in Canada. Full names not used for security reasons. Transcript and show notes available here: https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/episode_22-leaving_afghanistan_1.pdf

On this bonus episode, Lynette tells us her story of growing up with an undocumented parent, and how that experience of having a migrant narrative has shaped her path. Serving alongside migrants today in Guatemala, she finds compassion through listening to peoples stories and finds it expands her view of what it means to be a migrant. Transcript here: https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/docu...

On this episode we're thinking critically about the human experience of migration. What causes people to leave their home? Why can some people move freely across borders, while others are criminalized for it? Saulo Padilla, MCC's immigration education coordinator, shares about his own experience with family separation and migration and reflects on how this impacts the work he does today. Full tran...

For this special Christmas episode, we hear stories from  members of  the   MCC   global  community about how they fill their bellies and nourish their spirits during this season.     Featuring Connex Kalinde with a story of hot Coca-Cola in Malawi, Gabriella Hernandez on how the nativity scene comes to life at a migrant centre in Mexico City, Rony Janvier with the story of freedom soup in Haiti a...

On this episode we look at food insecurity in India and how MCC partners are working alongside rural farmers to increase access to food for their families. We talk to MCC project officer Pabitra Paramanya about this work, and how partners help farmers try new methods and increase their yields. We also hear a story from Manki Kashyap, a participant who's family gained food security as a result of t...

On this episode we look at the recent earthquake in Haiti, hearing about the vast and diverse needs in the affected communities. We talk to global health coordinator Paul Shetler Fast about the first distribution of relief and look at what a long term response might look like. We also talked to MCC staff Muriel Chaperon about the importance of getting relief to women as well as responding to the t...