By Rev. Thomas John, Companionship Facilitator, Chethana, JH India Students look over native seeds on display at the Seed Mela (Seed Festival) in Mysore. Photos courtesy of Thomas John. Agriculture in India is more than 4000 years old. Traditionally, seeds were always considered sacred and imbued with spiritual significance and value – never seen as… Read more »
August 26, 2014
Seeds: Symbols of freedom and self-governance
By Rev. Thomas John, Companionship Facilitator, Chethana, JH India Students look over native seeds on display at the Seed Mela (Seed Festival) in Mysore. Photos courtesy of Thomas John. Agriculture in India is more than 4000 years old. Traditionally, seeds were always considered sacred and imbued with spiritual significance and value – never seen as… Read more »
By Kristi Van Nostran, Companionship Facilitator, RUMES, JH El Salvador Juan Carlos from CRIPDES and other partners from Salvadoran labor unions and agricultural cooperatives came out in solidarity to add their voices to our call to the United States to stop pressuring El Salvador to purchase corn and bean seeds beyond its borders. Photos courtesy… 
By Kristi Van Nostran, Companionship Facilitator, RUMES, JH El Salvador, adapted with permission from more in-depth article by Voices on the Border, a Joining Hands organizational ally Joining Hands partner, Ladislao, exchanges a bag of his Carnavalia beans for an artisan designed and printed t-shirt at the 12th Annual Native Seed Festival. Photo courtesy of… 
Jaff Napoleon Bamenjo, Coordinator, RELUFA, JH Cameroon Villagers of Babensi II village march to the Nguti sub divisional headquarters on April 4, 2014. Photo Courtesy of Eugine Ndi. Multinational companies are grabbing land in alarming proportions in many parts of the world, particularly in Africa. In Cameroon, it is estimated that the total request… 
By Cindy Corell, Companionship Facilitator, Haiti Madame St. Etienne holding two oranges outside her home in Trou du Nord. Since losing the property with her family’s garden and fruit trees, she has no way of making money, and yet has to purchase food. Photo courtesy of Cindy Corell. Madame St. Etienne walked out of… 
Wilhelm Piérola Iturralde, President, UMAVIDA, JH Bolivia, as translated by Chenoa Stock, Companionship Facilitator, Bolivia The mission of the PC(USA) is inspired by a vision of a world where peace exists between nations and families are spared the pain of violence. I traveled to the U.S. in the fall of 2013 as an international peacemaker… 
Perspectives on Partnership: Ties Bind Joining Hands Amidst Egyptian Turmoil Nancy Lister-Settle, Coordinator of Joining Hands in Des Moines Presbytery and Dr. Nabil Sisostres, Coordinator of Together for Family Development Egypt Perspective from Des Moines Group photo of TFD members, including Dr. Nabil Sisostres in the middle, with a few Des Moines JH Representatives, including… 
Kristi Van Nostran, Companionship Facilitator, RUMES, JH El Salvador – Adapted from an article by Carlos Cotto, Executive Director of Fundación Redes, a key ally of the Joining Hands Network in El Salvador RUMES Doris Evangelista, National Coordinator of RUMES being interviewed as a spokesperson for the National Roundtable on Food Sovereignty. Photos courtesy of… 
By Cindy Corell, Companionship Facilitator, FONDAMA, JH Haiti A woman marching for women’s rights in Jeremie, Haiti, on October 15, smiles as she walks. Photos Courtesy of Cindy Corell. Shortly before noon on Tuesday, October 15, 2013, the streets of Jeremie, a small coastal city on the southern peninsula of Haiti in the Department… 
Clotilde Loza, Coordinator of UMAVIDA, JH Bolivia 2012 UMAVIDA Water School on the Water Route field trip in El Alto, Bolivia to learn about the distribution of water from the surrounding glaciers. Photo: UMAVIDA In Bolivia, environmental problems are putting the availability of fresh water resources at risk. Despite being faced with the potential of…