Press release for forum on this Sunday, May 16th which I am excited to be a presenter at. LAMP does wonderful work on social justice and environmental issues such as Indigenous rights, land and water protection.
The Latin American Mission Program (LAMP) is hosting its annual Spring Education Forum on Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 2:00 pm. The theme of the forum is The Land is Alive. This forum will be a mixture of on-line programming from a central location and smaller regional in-person groups. The in-person groups will be in West Prince, Charlottetown, and Kings County
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to register as soon as possible. To register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-land-is-alive-tickets-150797043015
The theme is a quote, often-repeated, of a farmer in the spring when she would be out preparing the land for a new crop. She was always clear that she was not talking only about organic matter but about the life of the land itself.
In PEI and elsewhere we often hear the Indigenous people refer the land as “our mother”, a living person.
LAMP members, the majority of whom worked in Latin America, have a concern about land and water. They know European colonization of the Global South, as of other parts of the world, aimed at separating the people from their Indigenous relationship with the land. This is especially true in the Dominican Republic, where the Spaniards wiped out the whole Indigenous population in less than 30 years.
The LAMP forum aims to deepen participants’ connection with the land and to learn from each other that how we think and feel about the land has consequences for the future of land and water.
Two inspirational presenters, Jill MacCormack and Julie Pellissier-Lush will set the tone and spirit of the forum.
Julie Pellissier-Lush is a Mi’kmaq elder, actor, best-selling author, and PEI poet laureate. Julie is coordinator for the Mawi’omi Indigenous Student Centre on the UPEI campus. She is known to many organizations across the Island for her inspiring participation in a wide range of community events. She raises the spirit of the people and the spirit of the land.
Jill MacCormack a nature lover, writer, and homeschooling mother of three is heart-bound to PEI. Contemplative listening on forest walks, when vegetable gardening and while meditating help keep Jill’s deep connection to Earth alive and well. She shares her spiritual gleanings on her blog Prattle and Ponder where she welcomes her readers to consider their own connections to the living Earth. Jill is gratefully published in RED magazine among other publications and is an honoured contributor to Todd MacLean’s book, Global Chorus.