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Showing posts from September, 2021

Detox Shack

There is this teenie tiny shop in Leicester Main Street called the Detox Shack that serves juices, smoothies and food and more.  The more is the capabilities of the host to ask questions to its customers directly to create a connection and to remind them that their body and mind is their temple and they can take care of it by choosing the food they eat and the thoughts they think. He invites us to feel blessed for the things we receive and at peace with whatever comes up. The place and all its trinkets with positive messages written on them are also there to remind us those values. He does not preach. It is when the customer asks him questions that his wisdom shines through. Ask a question and you will get a story that weaves itself with yours. As I listened to him and how at peace he was and all the kind words he spoke, I reflected upon another place I visited that was also wonderful in colours and design and yet the words spoken by the staff members about the failings of their collea

Jazzing our way towards a powerful community

The Tamarack Institute sent today an invitation to attend their ABCD Community of Practice session on Wednesday 29.09.21 . The session will centre around John McKnight, Co-founder, Asset-Based Community Development Institute and Senior Associate at the Kettering Foundation latest learning bulletin called ABCD, Jazz and the Structure of Powerful Communities. In the learning, he present the local innovations which occured in neighbourhood over the pandemic though dispersed actors and then go on to introduce the invisible neighbourhood structure which enable innovative citizenships to emerge. The three elements that creates this specific context are: 1. Communality - the place, the desire tot celebrate, entertain and enjoy 2. Individual Capacities - Every neighbour has the belief that they have special gifts, talents or knowledge to share 3. Connectivity - the consideration that all local capacities are latent and what brings them to life is connectivity. Through connections the capacitie

Preparing for Death

The hospital said that my father will soon depart. My mother called me to let me know. I told my husband that we need to get ready to go home anytime from now. I told my work and side hustles. This week, I'll prepare my suitcase.

A Book Nerd Gifts

A community-based approach starts with collecting stories and identifying what are the gifts (skills, abilities, strength and interests) of those we meet and eventually start shaping projects that magnify those gifts and talents. It is my favourite part of my job to uncover those gifts and then see in the milky way of stars how I can create a constellation and give it a name I've met a person interested in volunteering for Quetzal. As we spoke, she mentioned that she was a book lover and we could may be create a book club. I thought to myself "How great I could match her with a survivor and poet who've just published a book and we can organise an event together". It is about taking the time to listen  properly to what people say and be open to the opportunities of something great to happen. Give it a go. Something magical may happen!

Freedom Time - Revisited

September is always a special month. It is the beginning of the artistic season. In our family, it was always the month when my father would also present a new production. Fo r the first time, In September, this year, I am delivering a show - an exhibition to be exact called Stor ies of Change.  My brother is also opening the season with.a play called Catch! at Le Theatre de La Tempete directed by Clement Poiree and I shall join him in October to watch him. The old man would be proud! So yes, I feel supra connected to him this month at so many different levels. On the 6th September 2018, I wrote an article called  Freedom Time - We heard you .  about a message my father passed to me and my mother in his cloud. The article included my response to his message. He said:  'Why do you stay at home? You and Marie Toto. You have to come out of the house sometimes if you want to start collaborating with people.'' My response in summary was "at home I can be the whole me'&#

Articles and Posts written elsewhere

A list of articles I wrote on other platforms, for people, one piece at a time Why Help is the best Glue ,  Ingenious humility changes everything - This Changes Everything Showing Aftermath ,  How my relationship with capitalism is impacting my carbon footprint? ,  Marie's Making Moment ,  Marie Lefebvre on the Power of Getting Organised - The Course that Changed my life Competition - Transition Network ,  The Crop Club invites you to Vote for the Wellbeing Café Project because Mental Health & Wellbeing,  Collaborating with Muto and vulnerable members of the community to sew coffee sacks for food growing,  The ''Seeds of Joy and Tumult' ' :  A insightful and fun way to review Your Food Growing, Articles on Quetzal  

Lightseekers

Lightseekers is a creative social enterprise that uses photography and storytelling as a platform to learn about and engage with important social issues. They specialise in cross-cultural education and deliver thought provoking programmes to low-income areas, where creative engagement is low and students are likely to experience exclusion and discrimination. How did I get involved with Lightseekers? I started Yoga in 2019 while finishing my doctorate and I met Kajal Nisha Patel, founder of Lightseekers and yoga teacher at Nilu.Yoga. The rest is history. We became friends and collaborators through the Breaking the Silence Initiative at Quetzal. Over the pandemic, we discussed in great details the impacts of poor mental health on wellbeing and physical health. Through our discussion, a project started emerging that will become Ways to Wellbeing - a 9 online session programme providing the tools and knowledge to communities to enhance their wellbeing. She invited me to become a director a

Footpaths Leicester

Footpaths Leicester is a way for people to meet and support each other to reduce their personal carbon footprints. It offers a structured, supportive and fun environment in which people can work out what they want to change in your life to reduce your carbon footprint - and a community of like minded people to do it with.  They provide a structure course of eight meetings with two facilitators and people to do it with. Beyond the course, Footpaths provide support to support people to continue on improving their personal carbon footprint, through one off events, workshops and get together. How did I get involved with Footpaths Leicester? I wanted to find out how grassroots organisation support people through change to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable system of consumption and production. It was after joining Transition Leicester and starting a Positive Money project to improve literacy about the money system that I eventually met with Zina Zelter, founder of Footpaths Lei

Transition Leicester

Transition Leicester is a network of local people that aims to inspire action to make Leicester a thriving, low-carbon and resilient. It was created in 2008. It launch several projects promoting local food, renewable energy Permaculture design and more. I joined Transition Leicester in 2012 after finishing my master degree and moving to Leicester. During my studies, I was introduced to the Transition movement as a model supporting the transition towards a sustainable system of production and consumption and after my master thesis and the clear disenchantment I experienced after my interviews, I wanted to understand the role of grassroots communities in supporting change. When I first joined, I worked on a project about the money system by creating a local group for Positive Money, organising events and discussion as well as workshops in collaboration with Footpaths Leicester (a project which also started under Transition Leicester). My conversation with Footpaths Leicester led to the o

Projects

Growing up in the performing arts sectors, I have seen theatre professionals shipping projects and plays every year, touring them and closing them for good. What I liked the most while observing the process were the conversations, the questions they asked to one another and the reflection. With One Question Comes A Great Story - A Story of Change - A Story of Transformation. Here are some of the questions I asked myself over the years: Why do people consume so much when they know that the rest of the world is in a pitiful state? How can design support What is the role of designers in supporting the transition towards a circular economy? What is the role of local government in supporting citizens in their sustainable journey? What is the role of grassroots communities in supporting people in reducing their carbon footprint? What is the effectiveness of a community-based approach in raising awareness about sexual violence in a set community? What can we do better to raise awareness about