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An interactive platform for community driven content on social issues + activism.
Hey everyone!
For the past few weeks we’ve been focusing heavily on the Aviva grant and gathering new supporters to vote for our cause. It was a great experience and we actually got a lot of great publicity on and off Ryerson’s campus. Thanks to everyone who voted and helped out!
But here at Verse City we love to multi-task. So while we’ve been working frantically on the Aviva project, we’ve been organizing fundraisers, workshops and brainstorming other innovative ways to make Verse City bigger and better.
Fundraisers
We’ve held two successful fundraisers so far, selling a grand total of 900 samosas over the course of just five hours! We’re planning on holding another fundraiser soon, and we promise it’ll be just as mouth-watering as the first two.
Mingle
We’re also planning to hold a mixer for the students at our journalism school. We want our students to be more involved in this community project and since a lot of you don’t know too much about what we do, we’d love for you to join us for a little party so you can involve yourselves in this fantastic project. Updates on that soon!
Workshops
Verse City, in addition to the five-day summer camp, holds a series of workshops throughout the year. Saturday Nov. 21 is our next one, which will focus on fashion journalism. We have Rea McNamara, a style columnist for Eye Weekly magazine and Dwayne Evans, a very innovative fashion photographer coming in to guest host the seminars.
We also have a series of workshops coming up in the new year so stay tuned for those.
Future
If you’ve been following our Aviva grant you’ll know we want to bring our journalism workshops to on-reserve aboriginal youth. We’re actively looking for funding and grants and are really serious about making this happen. Take a look at the Aviva page if you haven’t already.
We’ve even started planning our summer workshop!
That’s we’re up to. Thanks for reading and keep supporting Verse City!
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It’s true… communities nowadays are taking control of food by reclaiming the sources of production and the way they think about local menus. This at a time when large grocery chains throughout Canada, such as Loblaws and Metro are reporting record profits. Oftentimes, these trends are contingent on cheap imports at the expense of locally sourced, seasonal food options.
One group that prioritizes eco-consumer consciousness and local food options is Choices Markets of Vancouver, who’s recently released their first cookbook, “A Local Table”, maintaining a focus on local food options. The launch happens this Saturday, November 21st, and is sure to offer lots of free food samples, live food demonstrations, and give-aways. Event details can be found here.
Free local food, yum… it begs the question, how can financially accessible, locally-sourced, sustainably produced food be a mainstay of community culture?
The urban landscape, of course, provides countless opportunities for farming the food that ends up on our table. Backyard beds and community gardens are starting to take deeper root. Another free food event this Saturday, albeit one with a slightly more holistic approach, is the Community Garden Action Planning Day hosted by the Community Garden Network in Toronto.
If you’re involved in similar projects to this one, or would like to be, check out CitizenShift’s new dossier in development, CEMENT ROOTS. It’s a forum to exchange ideas and share media around urban agriculture. Reversing the idiom, it’s ‘thought for food’..and we want to hear what’s on your mind.
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Ogopogo Sighting on Lake Okanagan in Kelowna, British Columbia
Last week I presented our film to a group of Rotarians in Kelowna, B.C. at 7:30 in the morning at their Yacht Club overlooking a misty Okanagan Lake, home of the infamous lake monster Ogopogo.
I was in Kelowna, B.C. visiting my parents. My step father, Paul Cleland, who is an active member of his Rotary arranged to have me as a guest speaker for their weekly meeting.
The legendary Ogopogo didn’t make an appearance but there was a great turn out from some of Kelowna’s finest citizens who were also members of the Rotary Club of Kelowna Ogopogo.
It was an honour to present to people completely outside of the film world. They were a diverse cross section of teachers, bankers, social workers, salespeople - you name it! It’s safe to say they will have a different perspective than filmmakers, not to mention there are way more of them than us, which is why it’s so valuable to get their reaction.
Across the board everyone was shocked that India had women boxers and even more surprised they were some of the best in the world. They were intrigued by the lives of these women who chance everything to pursue the sport, and much to my delight were quite anxious to see the film.
They were such a warm and welcoming audience and their feedback was very encouraging.
Thank you to all the lovely Rotarians in Kelowna!
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This blog is about Afghanistan. As an Afghan Canadian, a documentary film maker, and full time resident of Kabul, I field a lot of questions from Canadian friends who want to know exactly what is going on “over there”.
Afghanistan is a difficult place to understand–particularly from afar. I know this because I have listened to stories about my father’s country since childhood, and I am still trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. So as I continue to learn about Afghanistan–sometimes first hand, sometimes through the media–I will share some of my gleanings, musings, and scribblings with you, by way of this blog.
Please enjoy and don’t hesitate to post your comments.
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