Poems by Paula

Paula shares with us THREE of her beautiful poems and the philosophy behind her writing:

MRCF has made a positive difference to many people's lives and continues to do so. It makes you feel so hopeful, like it's possible to create change. The social aspects of life have always interested me. Why is the world the way it is, for good or for bad? Is a human being strictly limited by his or her circumstances, flaws or conditions? The clearest thing to me is that society is a reflection of every human being.  It's kinda true, you have to be the change you wish to see. Sometimes it is easy to underestimate our impact on our world and to each other but every act of kindness goes a long way. Nothing is ever lost by sharing. Every defeat, every tragedy and disappointment is, in my opinion, a gift so that we can strengthen and renew the human spirit of love, forgiveness, compassion and kindness.

Fresh Bread

London Elections 2012

Do you care about the next Mayor of London? Or do you perceive local politics as a distant sphere with little connection to your everyday life?

On May 3, 2012 Londoners aged 18 or over will elect the new Mayor of this town and the 25 members of the London Assembly. The Mayor’s job ranges from housing, transport, environment, policing, health, culture, (emergency) planning and development, all the way to economic development and regeneration. The Assembly Members hold the Mayor accountable by examining his/her decisions and making sure the Mayor delivers given promises to Londoners.

In order to vote you need to register where you live before April 18 but also have to know where, when and how to vote. Answers to these questions can be found at the London Elects webpage. 

However, a more important question is why vote in the first place? The answer to that question was given by Kristina Hemon in a new post: Why should migrants care about the Mayor of London?

Still, if you have any doubts, then join us on March 27 at MRCF and find out more how the Mayor can improve the quality of our lives and communities, but also how you can influence this year’s elections!

Let your voice be heard!

DO try this at home!

Sofi shares with us how to make some delicious sounding and looking Ethiopian specialties!

The lentil dish Mesir Wot is a sauce that is especially popular during the Lent period. It's a healthy dish that can be eaten hot or cold and is easy to cook. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of lentils

1 medium onion (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped or mashed)

1/2 cup of cooking oil (your preferred oil - I use corn oil)

2-3 tablespoons of bebere (red chili powder - this is very spicy and hot with a strong flavour so don't put too much of this)

1 can chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes boiled for about 2-3 minutes so it will be easy to peel the skin, and chopped)

Directions:

Food Stories: Submissions Wanted

Food is essential for our survival, but it is so much more - our food stories are often our most personal and most beautiful stories.

Shazea Quraishi, a visiting writer from English PEN, is putting together a booklet of recipes and food stories, for a sharing of memories and favourite food at MRCF.

She is looking for recipes for food close to your heart – perhaps something your mother or grandmother made, or something you make for yourself or friends.   
To accompany the recipe, please write a short piece - perhaps a memory of eating that food, or how it makes you feel.

Send to: shazea.q@gmail.com by April 1st, 2012     

     

*Entries received before March 14 will also be submitted to the PEN anthology unless you indicate you’d prefer not to    

Amell's Corner

MRCF's resident health expert, Amell, introduces her column, Amell's Corner:

Amell's Corner will "inform-advise-and motivate’’ the reader, providing them with helpful hints and facts on how to tackle common mental health issues so they can begin their journey to recovery and regain ownership of their life!  

The term health covers an extremely broad range of physical, emotional and psychological facets. Having good health is not defined by the absence of physical disease, but rather is a broad term that embraces the mind, body and spirit of an individual.

It is often the case that an individual will attend to the physical condition of their body and neglect their mental health issues, unaware of the fact that there is a strong connection between mental health and physical health and that it is difficult for one to exist without the other. Many physical symptoms experienced by an individual can be misdiagnosed and treated with unnecessary medications such as pain killers etc., when in fact the symptoms are a result of the individual's mental ill health. 

Knots Outside, Not Inside

During a 6-week workshop in January and February, dedicated volunteer knitting instructors from the Knitting for Others charity group very patiently and expertly shared their craft with a group of MRCF women that expanded each week. Some of us were beginners and others saw their previous passion for knitting reignited. We worked on scarves, hats and baby clothes with instruments ranging in size from giant plastic needles to a tiny crochet hook. While learning to knit, we chatted (some of us have a hard time chatting and knitting at the same time!) and got to know one another. What fun to have a knitting circle at MRCF and learn a new craft that will not only make TV watching productive, but also has calming and meditative effects. Jeena said it best when she said, “I create knots outside so I don’t have them inside.” Later this Spring, we hope to expand our skills to papercrafting and jewelry making, under the friendly direction of the same group. Look out craft world, here we come!

An Apology

Mahmood shares with us his reflections on the attributes of donkeys!

Lately, I saw a TV video asking people to donate 3 pounds to help donkeys. The video showed donkeys carrying heavy loads and falling to the ground because of these loads and exhaustion.

At the same period, I received an email from a friend in Iraq telling the story of a donkey in an American military camp used to carry ammunition boxes inside the camp. An American officer admired this animal. When his service ended, and before returning home, he managed to have this donkey transferred to his farm in America. This cost him a good sum of money. Photographs of this donkey in his habitat in America showed the nice stable and the joy of the retired officer. Many Iraqis envied the donkey for his good fortune.