Allow me another congregational kvell: the good folks at Mirembe Kowamera coffee recently informed us that JRC occupies the number 50 spot on their list of top customers this year!
Thanksgiving Coffee staffer Jenais Zarlin broke the cool news on the Mirembe blog:
(JRC member and Fair Trade Coordinator Elaine Waxman) pointed out that they have been [...]
Archive for the ‘Fair Trade’ Category
Counting the Beans at JRC!
Posted in Africa, Coexistence, Fair Trade, Interfaith, Uganda on June 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
More Greening in the News
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Environmentalism, Fair Trade, Global Warming, Green Buildings, Religion on May 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Just in time for spring, some spiritual greening news for you:
The AP did up a nice piece about religious environmental efforts that featured JRC. It was picked up by a number of news outlets, inluding the Washington Post.
And check out this trailer for a documentary commissioned by Chicago magazine that spotlights six local green efforts, [...]
Jewish Brits Organize for Fair Trade
Posted in Fair Trade, Global Activism, Judaism, Poverty, Religion on March 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Kudos to the British Jewish community for mobilizing big time in support of Fair Trade!
Check out their impressive new Jewish Guide to Fair Trade – it has to be the most comprehensive resource of its kind. It’s even more remarkable when you consider that it is the product of a wide-ranging coalition that includes every [...]
A Rabbi Dad Kvells!
Posted in Africa, Fair Trade, Global Activism, HIV/AIDS, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Judaism, Religion, Rwanda, Uganda on January 26, 2009 | 7 Comments »
It’s Mazel Tov time. This past Shabbat, our family celebrated our son Jonah’s Bar Mitzvah with our family, friends and incredible congregational community. A joyous kvell-o-rama!
As you may remember from earlier blog posts, Jonah attended JRC’s congregational trip to Rwanda/Uganda this past summer. In honor of his Bar Mitzvah, he’s been selling Mirembe Kawomera coffee [...]
The Season of our Sustenance: A Sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah
Posted in Environmentalism, Fair Trade, Global Activism, Green Buildings, HIV/AIDS, High Holidays, Hunger, International Aid, Judaism, Poverty, Religion, Sermons, Spirituality, Tzedakah on October 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
As I sat down to write my sermons this New Year, I somehow found myself returning to the theme of “sustainability.” Click below for my remarks on Erev Rosh Hashanah:
Oprah Discovers Mirembe Kawomera!
Posted in Africa, Fair Trade, Interfaith, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Uganda on August 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Shortly before we left Uganda we learned that the August issue of Oprah Magazine would feature an article about Mirembe Kawomera coffee! It’s a wonderful, informative piece – so great to see the efforts of the coop spotlighted in such a major way.
Holly Moskowitz writes in the Mirembe blog that the new crop has just [...]
JRC Says Farewell to Africa
Posted in Africa, Education, Fair Trade, International Aid, International Health, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Poverty, Religion, Rwanda, Uganda on July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
On our final day in Africa, we visited the Nankusi and Namanyonyi primary schools, both of which are supported by the Peace Kawomera’s fair trade social premiums. Both schools are engaged in building projects to create more classrooms and more essential educational resources. In each school we saw overcrowded classes (many cramming in over 100 [...]
Peace Kawomera in Action
Posted in Africa, Coexistence, Fair Trade, Interfaith, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Peace, Poverty, Religion, Uganda on July 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
We’ve learned a great deal about how coffee is grown and processed on this trip and one of the most indelible lessons we’ve taken away is how interconnected and interdependent each step is to the next. Unlike the major commercial producers, rural coffee farmers like those of the Peace Kawomera coop must depend upon one [...]
Harvesting Peace
Posted in Africa, Fair Trade, Global Activism, Interfaith, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Judaism, Peace, Poverty, Religion, Uganda on July 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
As promised, we went to the Abayudayah Jewish community on Shabbat morning for services. It was actually a fairly auspicious time to be visiting: last week their new spiritual leader, Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, was formally installed in his home community. Rabbi Gershom has been studying for the past several years at the Conservative movement’s Ziegler [...]
On Coffee and Coexistence
Posted in Africa, Coexistence, Environmentalism, Fair Trade, Global Activism, Interfaith, JRC Africa Trip 2008, Religion, Uganda on July 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
That man in the picture above is JJ Keki – Ugandan farmer, musician, fair trade entrepreneur, local politician and interfaith activist (I’m sure I’m missing several more job descriptions…) JRC has gotten to know JJ well over the years through our our relationship to the Peace Kawomera interfaith fair trade coffee cooperative. JJ (a Ugandan [...]
