by Michele on February 6, 2012
Does Acai pose a rainforest threat? How could a healthful little berry pose any danger? The fruit is highly beneficial because of its antioxidant properties to strengthen the immune system. Its also powerful in the economy of Northern Brazil.
However, this video by Al Jazeera raises the question of the cost-benefit to Northern Brazil. This report shows the harvesting of the berries, the markets where the berries are sold and interviews with farmers and business men.
The berries are shipped from the city of Belem where I spent some time researching my book. When we toured ... (read more)
by Michele on January 27, 2012
Jacqueline Wexler died this week at age 85. She was a nun and a college President, twice, and dubbed a “Benedict Arnold” by former Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the television evangelist. She stood up for greater participation by women in church leadership, renounced her vows in 1967, and criticized the church’s ban on birth control.
Dorothy comes to mind, of course, as a woman who stood up for injustice and who certainly wanted to see more women participating on the altar in the Catholic Church. Many times, Dorothy was called out for taking a stand for ... (read more)
by Michele on January 23, 2012
I’ve been following the debate in Brazil over the Belo Monte Dam. This will be the third largest dam in the world. I first read about Avatar’s director James Cameron who supports the actions of the Amazon indigenous who demonstrated, sat in and petitioned the Brazilian government to plan other means of generating electrical power. All, to no avail it seems. The power companies finally broke ground with little fanfare on June 1,2011.
As early as the 1980’s Sister Dorothy knew about the plans for this dam. She foresaw, then, that the project would bring about ... (read more)
by Michele on December 14, 2011
Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN became my hero, my spiritual guide in February 2005, even though she died at the hands of hired hit men in Para Brazil . I had never heard of her until I read of her murder that year but her life has provided me with a screen through which I see much of the world today.
It didn’t happen fast. At first I was outraged that someone would kill a nun in cold blood, a nun who was a member of the order Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who taught me in ... (read more)
