Meet some people whose homes and businesses were restored with the help of MCC and partner Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD), a Lebanese non-profit organization.
 
Samir Menassa remembers when his convenience store used to attract many customers. Located among pubs and restaurants in Beirut, Lebanon, the store was a convenient place for people to purchase a few things they needed as they strolled through the area.
 
That memory blew up along with a massive explosion of ammonium nitrate at the city’s major port on Aug. 4, 2020. The explosion killed about 200 people and destroyed and damaged buildings throughout the city.
 
With only $400 in his bank account, he looked for help to fix his store and his house, which also was damaged. Through his church, he was connected to Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD), a Lebanese non-profit organization.
 
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and FDCD have worked together to help repair 55 homes and 14 businesses with stipends of about $1,250 each. Other non-profits also support recovery in different ways, allowing people to combine varied resources with their own to restart.
 
“Helping families get back into their homes as soon as possible was an essential part of supporting their efforts to begin earning livelihoods again. In the same way we wanted to focus on rebuilding small businesses because, for many families, their small businesses are their primary—or even only—source of income.”
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
 
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/beirut-explosion-one-year-late

On Saturday, August 14th, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country, killing at least 1,300 people and injuring thousands more. Early reports show that many of those who survived lost their homes.
 
Thousands are sleeping outside, with little food and no protection from the elements.
 
Right now, our local partners are assessing the situation to provide assistance where needed most.
 
With your help, we can reach the people most affected by this tragic event. Your gifts will help provide emergency support and supplies.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
 
https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/haiti-earthquake

This week we’re having A Moment for MDS – Mennonite Disaster Service!
 
“MDS completes its work for MCC office renovation project in Timmins!”
 
Through the project, MDS volunteers renovated and upgraded the 100-year-old office building recently purchased by MCC. Even though the volunteers were not working directly with Indigenous people, renovating the office means “we can help MCC build connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people,” volunteer Nic Hamm said.
 
For Lyndsay Mollins Koene, who directs MCC’s Indigenous Neighbours program, the work of the volunteers “was incredible . . . the building is an extension of MCC’s work in providing access to clean water and livelihoods with Indigenous communities.”
 
The renovations will help MCC move ahead with its work. This includes connecting Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and enabling Indigenous artists to sell their crafts through the Niska Artisans program, the fair-trade program that seeks to educate people about the unique cultures in Ontario’s far north.
 
Pictured are MDS volunteers Joe Bless, Nic Hamm and Dave Brubacher of Vineland, Ont. with the special mitts given them by the MCC Indigenous Neighbours program as a token of thanks for their work on the MCC office in Timmins. 
 
Last year, more than 6,000 Mennonite Disaster Service volunteers cleaned up, repaired or rebuilt homes for more than 487 disaster survivors in the U.S. and Canada.
 
https://mds.mennonite.net/mds-mcc-complete-office-renovation-project-in-timmins/#

What do you know about where you live? More specifically, what do you know about those who lived there before you? Before this land was called Canada, it was home to hundreds of different peoples and nations.
 
Acknowledging and learning about the history of the land we live on is one way we can continue to build relationships between Indigenous and settler peoples.
 
If you want to learn more about the land you’re on, use tools like https://native-land.ca/ to see which Indigenous peoples called it, and still call, it home.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
 
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/do-you-know-where-you-are