Over the next few weeks I’ll highlight gifts that change lives from the MCC Christmas Gift Catalogue.
 
Better Together – Women In Chad
Together, women in Chad can produce and earn more than they could working alone. A gift of $65 supports women’s groups and training in enterprises like gardening and soap-making. 
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
https://mcccanada.ca/christmas#!

For more than two decades, Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) work in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) has responded to needs and hunger in the midst of a sensitive political climate.
 
MCC has partnered with Canadian organization First Steps to purchase soybeans in China and ship them to North Korea. Using equipment from First Steps, North Korean schools and orphanages process the soybeans into soymilk. Each morning, fresh soymilk is delivered to more that 100,000 children at daycares, kindergartens, and orphanages.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
https://mcccanada.ca/centennial/100-stories/mcc-democratic-peoples-republic-korea

Jean-Remy Azor, age 60, worked for MCC for 36 years in reforestation and agriculture in Desarmes, Haiti, and now leads an MCC partner organization there - Konbit Peyizan pou Ranfòsman Kapasite Loka. The name means Agricultural Collective for the Reinforcement of Local Capacity
 
“We work with participants in collectives, encouraging and organizing them to work together. Our primary focus is in food security and in reinforcing community capacity so that people are better able to produce what they need to eat.” This includes soil conservation, saving seeds, and planting trees.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/first-person-jean-remy-azor

What does a cooking competition have to do with gender equality and food security? In the Mwenezi district of Zimbabwe, a cooking competition for men is turning heads and challenging stereotypes. MCC’s partner SCORE is an anti-poverty organization which secures plots of farmable land and teaches sustainable farming techniques.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/great-mwenezi-cook