Climate resilience still under construction By Charissa Zehr For Haitians and friends of Haiti, January 12, 2010 is a date forever imprinted in their memory. The earthquake and its aftershocks claimed the lives of an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 people and displaced 1.3 million people. Despite billions of dollars in emergency assistance and reconstruction funds, thousands remain homeless even now, seven years later. Precarious housing matters on many levels, for reasons of dignity, health and safety. But of principal concern long-term, is people’s exposure to subsequent natural disasters in a country ranked as one of the most vulnerable to the […]

Sharing my faith story with the church small group I’m part of, I described myself as a broken-hearted person. One person responded that she’d usually heard people describe themselves as tender-hearted instead. But the first description suits me better, because from a young age there has been much in the world that breaks my heart. Like the stories from neighbors in my hometown who sought refuge in the U.S. after surviving wars in the 1980s in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Like the stories I am hearing today from Mennonites in my city whose children are afraid that their parents […]

To be perfectly honest, The Crown had me at “an inside look at the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II.” I’m such an Anglophile and history buff that this show could have been a shoddily produced back-lot project and I probably would have watched. I’m saying all of this so you’ll take this review with about a heart attack’s worth of sodium. One also has to wonder what the Queen herself thinks about all this. Series creator Peter Morgan told Variety this past July that the royal family has had no involvement in the project. Luckily for me, The Crown is […]

Third Way’s Picks for Top Ten Films of 2016 The quirky personalities, film viewing habits, and divergent ways of putting these lists together (we don’t tell them how to do it) comes through once again in this round of “Top 10 Movies of 2016” from our of our tremendous Third Way reviewers—in the order they were received. Don’t forget about this handy round up when you add must-see flicks to your lists, however you keep them. Vic’s Top Ten Films of 2016 Counting down a year of mystery and magic from number ten: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins’ beautifully-acted film about […]

Our peace story this month is from Evan Knappenberger, a young man who tells his own story of how and why he joined up with the military upon graduation from high school, and what he encountered in that life. This nine-minute video will speak more powerfully than just words. Also see the notes below about it’s production. Shared by permission of Evan Knappenberger and Charlottesville (Va.) Center for Peace and Justice and Veterans for Peace. We also appreciate the alternatives they point to for serving one’s country in other ways. Evan finished his degree at Eastern Mennonite University and has taken classes […]

The big winner at the Golden Globes this week was La La Land. It was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, a young filmmaker whose only previous film was 2014’s Whiplash, which concerned a young drummer sacrificing everything to achieve his dream of greatness. La La Land pursues a similar theme, albeit with greater subtlety and ambiguity. It’s a film that can generate hours of discussion on the meaning of life, which is a wonderful attribute, though whether the answers it provides are always helpful is a matter for debate. The central question in La La Land is whether love […]

By Charles Kwuelum The U.S. government has been an integral leader in the fight against extreme poverty globally, investing in life-saving humanitarian and development needs. The needs remain enormous. About 65.3 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide by violent conflicts and natural disasters like drought and famine. Among them are nearly 21.3 million refugees, more than half of whom are under the age of 18. More than 795 million people lack sufficient food and 3.1 million children die each year due to malnutrition. According to UNAIDS, in 2015, there were 36.7 million people living with HIV. The new president is […]

It is Pittsburgh in the 1950s. Troy (Denzel Washington) and his friend Bono empty trash cans into the back of a truck. It is Friday, and Troy wonders aloud why it is only white men who drive the trucks, while the black men are the ones handling the garbage. He raises the issue in hopes of becoming the first black driver. Later that afternoon, Troy and Bono sit at the back of his house talking about life, and we meet Troy’s wife, Rose (Viola Davis). It is clear she loves him, and it seems like they have a good life […]