Submitted by Joan McKnight My interest in natural/herbal tea stems from my own upbringing. As a child growing up in Jamaica, I have had a tremendous opportunity to learn the importance of medicinal herbs from my own grandfather. He was an herbalist; he has successfully grown a number of Jamaica’s Indigenous plants and roots in […]
What does it look like to build peace and health?
How can peace and health be promoted at the same time? Does it help to have one united holistic initiative, or it is better to have parallel projects taking care of individual areas? The connections between peace and health are not new. There has long been consensus within academia and the community on the need […]
Lentils: One Person’s Side Dish is Another’s Main Course
Fatima Elmasri is a human rights activist, educator, and passionate knowledge seeker who is pursuing her Master of Education degree at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. She shares her experience of the symbolic value of food in peacebuilding. “The making and sharing of food infuses relations of trust, care, and […]
Are you a health and peace promoter? Tell us about yourself!
The promotion of education and the enhancement of professionalism through sharing and collaboration are central components of peacebuilding. InterChange has many practitioners and professionals in the health and peace fields who are working on eclectic and diverse projects around the world. I am creating a space to showcase their ideas and perspectives, and share their […]
The Promotion of Health and Peace
“All diseases have two causes; one is pathological, the other is political” Rudolf Virchow This oft-quoted line by the German physician-anthropologist, who led the creation of social medicine in the 19th century, has motivated and beguiled me for years. After an undergraduate degree in International Development and Nutrition, I have spent 3 years living on […]
Food is a Universal Experience
Food is a nourishing way of bringing people together from a diversity of backgrounds. We can learn about and honour cultural traditions from all over the world in our own backyards. Crystal Randall, a graduate student at the University of Toronto, hosted a potluck at a Toronto InterChange meeting with the theme of how food […]
Lentils: One Person’s Side Dish is Another’s Main Course
Fatima Elmasri is a human rights activist, educator, and passionate knowledge seeker who is pursuing her Master of Education degree at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. She shares her experience of the symbolic value of food in peacebuilding. “The making and sharing of food infuses relations of trust, care, and […]
Passport to Peace: Canada
Submitted by Anonymous A bowl of homemade soup for supper: A treat for both of us as we reconfirm for the thousandth time that soup is one of our favourite dishes. My grandfather and I have eaten together for many years, seated next to each other in our respective ‘spots’ at the kitchen table. Both […]
Passport to Peace: Serbia
Submitted by Golga Sajinovic To drink one cup of coffee together guarantees forty years of friendship. ~ Turkish saying Fildžan viška or an extra Turkish-coffee cup is the name of a Bosnian Internet network for the promotion of friendship and tolerance in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. For centuries, coffee has been an important ingredient of […]
Passport to Peace: Papua New Guinea
Submitted by Alastair McIntosh During the 1970s and 1980s I spent four years of my life living and working in Papua New Guinea. I was teaching, setting up small hydroelectric systems, and helping to run the South Pacific Appropriate Technology Foundation. I worked in both the wildest rural areas and the roughest urban ones. As […]










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