Items

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  2020-06-16

  Evenki class opens in one of the schools in Yakutsk

  "In the new academic year, the first class with the teaching of the Evenki language will open in secondary school number 26 in Yakutsk. As the Evenki Association of RS (Y) told SakhaNews, this was made possible thanks to the decision of the district administration of the capital and the readiness of the school director and teaching staff to innovate."
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  2020-05-15

  Statement from Indigenous Women's Organisations of Nepal on COVID-19

  “The WHO has declared the outbreak of COVID 19 as a global pandemic. The entire world has been caught unprepared to cope with this pandemic. Indigenous Peoples to healthcare, essential services, sanitation, information and other preventive measures like clean water, food, medicines etc. Indigenous Peoples possess their own distinct tradition, culture, and religion and have religious faith worshiper of ancestors, lands, territories and resources live in both urban and rural areas with their own identity. They have their distinct traditional livelihood and collective ways of life. They are the custodians of traditional knowledge, skills, practices, languages, culture and are in extreme poverty and thus more prone to infectious diseases. Many Indigenous Peoples have customary self-government systems that are effective in preventing pandemic but the government does not formally recognize such systems though Nepal is a party to ILO Convention no. 169 and the UNDRIP.”
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  2020-05-23

  From 4 times a year to camping in the living room

  My family and I have go camping multiple times a year and since this pandemic started our plans of going camping were cancelled due to the closure of national parks. Camping was something that helped me get through the school year and motivated me to work hard until the very end so that then I can go camping and forget about all my worries in the city. Now without being able to go out my 5 year old brother gave my sister and I the idea of building a fort in the living room. Although its not the same of getting out of the house and being surrounded by nature it helps forget about anything going on in life and just having fun.
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  2019-05-13

  Cultural compromise: Covid-19 crisis may end New Zealand’s iconic Maori greeting – ‘the hongi’

  "The Covid-19 outbreak now could possibly force New Zealand to relinquish the traditional Maori greeting – the hongi – wherein two people touch and press their noses together."
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  05/21/2020

  Havdalah Asia Poster

  Beginning on May 16, 2020, Jewish communities in Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Bangkok teamed up to hold weekly Havdalah services over Zoom, allowing us all, even isolated in our homes all across East Asia, to join together. Havdalah is a short service held every Saturday evening, marking the end of the Sabbath. A special candle is lit, and spices passed around and smelled, to remind us of the light and beauty of the Sabbath as we re-enter the regular week. Though we cannot experience the candle or the spices in the same way at a distance, and though reciting or singing prayers together over Zoom is difficult (given the lag time and so forth), it has been wonderful to have this opportunity for a sense of community and spirituality during this difficult time. I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me personally, I am a rather secular person and generally just find myself too busy to take the time to go to synagogue on any regular basis at all. But during a time like this, one finds that one appreciates that human connection, and connection to community, identity, heritage, spirituality, comforting traditions, more than usual. And as with academic conferences, simply speaking with friends & family, and many other things we are now doing over Zoom - not only in religious life but in general - we are building connections we might not have built otherwise. I don't know if the various Jewish communities of Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Bangkok have ever done these sorts of online communal events before; it's a wonderful feeling to "meet" people from all across the region. I hope it might continue.