News and Events
Regenerative Coffee Farming and Mayan Resilience in Guatemala
Mayan farmers are at the forefront of the struggle for environmental justice in
Guatemala. Meet Neydi Juracan, National Coordinator of Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), and hear about the CCDA’s work to protect the land using fair trade coffee as a tool for social justice including land reform and food sovereignty.
Join World Community to welcome Neydi on Sunday, May 11 th at 7 pm in the Common House at Creekside Commons Co-housing (2202 Lambert Drive, Courtenay).
The CCDA was founded in 1982, during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, to defend the rights of workers on large coffee, sugar and cotton plantations, to recover lands taken from the Mayan communities over the past centuries, and to promote and recover Mayan culture and spirituality.
It wasn’t until after the armed conflict ended in 1996 that the CCDA was able to work more freely on the issues of land reform and livelihoods. The CCDA used the Peace Accords to obtain land for member communities in the Lake Atitlán region. “In 1996, World Community Development Education Society brought the first fairly traded coffee to the Comox Valley” notes Janet Fairbanks. “At that time, the coffee available to us was from Nicaragua and we have maintained our relationship with the farmers there but we have also been keenly interested in political situations affecting campesinos in Guatemala and other countries in Central America. Many of our members have been to the highlands of Guatemala and supported the work of the CCDA and other organizations there.”
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet a dynamic young Indigenous leader and hear about the current situation in Guatemala. Everyone is welcome to attend. FMI: Janet (250 334-1840)
Dear Audrey – Thursday, December 1st -7pm
Dear Audrey (89 min.) is a new award-winning documentary about remarkable love that endures through all the challenges that Alzheimer’s can present. World Community’s film series continues with this extraordinary film on Thursday, December 1st at 7 pm in the Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College, Courtenay. Everyone is welcome. Admission is by donation.
World Community Future Vision Event
Help us set directions at the
World Community Future Vision Event
Thursday November 17, 6 – 9 pm, Creekside Commons Cohousing
Light refreshments will be provided.
Location: 2202 Lambert Drive, Courtenay
We are looking for your ideas & inspiration to chart directions for our future.
We Moved to the south side of the same building in Tin Town
Visit us at our NEW LOCATION ACROSS THE STREET at 2449D Rosewall Cres.
Free Film: Beans – Wednesday April 20th, 7pm at NIC
From July to September 1990, two Mohawk communities in Quebec — Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawá:ke — were thrust into a resistance against the Sûreté du Québec, the RCMP, and the Canadian Armed Forces.
World Community Film Festival Schedule
The Film Series will continue in February at Stan Hagen Theatre, NIC, Courtenay. Check back later for details.
"My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake, it will be the artists that give them their spirit back" Louis Riel (1885) Don't miss this special screening of the powerful film, When They Awake (92 min.), co-hosted by World Community and the Immigrant...
FILM SCREENING: TUES. NOV. 13TH – 7 PM AT NIC
The Reluctant Radical (77 min) If a crime is committed in order to prevent a greater crime, is it forgivable? Is it, in fact, necessary? The documentary, The Reluctant Radical, follows activist Ken Ward as he confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of...
Film Screening: Wajd: Songs of Separation – Tues. Oct. 30th, 7pm at NIC
After the trauma and dislocation of the war in Syria, how does one begin to pick up the pieces and heal? The documentary, WAJD: Songs of Separation looks at the important role music plays in the lives of refugees. Wajd: Songs of Separation introduces us to three...
FILM SCREENING: TUES. NOV. 13TH AT 7 PM – THE RELUCTANT RADICAL
(77 min) follows activist Ken Ward as he confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of the fossil fuel industry to combat climate change. “This film highlights the personal struggles and victories of one person’s path.” Bill McKibben A story of heroism...
Film Screening: Being the Change -Tues. October 9th at 7 pm – Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College, Courtenay.
Is it possible to move away from fossil fuels and live a more joyful life? That is the question NASA atmospheric scientist Peter Kalmus explores in the film, Being the Change: A New Kind of Climate Documentary, presented by World Community. Peter, his wife Sharon, and...
Film Screening: After Spring – Tuesday Sept. 25th at 7pm
World Community is partnering with the Immigrant Welcome Centre for a special screening of the award-winning documentary, After Spring, at 7pm, Tuesday Sept. 25 in the Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College, Courtenay. The film, produced by Jon Stewart, premiered at...
World Community AGM – Wednesday, June 27th – 7:30pm – Creekside Commons, Courtenay
Come learn more about World Community at our Annual General meeting. Following the business portion of the meeting, Filmmaker, Ed Carswell will show a sneak preview of a new film about World Community Coffee. Carswell has just returned from a trip to Nicaragua and...
Film Screening: Metamorphosis Tuesday, May 15th – 7pm – Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College, Courtenay
A poem for the planet, Metamorphosis takes the pulse of our earth and bears witness to a moment of profound change: the loss of one world, and the birth of another. The film captures the true scale of the global environmental crisis, a crisis that is also an...
Guest Speaker: Robert Massoud – Monday, May 7th – Comox United Church, 250 Beach Ave, Comox
Palestinian-born and Canadian-raised Robert Massoud, who hails from Toronto, is the founder of Zatoun fair trade products from Palestine. Moussad will be visiting Vancouver Island in May, engaging Canadians to learn more and empathize with Palestinians and their struggle for a just peace for Israel/Palestine. His Comox Valley appearance takes place on Monday, May 7 at 7 pm at the Comox United Church, 250 Beach Ave, in Comox. Food samplings made from Zatoun fair trade extra virgin olive oil and za’atar herb blend will be featured.
Film Screening: Directly Affected, Tues. April 3, 7pm at NIC
5 years ago, Vancouver filmmaker, Zack Embree set out on a mission: to understand the impacts of the Kinder Morgan pipeline on local communities and give a voice back to those who had been ignored by the National Energy Board process. He interviewed residents affected...
Film Screening: Modified – Tues, March 13th – 7pm at NIC Theatre, Courtenay
Modified is a first-person documentary-memoir that questions why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labeled on food products in Canada and the United States, despite being labeled in 64 countries around the world.Interweaving the personal and the political, the film is anchored in the filmmaker’s relationship to her mother, a passionate gardener and food activist. Their intimate mother-daughter investigative journey, fueled by a shared love of food, ultimately reveals the extent to which industrial interests control our food policies, making a strong case for a more transparent and sustainable food system.