joi, 14 iunie 2018

VEG ACTIVISM










Vegan Activism...

My transitioning vegan activist journey must've started as a child...

While in a weekly daycare of a communist country, I was one of the most well behaved child, never talking back to our daycare caregivers
I was also the solo vocalist performer, singing French songs at 5 yrs old accompanied by our French piano teacher…

All in all I was famous for being a role model for other kids and the positive envy of other parents directed to my mom whenever we had daycare plays

Until that faithful Friday when the 5 yrs. old bully that has physically terrorized an entire daycare, over 100 children and 8 or so caregivers…has started his daily routine of beating and shoving us around, as he always did for a very long time…

As I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up to go home, I was also watching the bully doing his routine and children running away freightened as usual…
Without much thought, I’ve suddenly found myself marching right up to him, grabbed him by his uniform and tossed him to the ground…
Another leap, I’ve grabbed his ankles and started to do circles in the air with him after which I’ve let him go, flying through the air into some sand ditch into our play yard
As if this wasn’t enough, I’ve jumped on him and wrestled and pushed his face into the sand until enough sand had covered his face
I was completely unaware that an entire daycare, many children, care givers AND my poor mom who was frozen in stupor were all watching the show…
As I’ve finished with the bully, a rapturous applause as if I was on some stage has pulled me back into the previous reality…
My actions were an instant hit with everyone and I became the daycare hero at that moment…
My horrified mom, knowing that her otherwise perfect child has never been in such situation, couldn’t understand and wanted to INTERVENE
But the daycare caregivers WOULD NOT ALLOW HER…
They’ve basically held her back uttering: Don’t…let her do this…she knows what and why she is doing…we’ve been terrorized by this bully, an entire daycare and we could no longer deal with this problem child…but could not do much because his parents refuse to straighten him up and legally we cannot kick him out…we’ve never seen Manuela doing anything like this before but this time we all need to let her teach the bully a lesson
Sure enough, that day was the last day the bully ever terrorized the daycare
And this was the beginning of my lifetime of activism…

Standing up for the vulnerable and needy...
confronting the abusers my own way at the time...

part of that child never changed much, that's why I couldn't bare myself around abusers of animals or children...I wouldn't know HOW to maintain a neutral stance...
 
At the same time, same age, I detested milk so much, I was the only child in the daycare who wouldn't touch it, no matter how many ways it was used..
with boiled rice, noodles and other grains, with sugar and vanilla

I was forced to drink it or consume it unless I was no allowed to watch the only 7pm evening half hr. cartoon as the rest of the children...

I was the last to leave from the cafeteria of a weekly communist daycare center, as mom as a single parent was working all week...most times being there for another 20 mins or so with some daycare staff person who was always frustrated at my inability to ingest anything containing milk...

I was gagging at the smell and taste of it each single time

Even my well-intended but unaware mom was pushing me to drink it despite my protests

Eventually, through other dairy products such as cheeses, I've joined the masses on the dairy train

we also ate very little meat products in a communist era due to food shortages...

in 1988 I've immigrated in Canada with the last members of my family (mom and sister)  reuniting with most of our remaining family who came here in waves since world war 2

it wasn't until 2006 or so when I've started to tap into the ideas that it's not quite OK to eat other beings

by 2008 summer, one phrase in a book about life after death for animals which was <If you really love animals first thing you can do is stop eating them>

it was That very phrase which triggered the remaining part of the lifetime animal lover's true awakening

at that time I had no clue about the movie Earthlings nor about the dairy industry cruelty and the rest of the environmental concerns/urgency around animal foods production 

it was an inner sudden calling to action

I gave up meat for a week and I felt weak...

I thought it was because the protein was gone from my foods

poorly educated on the matter, I've continued mainly as a Piscetarian for another year

until fall 2009 when in the middle of a huge organic farm, my 2nd AHA moment came as I've looked upon the many rows of veggies, realizing as if a message from above came right through me saying loud and clear: THIS is the food humans need, grown straight from the ground, without killing other beings..

all this, coupled with the fact that living in a rural area and seeing the new born calves at dairy farms, their precious beauty and cuteness overload...all came together...

I was crying frequently driving by the farms, couldn't believe that as humans we kill and eat those Divinely created amazing beings...
In 2011 I’ve started my vegan blog
today it has close to 250,000 page views
in 2012 I’ve started my 2nd activism blog with close to 200,000 views

in 2012 I’ve also started the Romanian version of my first vegan blog
with almost 40,000 views

a sequence of various activities were initiated by myself, using these 3 blogs and also real life, street activism
-through the Romanian vegan blog, in 2012 I’ve started an Internet/social media campaign, contacting Christian churches, priests and religious Romanian community groups from other European countries regarding the annual Easter celebration and lambs sacrifice
Stating and proving with paragraphs from older versions of scriptures that animals sacrifices are not required by God whatsoever and it is time to stop the insanity of killing such pure, innocent beings…bringing enough arguments that this ritualistic act is a very old manipulation by what many call <dark side>
And so, I’ve created this page
which is the Romanian version and followed by the English version
1 year later, more and more vegan bloggers were writing about the same thing, inspired by my blog
Shortly after, I receive a link with an article written by a Christian church in Romania, stating that <Lambs sacrifice are NO LONGER needed for Easter>
Close to 2 years after I’ve initiated this campaign, the church was coming out in the open with the same invitation for the religious…
That was the first time when I’ve realized through direct experience that 1 HUMAN being can make a big difference
Followed this it was the English version of the same notion that animals sacrifice for any religious celebration is very wrong for many reasons and this was the link that I’ve created and sent to many Christian churches in Canada and North America
Christian Vegetarian Association does amazing activism using leaflets for the religious masses, during concerts and many other venues

I’ve copied and printed certain paragraphs from these materials and placed them into people’s car windshields in churches parking lots during Sunday masses
I still believe this is one of many efficient forms of activism today
Seeds planted…
Next, I’ve created materials and contacted many many <sustainable animal farms> using these links from my blog

some of this information was also printed and dropped off at some local animal farms
Many hunter associations in North America received this
as well as printed versions during hunting season, placed in strategic places and windshields
Spiritual groups have received this  

I’ve contacted some of the most prominent public figures in alternative health care and nutrition such as:
-Dr. Mercola
-David Wolfe
-Matt Monarch
And others…to urge them to stop selling and promoting animal based foods and products

The materials in my blog will be used as curriculum at

I took an interview to the person codenamed Cobra 
which was translated in over 10 other languages
  
I’ve created and sent Letter to Therapists (Psychiatrists)

I’ve planned this for PRISONS

For Children/day care centers, schools


For PETS (Vets)  

For environmental groups

For sports people

Using some of these materials, I feel that any vegan person or group, small or large can print them out and use them based on Theme, at various public events such as sports, arts, food festivals, in parks, any public place, by placing them in the cars windshields…
Outside of a commercial store area where leafleting is prohibited
Such materials or the already existing brochures such as Vegan Outreach, CVA, Peta and others…

Another efficient way to reach out are MALLS, where a group of vegan activists can hand out to each business/boutique/store within the mall, one such brochure or printed material
Sure, there are the rib fests but due to the highly charged energies around such festivities, it is very hard to be exposed to such hatred and aggression without being traumatized…so this, while is also a great way to reach out, may not be for every vegan activist out there…

Free little libraries, as recently shown by one of our vegan activists peers also works beautiful in terms of where we can plant some brochures…
Feel free to use your imagination and get inspired to come together and reach out to a VEGAN PLANET soon
There are many ways we can all do our part…
The marches, protests and vigils and PETA style protests  
Those very very brave souls who do the slaughterhouse vigils and mall protests against fur are not very many
Yet, there are powerful ways we can reach out without feeling guilty because we are not able to do the slaughterhouses and trucks vigils
There is the World Peace Diet facilitator course/training which can help those who are able to speak publicly, to contact colleges for public presentations, such as Gary Yourovsky did and Dr. Will Tuttle and more like them
There is no wrong form of activism
This world got to the current level of insanity due to many millennia of ongoing manipulation of human consciousness using myriad ways of mind control
It will take equally diverse ways of Undoing the damage
We don’t have the magic wand to make it all go away in a moment as we’d like to but it is very important to acknowledge the huge progress we’ve accomplished and to continue on without losing ourselves in the process