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...
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