Blog Archives - Carisma Services - inspiring communities

From Bean to Bar

30/3/2019

This was a workshop which I organised. Basically chocolate was used to teach participants how our wants and desires actually cause conflict and often hate.

The chocolate beans we used was from Ghana. If purchased directly from the farmers, this enables them to receive the western economy directly. However beans should be bought for the price they are worth. However because we do not want to pay over the top for a bar of chocolate the price at source is kept very low, but the price is still quite high for pure chocolate.

What is pure chocolate? The bitter the chocolate the nearer it is to pure chocolate. Adding a pint and a half of milk is not pure chocolate, probably not even chocolate - just a thought.

Boss Women

28/3/2019

https://monaliving.com/boss-women-ticket/

This was a truly inspirational evening. I was invited to be part of a panel of women as a guest speaker. A panel of ordinary women who had achieved and done extraordinary things.
They stated that "Our Inspirational woman of the day is - Dr Erinma Bell MBE, She's a peace activist, the 1st woman ever to have her sculpture in Manchester Town Hall, she was awarded an MBE for voluntary services to the community. She is the subject of the opening chapter of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's book and is recognised as one of the most influential people in Greater Manchester."
The other women on the panel were Hannah Miraftab a professional dentist with her own dentist practice, Kiln Lane Dental - plus she was also on Real Housewives of Cheshie; Zoya Imtiaz - founder of Angelic Desserts and Winners at the Asian Wedding Awards 2018 - ; Mari Rostern - leading expert in skincare, owner of Bloomstr, Specialist in Environ Treatment; Misba Khan - member of an all women expedition team to the North Pole and Winner of Rising Star Award 2018; Fatimah Vadia -professional make-up artist and nominee of British Muslim award 2018.
Hannah chased her dream of wanting to own her own dentist practice and has finally achieved it by age of 20. Zoya Imtiaz discovered her passion of baking at age of 16 and now at the age of 18 has her own business called Angelic Delights. Mari Rostern has a love for skin, skin without make-up and aimed to show people how healthy and good their skin can look without make-up and she does just that. Misba Khan was truly amazing. She climbed Mount Everest with an all female crew (including the film crew) in temperatures of -38 Degrees! Faimah Vadia resigned from her architectural job to follow her dream of make-up artistry. She is now spear heading the campaign #beautyiseveryonecampaign.
After hearing the stories from the women on the panel each Women took away jewels of knowledge, wisdom and overstanding to enable them to move forwards and upwards in their businesses or lives.

Celebrating Womanhood

23/3/2019

This was another event put on by a group calling themselves Classic Onyx and based in Rochdale. I was invited as a guest speaker to come along and inspire other women to be proud of who they are and proud to be a woman.
I spoke of the fact that as women we are role models to our younger females around us, whether they are our biological daughters or not. As women we should not attend any place which we would not like or children to attend (our girls or boys). What we wear and how we wear it will be reflected in our girls and in the girls our boys will choose.
Dr Idde Charles spoke about the fact that we need to look after our health. Prayer is good, as in praying for good health but medication can be more helpful. She stressed that women should not be ignorant about their health. She explained that there is an over representation of African, and Nigerian peoples dying due to diabetes and high blood pressure in Uk. She put this down to the fact that many such sufferers of stress, high blood pressure or diabetes will not take medication, but rather take the advice of Pastors to negate the medical advice, which unfortunately ends up in death, most of the time.
Prayer is good, however, God only helps those that help themselves. Or Hand of God - the only hand which is going to help you is the one at the end of your arm!

IWD Twitter post...

22/3/2019

https://twitter.com/i/status/1109097415863422976

twitter.com/Anna_Crump/status/1109097415863422976

Anna Crump tweeted the above during International Women's Month.

"To celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day, earlier this month, I was able to speak about my inspirational woman @ErinmaBell a peace activist and strong Mancunian woman."

When I see posts like this, they give me the energy and inspiration to continue the works I am doing. Thank you Anna.

Strong Manchester Women of Heritage

14/3/2019

The BME Network of Manchester put on this event for the second year to celebrate international women's month.
We invited women of different heritage to come together and put on a spread of food and drink culturally pertinent to ones heritage. Each table group had to dedicate their table to a 'strong Manchester Woman of Heritage' and we chose Aunty Julie Asumu - it was a surprise to her and she was overwhelmed.
Well if you know me and mine we love a competition based around heritage and culture. Last year we lost out on dress presentation to the Congolese women.
This year my women won best dressed group - due to our coordination of colours. Now I felt this was obvious because we Nigerians invented "asheobi" (cultural uniformed dressing).
We provided a palatable spread of Gari (fufu) with Egusi and Okoro Soups. There was 'puff-puff' a type of round semi-sweet doughnut; Fish fritters; fried spicy chicken wings and a selection of herbal teas - cerese, ginger, mint and sorrel.
The Congolese women, won best dressed table - next year watch this space for a new winner.

Sangha

14/3/2019

Sangha is a word in Pali and meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community" and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns). These communities are traditionally referred to as the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha. As a separate category, those who have attained any of the four stages of enlightenment, whether or not they are members of the monastic community, are referred to as the āryasaṅgha "noble Sangha".
In this context Sangha is taken to mean 'connecting people, building community.
I attended the soft launch of a new charity, called Sangha set up by Manchester Cathedral with the aim to encourage the Asian, and in particular the Indian, communities to work together. Although we were told that Sangha will not exclusively be for Asians.
Guest speakers made speeches and the learning was thus. Samiya Butt - Building bridges between cultures and faiths. People do not like to bring us closer together and in reality these are the perfect types to people to bridge with those who do not want to mix with us, for fear of the unknown about us. We need to collectively listen to one another, learn from one another. Story telling is a powerful way to build bridges. Don't fear what you don't know, respond to hate with love and kindness.
Ms Kavita Roy - a solicitor. Due to some many societal labels, names, so many groupings, sub-groups within sub-groups as a result we are narrowing our vision of togetherness rather than expanding it.
I agreed wither analogy of the '3rd Sider' talk or labelling as she called it. Such labelling over time about each other by each other eg: if they don't speak the same language; wear the same clothes; go to the same church; we then set boundaries and stay away from them. We build giant walls around ourselves and these boundaries become 'fractures' and actually fracture communities. We find ourselves compartmentalised by our own doing into Asian, African, Jamaican etc. We, therefore, begin to see each other separate from ourselves. We focus on the differences, which divide us than what unites us.
Before you do anything ask: 'Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Ask these questions before you do anything as a form of self discipline test.
Talk and listen. Listen to understand. Understanding brings empathy and Empathy brings change.
The Chief Superintendent talked about Communication- Tolerance - Understanding. Personally I do not like the word Tolerance. I do not want to be tolerated, I want people to understand me for all that I Am.
The Dean stated that 'Face to Face' communication is good, however, 'Side by Side is better.

Café Conversation

13/3/2019

March is normally a very busy month for me, especially with it being International Women's Month (as declared by Manchester) with International Women's Day being 8th of March.
One of the earliest things I did this March was to take part in a Café Conversation organised by Common Purpose.
Everyone likes to have a chat over a cup of tea or coffee. This is what the café conversation is. It is based on the methodology called World Café methodology and is a simple, effective, and flexible format for hosting large group dialogue. World Café can be modified to meet a wide variety of needs. Specifics of context, numbers, purpose, location, and other circumstances are factored into each event’s unique invitation, design, and question choice, but the following five components comprise the basic model:
1) Setting: Create a “special” environment, most often modelled after a café, i.e. small round tables covered with a checkered or white linen tablecloth, butcher block paper, coloured pens, a vase of flowers, and optional “talking stick” item. There should be 4 to 6 chairs at each table (optimally) – and no more than 8.
2) Welcome and Introduction: The host begins with a warm welcome and an introduction to the World Café process, setting the context, sharing the Cafe Etiquette, and putting participants at ease.
3) Small Group Rounds: The process begins with the first of three or more twenty minute rounds of conversation for the small group seated around a table. At the end of the twenty minutes, each member of the group moves to a different new table. They may or may not choose to leave one person as the “table host” for the next round, who welcomes the next group and briefly fills them in on what happened in the previous round.
4) Questions: each round is prefaced with a question specially crafted for the specific context and desired purpose of the World Café. The same questions can be used for more than one round, or they can be built upon each other to focus the conversation or guide its direction.
5) Harvest: After the small groups (and/or in between rounds, as needed), individuals are invited to share insights or other results from their conversations with the rest of the large group.
During the Common Purpose Café Conversation the questions posed to me were:
1) As a leader, how did you get to change the minds of people with regards to gun crime?
2) What did you find difficult being a leader?
3) Where did you get support?
4) How did you know you were making a difference?
5) How do you lead when it is your own organisation, and not a hierarchy?
6) How did you deal with family?
All very relevant questions to Leadership. Answers were given and such will be in another later blog.

Ladies Day @ The Mosque

3/3/2019

In order to create community cohesion the women of the Ahmadiyya Mosque, Moss Side opened up their doors for other women of Muslim faith and other faiths to come and share knowledge about each other's faith and look at the similarities of each other's faith.
Sikism - first we had a woman from the Sikh faith address the audience. She was born in Kenya to Indian parents. She was educated in India then moved to Britain. Her place of worship is known as the Guduwara Temple. It is believed that the first Gurunanak brought about women's equal rights and tried to abolish the caste system. Women had no rights up until the 14th century - women had to die with their deceased husbands. This practice was called 'Sutty', where women had to sacrifice themselves to cremation - burning alive! They do celebrate Christmas, Divali, Eid with respect.

Jewish Faith - The second speaker was a Jewish lady. She informed us that as a Jewish person they do eat Halal foods and Kosha foods are similar. However, they do not eat prawns or pig meat. They read the holy book- The Torah. In the Jewish community, a child is Jewish if the mother is Jewish. After 8 days of the birth of a male child, circumcision is performed on the penis area (this is simarly done in the faith of Islam and in Nigeria - even amongst non Muslims). In Hebrew this is called Brit or Covenant between God and Abraham. Genesis (of the Bible) speaks of circumcision. There marriages are arranged. During a wedding ceremony the Groom covers the glass and breaks it with his foot. I remember doing this at my wedding (and we are not Jewish). The Jewish do this because they believe that you cannot have good without bad and this is done to ward off evil spirits. Also simbolizing the last time the man will put his foot down.
We were told that in the Jewish religion women do not count during a service and for a service to be held there needs to be 10 men present. In an orthodox Jewish church the women sit separately (similarly in a Mosque). Women are obligated to light two candles to welcome the Sabbath. They are not obligated to go to church because their men say they have a very important already very busy role of bringing up the children; teach them the ways of Judaism; keep the house and cook - sounds like most households and including going to church!

Beha'i Faith - this religion is believed to have started about 175 years ago in Iran. It is believed that this was started in 1863 by a person known as Bahaullah, born 1817. They say that they are the fundamental investigators of truth. They are encouraged to investigate all religions. They believe that religions, social things and even the manifestations of God change according to the need of humanity. Known as 'progressive revelations'. They say men and women are equal and ladies are mothers of the future. Their women are well educated because they educate the next generation. In this faith they do not have separate services for women. They do fast for 19 days during this time of year. There are 361 days a year in the Beha'i calendar consisting of 19 days x 19 months. The basic fundamental law = Unity. No sects just Beha'i faith.
Christianity -This guest speaker was a Reverend from the Church of England, St Johns Church. She explained that Christianity is Abrahamic like Judaism and Islam. All our religions have more in common than what divides us. Although men and women in the Christian faith do worship together. Christians have different seasons and times of worship - Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension and these are a few of many celebrations. Mainly worship on a Sunday but not exclusively. There are 5 Marks of Mission. Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure.
1) Proclaim the good news story of Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
2) Teach the Gospel and the teachings of the Bible through scripture and baptize new believers.
3) Attending to those who are in need, hungry, homeless, sick or suffering - with loving service.
4) To work against injustice in our society, to challenge violence of every kind an to work for peace and reconciliation.
5) Look after and protect the Earth, the animals, plants because they are all Gods glory.
Fundamental law - To love God and Love Our Neighbour is important to Christians.
Ahmadiyya Five Pillars of Islam - These are 1) Declaration of Faith (PBUH); 2) Salat (Prayer) 5 times a day facing Mecca; 3) Zakat - 2.5% of ones annual assets to be given to charity; 4) Fasting -no eating, drinking, smoking, or acts of intimacy; 5) Hajj - each Muslim is expected to go Mecca at least once in their life, to do Hajj.
Fundamental law- Love for All Hatred for Non. They are very well known for their charitable giving to enhance the dignity of man. Constantly searching for what it means to be human.

Legacy Exhibition

2/3/2019

This was another event put on in celebration of International Women's day. The event was held in the Chuck Gallery, Longsight Manchester. A delightful and very unassuming looking building on the outside, however, when once you are in - you are mesmerised by the beautiful, exciting and tantalising pieces of African Art. It's like a 'tardis'. You could never imagine the interest, which you find inside.
There were three guest female speakers plus an artist from Guadalupe who spoke about her work.
The first speaker was Emma Elston MBE and the CEO of UK Container Maintenance. She spoke about how she has built a million pound business as a woman in a male business environment. I liked how she referred to the men around her within the business of containers - Male, Stale and Pale.
The second speaker, Dr Ngozi Ed-Osagie, is a Clinical Head of Division, Consultant Neonatologist. Dr Edi-Osagie is of, what I call mixed heritage, a Nigerian father and West Indian mother. Within her family four generations of her family, all women, have all worked at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Now this needs to be celebrated and highlighted. Especially with regards to our NHS celebrating 70 Years of existence and with the confusion Brexit brings about immigrants and jobs. There is something she said which stuck with me. She told a story of how to celebrate the neo-natal ward a photo was taken of babies. The doctor asked a question of the photo: "why are there no babies of colour?" The response was: "the photo is in colour". Now this type of response makes it clear that some people even the educated require 'cultural intelligence' to this day.
The artist of the Legacy Collection, Josephe Cocles, also made a statement, which resonated with me. "We are Spiritual Beings having a human experience and NOT human beings having a spiritual experience."