A few months ago, we had the pleasure of premiering Salt+Light’s documentary A New Leaf, about the food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa in several cities across Canada. These premiere events brought out hundreds of people who wanted to learn more about this little known part of the world and how as Canadians we can make a difference. In only a mere 30 minutes, audience members felt a connected solidarity with those whose stories spanned across the screen.
After each screening, we held panel discussions that sparked many interesting and varied questions on the issues raised in the film, one of the main ones being that without a focus on development, this type of crisis will continue to occur. It is one of the reasons that Development and Peace, when responding to a humanitarian crisis, places significant importance on supporting projects beyond those that address immediate needs, but which also allow communities to recover and pave the way for ongoing development.
The documentary also highlights the advantages of working in a network like Caritas and relying on local expertise who best understand the needs of the local population.
We would now like to invite you to take the journey to Niger through A New Leaf with your community. We have prepared a Screening and Discussion Guide to help you organize a screening in your community to raise awareness on the realities of food insecurity in this part of the world. We have also prepared a poster template that you can use to promote your event.
We would love to hear about your screenings! Please send us your stories, photos and feedback!