Humane Edge July 2007
In this Issue:
GO-GO TO MOGO!
How do you create sweeping positive change in the world? Simple: Choose MOGO. IHE President Zoe Weil has developed a new workshop for people interested in living their deepest values, in discovering how to use the power of their choices to do the MOst GOod. Our MOGO Workshop will educate and inspire you to do more good for yourself, other people, animals, and the environment. You’ll learn powerful, enjoyable ways to create the world you want to see and the life you want to live. Find out more about MOGO in this interview with Zoe Weil.
What exactly is MOGO, and what is it designed to do?
MOGO is short for Most Good, and the MOGO workshop is designed to engage participants in reflection upon their deepest values and hopes for themselves and the world, offer them the knowledge and tools they need to assess their choices, both personal and professional, and then help them turn that self reflection and information into concrete, practical actions that will better their own lives and the world at the same time.
The focus of IHE has been on training and educating others about humane education. MOGO seems more focused on humane living. What is the difference between humane education and humane living, and why is IHE expanding its program offerings to incorporate humane living?
Humane education is a field that inspires people to live with compassion and respect for everyone – people, animals, and the environment – and which teaches how to use creative and critical thinking skills toward solving the biggest challenges of our time. Humane living is the process of putting our values into practice so that we manifest the best qualities of human beings in all aspects of our lives.
When IHE first began, we had a 3-pronged approach: 1) to train people to be humane educators 2) to advance the field of humane education, and 3) to offer humane education in schools and to adults interested in leading more humane lives. For the past five years, we’ve focused primarily on the first 2 of these goals through our M.Ed. in humane education, our Humane Education Certificate Program, our Sowing Seeds humane education workshops, and our consulting, outreach, and publications. Something that we’ve found over and over, however, is that people who come to us to be trained as humane educators inevitably find that their own lives are transformed. While people may attend a Sowing Seeds workshop to learn humane education teaching skills, they usually leave with a whole new attitude and approach to their own life choices. We started to notice that there were people who really weren’t that interested in teaching coming to our Sowing Seeds humane education training workshops because they wanted to experience humane education themselves and change their own lives. We realized how powerful it would be to actually give such people their own workshop. Instead of focusing on how they could become humane educators, we could help them to explore the ways in which their lives, work, and activism could best manifest their values and vision for a more compassionate and just world. Thus, a physician, social worker, plumber, builder, businessperson, lawyer, architect – you name it – could discover ways to live more meaningful and helpful lives. We could give them humane education rather than train them to become humane educators. That’s why we’re offering MOGO.
What can people who take the MOGO workshop expect? What kinds of topics will be covered and what kinds of activities offered?
They can expect to find a supportive community of people seeking to live a life that makes a difference. They can expect to self reflect. They can expect information and tools for assessing the impact of their choices on others (people, animals, and the environment). They can expect a dose of reverence for the natural world. They can expect inspiration. And they can expect to leave with a plan and commitment for the future.
Some workshops get people inspired and enthusiastic, but leave them with few ideas about how to manifest what they’ve learned in a practical and successful manner in their own lives. What kinds of practical tips will people receive that they’ll be able to immediately apply in their own lives?
The ideas and practical tips will be generated by the group, by the facilitators, and by each individual. No one is going to tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t do. Instead, each participant will get a spoonful of inspiration and a spoonful of creative energy for every two spoonfuls of information, and that combination will create a sweet brew for putting the experience of the workshop into practice when they leave.
People who are motivated to make more humane choices seem to have some success having a positive influence through their personal choices, but much of the injustice, cruelty and destruction in the world functions on a systemic level. What are some strategies for positively influencing systemic change that participants will learn about?
The workshop is two days, and during the first day we’ll focus on personal daily choices – what we buy, use, eat, wear, etc. – and learn about the effects of our choices and practice critical thinking in daily life. Then we’ll shift toward how we can each best put our talents and passions to use in creating change through our work, volunteerism and activism, so that we can both model our message and contribute to systemic change. We need people to both walk their talk and work for change, and to find their own path toward this mix.
Assuming this first MOGO workshop is a success, what are the future plans for MOGO workshops?
We’ll have more! And more and more! Imagine if there was a MOGO workshop happening somewhere in the world every week, or even every day. Imagine if politicians, leaders in industry, advertisers, CEOs, those in healthcare, agriculture, science, technology, defense, the arts – in every field and from every country – were to attend a MOGO workshop and look inward to assess their values and the state of the world and then commit wholeheartedly and effectively to using their skills and capacities for a peaceful, sustainable, and humane world for all.
The first MOGO workshop is August 11-12, 2007, in Surry, Maine. Find out more and register now! (Register by July 13 to receive a $45 discount!)
CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE…FOR EVERYONE!
As people in the United States are celebrating independence and freedom this July, there are millions of people all over the world who are victims of bonded labor and slavery. According to Kevin Bales, author of Disposable People, right now there are approximately 27 million slaves all over the world – including many children. In addition, there are billions of animals suffering from oppression and exploitation. We, as humane educators, can help this become a world without slavery and oppression by bringing awareness to the lack of freedom that is endured by so many and by helping people feel empowered to take positive action. Explore our website to find useful resources to help teach yourself – and others – about these issues. Samples include:
Activities:
Do You Want Slavery With That?
Modern slavery is still ubiquitous. Students hear about it from the slaves themselves (through their stories) and consider what they can do to help.
Recommended for grades 6 and up.
Time: 60-90 minutes
The Dreaded Comparison
Participants explore the connections between human and animal oppression and ways that we can choose not to oppress others.
Recommended for grades 7 and up.
Time: 45-60 minutes
A Moment in Your Shoes
How will students feel spending a moment in the shoes of a battery hen or a child slave? Use this lively and thought- provoking activity to introduce human and animal issues and the connections between them.
Recommended for grades 6 and up.
Time: 45 minutes to several days
Find more useful sites in our Humane Education Activity resources section.
Websites:
Animal Legal & Historical Information Center
http://animallaw.info
Get your U.S. animal law info here! Includes statutes, full-text cases, articles, topic explorations & more. Searchable by state, subject and species. Also includes selected animal laws for twelve other countries.
Free the Slaves
http://www.freetheslaves.net
A treasure trove of information and resources on modern slavery.
Human Trafficking.org
http://www.humantrafficking.org
Get reports, news and information about human trafficking from all over the world.
Find more useful sites in our Human Rights & Social Justice links section and our Animal Protection links section.
HUMANE EDUCATION GOES GLOBAL
Each month we feature the success stories of our students and graduates on our HumaneEducation.org website. This month we feature IHE students Mark Heimann & Dace Zoltner, who will be teaching English to elementary-aged children through Humane Education activities in Vidzeme, Latvia, from July 8 – July 22. Read about these two terrific IHE students.
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August 30, 2008 - 8:30 am to August 31, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Location: Farm Sanctuary
Live your values. Change the world. Choose MOGO! Let your life reflect what truly matters to you. Discover ways to choose MOGO (the most good), act on what's most important to you, and build a better world. Come to our life-transforming weekend MOGO workshop, th...
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