Filmmaker explores humor in Low German culture

There’s a stereotype floating around that filmmaker Orlando Braun doesn’t like. The stiff Mennonite farmer who traded his sense of a humor for a new seed company hat just isn’t true, and Braun wants to prove it.

Now a director and producer in Winnipeg, Man., Braun was born in Paraguay and spent some of his childhood there before his family moved to Manitoba. He grew up speaking Plautdietsch (Low German) and feels humor is intrinsic to Mennonite culture.

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February 23, 2015

Spanish education opens doors

Many of the 17 recent graduates of Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (Anabaptist Biblical Institute) shed tears as they gave graduation-day testimonies.

It was an emotional moment, said IBA director Rafael Barahona, because receiving a certificate from IBA is the first accomplishment of this kind for many. A large portion are first-generation immigrants.

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February 23, 2015

Canned meat provides drought relief

Central America faced its worst drought in 40 years last summer when an El Niño weather pattern hit. The dry spell affected the first growing season between May and August, causing widespread crop loss.

To help farmers make it through to the second growing season, Mennonite Central Committee provided emergency food assistance to 1,666 families. That included a distribution of 30,384 cans of meat in El Salvador, Honduras . . .

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February 23, 2015