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Save-the-date for Diverse Paths: An Exploration of Low German Mennonite Experiences

A day of learning and exploring the history and cultural nuances of the Low German speaking community through demonstrations, breakout workshops and large-group sessions.

This interactive conference will bring together members of Low German-speaking communities and service providers, educators, and academics, from across Ontario and beyond to learn with and from each other.

Participants will explore their own experience, knowledge, and personal values with the goal of understanding how communities surrounding Low German-speaking groups can be more welcoming.

Date: October 14, 2022

Time: 8:30am – 4pm

Location: University of Waterloo

More info and registration available in June.

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New webinar recording available!

Webinar: Gathering around COVID

This webinar includes the dramatic presentation: Gathering around COVID – a young married couple are visiting their parents for the first time in almost two years. Over dinner, cultural norms and expectations are observed, opinions and disagreements are shared.

A panel discussion, following the webinar, helped to further unpack cultural norms and expectations.

Viewers gained a deeper understanding of how to engage with the Low German-speaking community and others who have different views regarding the current public health crisis and insight into the history and culture that forms these opinions.

Watch now

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NEW RESOURCE …COVID-19 Information in Low German

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A HISTORY OF MIGRATIONS

The Low German Mennonite migration from Latin America to Ontario is the most recent leg of a migratory history that began in the 1500s in Europe.

RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL UNDERSTANDINGS

Low German speaking Mennonites who have come to Ontario from Latin America are a part of a rich religious tradition with a long history. The formal aspects of religious life are expressed in church activities, but the very fabric of daily colony life is religious as well.

HEALTH IN A COLONY CONTEXT

Some Low German families seek medical interventions only when home remedies or their community’s lay practitioners are unable to resolve the issue.

EDUCATION IN A LOW GERMAN MENNONITE COLONY CONTEXT

In the Latin American Mennonite colony, the village school is an important institution in the perpetuation of colony life.

RELATING WITH LOW GERMAN-SPEAKING MENNONITES FROM LATIN AMERICA

Suggestions for service providers.