Jazz Festival Performances- Thugs at Bay (June 26-30)
Posted on June 19, 2009
T.A.N. has become a new venue of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival this year! The shows will take place from June 26-30, featuring Thugs At Bay. Thugs at Bay, or t@b for short, could be called a folk music duet. They play original, acoustic music with guitar, fiddle and two voices. They will be performing one original, polymetric jazz/folk/fusion set and one standard vocal/fiddle jazz-song set every afternoon during this series, with surprise special guests.
For more info on T@B, go to
Public Lecture Series on Human Trafficking (Dec 6/08)
Posted on November 13, 2008
| 12:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
THE FREE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING, DECEMBER 6, 2008
will bring a panel of speakers to identify the causes, realities and
possible solutions to human trafficking and it’s implications in our
communities. Human Trafficking is one of the most extreme violations
of human rights , whose majority of victims are women and children.
We invite you to raise your awareness and learn what you can do about
this relatively unknown issue. With this event resting on the
anniversary of the Montreal massacre, we honour the memories of the
countless women who have faced extreme violence and exploitation.
Please come and find out what local groups, non profits and
governments are doing to address this pressing issue, it’s root
causes, and what potential solutions and preventions are possible.
Admission is free and includes a free lunch.
As part of this event, there will be a contemporary sound and video
art presentation, designed to inspire the public on human rights.
This will include the premiere of “To Realize Why”, a sound/art piece
taking us on the emotional journey of a human trafficking victim among
other pieces by professional contemporary artists from Toronto.
Tickets are $10 /$5 for students for the artistic presentations. The
Cost is FREE for the rest of The Public Lecture Series, including
lunch.
We will be offering a free healthy and delicious lunch. Provided by
Green Earth restaurant
Join us at The Latvian House, 491 College Street, Toronto, ON,
December 6, 2008. From 11:00 am-4:15pm
** Please check attached brochure for more information.
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SCHEDULE- DECEMBER 6, 11:00 AM- 4:15 PM
11:00 am-12:00pm
INTERACTIVE INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING? : AN INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE
Benjamin Santamaria: Former Ombudsmen of the Children in Mexico, human
rights activist and young readers author. Benjamin is also the
Executive Director and Founder of Desert Roses, whose mission is to
use the fundamentals of the international instruments of human rights
as a basis to educate and empower children and communities across the
Americas. The goal is to support them in identifying solutions to
suffering and exploitation through artistic and cultural activities.
All programs are founded on a principle of peace and truth. Desert
Roses is also the host of this event.
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12:00pm -12:45pm
COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH WILL BE SERVED
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1:00pm-2:30pm
PAYING FOR IT: THE ECONOMICS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Reena Vohra: is a Board member with Action to End Exploitation, a
Canadian NGO working in the field of human trafficking and a visitor
of their field work in Cambodia. Reena has volunteered both
domestically and abroad to help combat commercial sexual exploitation.
As a field officer with OpenAid international, an NGO in Southeast
Asia, she focused on helping vulnerable women and girls overcome
poverty, while working on an empowerment and micro credit program.
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ONE CHILD EXPLOITED IS ONE CHILD TOO MANY: TURNING THE TABLES ON THE
COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Cheryl Perera is an accomplished children’s rights activist, a
captivating speaker and the Founder and President of OneChild, a
premier organization empowering a movement of children and youth
taking action against child sex slavery. Her extraordinary
contribution to protect children and her high innovation, achievement
and leadership have earned her honours such as World of Children
Founders award and distinguished her as Canada’s Most Powerful Women:
Top 100 and Canada’s Top 20 under 20.
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15 minute break - Fair Trade Coffee and Tea will be served, provided
by TAN Coffee.
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2:45pm-4:15pm
RCMP HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS PROJECT
Marty Van Doren: Retired from the RCMP in 2007 after 35 years of
service, Van Doren is now the “Human Trafficking Awareness
Coordinator” from “O” division. He supports human trafficking related
matters through the delivery of information sessions, conducting
research and monitoring human trafficking investigative and
intelligence activities and liaising with partners towards the
development of enforcement techniques and protocols to ensure the
detection and safety of human trafficking victims.
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FILIPINO MAIL ORDER BRIDES AND LIVE-IN CAREGIVERS: FUELLING THE GROWTH
OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Joy C. Sioson is one of the founding members and the current
chairperson of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, a non-profit
organization that advocates for the rights and welfare of Filipino
women towards their equality, genuine development and human rights.
She is a volunteer at the Magkaisa Centre, a Filipino community centre
that houses SIKLAB Ontario ( a migrant workers’ organization, the
Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, and the Philippines Canada Task
Force on Human Rights. She will also share the organization’s ongoing
campaign to end the trafficking of Filipino women and children, called
the Purple Rose Campaign.
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Nuit Blanche Event - FREE all night Contemporary Art (Sept/08)
Posted on August 26, 2008
| 6:52 pm | to | 6:52 am |
So, its happening again! Last year, I had a blast on Nuit Blanche. The city came alive at 5pm…the artists all started to lurk out in their most creative or bizzare expressions at various venue in T.O!
This year, the cafe is smack right in the middle of the art scene and I am so excited and we are hoping to pull together some sort of art market and Fair Trade photography book signing and live performance right in the CAFE!
For one sleepless night, experience Toronto transformed by artists.
Discover art in galleries, museums and unexpected places. From bridges and tunnels to warehouses and stadiums, choose from more than 155 destinations and chart your own path.
It’s impossible to see everything in 12 short hours! Check out the 2008 Programme details and make note of your favourites, then visit the Plan Ahead section of the website for useful tools to create your own art-after-dark adventure.
One night only. All night long.
So, do check back for more updates on confirmed activities in the cafe on that date!
Click here to check out more on Nuit Blanche
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Photography Exhibit - Jo Sees World (Aug 26/08)
Posted on August 26, 2008
Come check out Photographer Jollen grundy’s pictures. Jo has a passion for Photography and travels round the world to capture the essence of people she met. Jo is currently on assignment somewhere out there in the world but do come in and check out her very personal and beautiful photos of people from all over the world.
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CamH: The VIP Show - Photographs by clients, staff and clients of CamH (Aug 22/08)
Posted on August 22, 2008
Photography is shown at Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts
984 Queen Street West : Sept 3rd 2008 - Sept 14th 2008
Opening reception, September 4, 4:00-5:30 pm
Marilyn has a few photographs at this photography show to support CamH and its community project.
Read More at CamH
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Movie Night: Threads of Wrath (July 28/08)
Posted on July 28, 2008
| 7:00 pm | to | 11:00 pm |
A story of trade partnerships.
A film about :
- A plant that was instrumental in the industrial revolution, the American Civil War and the Cold War;
- A plant whose growing uses 25% of the worlds’ chemicals and caused one of the world’s worst ecological disasters;
- A plant for which American farmers receive of 170% of the world price in the form of subsidies… Africans 30%;
- A plant on which 2 million farmers depend in Burkina Faso;
- The most influential plant in the world.
- And the plant for which real fair trade is needed.
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Movie Night: Dying to Get in & Oil On Ice
Posted on July 28, 2008
| 7:00 pm | to | 11:00 pm |
Dying to Get In - Trailer
The U.S./Mexican border is one of the world’s best laboratories for learning the effects of globalization. As a global community it is our responsibility to understand the relationships between developed and developing countries. Moving into a 21st century of global trade, global travel, and global communication, we are all personally connected to the world’s population. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the air we breathe connect us with individuals around the world; a majority of whom live in poverty and do not earn enough money to support their families.
Oil On Ice
Oil on Ice is a vivid, compelling and comprehensive documentary connecting the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to decisions America makes about energy policy, transportation choices, and other seemingly unrelated matters.
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Movie Night
Posted on July 3, 2008
| 7:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
The Story - Black Gold
Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.
But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world’s coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.
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More on Fair Trade Practices
Posted on June 25, 2008
Lately, I’ve been thinking about my goals and directions and why I do what I do and why do I choose fair trade. I choose fair trade as I know it best and I have seen the good works it has done to many and how it has changed the social aspect of global trading and has the biggest impact on the world of coffees.
“Fair trade coffee is coffee that is traded by bypassing the coffee trader and therefore giving the producer (and buyer) higher profits.
Economics of Fair Trade Coffee
Trans Fair USA is an independent 3rd party certification that ensures that:
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Coffee importers agree to purchase from the small farmers included in the International Fair Trade Coffee Register.
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Fair trade coffee growers are guaranteed a minimum “fair trade price” of $1.26/pound FOB for their coffee. If world coffee price rises above this floor price, fair trade coffee farmers will be paid a small ($0.05/pound) premium above market price.
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Coffee importers provide a certain amount of credit to farmers against future sales, helping farmers stay out of debt to local coffee “coyotes” or middlemen.
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Coffee importers and roasters agree to develop direct, long-term trade relationships with fair trade coffee distributors, thereby cutting out middlemen and bringing greater commercial stability to an extremely unstable market.
(Source: FairtradeUSA)
That was the beginning, the benchmark for an alternative business practice and now, Fair Trade has grown exponentially and many large corporations has since joined the ranks of purchasing fair trade. And there are critics contesting to its practices and if any real benefits are given to the pickers. There will always be issues. Especially when an organization gets big. It is hard to control and takes a lot of money to make a system workable. And it makes smaller importer like myself think if Big Guys are enjoying the labour of many purists and real fair traders.
Some has chosen to deal outside of Trans fair and some have joined other alliances and buy from different certification (i.e rainforest, COE, private certification, bird friendly, USDA Organic etc).
The more I see, the more I wonder if we will ever have a peaceful world; learning to live with each difference and what should be the real deal? Each criticism is good and necessary as it serves as a watchdog and make sure an organization is accountable to its practices.
To me, amongst all these certifications, believes and practices, it shows me people and the world are passionate on a good cause. We have ideals and we all think there is a better way. And there are. Definitely! There should be more than one way for world’s reform. As long as two minds are working and thinking, there will be differences and people will take sides.
Call me idealistic or peace-maker. We should all work together toward better social reform. Better living conditions to the under-privileged, better environmental practices, working practices, education opportunities for the children and eradicate world’s poverty. Be it fair trade or any other form of certifications, we should remember what is our bottom-line. How are we giving back to our communities and the world around us?
And one day, everything in the world will be fairly traded. If we are all on the same page. This is usually the problem isn’t it?
We at T.A.N will continue to buy coffees that is fairly traded. Be it Fair Trade or otherwise.
Pardon me as I am not very eloquent in saying what I wanted to say. My brain travels faster than I can type. Most times, words get stuck and I can’t get it out right.
p.s: I want to thank Paul for helping me to individually picked my beans apart for me. I accidentally mixed a batch of green beans to my roasted beans. I was in the midst of throwing it out when Paul stopped me and insisted he wanted to separate the beans. He came back this morning with bucket of sort beans. He and his wife spent the evening sorting the beans. What a guy! This is my community.
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How do you recognize a good espresso?
Posted on June 12, 2008
Well, its easy. Order one, twirl the espresso cup a little, open your mouth and pour the golden syrup into your mouth.
The End.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Many coffee aficionado would yell.
If you are a serious barista or a coffee lover with a home espresso machine, then you’ll want to know about the art and science of making a perfecto espresso. The science comes from knowing your machine to your beans and understanding how your beans, your roast, your tamping, your grind, the temperature and extracting the right amount of espresso work. And how you combine these knowledge together is Art.
But it is too complicated here and I won’t touch on it. I just wish to give a simple introduction to anyone who drink espresso and love a good espresso in how to recognize what is a good espresso?
So, anytime when you walk into a cafe, you can be assured with the basic why some cafes serves such great black gold and some makes you scratch your throat.
A great espresso when serves to you should look like Guinness - stout beer. Black at the bottom with a layer of crema on top (golden looking with 2 coloring and speckled with dark brown accent) . When stir at top, the crema should be silky looking and not have any bubbles floating around. Depending on the type of roast you prefer, to me, it should be bright and tastes sweet and feels like it burst in your mouth - buttery, creamy, rich and bold at the same time - complex. Most importantly, it should not have bitter after taste. YUM!
So, if you are looking for ideas to do things, why not do an espresso day trip? Grab a friend, spend a couple of hours, walk around your neighborhood cafes and check out their espresso. Find out which you like and why you like. Just make sure you drink lots of water 
Or you can have a shaking competition - Hmm…it can be kinda fun!
And if you will excuse me, I’m going to pull myself an espresso - rich caramel looking liquid flowing into my porcelain cup. YUM, YUM, YUM!
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