04/23/2021 at 5:32 PM Posted by Kevin Edward White
By Rebekah Curtis, Public Discourse (Witherspoon Institute), April 14, 2021
Beverly Cleary did not make Ramona a specimen of moral improvement, or a Christian evangelist. She made her a Christian child. Unlike Christian families today, however, Ramona’s family lives a world in which traditional morality is the cultural default. Going to church makes you normal, and practicing Christianity garners social rewards. Christian life simply means living.
I met Ramona Quimby in third grade. My teacher introduced her to the class via Ramona the Brave maybe a strange choice, since Ramona is a lowly first grader in that volume of her story. But environmentally, the decision made sense.
VAKA is a compelling and eye-opening short environmental documentary. Digital Journal has the scoop. It focuses on the remote island community of Tokelau, a Pacific leader in action on climate change.
It was directed by Kelly Moneymaker, and it was produced by Rebekah Curtis-Motley and co-Produced by Jessica George. It deals with the energy and resilience of the Tokelauan people as they weave their customary-wisdom regarding the environment with modern eco-technologies to respond to climate change.
VAKA was named after the traditional vessels that were used by the island people of Tokelau. Tokelau was the first nation to aim for all of its electricity to be generated from solar as a result of the New Zealand funded Tokelau Renewable Energy Project back in 2012.