Herbalists Without Borders Keweenaw Chapter to offer Tea and Idea Exchange Jan. 23 at Portage Library

[Editor's Note: Update, Jan. 23: The following event has been cancelled for today, Thursday, Jan. 23, since schools and the Portage Library are closed because of extremely cold temperatures. The event has been re-scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 30, same time and place indicated below.]

HOUGHTON -- The Portage Lake District Library will host the Keweenaw Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders for a Tea and Idea Exchange from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23.

Herbalists Without Borders (HWB) Keweenaw Chapter invites interested persons to meet and exchange ideas with them TOMORROW, Thursday, Jan. 23, at Portage Lake District Library. (Herbalists Without Borders photos courtesy HWB Keweenaw chapter.)

Herbalists Without Borders coordinator Jess Juntunen invites participants to bring their favorite herbal tea to share (and a mug if you have one) and relax while learning about the organization and its local and worldwide projects. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about what kinds of work they would like to see the group involved in.

"If you don't have a tea or mug, don't worry, come as you are," says Juntunen. "Drop in for part, or all, of our session. Your presence is all that is required. Be involved at the level that suits you, whether that is in the form of your valuable input, satisfying personal curiosity, idea building, or becoming engaged as a volunteer or organizer."

Herbalists Without Borders (HWB) is an international network of herbalists, traditional healers, complementary alternative medicine practitioners, botanical product makers and trades people, herb growers, farmers, ecologists, students, humanitarian aid workers and others who are interested in the vital role of plants in primary health care, sustainable agriculture, trade, and ecological preservation.

HWB Keweenaw is currently serving Houghton and Keweenaw Counties. This chapter operates under the umbrella of the National and International Nonprofit Herbalists Without Borders doing unique projects in a variety of scopes focused on social justice with a down-to-the-ground, grassroots structure.

To learn more contact Jess Juntunen, chapter coordinator, at jjuntune@mtu.edu or call  (906) 231-0755.

All library programs are free, and everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Herbalists Without Borders to host organizing potluck event, Trauma Training Sept. 17 at Marsin Center

Herbalists Without Borders, Houghton and Keweenaw Chapter, will hold a potluck organizing event and a Trauma Training event on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, at the Marsin Nature Retreat Center near Oskar, Mich. (Herbalists Without Borders post card courtesy HWB Organizer Jess Juntunen.) 

HOUGHTON -- Herbalists Without Borders (HWB), Houghton and Keweenaw Area Chapter, will host a Meet and Greet Organizing Potluck Kickoff Event from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, at the Marsin Nature Retreat Center near Oskar Bay, Red Brick Road, outside Houghton on the Canal Road. The event will include a Free Informal Talk with the Director of HWB, Gigi Stafne.

Herbalists Without Borders is an organization that promotes an agenda of health care social justice internationally, with numerous special focus projects including Violence Against Women models and a Veterans PTSD project. Please attend if you want to learn more, help or participate. There is no fee or registration required for the free presentation and potluck. Bring a dish to pass -- and please label ingredients. Contact HWB Organizer Jess Juntunen at jjuntune@mtu.edu for more information.

Herbalists Without Borders will also offer a Trauma Training event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Marsin Nature Retreat Center. The Trainer is Gigi Stafne, MH, ND, director of Herbalists Without Borders. Tuition: $75 (Sliding scale fee available for economic hardship; contact jjuntune@mtu.edu.)

Gigi Stafne, director of Herbalists Without Borders. (Photo courtesy Jess Juntunen of HWB)

Prior to her 20 years of experience in natural medicine, Stafne worked in domestic violence, sexual abuse and crisis intervention.

"The time is NOW, for alternative medicine and creative sustainable solutions to escalating levels of trauma and violence, locally and globally," Stafne says. "You can make a difference in one person's life...even an entire community's well being."

To register for the Trauma Training event email local chapter organizer Jess Juntunen, jjuntune@mtu.edu, or call her at 906-231-0755. More information about HWB can be found at http://herbalistswithoutborders.weebly.com/.