Rights. Justice. Action. Small Rural Gifts. Big Climate Courage.
Rain hammered the roof before dawn today, the kind of thick curtain that would have been a white-out blizzard if it had fallen two weeks ago. Instead of recharging the water table after Nova Scotia’s 2025 droughts, much of it is sheeting off still-frozen ground, pooling in low spots and carving tiny rivulets through our yards and fields. It is a quiet, soggy reminder that a changing climate will keep revealing itself in small, local ways, not just in headline-making storms and fires.
On March 8, the United Nations marked International Women’s Day under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” calling us to dismantle the barriers that keep women from full legal protection and real-world safety. That call lands differently in rural Nova Scotia, where women and gender-diverse people are already carrying a heavy load of caregiving, farm work, community leadership, and quiet behind-the-scenes organizing. When rain runs off frozen ground instead of sinking in, it is not just an environmental issue; it is a justice issue, because the burdens of drought, flooding, and food insecurity are never shared equally.
One small, concrete way to answer “Rights. Justice. Action.” is to support the Joan Feynman Climate Change Fund. In honour of Joan Feynman—a woman who pursued climate and space science in a male-dominated field—these small grants help local people restore river ecosystems, grow community gardens, save seeds, and invest in practical technologies to grow and store more food close to home.
As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” For rural Nova Scotians facing erratic weather, food insecurity, creaking infrastructure, and cuts to essential programs, each gift to the Joan Feynman Climate Change Fund is one such small act. On a grey March morning, with rain running off frozen soil, choosing to give is a way of saying that our communities—and our future—are worth that love.
