Every child counts
A couple that I know through relatives are currently serving in Iraq with the U.S. military. While there, they started a campaign to help the local children and I wanted to pass the word along. I know it’s not a Canadian initiative, but it’s important nonetheless. All of these little programs make a difference, and the current focus on rehabilitation, rebuilding and education is so necessary.
Below is a letter about the Every Child Counts Campaign, written by the creator:
“You cannot break the spirit of a child. I’ve only been in Iraq just over a month and I’ve met some pretty amazing people, most of them children. Their clothes are run ragged and filthy, their shoes are painfully the wrong size and yet they get so excited and wave when they see U.S. soldiers walking by, offering us their very best food and chai (tea). In an effort to help the leaders of tomorrow, let’s start here!”
So, what can you do? Send a package to the following address:
Sgt. Amy Lehman
Every Child Counts Campaign
HHC, 926th EN BDE
APO AE 09344-3472
You can send any of the following items:
• all sizes of sneakers/flip flops
• Clothing in all sizes
• Toys – stuffed animals and soccer balls ONLY
• Personal hygiene kits
• Non-perishable candy/snacks
For some more background and information, check out a friend’s blog here.
From the west coast, part two
I’ve been on the west coast for just under a week, and what a fabulous trip it has been. Since I happen to like lists, here are a few things I’ve done so far …
~ shopped at the Richmond night market
~ ridden the Skytrain
~ biked around Stanley Park / the seawall
~ camped in both Jasper and Banff national parks
~ visited Lake Louise
~ swam in hot springs in the Rockies
~ saw the Athabasca Glacier
~ driven about a hundred hours – okay, like 15 – to Dawson Creek, B.C., where I am now
~ taken nearly a thousand photos, but I’ll share only a few with you …
Random rock art in Stanley Park …
Somewhere along the Okanagan … so pretty!
The Rockies … enough said.
More to come soon!
From the west coast
Hey-oh from British Columbia …
Here’s a photo taken in Stanley Park, with my older brother and little sister.
Insults from around the globe
“Watching you makes my eyes go blind with mustard.” – Krakow, Poland
“If I had a head that looked like yours, I wouldn’t have it on.” – Budapest, Hungary
“You’re so ugly, the neighbours break into your house to close the curtains.” – Brussells, Belgium
“You are a doughnut without jelly!” – Sarajevo, Bosnia
“Your brain cell is feeling lonely.” – Sofia, Bulgaria
And finally, my two personal favourites:
“You’re equipped with the intellect of a little pancake.” – Amsterdam, the Netherlands
“You’re as useful as a handbrake on a canoe.” – Cannes, France
~ Courtesy of www.staythirstymyfriends.com
I’m off!
Today I am flying to Vancouver. I would leave you with the “Leaving on a jet plane” song, but I can’t sing. You can relax.
While I’m gone for the next two weeks, I have a few posts scheduled to publish so you don’t have complete withdrawl, but there will be no daily blogging – sorry, folks! I know you will dearly miss my witty remarks, ranting and general randomness. But not to fear, I will soon be back with stories and photos for you all to enjoy.
Keep rocking!
Autistic child dies in class
What is with all the tragedies coming from schools lately? Here’s another one, about an autistic boy.
Gabriel Poirier, a nine-year-old from Montreal, was acting up in his class and distracting other students, so his teacher rolled him up in a 40-pound blanket – it was over his face and around him a few times. Apparently these blankets can be soothing and helpful for autistic children, but only when used properly. It wasn’t in this case. After about 20 minutes, the boy stopped making noises and the teacher checked up on him.
He was blue in the face and had slipped into a coma. He died of suffocation in the hospital the next morning.
Why are these educators dealing with developmentally challenged kids if they don’t have the patience and knowledge to teach and discipline them properly? People used to talk about how disrespectful and difficult kids were these days, talking back and simply not caring. Sure, those attitudes and problems will always exist. But I’m starting to wonder more about the teachers than the students lately.
Feet finds
I blogged a couple of weeks ago about four feet that washed up on the shores of British Columbia islands. Two more have turned up in the last few days, and there is still no answer. It doesn’t appear that the feet were cut off, but probably were detached from someone already dead.
Police are considering accidents – plane crashes, boats sinking – as the possible sources. Whatever the cause, it’s still a very weird phenomena. I can’t imagine how those people felt who discovered the feet … how creepy would that be.
UPDATE:
Apparently the last foot that was found is a hoax. Someone actually took the time to find an animal paw, sneaker, etc and make it look like the shoe washed up on shore. Who has time like that on their hands? It may be a good joke or dare, but it’s not helping the police investigation into the real problem any.
Grounded. Or not?
A teenaged girl posts inappropriate photos on herself on the internet. Her dad grounds her. A common scenario, right? Not when the 12-year old from Gatineau took her father all the way to the Supreme Court for his decision. What kid thinks of that?
Well, the Quebec judge overruled the father’s choice and said the girl could go on a school trip. The dad is now appealing that decision.
I think the whole situation is ridiculous. First of all, the daughter obviously has no respect for her parent and his disciplinary measures … apparently she’s broken several rules at her house. Next, how did she find a lawyer who would take this case, and all the way to the provincial supreme court? It’s terrible that the justice system became involved in such a personal situation. There’s no way this should have gone that far.
Hopefully this won’t set a precedent. Can you imagine what kind of society this will become if every adolescent who gets disciplinary treatment they disagree with takes their parents to court over it?
The father absolutely should be making those kind of decisions for his daughter, not a judge. I agree with his lawyer, who said, “If we don’t learn at the age of 12 that there are rules to follow, when do we?”
The Greenbelt debate
Yesterday the CIty of Ottawa released a document detailing where developments could happen in the Greenbelt – originally designed to contain urban sprawl and remain … well, green. There are several places that makes money sense to build, such as along Highways 416 and 417, beside major transitways, etc.
I can see the frustration from both sides of the controversy.
It doesn’t make much environmental sense to keep building further and further away from the downtown core, because no matter how much public transit is constructed, many people will still start up their cars every day. Even if they do take the bus, it still costs millions each year to get people to a workplace on the other end of town.
But at the same time, the Greenbelt is a landmark of the capital, with wetlands, farms and trails that make our city unique.
Ottawa needs to work on filling in the communities it already has established and then I think housing could go up in a way that makes sense inside the Greenbelt. This is land that could sustain urban development for the next 20 years. Obviously, the city will continue to protect the wetlands and other areas – they’re not going crazy yet and asking to develop the entire area and I will definitely be opposed if that ever happens.
As long as they stick to the 13,700 acres they have identified as best for development, it’s not going to ruin the city. Yes, the Greenbelt is part of the city’s special heritage and personality, but it already has sewer and water lines, roads and transit routes running through it – financially, it makes sense to start building houses along the way as well.
I love green spaces … the Ottawa River pathway is one of my favourite things this city has, along with some great beaches and trails. I never want the Greenbelt to disappear entirely, and new parks should be incorporated into any new developments, but I think this looks like smart growth for the city.
Electing dead people
A town in Romania re-elected their mayor of over 20 years – after he had died. He only won by 23 votes, but his poor opponent, watching the count and realizing people preferred a dead guy over him! Hmm, I wonder if he’ll run again …
“I know he died, but I don’t want change,” a voter is quoted as saying. Well, for starters, the mayor is no longer alive - that’s a new thing.
This would never happen in Ottawa … well, not with our mayor anyway.
Cheryl