STNA

Two years ago, I traveled to South Africa as an International Youth Ambassador with Toronto-based NGO: LetsStopAIDS. At the time, LetsStopAIDS was on a special project, entitled Spread Trees Not AIDS. The mission was to the raise awareness about the environment and HIV/AIDS.

Along with a fellow ambassador, I was placed in the small community of oSizweni, which is just outside of Newcastle in North Western KwaZulu-Natal. We were working at a community centre called KwaHilda. Over the course of several weeks, we held workshops on HIV/AIDS, the environment, leadership, sexual health, and hosted a community clean-up where we filled an entire dumpster with at-capacity garbage bags.

Two of our big initiatives when we left were: to start a community garden to feed not only the children who attended the community centre of KwaHilda, but members of a support group for People Living With HIV/AIDS; and to start a Youth Executive that would be responsible for giving talks in the community on HIV/AIDS awareness.

In order to start the garden, we had an enormous plot of land tilled.



This land used to be a garbage dump and the soil was pretty much ruined. Fortunately, KwaHilda community centre produced a lot of vegetable waste that was able to be composted and used as fertilizer. Additionally, we had donations of manure from several local farmers.

Although we worked hard, we were only able to dig one or two beds for future gardens. We had to explain to KwaHilda how they should proceed if they wanted to continue with this project.

To be honest, I really didn't know how the garden would end up working out. In South Africa, projects that are sustainable but don't churn out results immediately are not necessarily looked after. People in these rural communities are starving and have no money. They want results right away! So to leave our garden in such an early stage, not even having planted anything, seemed to be a bit of a gamble.

Well, three months after I left, the garden looked like this:



I couldn't believe how much work these guys had done!! I was almost brought to tears when I saw that picture.

One year later, summer of 2010, the garden looked like this:






This year, summer of 2011, there are two International Youth Ambassadors back at KwaHilda for 5 weeks! Here is a recent video of the garden I helped to start.

I'm so happy with the results of this garden...The KwaHilda Community Centre in South Africa has done an absolutely knock-out job of keeping up these gardens. I'm so proud of them. I can't believe this little project on a plot of land on the other side of the world that B.H-C and I started two years ago is still bearing fruit.

Puts a giant smile on my face :)

Asking for it?

I was astonished a few weeks ago to read a news article about a rape case in Winnipeg where the judge did not assign jail time to the offender because the female victim "sent signals that "sex was in the air" through her suggestive attire and flirtatious conduct on the night of the attack."

For Justice Robert Dewar to call the offender a "clumsy Don Juan" makes a farce of the claims of the victim. It also victimizes the offender by playing off his actions as an innocent seduction gone accidentally wrong. A rape is never an accident. A rape happens when a sexual act occurs without both parties consenting to the action. In this case, a man's penis forcibly entered a woman's vagina. I'm not a rocket scientist, but that kind of thing doesn't just happen by chance.

Additionally, how can you justify a rape due to what a woman was wearing or the style of her makeup? That's like saying "Well, this guy looked like he was going to rob the bank so I shot him." Then you'd just be a "clumsy Superman".

What about the mixed signals that the woman was supposedly giving off? At first rejecting the offender's advances, and then giving in to his kisses? Using her consent to kissing is in no way consent to having sex. While kissing may be a precursor to having sex, it does not guarantee that the act will happen!

Speaking as a woman, I cannot imagine the rage and hurt I would feel towards the rapist and the judicial system if I was this woman. Just imagine if you had been wronged in one of the worst ways possible. And then when you spoke publicly about this wrong, hoping that it would be righted, a public offical (a supposedly educated individual) in a great power of authority, turns to you and said "Sorry, you deserved it."

No one deserves to be taken advantage of or be forced into acts that they are not agreeable to. The fact that a judge in our courts would have this kind of reasoning displays a measure of callous heartlessness that is frightening.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/rape-victim-inviting-so-no-jail--rape-victim-inviting-so-no-jail-116801578.html

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Speaking of being forced into acts, I have been following the story in Cleveland, Texas about the 11 year-old girl who was gang-raped by possible over twenty men ranging in age from 17-28.

This story makes my blood run cold.

Basically, an 11 year-old girl was picked up by a 19 year-old man and his two friends, taken to a trailer, threatened with violence if she didn't remove her clothes, and then sexually assaulted by numerous men. These men also took videos on their cell phones and began circulated them.

At this point, 17 men have been charged. SEVENTEEN!! I certainly can't speak from experience, but can you even imagine the pain you would be in if seventeen adult men had penetrated you!?

What is wrong with people?!? I have to ask this. At what point in someone's brain would you ever possibly think that it would be okay for you, as an adult male, to have sex with a child? And while you were in the act, would it never occur to you that this was something completely disgusting? Not to mention when you looked up to see your friends taking pictures and videos on their cell phone, would it ever cross your mind that this was a bad idea, even if only from a legal point of view (not to mention morally)? Or if you were the one holding the cell phone, while you were taping this obscene act, did you ever wonder how you would feel if you saw someone doing this to your little sister? Or when your friend invited you over to have sex with a young girl, would you stop and think - man, that sounds abhorrent and illegal?

Does the town of Cleveland possess such an astounding number of sex predators that this mind-boggling figure of between 17 and 27 men would find the idea of having sex with a child so enticing that they would be willing to risk their careers (two of the men charged are members of Cleveland's state-ranked basketball team) for this seemingly pleasurable thrill? How would you even look at yourself in the mirror knowing that you stole a child's innocence in such a disgusting and abusive manner?

I had to pick my jaw up from the floor after I read the defence lawyer's statement that "This is not a case of a child who was enslaved or taken advantage of." I understand that this man's unfortunate job is to find some way to possibly defend these horrific monsters, but how can your argument in any way entail that this child was not taken advantage of?!

There have been testimonies that the girl was wearing make-up and looked older than her age. Referring to my above post, I am astounded that this would/could be used as a way to lessen the punishment for this act. I repeat, there have been SEVENTEEN men charged! This was not an instance of one man picking up a girl he thought was older and taking advantage of her. This was an instance of several men picking up a girl and inviting all of their friends to screw her.

Some Cleveland residents have wondered where this child's parents were. This is a valid question, but there is no way that a parent can be blamed for the kind of abuse this child suffered at the hands of so many abusers. The blame lies solely on the incredibly disturbed men who chose to take a young girl, force her to take off her clothes, have sex with her, and document it.

I hope that the punishment for these men is incredibly severe. This poor girl will face a life-time of trauma.

If there is a God, I hope His retribution on these men is swift and harsh.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7459716.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7466774.html

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!!

This is actually the 100-year anniversary of International Women's Day. It was started by the UN in 1911 when women in the Western world were petitioning for their basic political and employment rights. Since then it has become not only a world-wide celebration of half the population of the earth, but also a moment to raise awareness about harassment, lack of education, mal-treatment, and inequality facing women around the world.

I never considered myself a die-hard feminist before, but I have to admit that I don't take lightly any jokes (*hilarious* as they may be...) about the inequality of women (i.e. women belong in the kitchen). As a human, my place in this world should not be dictated by my gender!

Unfortunately, in many parts of the earth, women are treated incredibly differently due to the very fact that they are women! We are still not granted the same pay as men in many countries. We are not given access to education in many countries. We are treated as property, abused as sex workers, unable to attain positions in government, looked down upon, etc.

Why do so many people fail to realize that by neglecting a significant portion of the world's population, we are at once stopping the evolution of a healthy society, but also propagating so many of the world's problems, including hunger, disease, and lack of education.

If women were not treated as objects and given the right to say "No" to unsafe sex in Africa, the spread of HIV would slow down. If women in developing were given the same access to tools and technology as their male counterparts, they could augment the yields on their farms, producing more food for their families and villages.

Think of the most amazing woman you know...times that by several billion...that's the number of amazing women we *could* have on this planet if our world was not so obsessed with having male children that they will throw a female baby in the dumpster rather than give her a life; if our world considered females to have the same rights to an education that we give males; if our world wasn't so caught up with having women be child-care providers and homemakers.

Women are wonderful humans who do wonderful things and none of us would be here if it wasn't for a woman. So make sure to fully appreciate and *show* your appreciation for all the intelligent, talented, beautiful, and under-appreciated women in your life today and every day!

Whatcha gonna do about it?!

I'm so tired of the phrase "must be held accountable". What an over-used, cliched, and often-times empty threat!

Recall the Gaza flotilla of late-May 2010 when the Israeli army surged aboard a fleet of boats headed for Gaza to distribute badly-needed medical, educational, and infrastructural supplies. The raid on the boats left nine people dead at the hands of the IDF, including a 19 year-old Turkish civilian. I found it almost laughable that Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu called this a "clear case of self-defense of the IDF soldiers". Really? The IDF entered International Waters, and boarded a boat carrying non-blockaded goods, and then attacked the unarmed civilians onboard. How can that possibly, in the mind of any logical-thinking human being, be deemed a case of self-defense!? But I digress...

Before I began this post, I wondered what exactly the international community had done to "hold Israel accountable" for the murder of people who were only trying to enhance the incredibly poor quality of life for Gazans? (Notwithstanding that this flotilla should have followed standard procedures for shipping equipment into Gaza, since when is it acceptable for armed people to board a civilian ship in international waters, kill unarmed civilians, and seize the vessels? Last time I checked, that was called "piracy". Not to mention the fact that the blockade on Gaza is unlawful in and of itself - meant to stop weapons and ammunition from entering Gaza, the blockade also banned chocolate, diapers and numerous medical supplies.)

Fortunately, wikipedia has an article on exactly that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_flotilla_raid#Reactions

I discovered that many countries condemned, protested, and expressed deep concern and regret over the actions of Israel. Only four countries downgraded their diplomatic relations with Israel and/or withdrew ambassadors: Ecuador, Nicaragua, South Africa, and Turkey. Good for them!

I was pleased to know that the Human Rights Council adopted a vote of 32-3 that condemned Israel's actions and would begin a fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law in this instance. Hopefully this case will yield positive results that will provide justice to all the people affected by the horrible way the IDF acted.

In this instance, maybe Israel will be "held accountable" after all...?...despite clearly being held unaccountable for its occupation of Palestine including the building of the apartheid wall, construction of illegal settlements, wanton destruction of Bedouin villages, violence against Palestinian civilians, diverting water from Palestinian villages and using that water to irrigate their illegal settlements within the West Bank, and the list goes on...

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After the successful protests in Egypt led to the ousting of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, other Arab countries, including Libya, are following suit to overthrow their repressive and oppressive regimes! While Arab leaders are stepping down (Egypt and Tunisia) or trying to quell revolutionaries with promises that they will not run for re-"election" (Yemen), Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi has threatened his country with a bloody massacre, promising to crush all the "cockroaches" who oppose him!

This is an incredibly frightening thing for the leader of a country to say!! The other frightening thing is that the international community has no idea how to respond, other than to condemn Gadhafi's actions (obviously) and say that he would, of course, be "held accountable". Would that be the same accountability that Mubarak is enduring, as he sits with his feet up in Saudi? Mind you, will the US really charge Mubarak for his years of oppression when it was they who funded it? ($1.3 billion in military aid each year)

Hopefully Gadhafi will be "held accountable" for the lives he has commanded his military to take.

I suppose the really ridiculous thing is that all of these countries are talking about "holding people accountable" as though they bear no responsibility themselves. The international community should be trying to *prevent* atrocities and crimes against humanity before they happen!

Speaking positively of my own country, Canada: "Under the previous Liberal government, Ottawa had pushed for the “responsibility to protect” doctrine, which would oblige the international community to take action if a sovereign country is obviously failing to protect its citizens from mass atrocities. The concept has won support from the UN in recent years, but Libya could be a crucial test of the principle."

( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/world-leaders-unsure-of-how-to-respond-to-gadhafi/article1918231/ )

Let's see if the Harper government has the balls to act (likely not...).

Hopefully the world leaders will start acting before it's too late and they have to issue yet another official declaration of their condolences at lost lives and a condemnation of the Gadhafi regime. Save the ink, save your voices, save some lives and take action!

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Maybe it's easy for a 25 year-old Canadian girl to sit back and criticize the world scene for its seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards genocide...but too often the greed for oil allows politicians to sit on their laurels lest they disrupt a relationship with a country that lets them drive their Hummers and other tree-killing SUVs.

Where are our priorities?! Where are the consciences of these people?!

Together but Apart...

Akin to the philosophical question: "If a tree falls in the forest and no is around, does it still make a noise?", I pose this query: "If two people agree to be a 'couple' but they live 1000 miles apart, are they still a couple?"

My boyfriend lives in the mid-Western United States and I live in basically the middle of Canada. Since we don't get the chance to talk much in-person, we spend a lot of our time communicating via Google Chat, Google Video, and Skype. Fortunately these resources are free, but that doesn't mean that both of us haven't spent a considerable amount of money and time traveling to visit the other.

We have actually been really lucky that we have had the time and money to see each other fairly frequently. We even spent 5 weeks together in Europe in September. After that we were able to see each other every 3 weeks. We can't keep that up forever, as we've realized when we examine our dismal bank accounts. Therefore we're trying to go a solid two months without visits.

Two months feels like an eternity. I've been trying to fill up my calendar as much as possible so that I'm busy enough that time will start to fly by. So far I've noticed that I'm exhausted and still incredibly aware of the hours and days slowly ticking along.

But back to my original question: If two people agree to be a couple but live miles apart, are they still a couple? It seems like an oxymoron. When you think of yourself as being in a relationship, you assume that you will spend a considerable amount of time with the one who dominates your thoughts 90% of the time. So when that person lives in another country, you are relegated to your thoughts alone and the daily (hopefully) phone call/video chat. Not really an effective or substantial way of demonstrating your "couple-ness".

Still, there's not much more you can do when you can't just stop by their place on their way home from work. So you have to find other ways of cementing your bond: letters, postcards, voice messages, little ways to let the other know you're thinking about them.

And to be fair, when we ARE together we are most definitely a couple. That doesn't do much to quell the disappointment every time we have to say good-bye, though. Long-distance is hard and it sucks. I feel for everyone who doesn't live in the same city as their beloved.

So you do what you can with what you've got. As for me, it's off to another video chat and after that I'll be back to X-ing days off on my calendar and counting away at those slowly-moving hours.

Valentine's Day?

It's been so long since my last post and I honestly don't know if anyone reads this anymore...so I can feel completely free to go off on a wonderful tangent :)

So it's Valentine's Day...hurray...or not?

This is the first Valentine's Day in my entire existence that I have been "with" someone - that someone being my boyfriend of the last 7.5 months. We are in a "long-distance" relationship (a.k.a. a very shitty position to be in), so, while we talk every single day, it's still hard to maintain the kind of close relationship you would have if you saw someone in person every day.

My boyfriend is not a romantic guy. He will admit this. That's ok. I love him anyway. He also thinks Valentine's Day is a complete sham. That's ok, too. I love him anyway. He told me not to expect anything for Valentine's Day, so I guess I should have been prepared. But...but...but...I cannot help but be envious of everyone's facebook status that reads "Best Valentine's Day ever!! Roses and a romantic dinner!" or "What an amazing Valentine's Day - breakfast in bed and couples massages!"

So what if Valentine's Day is a huge commercialized holiday designed to make people spend money on chocolate and flowers?? It makes people feel special and cared about. No, it doesn't mean your honey loves you more on Valentine's Day than on any other day, but it's an opportunity to demonstrate your affections and what's so wrong with that!?

Of course I didn't receive anything for our 6-month anniversary either...My boyfriend will be the first to admit he's terrible at buying gifts. I don't think it's hard to buy girls presents: earrings, necklaces, scarves, perfume, candles, body wash, tea, lotion, gift certificates even. [To be fair, he did take me to Iron and Wine at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which was a freaking awesome show.]

Anyway, I will survive the obvious dis-acknowledgement of Valentine's Day. My point is that, despite it being a money-making scheme, receiving flowers/chocolate/a love letter is always a treat and quite honestly I'm in dire need of a pick-me-up these days so the green monster is burning behind my eyes and into my fingers (hence the post).

Sorry for putting you on the spot, boyfriend...you just gotta step it up a few notches, ok?? I still love you!!