Water and Africa: A Blessing or a Curse?

By Odeyemi Tope

Water is a basic requirement for all life; we all need water to survive. In Africa, we cherish water and most people see water as a blessing to mankind. Some people make ends meet from water; there are scores of fishermen in Africa, on both large and small scale fishery. Most countries in Africa solely depends on hydrogenation (generating electricity with water), to survive. We depend so much on water for our survival, just like every other continents, we drink, we bath, we invest in farming, our pets needs water, our wildlife survive on water, we depend on water for the major house chores. Water is indeed a blessing to Africa but, let me take you to Niger/Delta Nigeria, where water is a curse to them.

The Niger Delta is Nigeria's largest wetland region and is the third largest wetland in the world. It covers over 70,000 square kilometers between latitude 4o15'N and 4o50'N and longitude 5o25'E and 7o37'. It is characterized by extensive interconnectivity of creeks, deltaic tributaries, flood plains, mangrove swamps and other coastal features. The Niger Delta has been declared a key zone for the conservation of the Western Coast of Africa on the basis of its extraordinary biodiversity. It harbors a large family and species of wildlife, especially important and fascinating variety of birds, some of which are endemic to Nigeria. Birds species recorded in Nigeria include about 940 species, of which 4 are endemic and 5 are rare or accidental (Wikipedia, 2007). The production of oil, discovered in the Niger Delta 40 years ago, is having a devastating effect on Nigeria's largest wetland region. Oil production began in the Niger Delta about 45 years ago and so did the practice of flaring associated gas. The development of the oil industry continued during the 16 years Nigeria spent under military rule, and Nigeria has become a major source of oil for the developed world. Today, Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and 11th world largest. Oil exploration and exploitation activities has resulted to frequent oil leaks in the Niger delta, amounting to thousands of barrels of oil been spilled into the water. Petroleum products released into the water have an enormous impact on everything from animals, to plants, to people.

Water has not brought them life but also impoverishment, conflict, human rights abuses and despair to the majority of the people in the oil-producing areas, according to a new Amnesty International report. Pollution and environmental damage caused by the oil spillage have resulted in violations of the rights to health and a healthy environment, the right to an adequate standard of living (including water) and the right to gain a living through work for hundreds of thousands of people.

Oil spills on water have also seriously damaged agricultural land. Long-term effects include damage to soil fertility and agricultural productivity, which in some cases can last for decades. In numerous cases, these long-term effects have undermined a family’s only source of livelihood. The destruction of livelihoods and the lack of redress have led people to steal oil and vandalize oil infrastructure, thereby endangering the life of the community, youths in particular, in an attempt to gain compensation and make ends meet.

To the people in this region, water is a curse, they wake up in the morning without an assurance of a clean and healthy water and yet Government is not doing enough to stop the oil spillage, they refuse to provide portable and fresh water. They make the youths in the region results in violence, kidnapping of innocent citizens and foreigners, under the name of seeking audience and solution from the Nigerian Government.

Youths, for how long are we going to fold our arms and watch our brothers and sister suffer, water should be blessing to all and curse to none, but there are many races, regions and countries in other parts of the world, that also face similar agony like the Niger/Delta part of Nigeria, if not worse. Tears freely roll than my face whenever I remember how people suffer due to lack of fresh water. Let us speak up, fight against the abuse of human right, our children must not lack good water

Odeyemi Tope attends the University of Wollongong

How much water did you use today?

By Amanda Shore

How much water did you use today?

It is a hard question for most of us to answer. I had no idea. 20 litres? 40 litres? Is that too much? Too little? I guessed about 50 litres.

Water is something that those of us lucky enough to be living in the developed world think little about. Why would we? We can go to the tap and immediately have access to drinking quality hot or cold running water.

I looked it up and on average Australians use approximately 277 litres of water a day (Melbourne water 2007). I did a tally:

• 6 toilet flushes – 56 litres (9 litres per flush)
• 8 hand washes/ teeth brushing – 140 litres (15 litres per minute)
• 26 minute shower – 364 litres (14 litres per minute)
• 3 cups of tea – 2 litres
• drinking water – 1 litre
• cooking – 4 litres
• Total 564 litres

564 litres and I didn’t even do any laundry or wash any dishes.

Can you imagine having to carry that much water to your home every day. For millions of women and children this is a reality. According to the UN’s Human Development Report The weight of water that women in Africa and Asia carry on their heads is commonly 20kg.

Obviously women wouldn’t carry 564 litres to their homes every day. Water in these communities is a valuable commodity. They save every precious drop for reuse and cut down water wastage. No 26 minute showers! The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council states the average person in the developing world uses only 10 litres of water every day for ALL their drinking, washing and cooking.

What would you be willing to do to save the time and effort to carry all this water? Maybe brush your teeth at the community water point. That would save less than a litre. Maybe have a shower standing at the community tap? Maybe give up showering almost completely?

An alarming statistic from WaterAid Nepal shows only 37% wash hands with water and only 12% soap. It is alarming because around the world one child dies every 20 seconds from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. Up to 47% of these cases could be solved with clean water and soap.

I am actually truly embarrassed by the amount of water I wasted today. I am even more embarrassed to admit I probably wasted this much water everyday last year. I guess the point of Blog Action Day is to get us all thinking about these things and what we can do. I am not sure yet what I can do to help others with their water problems but at least now I am aware. And tomorrow I will try to stick to cut down to 4 minute showers as recommended by target 155.

What are you going to do?

Amanda is an International development student at RMIT who thinks we all have the power to change the world.

Resources: Melbourne water 2007, UN Human Development Report, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, WaterAid International, WaterAid Nepal, Target 155, Victorian Government

Blog Action Day 2010

Water Action

The Eco Children Home prides themselves on being active community members. Whether it be the Pokhara community, the nonprofit community or the blogging community they are trying to be more involved.

For Blog Action Day the theme this year is WATER. We thought it would be fitting to discuss our water situation at the home and in Nepal.

Water in Nepal is a problematic thing. During the monsoons we have so much of it sitting around that it aids the spread of many diseases. In other months there is never enough, causing people to line up at water points for hours to fill plastic bottles, jugs and buckets. According to WaterAid Nepal 4.4 million people in Nepal do not have access to safe drinking facilities.

At the home it is usually the housemothers who have the responsibility of collecting water while the children are at school. Everyday they collect large amounts of safe water for cooking and drinking at the home. It is a job which is very time consuming and requires great physical strength.

In Pokhara we are fortunate as clean water filters down from the jungle to various water points. The home has two water points within blocks. For many others collecting water is a difficult daily task. In Kathmandu the water is becoming very polluted and traditional water points are becoming contaminated as the population increases. 10,500 under five year olds die a year due to inadequate water and sanitation access (WaterAid Nepal).

Recently one of our volunteers was hospitalised after drinking contaminated water during a trip to Kathmandu. She was shocked to discover the hospital had very limited facilities, no flushing toilet or soap in the bathroom. The hospital staff also declined to provide her with drinking water as the water was considered too polluted for foreigners to drink.

We hope to improve the children's water practices. We have highlighted a number of water issues we can work on at the home. These are:

• Clean hands - it is traditional to eat with the hands in Nepal so we need to ensure the children are diligent in keeping hands clean.
• Swimming - none of the children can swim. The home is located blocks from a large lake. This provides a very real safety issue.
• Water Safety for Volunteers - we need to ensure we can provide clean water and to educate volunteers of the dangers of drink water from unknown sources.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water is Today!

Today is Blog Action Day! The focus for today is Water. Here are some key facts about Water and its importance.

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world.

Bottled Water Free Day

Across Canada and around the world, people are taking a stand in support of public water and against the privatization of water. The bottled water industry is being forced under a public microscope as more and more people question:

• The safety of bottled water
• The weak bottled water industry regulatory standards and practices
• The growing corporate control of water
• The use of misleading bottled water marketing schemes
• The heavy social and ecological toll of for-profit water around the world

In Canada, there are over 70 municipalities, 6 school boards and 3 campuses that have successfully phased out the provision and sale of bottled water in their sectors. Will your institution be next?

It's time to stand up and speak out, ditch the bottle and turn on the tap! Join the Canadian Federation of Students, the Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute this March 11 for Canada's first Bottled Water Free Day!

Take the pledge and make today the first day of your bottled water free life!
Click Here to Take the Pledge

Be Bold. Take Action.

This week in Edmonton, Alberta at the Global Youth Assembly, over 500 youth will explore the connections between water and an array of issues and topics. Water and youth engagement. Water and development. Water and education. Water and production. Water and indigenous rights. Water and Africa. Water and art.

The GYA 2011 will help youth deepen their understanding of water in relation to the issues that interest them and in relation to each other, their communities, and the world. You can read more on the Speak Up for Change blog.

Speak Up for Change will be covering the Global Youth Assembly from Edmonton, Alberta. Look for updates through our Twitter @SUFC and our blog here!

Water from Space: a bigger picture of Earth's circulatory system

March 22 is World Water Day

By Join Kevin Shortt

If one considers the Earth as a giant living organism then surely water would be the critical life blood of that organism. In that context it becomes clear that just as we have specialists to monitor and manage our circulatory system, so too does the Earth have specialists monitoring and managing water resources. However, asking a scientist or engineer to comment on the health of our oceans while staring at an inland stream or river is like asking your doctor to comment on the health of your heart while starting at a blood vessel.

What's needed is that global perspective. That high ground from which we can take in the bigger picture and come up with reasonable conclusions about the state of the Earth's own circulatory system. And there's no higher ground than that of outer space!

Today, governments the world over have hundreds of satellites circling the Earth, monitoring everything from climate to urban growth to natural resources, including water. Things such as water pollution, illegal fishing and flooding are just some of the many events that can be tracked from Earth orbit. The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan is a prime example of the power of space assets to monitor a crisis in progress. Within hours of the earthquake, satellite images were taken showing the devastation caused by the earthquake with subsequent images showing the aftermath of the tsunami (see attached picture: caption - An Expedition 26 astronaut took this photograph from an altitude of 220 miles (350 kilometers) up on the International Space Station. North is at upper right. This picture shows an area north of Sendai, and part of the city of Higashimatsushima appears along the right edge of the image. Note the flood waters surrounding Matsuhima Airport preventing supplies from being airlifted to the area. CREDIT: NASA/JSC). These images ultimately find their way into the hands of relief workers as they plan and prioritize their humanitarian efforts in the affected areas.

Join Kevin Shortt, President of the Canadian Space Society, as he takes delegates on a truly global tour of our water resources as seen from the depths of space at this year's Global Youth Assembly in Edmonton, Alberta.

Focusing on Our World, Our Water

Over the next few months, the Speak Up for Change blog will be contain a series of posts on the topic of Water. Our youth bloggers will explore water on a variety of levels – beyond the idea of an everyday beverage. The goal is to shift the paradigm – changing the way we think about water – leading up to the Global Youth Assembly.

Every two years, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights presents the Global Youth Assembly (GYA). This year, hundreds of youth and young professionals will explore the theme OUR WORLD. OUR WATER. Join us in Edmonton, Alberta from July 27— 30, 2011.

Submit your posts about Water (and its connection to other important issues) to editor@accesscharity.ca to be featured on the Speak Up for Change Blog and the Global Youth Assembly website!

Blog Action Day 2010: Water

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all.

This year, with the theme of Water, the organizers are eager to shed light on this often-overlooked topic. You can be a part of it, by submitting your post to Speak Up for Change!

BE A PART OF IT

Email your writing piece, video, poem, essay, photo or artwork piece to editor@accesscharity.ca by October 12, 2010 in order to be posted at SpeakUpforChange.ca on this year's Blog Action Day.

Watch the video below for some inspiration and motivation about the vital topic of Water.

Video: Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

The purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. Bloggers are asked to focus on an important issue. By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

Out of the discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action. In 2007 with the theme of the environment, the world saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices, and focusing their audience's attention on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 the theme of poverty similarly focused the blogging community's energies around discussing the wide breadth of the issue from many perspectives and identifying innovative and unexpected solutions. Last year, the conversation around climate change brought voices around the globe to discuss an issue that threatens us all and mobilized tens of thousands of people to get more involved in the movement for a more sustainable future.

Thank you for your support and happy blogging!

Email Your Submission or Questions to editor@accesscharity.ca.

Ryan's Well: Ordinary kid, extraordinary impact on Poverty

Poverty is one of the biggest obstacles that people face on an everyday basis. From basic shelter to acquiring nutritional food to eat is a challenge for more than half of the worlds’ population. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on October throughout the world. Its aim is to allow the voices of the poor to be heard and to encourage others to do something productive about their suffering, and it is our focus this week on Speak Up for Change.


At age 6, Ryan Hreljac learned that people around the world were dying because they had no access to clean water. And so, with the help of his family, Ryan raised his first $2,000 to build a well in Africa. For Ryan this was only the beginning: he went on to create the Ryan's Well Foundation, a charity committed to building clean water wells in Africa. He then took his message on the road lecturing in schools and forums across North America to raise awareness for his cause. Today, at 17, his fund-raising efforts are responsible for a total of 432 water and sanitation projects in 15 countries, providing clean water to over 577,640 people.


The video below takes us through some of young Ryan's amazing work.





Watch this video above at GetInvolved.ca.

Global Youth Assembly 2011 Video: Be the Change!

Global Youth Assembly: Be the Change!

Watch this short video for this year's 2011 Global Youth Assembly.

The theme of this year's conference is Our World, Our Water. To read a variety of blog posts about Water on the Speak Up for Change blog, click here.

Come be part of the Change this July in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

For details, visit www.youthassembly.ca.

Moving Beyond Price

by Shannon Sutton

As we celebrate National Fair Trade Weeks from May 1 to 15, and World Fair Trade Day on May 9, La Siembra’s worker-owners are reflecting on fair trade’s true impact. We’ve seen increased coverage of fair trade issues in the media in recent months, frequently highlighting the price paid to farmers for their goods. While this has certainly served to raise awareness on the financial benefits of the fair trade certification system, the buzz around La Siembra is about much more than just price.

Our co-operative works closely with producers in the South, visiting farmers and inviting them here to learn more about Canadian markets. As we’ve visited producer co-ops in the Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama and Costa Rica, and have welcomed producer representatives from those countries, we’ve been reminded that, while fair trade principles do guarantee fair prices to farmers, thereby assisting them to stay on their land and better plan for their future, they provide critical support for producers in many other ways:

• Supporting environmentally sustainable farming practices such as waste reduction, soil fertility maintenance and water resource management;
  
• Facilitating access to advance credit which allows for long-term planning;
  
• Strengthening farmer-owned co-operatives, whose members experience empowerment via ownership and added value in the supply chain;
  
• Providing premiums to those farmer-owned co-operatives, enabling them to benefit farmers and their families through such projects as the building of health clinics, water systems and schools, as well as allowing investments in business and technical infrastructures.

As 100% fair traders, we feel like that’s a lot to celebrate. We invite you to celebrate with us by participating in our World Fair Trade Day contest. Visit www.fairtradeday.ca for more info and to enter.

Happy National Fair Trade Weeks and Happy World Fair Trade Day!

Shannon Sutton studies International Development at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, and holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing and International Business from McGill University. Shannon has worked as Communications Manager at La Siembra Co-operative/Cocoa Camino, and currently sits on La Siembra’s Board of Directors. Shannon has worked as Interim Manager of a fair trade eco-lodge in northern Mozambique, and as Project Co-ordinator for Communications at an NGO in London, England.

Water gives us life!

By Swati Nooka

A Poem and Illustration on Water (Click Image)

Swati is a Canadian high school student.

Blog Action Day 2010

Defend the Environment on Earth Day

Today is Earth Day!

Environmental Defence reminds us that protecting our environment is key to the strength of our economy, our health:

In the midst of an election in which the environment appears to be taking a backseat, we could all use a bit of inspiration to keep our eyes on the prize and continue working for a greener future in Canada.

Here's what some of Canada's green leaders have to say about the challenges we are facing right now:

“Air pollution in our cities is causing asthma and costing us millions in health care expenses. Putting a price on pollution, using energy more efficiently and shifting to cleaner energy sources will save lives and money.” - Rick Smith of Environmental Defence.

“There has been much talk about securing our economic future during this election, but Canada’s economy is wholly dependent on our environment. Protecting our environment is essential to ensuring Canada’s economic prosperity.” - Gerald Butts of World Wildlife Fund Canada

“Despite promises to take climate change seriously, the current government is on track to miss its climate commitments by a long shot. Political leaders will have to demonstrate a clear action plan to meet Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions targets if they intend to improve Canada’s international reputation and ensure Canada does its fair share.” - Bruce Cox of Greenpeace

“The federal government’s economic stimulus spending for infrastructure could have created nearly three times as many jobs if it had been invested in clean energy. Our kids will have to compete for jobs in the clean energy market, and they will only succeed if our government keeps pace with investments in research, market development and the commercialization of clean energy systems.”

- Ed Whittingham of the Pembina Institute

“Local organic food sources help reduce pollution and eliminate unnecessary pesticides, while government efforts to properly label food can help consumers make healthy choices — for the environment, their communities and themselves." - Sidney Ribaux of Équiterre

“Protecting at least half of Canada’s precious public land and water is also vital in keeping the water we drink and the air we breathe pure and fighting climate change.” - Eric Hebert-Daly of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

Do you have any inspiration to share with us and your fellow Canadians? Or are you so frustrated with where Canada stands on the environment that you want to get out your soapbox? Let it out!

Tweet your thoughts to @SUFC on Twitter or on our Facebook Page.

By Erin Charter Environmental Defence

Earth Week: We're running out of time!

By Maxine Bower

It’s been hammered into our brains; the earth’s temperature is rising. But do people really know what that means? It means we are gonna die! Not all of a sudden, but slowly.

A warmer climate means more drought which means more famine which means more unrest which means more wars. A warmer climate also means more diseases, such as malaria, since insects that carry these diseases thrive in warm weather (e.g. mosquitoes). More illness means more people are sick which means less people can contribute to the advancement of the human society and more money is spent on trying to fix problems. These are only two minor examples. Does anyone else see a big spiderweb of trouble? I do. But wait, it doesn’t stop there.

Here’s where it gets a little confusing. Since the earth is becoming so warm, including the oceans, ocean currents are changing. Now when ocean currents change, so does the weather. What’s happening is the warm currents in the Northern hemisphere are being pushed off course. Since so many glaciers are melting, the salt in the ocean is becoming diluted. That means it is less dense. Water will soon not be dense or cold enough to sink and create the momentum that makes the currents move. Now that the currents that warm our environment are being circulated less, our climate could get colder...much, much colder. Remember the movie The Day After Tomorrow? That is very possible. Yes, global warming could cause an ice age.

I’m sorry if I have scared you - it was not my intention. Don’t be afraid because fear is counter-productive. Instead, be productive. Ride your bike to school, drink tap water in a reusable bottle, turn off the lights, buy FSC paper, make a fuss when our government does not follow environmental procedures and be a smart consumer (don’t buy from companies that are not green friendly).

We must remember that we are a part of the earth and it is a part of us. We have isolated ourselves from nature. I think that’s why it’s so easy for us to hurt it. We forget about how beautiful and vital it is. But we’re children of the Earth; born from it and sustained by it, therefore we must care for it.

We can do this! Do not let humanity become extinct because of carelessness. Save Mother Earth!


Maxine Bower is a high school student in Brampton, Ontario where she is president of the school's Social Justice Club.

The Renaissance: A Poem of Change

By Ryan Duffy

The renaissance will not be televised

You will not be able to see it on cable.

You will not see it on iTunes, TiVo, or YouTube.

You will not be able to see Super Bowl commercials,

Or half-time wardrobe malfunctions due to a 2 second delay.

Because the renaissance will not be televised.

The renaissance will not be compromised.

The renaissance will not be available on Blu-Ray-DVD

Encrypted high def with an FBI copyright warning.

The renaissance will not be sound bites of Bush

Declaring "war on terror" & "evil-doers" like Saddam

Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda only to be

Stuck in Iraq years later with no exit strategy.

The renaissance will not be compromised.

The renaissance will not have its world premiere at the

Grauman's Chinese Theater and will not star Beyonce,

Lindsay Lohan, or Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

The renaissance will not give you another face lift.

The renaissance will not get rid of wrinkles.

The renaissance will not make you look ten years

younger, because the renaissance will not be advertised, brother.

There will be no color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale,

United States Department of Homeland Security, or

Emergancy Readiness kits with duct tape in them.

The NSA will not be able to get warrantless wiretaps

For KEYWORDS like "bomb" or "jihad"

The renaissance will not be terrorized.

There will be no footage of pigs beating down

Rodney King on instant replay.

There will be no footage of brothers beating

Reginald Denny on instant replay.

There will be no coverage of Rev. Al Sharpton

Eulogizing James Brown at the Apollo theater

There will be no LAPD car chase of O. J.Simpson riding in a White GMC Bronco,

Going 40 miles an hour down the LA Freeway,

Wearing black Isotoner gloves he had been saving

For just the proper occasion.

Survivor, American Idol, and Big Brother,

Will no longer be so damned relevant, and

No one will care if Britney finally got back

Custody of her 2 kids because people

will be in the street looking for a brighter day.

The renaissance will not be commercialized.

There will be no video blogs or highlights on

Entertainment Tonight of Paris Hilton going to jail

For D.U.I. or Miley Cyrus going platinum.

The theme song will not be remixed by Bad Boy,

Jermaine Dupri, nor sung by Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls,

Kanye West, Soulja Boy, or the Black Eyed Peas.

The renaissance will not be glamourized.

The renaissance will not be right back after an Email

From eBay, eCommerce, eTrade, or eHarmony.

You will not have to worry about Anthrax in your

mail, a bomb on your plane, or water in your carry on.

The renaissance will not go better with rhymes

The renaissance will not be longer than 3 minutes and 10 seconds

The renaissance WILL be found here at the Drake.

The renaissance will not be televised, compromised, advertised

Terrorized, commercialized, or glamourized.

The renaissance will be no cover brothers;

The renaissance will be live.

Paradise Amongst Poverty

By Patricia Stavropoulos

The dirt ground feels hard beneath my feet. The dust in the air clouds my eyes. I look around. Huts and old dilapidated half-houses encircle the makeshift dirt field I’m standing in. In this remote and poor village people go about their daily lives. A shady one-room school house stands off to the side. Children in blue and khaki uniforms with no shoes teach Spanish songs to visitors. A brave young man climbs up a two story palm tree to collect oversized coconuts. A solitary boy reads from an old textbook in the shade. Life goes on.

Dozens of children form a large circle. They sing and dance a sort of merry-go-round game and freeze. Bursts of laughter fill the air. Mothers clutching half-naked babies point and smile. Enjoying the good time the children are having, just as much as they are. While the sun shines brilliantly, illuminating the fun. A young woman washes clothes by hand in a broken washing machine. The wind blows dirt on the clean clothes hanging beside her. She is laughing too.

It starts to rain. Thousands of heavy water droplets litter the ground. I feel my clothes start to stick to my body as everyone dashes for cover. Over hanging tin roofs become a new shelter. An escape from the tumultuous weather. Thick raindrops compose a new beat on the hard metal. Bodies black and white cling to each other for protection. Young students tie their uniform shirts around their heads to stay dry. A new game is invented. In the midst of poverty, happiness exists in the simplest of things. Life goes on.

Patricia, a student at the University of Ottawa, traveled to the Dominican Republic on a high-school exposure trip in 2007.

Buy nothing on November 28th

Buy Nothing Day is a 24-hour global holiday from consumerism - Spend a Day Without Spending!

Behind the current financial crisis, a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature… fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low?

There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

It will take a massive mind shift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th. Then celebrate Christmas differently this year, and make a New Year’s resolution to change your lifestyle in 2009.

Adbusters produced a video a few years ago that they have been trying to air on major television networks. MTV, for example, stated that the ad "goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels". Take a minute to watch their short TV ad below:

Buy Nothing Day was created by Adbusters, a global network of people who are working to change the way meaning is produced in our society. For more information visit adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

No Christmas on slave labour camps

By Stella Petrone

There's no Christmas in slave labour camps. Christmas is just another day.

Slaves are unknown by the world. Nobody knows they're there. But they are. Trafficked. Stateless. Working 14-hour days for a dollar or so.

Sometimes I take a group to the sugar slave camps in the Dominican Republic in mid-December and we provide Christmas dinner for about two hundred cane cutters and their families. This sounds nice but there are about half a million cane cutters. Most won't be coming to dinner.

Dinner's a cup of rice, a half-cup of beans, a small piece of chicken and 6oz of clean water. Santa visits too. He doesn't bring presents because there's many children but he does bring music and entertainment. Sometimes my trip to the slave camps is in July so we hold a Christmas in July and do the same.

We have to end Christmas for slaves. It's 2009. We have to educate ourselves about slavery and urge others to educate themselves about it too. Slavery's a secret. We have to tell the secret. Then a critical mass of knowledgeable people will be reached and a strong abolitionist movement will be born.

Visit freetheslaves.net. Then speak up. Let's end Christmas for slaves.

Stella Petrone is a retired teacher from Toronto. For over 25 years, she has taken students and families to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to raise awareness and engage them in activities to benefit the impoverished citizens.

Environmental Education Policy gets a youthful infusion

Youth have taken a recent interest in protecting the enviornment and are getting involved in local organizations. PEYA in the Peel Region (Ontario, Canada) have been raising the youth profile on provincial environmental education policy.

By Stephanie Crocker

The Peel Environmental Youth Alliance (PEYA) has been working hard this year on raising the youth profile on provincial environmental education policy. On February 25, 2009 four PEYA members delivered their opinions on students and adults working together for environmental education at the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Symposium, Environmental Education in Ontario: Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow.

Deyana Sameh and Huma Tohid from Lincoln M. Alexander S.S., Narina Jabari from St. Aloysius Gonzaga S.S., Rahul Mehta from the University of Toronto Mississauga, and Stephanie Crocker, PEYA Coordinator delivered a workshop entitled, Hear from the Students: Youth and Adult Collaboration for Strong Environmental Leadership. The ways in which students, and adults in the education system, can work together to meet their full potential as environmental leaders, was discussed before a group of environmental educators from across Ontario.

This conference also featured the launch of the Ministry of Education’s Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow - a document that outlines the ways in which schools and school boards can better include environmental principles in education. Some of the highlights include: environmental learning opportunities in all grades and in all courses, and environmental policies are required at all school boards. Click here to see the full document.

In line with this policy framework, in March the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance (PEYA) welcomed the Peel District School Board to Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School for the PEYA Monthly General Meeting. A team of adults, comprised of teachers and EcoSource staff, worked alongside students to envision the realization of environmental policy in their schools. PEYA Alumni returned to Mississauga from their current universities to facilitate the secondary school student teams as they tackled some of the guiding principles from the PDSB’s draft environmental policy in the areas of:

• Encouraging and recognizing staff and student environmental leadership
  
• Energy and water conservation
  
• Waste reduction
  
• Purchasing locally grown food
  
• Use of environmentally friendly and socially responsible products
  

The Peel District School Board will be considering the responses from this session, along with information from other key stakeholders, as they define the Operating Procedures of their brand new Environmental Responsibility Policy. 

For more information on PEYA, contact info@peyalliance.com or call 905.274.6222.