A sinking Ark...

It isn't making much noise in English-speaking media, but if you have at least some working knowledge of French, by all means, check the French media and keep an eye on the Arche de Zoé (a word play on Arche de Noé, Noah's Ark).

If you are/have been an aid worker (I wish so, but I didn't have the health to do so), or have been supporting non-governmental organizations (donating time in my younger years, now just financially, due to... lack of time), this story will make you sick.

What is scary, as the story unfolds, it seems that anyone can start up a bogus organization and get plenty of credentials...

... and as always, the victims are... the very victims they were supposedly helping. Children. In this case, 110 children.

Ootch.

And the fallout... all NGOs will get the blame...

For one bogus organization, there are others... If you can't trust an NGO that they are who they are... many doors will get closed on them. Or at least, doors will get much harder to open... (as if it was easy, to begin with)

Of course, add on top of that a French president who is as savvy as a George Bush on steroids (and no wonder why Sarkozy seems to get along with Bush), and a country like Chad who isn't all that happy to see France barging in with its big feet and a president who is utterly rude...

How to thoroughly mess up an already messed up situation... leave it to the politicians. It's difficult to do worse. :)

It isn't much different than other bad guys like those that dare to flood the mailbox of my parents everyday. Flooding is the word here. (Sometimes I want to scream...). People who pretend to do good... while in fact they are doing considrable harm. Of course, $$$ is what motivate them... it's always the case, of course...

But it hits hard, because... it hits your ideals. The very fundamental beliefs that motivate you. A dream of a better world, the unconditional urge to help a fellow human, and so on and on...

Also... it seems that I remember seeing somehwere that "All humans are born free and equal in dignity and in rights". Oh yeah, human rights... I believe in that. :)

The good thing, there aren't many of those bad guys... and they are being caught, one after the other... that's the positive outfall of that big mess.

Somehow... it makes you pondering about the human nature... and how some people could be this... evil in their mind. Mhhhh...

Cheers!

-E

Tough day for human rights in Canada...

There was a long awaited court ruling about the tainted blood scandal in Canada.

During the mid 80s, over 20,000 Canadians got Hep C and HIV from tainted blood tranfusions. The trial was to attempt to held criminally responsible the top officials at the Canadian Red Cross and a US-based company that supplied the Canadian Red Cross with tainted blood.

It's funny how the judicial system works. If you willfully put someone's life in danger, or you kill someone, you'll be held criminally responsible.

Knowingly and willfully endanger the life of 20,000 people... the judge concluded that was not enough to hold criminally responsible.

Human rights? We're talking of deadly diseases, and to this day, still with no cures. The right to ... live? mhhh...

There's another story which hits home, almost literally. A private company that runs senior healthcare housings for the government was caught pants down for the second time... evicting seniors in order to make room... for other seniors that are eligible under a new governmental program (and for the company, cashing extra money from the government, of course).

There are hair raising horror stories, such as a 94-year old blind woman being given... a WRITTEN NOTICE that she has 30 days to vacate the premises (which is illegal. The law requires 6 months). Thankfully she has caring sons and they sound the alarm to the media.

Human rights? Dignity? When you're getting old... I hesitate to complete my phrase...

This is happening in Ahuntsic (north end of Montréal) and this is close to where I live.

But the story screams to me for another reason: The declining health of my dad. At some points in time, we'll have no choice.

My mom is dead set against the idea of moving, and this kind of scandal just re-enforced her opinion that dad should stay at home... at all costs.

And costs... it isn't just in money that it's breaking my back...

-E

Links:

• Canadian Press: Victims cry foul, call acquittal of defendants in tainted-blood trial ludicrous.
• Cyberpresse: Painful turmoils in healthcare housing (In French)

Ottawa: Some reminders that we tend to forget...

I like Ottawa for many things (if for anything else, to see where my taxes are going. :) ), but there are cities, which they are open books.

Boston is also such a city. Walk the Freedom Trail, follow that red line on the sidewalk, and instead of reading an history book, it is there before your eyes.

Ottawa is a bit like that. Also, like a few cities in the world, there are _lots_ of monuments. Almost a local industry, after the government. :)

These monuments are reminders... about things we shall never forget.

Yesterday at lunch break, I had time for a little walk. So I walk on Elgin street, and I came to this monument (located next to City Hall). The nice weather was inviting to relax there.

The large plaque reads:

" All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and in rights" -
"Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits"

Mandela came to this monument on his last visit to Canada. The Dalai Lama has blessed the monument. To my eyes, their spirits are still floating...

Some leaders need to be reminded of that monument... Not just foreign leaders, but also on this continent, and I'm not even mentioning countries ( *plural* ).

(Also in parallel, if you're keeping tabs with our local news, we're in the middle of a big heated debate about reasonable accomodations. On both sides of the issue, some people need that reminder I shall say, but I digress).

Besides religion, I'm thinking... of disability, I'm also thinking of medical conditions (for example: being HIV positive is still seen as a "sex" disease (or even a gay disease to men), clouding your morality quite a bit), race, sexual orientation, and so on and so on... Human rights start at home first, it seems...

I went back to the conference room, but throughout the afternoon, that monument was back in my mind and I've been pondering and pondering...

Yup, a lot of people need to walk on Elgin Street, if you ask me.

Cheers,

-E

Running for a good cause...

(Simulcast with FC blog)

<--- Photo taken this morning on my street, after I've finished my run.

___

Sometimes, some good causes literally come at your doorstep.

I join a 5km run, a fund raising for our neighborhood hospital. I was treated there a few times, ditto for my mom and my dad at one time or another.

The funniest part is that the "race" (not really one. You can walk the entire length and it's ok) runs... on my street!! Talk about Mr. Opportunity knocking at my door.

It is also the weekend of many marches and support manifestations going on throughout the city. For instance there's the walk in support of HIV/AIDS victims... and again for more funding.

I used to be part in that march the other year, but I can't be everywhere, so I figure that for this year, my hospital will get my support.

Once a militant, always a militant, I guess. Even if I've calmed down quite a bit with age.

It was quite a crisp Sunday sunny morning. Barely 7 Celsius... or the mid 40s Fahrenheit for our US friends. Brrrrr!!! Where's Global Warming when we need it?

So you have that incentive to run... if for anything else... to keep you warm. :)

It was quite a festive run... and people along the way cheering us. And the "runners" are of all age, from children to mhhh... some very young at heart fellows, I might say!

Since my home is close to the finish line... once it was over for me, in no time I was back home.

I grabbed my digicam and took photos of my fellows running on my street, still on their way to the finish line!

It may sound odd to people outside Canada who are aware of the reputation of my country, supposedly big on its social safety net...

That's also our drama.

If things were really going well, there wouldn't be a need for a fund-raising event like the one I've been this morning.

Our governments (plural, both the fed and provincial governments) have cut funds drastically, in order to break even in their finance...

... and as anything governmental would dictate, there are inefficiencies... and it is never _there_ which the cuts go through, but they are always passed on to *essential* services to the population.

We see our American neighbours complaining about the cost of health care. Be happy that you *DO* have services in the first place!

Here, we have to wait, and wait... or there some specialized services aren't even available. There's an increasing number of Canadians who have to cross the border and pay *CASH* to your hospitals, and not the wealthiest. End of digression.

So, the way to make up (partly) for these funding cuts are those fund raising events like the one I've been this morning.

Which is an irony. The government runs on our money. It is our money that funds hospitals (and schools, etc...). And on this morning, it is again our money that is going to the neighborhood hospital.

Am I missing something? :)

Cheers,

-E