Written by
Lisa
December 22, 2008
Yeah, I was called a dork a couple weeks ago.
And I can’t seem to shake it.
But the more I think about it…maybe it is true. Maybe I am a dork. And not in that cool ‘geek‘ way.
Perhaps a transition is in order…perhaps this could be my News Years Resolution of sorts…
Luckily everyone can move from dork to geek and here’s how.
A quick trip to FREE GEEK at 1820 Pandora Street in Vancouver will help. Imagine Santa’s workshop but instead of toys it is full of computers rescued from the trash and instead of Santa’s elves it a nice bunch of volunteers with a sense of ethics and responsibility!
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a comment
Category : Uncategorized
Written by
Lisa
December 11, 2008
Not to be all ‘end of the worldy’ but apparently the Northern Lights
come more and more infrequently and when they do it is with much less vim and vibrancy than before. Apparently this is indicative of environmental damage.
Up in Old Crow, Yukon, that is the word on the street.
I get so melancholy visiting remote communities since on the one hand I have this amazing opportunity to speak to folks that have a real relationship with the land and the animals and even get to experience these magical places…
and then on the other hand I having to process some pretty scary reports on how these environmental relationships are changing…and not for the good.
It then makes me think about my visit to FREE GEEK in Vancouver right before coming to Old Crow…(Free Geek recycles/refurbishes old computers as well as disposes of them ethically. Free Geek does a lot for my community in regards to computer education-check it out and get involved!)
I can’t help see the direct relationship between the unethical disposal of computers and this remote village 80 miles above the arctic circle…
Read the rest of this entry »
Comments(4)
Category : Uncategorized
I was born in 1986. Whether I am from Generation X, Y, or Z, I know that in my lifetime HIV and AIDS have always been present. I am from the generation that is probably the most informed, having been bombarded with information, advertising and various forms of advisories cautioning us to take the proper precautions. I am of the generation where both the male and the female have condoms at their disposal. The generation who is the least stigmatized by the virus, the generation that knows how you can and cannot contract the virus. I am from the generation that has benefitted from the mass campaigns open to taking about the issues and consequences of AIDS. It is hard to think of a time where they did not at least mention AIDS in school.
On this December 1st 2008, the twenty year anniversary of World Aids Day, I have found a clip from the CBC archives. It was a feature story about the different actors that were working to increase awareness of the disease to the grand public. As reported in the piece broadcast on January 27th, 1987, there were only 835 reported cases of AIDS in Canada. If only those could be the numbers today. According to the AIDS charity website avert.org, there have been an estimated 58,000 reported cases of HIV by the end of 2005. The site also provides Canadian statistics showing that since November of 1985, there have been 63,604 reported positive HIV tests and that sadly by the end of 2006 an estimated 15,556 people had died from AIDS in Canada. It seems that although my generation is more informed and prepared, the disease has not ceased to spread and multiply itself. We are now seeing the consequences of a lack of awareness around the world . We are playing catch up in many countries in Africa , Asia , and Latin America.
A quote from avert.org:
“In developing and transitional countries, 9.7 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.99 million (31%) are receiving the drugs.
(http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm)
So as you watch the features from the 1980’s on this CBC archives page, think of what twenty years can do. Hopefully twenty years from now World Aids Day will be a simple celebration for the cure that would have hopefully been discovered. Wear your red ribbon today and increase your knowledge of the current state of HIV/AIDS around the world. To help you start out take a look at the Global World Aid Day dossier right here on CitizenShift.
Leave a comment
Category : Uncategorized
