Author Archives: Gillian

Remember Remember

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Today is the end of the second long day of meetings here in Toronto for the PWRDF and Youth Council. It has been a good day, surrounded by good people, doing good work.

It has also been a weekend of serendipitous connections with people across this country. I had been asked to rework a piece I wrote for the justgeneration.ca website (and also posted here) as a part of the public engagement team piece. Then, while I was en route to Toronto on Thursday, I was reading through all of the documents in preparation for the meetings and I recognized the name of one of the nominees for honorary membership to PWRDF. That recognition brought forth a flood of memories and caused me to rework what I had intended to say.

Instead of a strict public engagement talk, a talk about how promotional placemats introduced me to the Primate’s Fund, I ended up talking about “placemats and a passionate person.” Because more than the placemats, there was a key member of the church I grew up in who, with her husband, pushed social justice and and international relief and development like very few people I know. Apparently she is still doing it today (centre back of the table as I remember her in 1995) at 90+ years of age and has now been honoured with an honorary memorship to PWRDF.

The flood of memories continued to think about these wonderful relationships that I and my family have been blessed to have through the church community and the sadness of how many of them are no longer.

Yes, today is year eight. And so again I say, I love you Mum. I remember. I miss you.

Friday Photo: Ottawa!

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The weather was actually much nicer than this picture makes it look like it may have been from this picture. I actually took this shot of Parliament Hill at a super high shutter speed as we crossed over the bridge from Hull to Ottawa yesterday afternoon. The windows were super dirty, which accounts for the cloudy nature of the photo. However, it puts me in mind of how I feel Canadian politics are these days: Dark and Cloudy.

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Any responsible society should guard its integrity by respecting the rights of minorities: if not for the sake of justice, then for the salvation of society itself. For it is from the disadvantaged and often disenfranchised that new wisdom comes. This is a lesson we can learn from the study of nature, for in nature new changes generally come from the margins of stable systems, rather than from the stable areas. System theory in thermodynamics and in biology will often show that closed systems do not lead to progress or change, whereas open systems can bring about change and innovation.

Graham Cotter, “Redemptive Ministries”, Cotter’s Weekly #61 (Taken from the ED Report for PWRDF’s AGM this weekend.)

Another Goal Reached

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One of my goals for each year is to read the equivalent of a book every week = 52 books per year. This week, I am happy to say that I have reached that goal and it is all more books from here on in! There are a lot of different books on that list and I’m not too picky about what is a book (though I haven’t been reading picture books this year): there are graphic novels, 900 page historical accounts of particular events, novels, and text books. All that counts is that I read it cover to cover. Now that I’ve reached my goal, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop reading! On the contrary, in the 2 months left in this year, I should be able to hit 60…!

Friday Photo

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Well. It has been a busy week. Today is my first day off since Sunday and then I’m working the next four before leaving to Ontario for a few days. (Wow, it sounds a little depressing when I actually stop to think about how much I’m working and write it all out.) So in expectation of hanging out with some fantastic people in Ontario next week, I’m calling them the light at the end of the tunnel (or, in the case of this picture, the Chinatown alleyway…).

World Food Day

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Where does your food come from? Today is World Food Day. As you eat your food, think about where it was grown, who picked it, and how it got from there to your table. One of the best parts of being cook on Offshore was the opportunity to go to the market. There we would interact with all of the people (usually ladies) who were selling the food they had grown themselves in their plots of land. In countries where we did not speak the language, these interactions were usually quite humerous and involved a lot of pointing, gestures, and laughter. Often the laughter was at our expense as they would get a great deal of enjoyment out of watching two skinny white girls buy enough produce to feed forty and then attempt to carry it all away on our two backs, shoulders, and heads.

I have also talked with people who are starving and, if not for international food relief, would have killed themselves rather than die of shame and/or hunger.

I live in a land of plenty. Where I can walk down the hill to the grocery store and get pretty much whatever I want without even thinking about who might not have any food or without thinking of who might have been mistreated in the production of that food. Chocolate and coffee, two of my favourite things, are big culprits.

So today, think about your food. Give thanks for it and for the people who produced it. And think about eating sustainably, ethically and responsibly.

Homelessness Action Week

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Today’s Friday Photo is brought to you by Homelessness Action Week.

This is the first year that I can actually say with confidence that I am on a first-name basis with many of the homeless in our city. I had that brought home twice last week. On one occasion, I was sitting in the atrium of the Public Library and two of our clients at the shelter walked by. I knew both of their names and have had interactions with both of them. One of them, I knew something of her story and we’ve talked on a slightly deeper than surface level about the joys and pains of family. On the other occasion, I stopped to get a coffee at the 7-11 (pretty much the only place serving coffee that is open after 10pm on a Friday night) when a young fellow on a bench caught my eye and said hello. My attention had been grabbed by one of his companions, a girl who didn’t look like she could be more than 16 or 17 with a sign saying she was pregnant and needed money. I didn’t know the girl, but I knew him. I knew his name and where he was staying. We’ve talked a few times and he seems like a fun kid who has had his innocence taken away by living on the street and in a homeless shelter.

I don’t know if it is possible to classify a “most tragic” case of homelessness, but the one that always gets me is the working poor. I see so many people who have no mental illness and no addiction issues but, for whatever reason, cannot get together enough money to hold down a place to live. It really sucks to see them on the street or in the shelter. These are the people who are participating members of society and yet they do not get enough back to be able to have a place to live.