Got my ticket!!!

¶ 9:29 PM

Hey Guys

I found this cool site, and I thought it would be cool to share it with you all. I encourage you all to go check it out, and even “click into action.” So here is how it works.

In just 3 simple steps, you join the more than 45,000 others who have signed on to make poverty history.

Step #1 - Sign on by filling in the information below, then click "next".

Step #2 - Once you sign on, you can send an e-mail message to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Step #3 - E-mail your MP.

The letters are already made, so all you have to do is click.

Here is the platform directly from the website.

At the start of the 21st century 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty, most of them women. More than 800 million people go to bed hungry and 50,000 people die every day from poverty-related causes. It doesn't have to be this way. If we choose - if we have the will to act - we can make poverty history.

Poverty is a violation of human rights on a massive scale. Nearly five years ago, all members of the United Nations committed to "spare no effort" in tackling poverty by adopting the Millennium Declaration. Governments also launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to meet minimum targets to reduce poverty, hunger, illiteracy, discrimination against women, and environmental degradation by 2015.

But the pace of action is too slow. If we hold the present course, we will fail to meet these targets. And the poor will pay the price.

The Asian tsunami showed that Canadians, including the Canadian government, care deeply and react generously when the world is faced with humanitarian disasters. But short-term relief is not enough. We need a shift in national and international policies to eliminate poverty.

It's time for real action. In 2005, campaigns to end poverty have been launched world wide. If everyone who wants to end poverty speaks at the same time, world leaders will be forced to listen.

Canada's campaign to end poverty, Make Poverty History, calls for urgent and meaningful policy change. Here's what we want in 14 words: More and Better Aid. Trade Justice. Cancel the Debt. End Child Poverty in Canada.

More and Better Aid

Aid is a resource held in trust for people living in poverty. We must not break this trust. But we must do more than simply maintain or even increase our aid - we must also make aid more effective.

More and better aid is needed to help end extreme poverty and hunger... to enable every child to attend elementary school... to reduce child mortality rates... to improve maternal health... to create decent jobs... and to begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Canada can take action:

* Reach the UN target of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015 by committing to a timetable to increase aid by 12% in each of the next 3 years and by 15% thereafter.
* Enact legislation to make "ending poverty" the exclusive goal of Canadian foreign aid in a way consistent with our human rights' obligations.

Trade Justice

Currently, international trade is neither free nor fair. Trade rules allow rich countries to pay large subsidies to a small number of companies to export food. These policies encourage over-production, destroy the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers in developing countries and hurt the environment.

We need trade justice so poor countries can protect small farmers and staple crops... so governments can access affordable medicine and maintain public services... and so trade rules support, rather than undermine, human rights and environmental protection.

Canada can take action in international trade agreements:

* Press for trade and investment rules that ensure governments and their citizens can choose the best solutions to end poverty and protect the environment.
* Support measures that boost farmers' power in the marketplace and that bring an end to the dumping of goods, which damages the livelihoods of poor rural communities.

Cancel The Debt

High interest rates and penalties mean that the poorest countries spend more on repaying debts to the richest countries than they receive in aid. Between 1970 and 2002, for example, the poorest African countries received $294 billion in loans, paid back $298 billion in interest and principal, but still owed more than $200 billion.

We must cancel all debts to the poorest countries to stop this treadmill. When poor governments no longer need to repay debt, they can spend more on what really matters: food, clean water, housing, health care, jobs, education, and building their economies.

Canada can take action at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund:

* Promote the immediate and unconditional cancellation of 100% of the multilateral and bilateral debt owed by the poorest countries.
* Ensure that debt cancellation has no strings attached, enabling developing countries to implement their own national plans to end poverty.

End Child Poverty In Canada

In 1989, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. At the start of 2005, one million Canadian children, or nearly one in six, are still poor. Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected.

We must end child poverty in Canada. We must make key investments in social development that will make a difference: More money for low-income families. Affordable housing and the creation of decent jobs, with a higher minimum wage. And universal, affordable early learning and child care.

Canada can take action:

* Raise the annual Canada Child Tax Benefit (or equivalent benefit) to $4,900 per child and ensure all low-income children receive full benefit of this program.
* Involve groups where poverty is predominant, such as Aboriginal People, women, minorities and youth in the design and implementation of a domestic poverty reduction strategy.

Together we can make poverty history!

We need your voice to add to our worldwide chorus. Find out how you can support our global campaign at www.makepovertyhistory.ca. Together, we can make poverty history.

~Lots of Love~

Lori ¶ 9:14 PM

I often think to myself, and I always seem to realize how complicated life is. Sometimes your mood is up, and other times it’s down. Then I begin to wonder is it more down than up, or more up than down. If it’s more down, does that make me depressed? I certainly don’t feel depressed. I feel really happy at times. But then what put me in the mood to feel down? Moods fluctuate so much in life; no wonder we feel confused half the time.

So here is what makes me happy:

1. Lots of sleep
2. Food in my belly
3. Money to pay my bills
4. Great Friends
5. Newfoundland
6. Living on my own
7. Having a supportive family
8. Independence
9. Volunteering
10. Seeing a smile on other people’s face
11. Winning the lottery (would be nice)
12. Chatting on MSN
13. Meeting new people
14. Going out to bars (from time to time)
15. Cheese
16. Dancing a jig.... lol
17. Experiencing new life experiences..... :)
18. Being in University
19. Who I am as a person
20. Having the strength to carry on
....and the list continues!!!!!

And here is what makes me sad:

1. Rude people
2. People who never give others a chance
3. Feeling lonely
4. Missing Newfoundland, and my friends there
5. My Great Grandma and Great Grandpa (love you both)
6. Seeing people with so much potential, and they waste it away
7. Colin in my Social Work class (such a smart boy who’s trapped in a dysfunctional body)
8. Being single for so long
9. Sophia
10. People with cancer
11. Sad movies
12. Seeing others cry
13. Seeing people bully others
14. People fighting
15. Starving kids in third world countries
...and it continues

While writing this blog I realized that most things I feel are quite similar to what many others may feel. Life isn’t such a bad thing after all. I’ve got a lot going for myself (while I’ll talk about some other time), and I feel really happy at the moment. So number 21: I’M HAPPY TO BE ME!!! :)

~Lots of Love~

Lori ¶ 10:08 AM

Relay For Life.....what can I say? What an AWESOME event. Definitely going again next year. Words cannot express how magical and uplifting this even is, and I am just so glad I could be part of it.

So what did I do at this event? I volunteered FOR FUN!!! So here is what I did.

Becky (my roommate) and I arrived there at 5ish yesterday, and we pretty much got settled away before actually getting involved. We brought a tent to sleep in because we though for sure we’d never mad e it though the night. Oh we were so wrong because we didn’t use the tent at all, except to put it up and take it down. So we got settled in, and we were ready to do our job. Look for help! (And we found it all night).

First, We made our way to the Luminary station to ask if they needed help, and sure enough they did. Here our jobs were to put the luminaries (dedicated messages in honor or memory of a loved one with cancer on a bag filled with sand with a lighted candle inside) in specific recycling bins in alphabetical order, so they could be added to the track, also in alphabetical order, where the participants walked. While there, we had to work with high school students that were soooooooo lazy. They didn’t want to be there at all, and all they did was complicate things more with their lack of caring and disorganization. For example, bring the luminaries to the track was quite a distance to walk, especially G through N bins, but they took the closer letters with the luminaries in them. So the rest of us were left with actual physical work, but I didn’t so much mind that. It was just the high school kids got in the way of things running a little smoother.

Secondly, while doing the luminaries I was approached by one of the head ladies because she waned a “hard worker” (her words not mine) to come help her out. So I did!! This job was to relieve this guy from bathroom duty, so he could go eat. And no this is not cleaning the bathrooms of anything!!! lol I had to SIT :) at a picnic table with a set of keys to bathrooms. My job was to let only the handicap (their words) and elderly in. This position was very temporary, but it wasn’t so bad. It was nice to relax for a minute.

Thirdly, Becky and I got to do a very honorable position, which was light the luminaries that spelled hope while Amazing Grace was being sung. It was such a great moment, and I will admit it did bring a tear to my eye. I did take pictures, so when they get developed I’ll post them. :)

After that, Becky and I took a brake to walk around the grounds. There were a lot of camp grounds, and a lot of interesting things to see. People were selling things, and the proceeds went to the event. So as we were walking around we noticed there wasn’t a whole lot to do at this point, so went to sit at the registrations desk. We had expected to sit there for a long time, but we didn’t. There was more work to be done.

Fourthly, we moved to food services. There were a lot of hungry participants wanting pizza, and we were there to serve them. At this point we met Matt and Jim, which I think were high school students too. But they were alright. We all did a pretty go job of getting the food out the people, and the line was gone in like no-time. There was TUNS of pizza let over, so then we started giving it away for free.

After our job of serving the pizza, here is where we got in with the higher powers of this event. :)
We has found out they were preparing breakfast for the campers in the kitchen of the Waterloo Regional Police building, so we go inside to see if they needed any help. Unfortunately, they didn’t, but we got to stay in there and relax. This building had a big screen tv, air conditioning, all the muffins from Tim’s you wanted because it was left over from breakfast, and a games room. We stayed in here for a little while to relax with the people. I met a guy named Jim (yes another Jim), so we played pool. Yes pool! I kicked is ass. It was best two out of three, and I won....:)

While passing time there, it was time to hand out the breakfast to the hungry participants. Here, we had to load the golf carts with boxes upon boxes of food to bring to set up and serve. Here I got to ride a golf cart of the first time, and it was kind of cool. So much fun!

At this point, I am really tired because I think it’s like four in the morning. I decide to lay down for a while in the games room of the building because there were soft chairs there, but it was too cold which made it hard to sleep. I then went to the fireplace and laid on the chairs there. Not that comfortable!!! I didn’t really sleep at all, and I all I did was sit and wait for the closing ceremonies.

Finally, the ceremonies started. There were 1, 500 participants in the race plus all the volunteers and head people. Prizes were given out, and they announced they had raised 335, 000 dollar. After that, everyone went home, but Becky and I were not done. We had to clean up since we actually signed up for “take down” responsibilities. That made us stay there til nine this morning.

God I was s glad to be home, so I could shower. I felt so gross, but it was worth every moment...lol There was sooooooo much food left over, and we got to bring quite a bit home. Two full pizzas, a dozen muffins from Tim’s, and bun from the bakery that were left over from the bbq. Plus, there was a guy who gave us chips and bubbles to bring home.

All in all, what an awesome event. I will definitely be going back next year. I said good-bye to Denise (head lady of program), and she wants Becky and I to contact her this week. It seems really important, but I think Becky and I left a great impression and we are being recognized for it. How sweet is that?? I have learned that I am a well rounded individual, and it is very easy for me to be noticed when needed to be. I made sure the head people of the event saw me, and I am sure they saw how much I helped.

Anyway, if I missed something I’ll write about ti late. I am tired and want to sleep more now.

~Lots of Love~

Lori

P.S. If the spelling, grammar, and punctuation suck in this blog I don’t care. I am too tired. :) ¶ 3:27 PM