You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2007.
Giller nominee coming to Writers & Friends! Horizons of Friendship is delighted to announce that the roster for its fall gala fundraiser includes some of Canada’s most engaging award winning authors and now, a nominee for the prestigious literary award the Scotiabank Giller Prize for Fiction.Writers & Friends, Horizons 13th Annual November benefit evening on Sunday November 18 th at LeVan Hall, Trinity College School, features five of Canada’s top writers, Elizabeth Hay, Noah Richler, Anna Porter, Linden McIntyre and Ian Brown.Special guest readers contributing to Writers & Friends this year include:
For immediate release – October 18, 2007
Cobourg, ON – Over 1200 Cobourg students and teachers stood up and added their numbers in support of the Make Poverty History campaign, held on October 17th, the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The Cobourg CDCI East launched the exhibit, “In Her Mother’s Shoes” which tells the story of Ruth, a woman dying of AIDS in Zimbabwe, as well as shedding light on the development of microbicides, which may give women more control over their sexual health. The exhibit was opened with words from the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board’s Director of Education, Sylvia Terpstra, and CDCI East science teacher, Grant Elliott. The exhibit focuses on the story of one woman in Africa, yet the opening remarks emphasized that AIDS is a global epidemic affecting people worldwide, including here in Canada. The launch closed with the poverty pledge read about by teacher Dean Smith, who announced the CDCI East’s 8-year commitment to eradicating poverty.
The display was brought to the CDCI East High School in partnership with PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network and Horizons of Friendship. PARN serves Peterborough, Lindsay, and the Cobourg area, addressing the needs of people living with HIV or AIDS and those directly affected. Horizons of Friendship is a Cobourg-based charitable organization working to end poverty and injustice in Central America and Mexico.
The exhibit will be on display from 8:30am-4pm on Friday October 19th and Monday October 22nd.
Students at CDCI East view the display on HIV and Microbicide technology
St. Mary’s Secondary School also ran Make Poverty History activities, organized by the school’s social justice committee. The day was started with the reading of the poverty pledge. During the lunch hour, students created a banner with their signatures and sported self-made white bands, reaffirming their commitment to ending poverty. The highlight of the activities, however, had students and teachers alike smashing a piñata representing Poverty, as grade 12 student and social justice committee member, Lara Desjardins, read out a number of poverty-related statistics. As the piñata fell to the floor, Lara announced, “As you’ve seen, poverty can be defeated!”
St. Mary’s students display their Make Poverty History banner
Last year, 23 million people worldwide, including 49,000 Canadians, stood up to show their commitment to the Make Poverty History campaign, setting a Guinness World Record. Organizers of the Stand Up, Speak Out event hoped to set a new record again this year.
Horizons of Friendship has announced its latest Exposure Tour – an 11-day group delegation to El Salvador – in February 2008. The tour will bring Canadian travellers to rural and urban communities working on projects in education, agriculture, health and rights of factory workers.
Exposure Tours are annual events that blend educational and cultural travel. They offer a unique opportunity to get a first-hand look at how local populations are working together to improve their lives and defend their rights.
Horizons has hosted seven extremely successful Exposure Tours which have provided Canadians from across the country, including Southern Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia with a very meaningful travel experience. The tours foster awareness about the socio-economic context and cultural diversity of countries in Central America and Mexico, while showing concrete examples of the community-based development that Horizons supports. As one past participant stated, “[The delegation] was a great opportunity to hear people’s stories and have experiences that were both eye-opening and inspiring.”
El Salvador, a tiny country, located on the Pacific coast of Central America, is also Central America’s most densely populated. Amid lush vegetation and a landscape dotted with 25 volcanoes, almost half if El Salvador’s seven million inhabitants live in poverty. Along with its natural beauty and cultural diversity, El Salvador is also known for the 12-year civil war fought between the country’s military dictatorship and the rebel FMLN. Fifteen years after the signing of the peace accords and government reforms, El Salvadoran society faces the challenge of balancing democracy and improved living standards while combating problems such as corruption. Horizons of Friendship’s exposure tour includes presentations on the current socio-economic and political situation and visits to partner projects where delegates can converse directly with community members.
The trip will last 11 days and will take place February 16-27, 2008. The total cost of the tour is $3,000, and includes all expenses of airfare, accommodation, in-country travel, entrance to museums and cultural sites, and all meals. To learn more, please contact Horizons of Friendship in Cobourg at (905) 372-5483 ext. 24 or 1-888-729-9928.
