Done

I could have sat for three hours today and obtained my diploma however that is best left to the actual class of 007. My mother will be happy to see it when it arrives in the mail.

TED - www.ted.com

Imagine giving a sweater to the Goodwill store and then years later being in Rwanda and seeing a child wearing your sweater. Watch this video and hear Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz tell the story and then describe a few ways to make a difference.

If you haven't been to the TED site I believe you will be astonished by the breadth of brilliant people you might never have heard speak for 18 minutes before. www.ted.com

PS - If you spend a few hours listening to a long list of 18 minute videos, enjoy.

Big Red Freakout

I love college hockey! Even when Rensselaer is in a building year.

RPI - Back to the Future

It is somewhat strange to be heading back to college at this age. But what the heck! I should have finished the last two courses and not ended up with incomplete grades. But my philosophy was not to let my grades get in the way of my education. A week from now I will be back in a lecture hall re-learning C and Intel assembler.
Giddy up !

Christmas

I am not fond of the November 1st launch date for the Christmas marketing campaigns. Mercifully someone invented Halloween or we would see St. Nick on the first day of Autumn. I subscribe to the twelve days of Christmas philosophy. So that means December 16th to December 27th. You can think about gifts in advance if the mood strikes, but all buying and delivering should be done within that window.

My mom was the first one to take me out delivering Christmas stuff to people I didn't know. As a teacher she probably knew they didn't have much coming. I have to admit I haven't done any volunteering to deliver stuff personally, but I enjoy the shopping part of the process. If you want to have some fun and light up a friend's day then give stuff to people you don't know at Christmas. You might also consider reducing the amount you give to the people on your list in order to accomplish this. The process might go something like this:

1st: Chill out
Take someone you enjoy hanging out with, or even better, invite a group from work to skip lunch and head to the mall - park as far away from the door as possible, don't even think about driving up and down rows of cars looiking to follow someone to their parking spot.

2nd: Know what they need
Find the "wish tree" or whatever they call it in your town - around here the Salvation Army run it and a radio station help promote it. Ask them what they need. It is always fun to buy toys, but some age groups get under served.

3rd: Buy more
Head to the nearest store (I wouldn't suggest Walmart as an option until the Walton Family give substantially more than the miserly ~ 1% they have donated to charity). Buy at least twice as many of the recommended item(s). Head back to said wish tree with arms full of stuff. And then think about half as many gifts as you had planned to the people on your own list.

Option B:
Not going to the mall because you bought everything in November? Figure out how much you spent. Get out your credit card. Point your browser at some charities, ideally a couple you don't normally support. Need some suggestions - try some of the links on this blog.

Merry Christmas !

Killarney

Justin and I went into Grace Lake in Killarney Provincial Park before Thanksgiving weekend. We were very lucky with the weather, but we missed the peak of the colours. We were paddling two nights in the moonlight after a long day of shooting pictures.

Rwanda

Rwanda is a hard country to describe in a few words. We went there because I wanted to see mountain gorillas while they still exist in the wild. There are less than 500. The more numerous lowland gorilla populations have dropped 70% in the last decade. The mountain gorillas, made famous by Diane Fossey, live in mountain parks that are largely surrounded by terraced farm land.

The genocide was only twleve years ago. We went directly from the airport to the Genocide Memorial. But interestingly we could not go in because it was the fourth Saturday morning of the month. And on the fourth Saturday morning of each month all citizens are to do their civic duty and head out their front door and clean up the country. I don't know who came up with that idea, but it shows there are some thoughtful people in government in Rwanda.

When we did visit the Memorial it was sobering. It is hard to imagine how 800,000 people were killed in four months. It is harder to underestand how the international community failed to intercede. Many people have heard about Hutu vs Tutsi, but few would know that the distinction was largely fabricated by European (mostly Belgian) colonial powers as a divide-and-conquer tactic. There is no religious, language or cultural difference between the two groups. It is hard to believe, but true, that "H" and "T" stamps were placed in identity cards based upon ... you won't believe this ... how many COWS you owned.

Kilimanjaro

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro had been one of my goals for almost twenty years. I was fortunate to be able to join a group from CARE Canada raising awareness and dollars for CARE Enterprise Partners, an important development program.

I suspect our DNA has a substantial influence on how well we adapt to high altitude. I was fortunate to adapt reasonable quickly and enjoyed the climb a lot. It is a long walk up and a very quick walk down. In terms of a wilderness experience however, it is not like going backpacking in the Rockies. Our group had 22 people and we had 115 porters plus several guides. It is good for the local economy, but it was a LONG way from a self-supported alpine experience.

The Serengeti

We left Waterloo at the end of January when there was hardly any snow. We got back in early March and probably have missed all the major snow storms. Some people go somewhere warm for the winter. We went somewhere amazing.

I had wanted to go to Africa for as long as I understood the idea of the place. We saw as many different mammal species in two weeks in Tanzania than I have seen in two years in Canada. Possibly as many as in my whole life. Watching a lioness hunt and kill a zebra was the most unforgettable moment. You see it on television and imagine it is impossible to actually see happen - and then you watch it happen maybe 80 metres away.

Our guide was Bjorn Figenschou who has operated Tanzania Guides for over twenty years. He has lived in Tanzania most of his life and was outstanding.

The BC Coast

After the Nahanni we went to Whitehorse and then down to Skagway Alaska to take the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Bellingham Washington. The trip is a about three days and we were fortunate to have beautiful weather. We met up with some friends on Salt Spring Island and relatives at Comox and more friends on Quadra Island before heading home. The flowers at Bouchart Gardens in Victoria were beautiful.