Be sure not to miss the fantastic Music Festival Grand Concert this Saturday night, at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre at 7pm.
It really is amazing to see how much talent there is in our youth.
Click here to buy tickets
Prince Rupert and Bangalore – a study in contrasts.
It has to be said that today’s meeting was pretty much business as usual. You know how it goes: A few minutes banter over breakfast, an update from Wiktor, our exchange student ( “…went to the some fair in Toronto – it was okay: horses, cows, pigs. Yeah it was alright.”); announcements that President Mike will canvas us for best dates for a Christmas party, and an urging to attend District Training.
But there were three highlights (in my opinion):
Highlight One. An introduction to Rotarian Dana Smith who has slipped quietly into our fold. Dana was formerly a member of the evening club but has transferred her allegiance to us. Dana works at Smith’s Funeral Homes and in due course I’m sure we’ll learn whether there’s a family connection or not.
Highlight Two. Rick Howarth announced that he and Faye will be moving away for a while. He’s going to split his time between Florida (a month or two) and Prince Rupert BC. Now, if you’ve been to Rupert (as it’s known colloquially) you’ll surely have an opinion about the place. We were there on a bright, sunny day in October 2011. It was superb, great fish and chips, crystal-clear vistas across Cow Bay and we even got to watch a boat sink! Access to Rupert is a formidable challenge, the drive from Vancouver to Rupert takes 16 hours and 8 minutes according to Google Maps; but it’s scenic mind you. When we visited we made our way there by train (inexpensive and fabulous) and departed by the overnight ferry to Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, (scenic of course, smooth as silk and just grand in every way). Rick and Faye will be gone for a year and a half.
Here’s a selective excerpt from Trip Advisor’s comments on Rupert. “It is also the wettest city in Canada, a distinction which has garnered it the nickname, “City of Rainbows.” The average annual precipitation is about… 100 inches ….. it is not unusual to see more than…. 16 inches of rain in the month of October. Sunshine, conversely, is quite rare, though tourist brochures put out by the city claim 100 sunny days a year.”
Highlight Three Our guest speaker, Raj Sandhu, started with a few thoughts on happiness, the theme of which was essentially that money doesn’t buy happiness; more is never enough. He asked us, “Who is happier: a man with a million dollars or a man with twelve children? The answer of course is the man with twelve children - because he doesn’t need any more.
Raj explained through short movies and a dynamic speaking style about the work he and others are doing through the Masala Ministry, an organistaion founded by Raj.
To begin with Masala Ministries supported and helped the poor and underprivileged of Hamilton, but it has expanded globally to assist young Dalits in India. Dalits are people born into families in the lowest rung of India’s rigid social system. 250 million Dalit men, women and children (7 times the population of all of Canada!) face normalized prejudice, abuse and oppression everyday.
Though laws in India give everyone equal status, Dalits still endure segregation and are considered ‘Untouchables’ due to ingrained cultural standards. The label of being Dalit determines the jobs they are allowed to perform, such as handling dead bodies, animals, street sweeping, or removing human waste. It keeps them as the lowest in society, and in the cycle of poverty. A child born as a Dalit almost certainly faces a lifetime condemned to poverty: perhaps sold off for prostitution, bonded labour or begging on behalf of a career Fagan.
Raj and his team work alongside Dalit Freedom Network, which is committed to helping India’s Dalits overcome oppression, realize their human worth and dignity and gain self-reliance. Their mission is to bring hope and to empower the Dalit people by providing access to quality education, healthcare and vocational training
They have set up a school for Dalit girls, a place where they can get started on a road out of metaphorical slavery and realistically aspire to become a “.. teacher, doctor, drawing teacher or pastor.”
And if you’re of a mind you can join Raj and his team of volunteers on a mission to Bangalore, India next September. This will be a return visit for some of the team which has already donated an ambulance to a remote village, formerly 8 hours away from the closest ambulance service, and two ultra-sound machines to a hospital whose only machine had stopped working.
Asked about demonstrable successes Raj told of a young Dalit girl who was plucked out of the cycle of poverty sixteen years ago and is now working on a PhD in pharmacology.
P Scribe
