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HERO TO HERO
(28 Dec 07)
One of the many great benefits to operating Peacekeeper
Park is the people and organizations we get to meet along the way.
Such was my luck when I met Kevin, a firefighter heavily involved in
a group devoted to supporting our CF troops while on deployment.
It's about hometown First Responders giving the shirts off their
backs to our deployed troops, heroes at home supporting heroes
overseas. There website is
http://www.herotohero.us so take a minute to visit and see what
a great job they're doing. And for you guys and gals that are
firefighters, police officers, EMS, - get involved and support our
troops in this unique way.
PROJECTS AT THE PARK
(28 Dec 07)
At this year's Peacekeeper Tribute Day, a Peacekeeping
Veteran requested that we publish more on the website about the
projects we're involved in at the Park - that there is a time and
place to be a "quiet Canadian" and then there's a time to let people
know about some of the good work we're doing but don't publicize.
So here goes....
A couple of years ago we were approached by London's
Military Family Resource Centre re: helping them find a location for
their summer program for children of military families. Since
then, every summer we host the MFRC program and provide them with
lots of outdoor experiences and fun events, all at no charge.
Our Special Adventure Camp volunteer staff take the time to work
with the MFRC groups and we're very pleased to be able to help the
children of our CF members in a small way.
We've recently begun a pilot program with a great group
of Grade 8 students from Annandale School in Tillsonburg.
Their principal wanted to get his five classes of Grade 8s involved
in a community outreach program and we were more than willing to
become involved. The students and their staff have been
visiting the Park, either as single or double classes, and have been
helping with many tasks around the Park and with the Lake Whittaker
staff. It's been, by all accounts, a great pilot program for
both the students and the Park and will continue in the spring of
2008. They've learned quite a bit about Canada's history of
Peacekeeping; they've planted trees, pulled weeds, cleaned up,
cleared trails, bagged wood, and are painting murals on some of our
walls. They have been a pleasure to work with and we're
looking forward to more experiences with these and other students.
Members of the Canadian Forces, both Regular Force and Militia, have
begun using the Park's facilities for some of their training.
We are pleased to see the Park used for this purpose and, as we once
again associate with the Operational elements of the Forces, are so
very proud of these young men and women.
We are presently exploring ways in which we can help
our returning Afghanistan veterans who have been wounded, mentally
or physically. We have a beautiful area for camping and
relaxing and are pursuing ideas that would let us offer our Park as
an area where the veterans and their family members could come for a
week, or a weekend, at no cost to them. We'll keep you posted
as this plan develops.
If you have an idea how we can use our facilities to assist the
Canadian Forces or any youth group, please send us an e-mail.
We'll act on as many of them as possible.
AFGHANISTAN PROGRESS
(28 Dec 07)
There is progress being made in Afghanistan and the
cost of this progress has been very high for Canada and the Canadian
Military. I don't know how many times I've heard people
complain that we shouldn't be there; that we're accomplishing
nothing. Well here's some information for those that care
enough to read it and think about it.
Since 2001
4.6 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan
14,000 community district councils have been elected
Per capita income has doubled
The Afghan ecomy has tripled
Two national elections have been held - more than 10
million Afghans voted
200,000 Afghans (90% woomen) have received
micro-finance business loans
7.2 million children have been vaccinated against polio; 4.3
million vaccinated against childhood diseases; 4 million
women vaccinated against Tetanus
77 percent of Afghans have access to medical facilities
- compared to less than 10 percent in 2001
4,000 new medical facilities have been opened
Six million children (one-third girls) now go to school
compared to 700,00 (no girls) in 2001
363,000 teachers provided with teaching materials
8,000 kms of new and refurbished roads have been
completed
2,500 villages have electricity for the first time
8,000 construction projects have been completed; 14,000
more are underway
4,000 house and shelters constructed for the needy
130 agricultural projects (benefiting 300,00 farmers)
actioned
60,000 soldiers disarmed and demobilized
190,000 mines defused and removed
8,100 new water points; 8,000 latrine blocks
(benefiting 3 million people)
1,700 new water reservoirs built
Hygiene education to 3.4 million people
13 million days of community employment
WELL DONE CANADA!!
SPECIAL
ADVENTURE CAMPS 07 (28 Dec 07)
Well our Special Camps are over again but another great
year for a great group of young people. Bev and her committee
of dedicated volunteers have done another spectacular job. The
volunteer counsellors did their usual outstanding job and went home
quite tired but feeling they'd really accomplished a great deal.
I can't help but wonder where these special people come from to help
our special kids!! We were missing a few of our regular
counsellors as they'd joined a Duke of Edinburgh group who have gone
to Kenya to build and stock a library for the Kenyan children.
Thanks to all who worked so hard again this year and thanks to all
of you who contributed so generously to make it possible for us to
provide this unique opportunity to a great bunch of young people.
PROJECTS FINISHING
UP (28 Dec 07)
The new kitchen in the pavilion is just about completed
and the Libro First Aid Room is also just about completed.
We've finally found a local farmer who'll help us out this fall with
our Sports Fields so they should be in good shape by next summer.
The storyboards are going up on the Path of Honour and all the grass
(and weeds) are cut thanks to a generous donation of a bush hog by
Perry. More crosses are going up, sorry to say, and we've
reached the sad number of 235; the number of Canadians who
have lost their lives in the Service of Peace since 1948.
NEW FIRST AID ROOM (28 Dec 07)
The First Aid room, built by
the Cadets of # 11 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps Strathroy, is
nearly finished with only the dry walling and painting to be
completed. The project was funded through the Libro Community
Service program. This room will allow us to have all our
medical equipment in one location and it is totally accessible.
Well done Strathroy and Libro.
CHARITY RECEIPTS AVAILABLE (28 Dec 07)
We are very please to announce that Peacekeeper
Park is now a Registered Charity. It's the result of a lot of
effort by our volunteer staff and a great legal firm that processed
the paperwork for us. We hope that this change in status will
significantly benefit our Special Adventure Camps for our challenged
youth.
INTERESTING
RECEPTION (28 Dec 07)
Something I was unaware of but thought was kind of
neat. A couple of our folks returning after their Roto in
Afghanistan tells of a very unique reception in the sky somewhere in
the neighbourhood of Montreal. They were each on different
flights but tell the same story. As they looked out the
plane's windows they noticed that they'd picked up an escourt - a
Canadian F-18 on each wing tip escourted them the rest of the way
home. Nice touch, much appreciated, and well done to the Air
Force.
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