It is amazing how one's context can really change the way one views the world. I have always thought that I was somewhat aware of the world around me and the privilege as well as the suffering that exists. However, in my new position, here at the church, I am so much more aware of the privilege I experience and the suffering that is ever present.
My morning was spent trying to organize stuff for the up-coming move into our new condo. We moved out of our house at the end of August. We have been living at our "weekend" place in Dead Man's Flats since then. It is a small condo with two bedrooms and has been our refuge for the last several years. It is 100 km from there to work and we have been doing the trip most days since the end of August. We occasionally stay in the city with a friend who is renting a place while her house is being built. For the past week, we have stayed at her house taking care of her dogs while she was away. It has been frigidly cold for the past week and the roads have been in rough shape outside the city. So, it has been a relief to be able to stay in the city and not make the 200km trip each day.
How many people don't have a place to stay? How many people have to worry about staying warm enough to make it through to the next morning? How many have no choice as to whether they will have a long commute or not? How many have no options? It amazes me that these numbers are large.
As I was driving around the city trying to get things organized, realize that I have a vehicle to drive. Not only that, I have a choice of vehicle. I don't have to try to ride the bus to the airport to pickup a delivery that was not made to the correct address. I don't have to rely on the generosity of others. I do not have to argue with shipping companies about deliveries because I have no option to drive to collect my package.
These are local issues. As I was driving, I listened to some commentary on Darfur. The murder and execution of individuals in Darfur has been going on for many years. Likely, the governments of developed countries could assist in resolving the issues if there was the political and social will. However, Darfur doesn't seem to have anything we want to plunder in order for us to have such a will.
I complain because I want the renovations to be done more quickly. I want to move in and get organized before Christmas. There are people in Darfur, in Canada, in Calgary, and in my neighbourhood who complain because they don't know whether they will live from now until the 25th of December.
What's that about?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tree Decorating
I thought I'd share a few photos of the tree decorating last Friday. We do two different trees each year. It becomes quite a fun social event.
I am told this was one of the more "calm" tree decoratings. I can tell I'm getting old. I have a hard time finding anything "calm," about it. It was fun, but hardly "calm."
I
Sanctuary@Knox
I continue to be excited about the possibilities that are created with this new project. We are aiming our efforts at a group that is not served by any other agency. Though some of the participants may have been involved in other programs, or continue to be involved in other programs, we will be offering the unique one-on-one support for their continued learning. We want to provide opportunities for those individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 to improve their learning skills and pursue any learning they want to pursue with the support of experienced teachers and learners. Where participants have been involved with other programs, we will liaise with them to gather any information they have on learning styles, learning difficulties, strengths, abilities, etc. If they have had various learning assessments, we can use that information to further support our work with them. Where they haven't, we will either do our own informal assessments, or use standardized assessment tools to discover what we need to know to best support the learning.
The pilot will have our learning centre open for three days a week, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. It will have a minimum of one volunteer present for all those hours. The volunteer assists participants in learning whatever they want to learn. In some cases, it will mean only that the participant will have someone there if they have questions or to rely on for support. In other cases, we will help individuals to clarify what they want to learn and work with them to establish a plan for learning.
We will have access to various assistive technologies:
The research behind this project comes from my own doctoral studies exploring how various technologies support literacy development in 1st and 2nd languages. We discovered that technology has developed to a point where it can be used as a tool for those who have difficulties with one particular style of learning to easily access other forms of expression. For the non-reader, this means that they can access information, process it, learn from it, and use it to share with others from their own particular point of view. Traditionally, schools have operated out of necessity using mainly print-based information sources. Assistive technologies allow the non-reader to access information from print-based sources. However, we also honour individual strengths in other media and encourage individuals to get information from whatever sources they find and to use it. They can also use various media as an expressive or sharing format. I can provide anyone with many more details and more information if one wants it. I know that this is my passion, so I tend to go off the deep end.
We plan to set up our own network so that there is no potential hazard to the church's network and server. We will have our own server as well.
Unfortunately, there are costs to the upgrades. We need approximately $6,000.00 to upgrade the memory of the computers, establish the network, and buy the software.
If anyone reading this wishes to make a contribution to the Snactuary@Knox project, they can do so by sending a cheque payable to "Knox United Church" to:
Sanctuary@Knox
506 Fourth Street S. W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 1S7
If you mark "Sanctuary@Knox" on the memo part of the cheque, it will go into the designated fund and receive a charitable donation tax receipt.
The pilot will have our learning centre open for three days a week, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. It will have a minimum of one volunteer present for all those hours. The volunteer assists participants in learning whatever they want to learn. In some cases, it will mean only that the participant will have someone there if they have questions or to rely on for support. In other cases, we will help individuals to clarify what they want to learn and work with them to establish a plan for learning.
We will have access to various assistive technologies:
- speech-to-text software
- text to speech software
- on-screen dictionaries
- rebus composition software
- up to date Office Suite
- graphic organizers
- presentation software
- internet access
The research behind this project comes from my own doctoral studies exploring how various technologies support literacy development in 1st and 2nd languages. We discovered that technology has developed to a point where it can be used as a tool for those who have difficulties with one particular style of learning to easily access other forms of expression. For the non-reader, this means that they can access information, process it, learn from it, and use it to share with others from their own particular point of view. Traditionally, schools have operated out of necessity using mainly print-based information sources. Assistive technologies allow the non-reader to access information from print-based sources. However, we also honour individual strengths in other media and encourage individuals to get information from whatever sources they find and to use it. They can also use various media as an expressive or sharing format. I can provide anyone with many more details and more information if one wants it. I know that this is my passion, so I tend to go off the deep end.
We plan to set up our own network so that there is no potential hazard to the church's network and server. We will have our own server as well.
Unfortunately, there are costs to the upgrades. We need approximately $6,000.00 to upgrade the memory of the computers, establish the network, and buy the software.
If anyone reading this wishes to make a contribution to the Snactuary@Knox project, they can do so by sending a cheque payable to "Knox United Church" to:
Sanctuary@Knox
506 Fourth Street S. W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 1S7
If you mark "Sanctuary@Knox" on the memo part of the cheque, it will go into the designated fund and receive a charitable donation tax receipt.
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