• infertility

    Three Things You Can Do to Help Advocate for Public Funding for IVF in Alberta #abhc4ivf #abpoli

    September 29, 2014 - By 

    1 in 6 people struggle with infertility. I talk about that often here in this space. Why? Because I believe in a Canadian health care system that is accessible and great. And because infertility is a hard emotional and financial journey. It is devastating to far too many. That’s part of the reason why I help advocate for public funding for IVF. Couples, and singles, who are diagnosed with infertility, are sometimes prescribed In vitro fertilization as the best course of action. In Vitro Fertilization is a process by which sperm and egg are introduced in a lab and left…

  • Giveaways - Health - Parenting

    Levana Sophia Digital Video Baby Monitor #Giveaway ARV $100

    September 29, 2014 - By 

    Every new parent is nervous, I think. But new adoptive parents are a whole different level of nervous and anxious. We are crazy from the waiting sometimes and so grateful for our precious gift of parenthood that we can be hyper vigilant about our new roles and responsibilities. I can easily recall how we (mostly I) spent many nights hovering outside the door of Payton’s nursery. I remember how I didn’t trust that Payton would keep breathing all night long on her own. I read a lot about SIDS and I worried about the things that could go wrong. I…

  • Health

    When I Sponsor a Child With World Vision Canada Does My Money Really Go To Them? Child Poverty #TMMWVC

    September 26, 2014 - By 

    When I sponsor a child with World Vision Canada does my money really go to them? This is the number one question I am asked most in the days leading up to my trip to Colombia. I spent a week finding the answer to this question inside many impoverished Colombian cities where violence and drugs are a threat to childhood and family health. I witnessed extreme child poverty and the work World Vision is doing to try to help. I hope these posts help answer that question and many others too. Meet Miguel and Juan. I introduced you to them…

  • Giveaways

    Madame Picasso Paris 3 DVD Prize Pack Worth $75

    September 25, 2014 - By 

    (When this book arrived here late in August you can imagine the kid’s comments.) Madame Picasso is a pageturner and a well written tale that is thoroughly enjoyable. I haven’t had a lot of time lately to read or review books here. Time has been at a premium, but the moment I picked this one up and read the first line, well that was it. Anne Girard is a skillful storyteller and she weaves a truly captivating story here. It is rare that I am drawn in by a character instantly. Eva Gouel is memorable and charming and a character…

  • peace_keepers_1
    Travel

    How Soccer Balls Make an Impact in Taminango Colombia

    September 25, 2014 - By 

    I never thought a soccer ball in Taminango Colombia could make me cry. Let me explain… How Does the Gift of Sports Change Lives? This is what the gift of a soccer ball looks like in Colombia. A team in the middle of a dirt field practising every night. Two young men, sponsored as children, now coaches, committed and clear-headed. Mentors in every way. This is the living breathing outcome of presents from a World Vision gift catalogue. A vulnerable space made into a soccer field in a community where drugs, gangs and crime are extremely big threats to a…

  • Travel

    Peace Keepers – Youth in Colombia #TMMWVC

    September 24, 2014 - By 

      I travelled with World Vision Canada as a guest so I could tell these stories.   This week I am sharing my posts from my trip with World Vision Canada. These are two youths, Peace Keepers, we met in an area called Taminango, near Santander De Quilichao. They were incredibly inspiring. You can read about them tomorrow. You can read all of my stories if you follow my hashtag #TMMWVC or follow my blog and read about some of the incredible work being done in Colombia. Peace Keepers is a unique program here in Colombia that builds strong youth…

  • world vision canada child sponsorship
    Travel

    Hope Lives In a School Called Policarpa – Defeating Child Poverty Near Santander De Quilichao, Colombia

    September 23, 2014 - By 

    Hope is the thing you see in the faces of the students here. Inside a small school called Policarpa, in an area of Colombia called Santander De Quilichao, where domestic heroin use rages and gangs and guns are very real threats to children and entire families. But here, inside this school the children celebrate Amor Y Paz Month – Love and Peace Month. What Hope Looks Like Here Words hang in Spanish on the pillars in the school. Loosely translated they read: Tolerance, Love, Punctuality, Respect, Friendship. It is September and I have flown to South America with World Vision…

  • Travel

    The Colombia Briefing Trip

    September 22, 2014 - By 

    We’re discussing guns, heroin and child trafficking inside a World Vision Canada meeting room in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto. This is my first security briefing ever. I have squeezed this Colombia Briefing Trip into a frantic first week back to school. My uniform for the week in Colombia Security Details These are the practical details that can help keep you safe in the field, which in this case is various vulnerable ADPs (area development programs) in the Colombian countryside. Soon I will take a Colombia field trip with World Vision Canada. Protect Your Documents and Money Get a money…

  • Food - Health

    Lifeway Kefir Low Fat Cultured Milk Smoothie Drink

    September 19, 2014 - By 

    So what exactly is Kefir? Kefir is a smooth version of drinkable yogurt packed with protein. It is essentially a cousin of yogurt with roots that go back to Europe over 2000 years ago. It is jam packed with probiotics which is why I wanted to try it. The taste is a bit tart, almost sour. It takes a bit of getting used to actually. My kids love drinkable yogurt and one of them found this strawberry flavoured cultured milk smoothie to be a bit sour. I have a sour streak, or should I say, a love of sour tasting…

  • Travel

    Bogota Airport Art #travel #WordlessWednesday

    September 17, 2014 - By 

    This is what greets you on entering the Bogota airport in Colombia. Part of the El Dorado Airport is under construction, but there are cheery artistic displays in many common areas. It was one of the brightest displays I have seen in an airport. I love that airports are getting so much savvier about their use of art in public spaces. This is some of the nicest and most colourful airport art I have ever seen. I recently traveled here with World Vision Canada to tell some stories about child sponsorship and the work being done in many areas of…