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Poverty: The Hidden Shame & the Real Hope

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Poverty, it’s a darn shame, at least that was the general sentiment years ago and whch still rings true today. But such comments leave me rather puzzled, whose shame is poverty anyways? Is it my shame, your shame, or the very definition of shame itself? Well, to tell you the truth (as best as I can…), I too believe that poverty is a darn shame but that shame should not be placed on the backs of the impoverished, no that shame should be reserved to its own V.I.P. (very important person) area for the perpetrators of poverty, who believe it or not, are not always the rich.

Those who participate in the global engine of hoarding money for the few (legally-illegally—the lines are often blurred between the two) while deliberately withholding money from the majority of the world’s citizens. Undoubtedly some of those perpetrators are the very wealthy business owners and high society members, but they are also the greedy landlords of low-rent apartments, the unjust farmers who overprice their food wares (or products) for poor families while giving overcompensated discounts to the wealthy and powerful families, and even the mediocre drug dealer who cajoles poor urban children and women to become their drug mules just to turn a pretty profit—not for themselves—no, for their “masters” the rich and "all-powerful" drug lords whose own lives are hardly ever put at risk whenever a street corner drug deal gone bad.

I myself understand poverty first hand, yet I am not dismayed (not completely at least), I see the poor as having a real hope to drive to a HALT the undiscriminating wheel of poverty by not buying into all this injustice. When you don’t give up on getting an education even if that means working two jobs and taking out thousands of dollars in loans because of all this injustice. To accept hunger for one, two, or three weeks at a time if it means you didn’t give into the calls of the local drug dealer or pimp to make some money on the side because of all this injustice. And even more so, don’t give up having faith in all that is good whether you believe that good to be God or the manifestation of the love you feel within your heart inspite of the fact that the rich just seem to be getting richer and the poor a lot poorer because of all this injustice.

You may be poor but you are not poverty. The word poverty suggests that you are lacking something but you are not---if you believe that you have justice, real justice, securely on your side then that is your hope and our very real hope!




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Surviving genocide

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THIS IS MY MEMORY OF REGINA GELB
By: Sheridy Leslie

I remember…I remember Chopin’s Nocturne playing in the background while my two older sisters and I danced in the center of our cottage in Central Poland.

I remember…I remember my beautifully kind mother and her musings about the future success of the Zionist movement (that she was actively apart of) while my dad a quiet and timid engineer by nature, sat in silent amusement of the joy that was his close and loving family.

I remember… no, no, no, I forget…or at least I want to forget the moment my family was ripped away from any future memories of them.

First I was dragged and driven to a forced-labor camp just outside of my hometown
And then to Auschwitz-Birkenau
And then to the concentration camp Ravensbrueck in Germany
. and then almost like a full-stop—I and my two sisters were confined to the isolation of the small labour camp Retzov until…

Yes now I remember…until we were free again, freed by the Russian soldiers April 1945,
just us sisters 21, 19, and 16---with our parents no where to be found.

Who am I without the sweet melody of Chopin to wash away my fears or
The reassuring and loving voices of my parents to wipe away my tears. WHO AM I?
Oh no, its alright Regina, these are simply the memories of my survival.

I am alive, and now I may live.


Born 1929 Regina Laks in Starachowice, Poland, holocaust survivor


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March of Remembrance and Hope: An experience where past, present, and hope collides

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March of Remembrance and Hope: An experience where past, present, and hope collides

By: Sheridy Leslie


If you had not experienced injustice in your life, well some might say you’re pretty lucky; but if you had not experienced genocide in your life, many would agree that you are definitely blessed. This past May I embarked on trip that I was told would be a life-changing experience, which turned out to be much more than that. The trip or program I am referring to is formally known as the “March of Remembrance and Hope (MRH; 2008)”, which began with an intense orientation in Toronto, Canada that was translocated to Germany for a two-day introduction into the events that led up to one of the greatest human tragedies in our history, the Holocaust; and with our final stop to Poland, where many of the now silent witnesses of this atrocity remain in spirit and among the buried dust and ashes.

The purpose of this program, which is hosted by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and the National (Canadian) Jewish Campus Life, was to do a lot more than simply educate a handful (60 males and females) of Canadian students and young adults about the realities of the holocaust, this program sought to take young leaders like you and me and engage us in a possibility of living in a world (our world) without hate, evil, or injustice. Thus, as the title of the program would suggest, students who journeyed on this 10-day long program would be encouraged to both remember the sins of the past and reflect on new hope for the future.

Although the program was heavily subsided, therefore allowing youth from all socio-economic backgrounds to take part in the MRH experience first-hand, this was no free trip. What I mean is that, everyday each participant journeyed deeper and deeper emotionally, physically, and spiritually, which for some came out in tears and for others just long stances of silent reflection and prayer.

I have experienced injustice first-hand but I had not experienced genocide, yet after hearing the narratives of Holocaust survivors, seeing the gas chambers, and coming face-to-face with the thousands of possessions (including human hair) of all those who had seen the face of evil and for many lost their very lives as a consequence, I was more committed to be apart of the change that would end injustice for all. Throughout the trip I held back my tears, not out of shame, but out of hope, my living hope in Jesus Christ and in God who is my justice. You see, preventing injustice takes more than just trying to understand the logic and rational behind its occurrence (an impossible task if I do say so myself), it takes hope, hope that where there is justice there will also be NO injustice, and where there is love there will also be NO hate.

Since, and even before, the Holocaust there have been many genocides and other forms of immense human suffering, but that does mean genocide and other forms of discrimination are an inevitable part of human existence because this is simply not true. Gandhi once said that we should be the change we want to see in the world, but I implore all of you, my brothers and sisters alike, to be the justice you want to see in the world, and to be the love you want to see in the world. We only have one life to live, and I pray that you and I both chose to live our lives for good.

“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Anne Frank, November 9, 1942

Paix and Shalom

For more information about this amazing experience, please visit http://www.remembranceandhope.com/




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UDHR60

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Access to Health

By: Sheridy Leslie, Health and Wellness Editor


How does one determine who should have access to health, and for how long, and at what cost? These are some of the questions that arise when facing the growing international crisis, access to health.

What do we mean by access to health?

Health has been considered by many cultures and communities to be a basic necessity or right that every human being is entitled to regardless of nationality, religion, gender, or any other trait of diversity. However, like many other freedoms (i.e. freedom of speech, freedom of movement, etc.) access to health services have come to be controlled by a few at the expense of many.
The issues that have most commonly become associated with restricted access to health includes: Poverty, gender, underdevelopment, and stigma. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has most clearly addressed these areas by which access to health is often restricted in Articles 6 & 25 by highlighting every person’s universal right to life, health, and personhood free from any and all forms of discrimination .

In addition, this new century has brought with it many of the past problems associated to providing equal access to health for all global citizens, yet the world’s youth have been making significant strides towards reversing many of these problems. In particular, the United Nations’ Millennium Development goals have merged the spirit and intent of the UDHR and the inspirational drive of many of the world’s youth to launch thousands of projects, with hundreds of them solely devoted to goals 4 (“reduce child mortality”), 5 (“improve maternal health”), and 6 (“combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases”).

Together youth can and have made a difference in how the world responds to the call to ensure access to health for this generation and into the future.