Blog
In the fall of 2015, I gave a lecture, organized by the Jane Goodall Insititute-Canada, in Edmonton, Alberta—part of my almost non-stop tour around the globe. After my talk, there was a book signing and, as usual, a long line of people formed, waiting to have a few words, get…
As I sit here this evening I can hardly even believe that it has been three years almost exactly to the week since we began this endeavor and we have been working towards this incredibly worthy goal. I just want to express to all of you how incredibly humbled and…
It is the end of an era. I am recovering from a devastating heartbreak after ending a 15-year love affair… with an Alaskan Malamute. It was never ‘the other woman’ scenario as my wife embraced and loved Chloe as much as I did. In fact that dog was responsible for bringing…
Facebook Ayahuasca I went into the Amazon jungle outside of a Peruvian city; Iquitos (population close to half a million people) to discover what was behind the Ayahuasca experience that I have heard and read so much about over the past year. The Ayahuasca and chacruna mix is an ancient…
How quickly things can change, it was just over a week earlier we had Emma at the ‘Super Seven’ reunion with her pups and I thought she was fine. I could not have been a happier person seeing Emma & her now grown & gregarious babies play and frolic throughout…
Manno In the summer of 2013 I was scheduled to go to the northern part of Iraq, Kurdistan, to help a local vet who was starting up an animal rescue organization KOARP that was essentially his version of a Kurdish SPCA. Unfortunately I was unable to fulfill my obligation during…
One of the biggest complaints I had after I rescued seven dogs from the streets of Kabul in 2010 was "how about animals here? Why aren't you helping animals in your own country?" Well as far as I'm concerned, humanity, compassion and caring have no borders and have no limits.…
Some of you may remember while I was in Afghanistan last summer, a street dog had puppies outside of my guest house in Kabul. I fed Mom & her puppies & eventually took them in to get their shots & flea medication and to tried to save them.
Tuesday August 9, 2011 The sun shined a bit today outside Kinshasa 10:29 p.m. I'm in seat 1D aboard the flight from Kinsasha to Brussels via Yaounde, Cameroon. We sat on the tarmac awhile again. I sat in the business class lounge before boarding with Felix. Felix & I got separated…
Tuesday August 2, 2011 Nairobi, Kenya I had a really nice salmon & Caesar salad meal on an outdoor patio at The Norfolk, it was a good meal in a nice place but the service was terrible & I missed my wife. I could have gotten…
Rwandan terms Thank you – Murakoze (moo-rrah-KO-zay) Yes – Yego (YAY-go) No – Oya (OY-yah) Good day – Muraho (moo-RRAH-ho) Good morning – Mwaramutse (mwa-rrah-MOOT-say) Good afternoon/good evening – Mwiriwe (MWIRR-ri-way Good-bye – Mwuramuke (mwoorr –ah-MOO-kay) My name is ___ - Nitwa ______ (NEET-wah ______)…
Saturday July 30, 2011 I went back to the house, absolutely exhausted. I showed up at the Centre & they were just wrapping up supper & saying their goodbyes as Operation Groundswell are leaving the Centre tomorrow but are still in Kigali until Tuesday. We're all going to see the…
Monday July 25, 2011 9:12 p.m. I'm in Terminal 1 of the Addis airport in Ethiopia, and it was another colossal mess. I wish one thing on this country would be easy for me First of all Arsenal cab drivers car broke down so he sent his friends car,…
Saturday July 23, 2011 Rain & Thunderstorms tonight 9:10 p.m. I'm back in my room, I visited with Carolyn the older volunteer lady from New Mexico & Stephanie Crosby from Maine. It was a nice visit. I was treated to a great spaghetti meal at the school that I wasn't…
July 8, 2011 We turned into bed relatively early after eating supper & visiting with Tommy & Hannah. We are in a nice little camp ground that is more like a Canadian camp ground ( sans mosquitoes) we walked for four hours on this little path of desert past one…
Dear Ethiopian Airlines, On July 2 our Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa was delayed for some reason in Frankfurt. Consequently we were late making the connecting flight from Addis to Kilimanjaro. My wife Christie & I were among the first to arrive to the…
The other day in the office I sat & mainly listened to Yousef talk to Carlos, Aschiana’s lawyer, who comes from Spain. Carlos focuses on legal issues involving children’s rights here in Afghanistan. Karzai’s first request was that international forces leave by 2014. Many people here are expecting another civil…
As determined as I was to see the poppy fields of Afghanistan it appears as though it is not going to happen. Besides the fact that I couldn’t convince anybody to take me due to safety concerns as most fields are in dangerous areas. With 2 Americans kidnapped or killed…
We take for granted in Canada that women & girls can go to school without being slaughtered or have permanently disfiguring acid getting thrown in their face simply for learning how to read & write. That is true bravery. One thing many people should remember that our troop’s mission is…
Life is a confused entanglement here. And ultimately it is all about survival. Many people may be hedging their bets that we will leave & so they want to be in favour of extremist groups so if they come back into power they will be in good standing. For people…
The flight to Kabul was full and the passengers were a split between westerners all of which were well built menacing looking security contractors & Afghans. Surprisingly the Afghan girls were quite made up & dressed quite provocatively, when they boarded in Frankfurt yet they almost all had headscarves &…
Well I did it! I checked one more thing off life’s ‘to do’ list. Check out the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4U_XAaUEr4 When I was considering this endeavour I weighed my unquenchable thirst for adventure with my love of animals. I will say that there was no killing of the bulls in…
But the chief pride of Maui is her dead volcano of Haleakala--which means, translated, "the house of the sun." We climbed a thousand feet up the side of this isolated colossus one afternoon; then camped, and next day climbed the remaining nine thousand feet, and anchored on the summit, where…
Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz Alan Dershowitz ‘s Case For Israel was emotionally not easy for me to read. I suspect as difficult as Jimmy Carter’s ‘Palestine Peace Not Apartheid’ was for Israel's supporters to read. First of all, as you know I feel it is important to initially…
Factual perspective is neither newsworthy nor popular when people are in the midst of a mob mentality of fear but I'm willing to risk unpopularity in order to encourage people to be guided by science, reason, and logic. As you've heard me say so many times the key to finding…
Since I saw quite a few friends there I certainly welcome any corrections or discrpencies with their experience. I tried to remain as objective as possible. I would estimate 50-75 or so noisy protesters were exercising their right to free speech outside the Shaw Conference Centre carrying unwelcoming placards &…
1. Be thankful everyday that we live in Canada, because we have ALL won the lottery simply by living here & it seems that the whole world still likes us anyway 2. Certain Jewish Canadian bar owners are quite passionate about the State of Israel 3. I love the Quran…
The night before we left for Poland we went to Old Jaffa, where it was still in the high 30’s even at night. The ocean breeze at night in Jaffa was so so nice. Jaffa is just south of our hotel, a mostly Arab part of town with a very…
What an insane crazy day. We were up & had the nicest breakfast that anyone could imagine at the Carleton overlooking the Mediterranean. Then we headed off in our rental car. After struggling to find our way out of Tel Aviv with the worlds worst road map (but the worlds…
Tel Aviv is nice, lots of back backers here from all over the world. Actually there are quite a few hobos down here by the beach too. Tel Aviv at least down here by the beach reminds me an awful lot of South Beach in Miami. It really is nice.…
Well this morning the Big Beast of a Man Walid arranged a driver for me & I am leaving Deiheshe. I will travel to Tel Aviv via Jerusalem. Unfortunately Walid can not take me; no young men to the age of about 50 can cross into Israel or travel freely…
Still no water. I just returned from the Church of Nativity this evening where I saw this monk with a crazy wild dog 'Rambo' of course I went over to pet the dog & sat & spoke with a Franciscan monk, Leszek, who was looking after the dog. After talking…
With regards to the protests, it seems more for show than anything, is heartbreaking really.The Israeli's don't care as they have walled them in & only allow limited water supply once every 2,3 4 weeks, nobody knows. What happens is they have sistern tanks on top of their buildings. When…
The kids (especially the older ones) love to 'play fitness' it cracks me up everytime they say that with their thick accents. I am so lucky to have such an incredible group of older kids. Here there is no alchohol, no drugs, & virtually no pre-marital sex. Almost every adult…
The road barricade is down, but day 3 with no water. There is such a sense of community & cooperation here everyone helps everyone. Walid told stories last night of the 40 day curfew if one family had food they would throw food to their neighbors to eat. Mahmoud's Dad…
We have no water at Karama flat. With 5 guys living there & only a small container (I will send a pict) of water on the roof it goes pretty fast. Something simple as water can not be taken for granted. They may only get access to water once every…
Fellow Canuck George left this morning, we're all sad to see him leave. We just returned from Ramallah the Palestinian capital & it was incredibly informative. We drove to Ramallah & got through the checkpoints OK. We met with the spokesperson for the political party Fatah today & it was…
Since I am always the first one up & here I have been entrusted to the keys to open Karama, hence I get the internet here with no other traffic or volunteers needing the computer (I usually just go to one of 2 local internet cafes). The girls here…
Last night I went to a graduation celebration & it is not hard to miss after only a short time here that the Palestinains are fiercely passionate people, they love passionately the are passinate friends & hosts (it is difficult to walk down the street here without being pulled into…
Things are incredible here, we are going to Osama's graduation (a Karama kid that scored 75% or so on his exams) party tonight (men & women go at different times). My stomach is off, same as Africa, The group of volunteers are as really eclectic mix & a neat group,…
Back from a day at Hebron the city feels more like a fortress than a city it is crazy. Each city in the West Bank has A, B & C areas. The A area is Palestenian controlled, B is basically a no mans land controlled by both & C…
I got quite a treat last night I woke up in the middle of the night dripping sweat head to toe from the heat, I walked out to use the washroom & there was a huge 24 inch fan sitting there so it helped make things much nicer Not to…
Well who knew I was sleeping next to the local Mosque, at least in Freetown the prayers did not begin until 5:30 am...not here 4 am! I love it though you know you are not in Canada waking up to that haunting chant. I couldn't get back top sleep so…
HERE WE GO again nearly 4 hours of writing to you gone! I'm sure I've smoked the equivalent of a package of cigarettes with all the second hand smoke in here! I could almost cry, not sure if I'll be able to remember all I wrote but I will try,…
Rhema (on my very last day!) is up & fully functional on the internet!!!!! After my last internet cafe experience I came home to find that we're up & running 100% perfectly!! The Komora's got a computer that works for the school! Rhema is now in touch with the world!!!!…
I am at an internet cafe downtown.Ray & his new deputy Chief just dropped me off at the Special Court & I took a taxi downtown (taxi's here are quite different from home a taxi will fit as many people as he can in his car, dropping off & picking…
I have been treated to a night at Ray's for my last night in Freetown & do I ever appreciate it! It is so nice over here, a real breath of fresh air. we'll definitely have to treat Ray for our BBQ, he has been a godsend. I made my…
Kono was a conflict area in 2000 the war has ended nearly 8 years ago. The entire town (Mohammed says it's population is 7000, I would be surprised if it is bigger than Grand Cache) is based on the diamond trade. I perfer it here as I am not swimming…
Just arrived in Kono, Francis had one of his Christian friends pick me up at the bus station, I am staying at a place called Uncle Bens. I think. The room is like the Hitlon compared to other places here a double bed shower & everything! Unfortunately my second card…
I have given Rhema & the Komoras all that we set out to accomplish. We got water into the school, & although it took eight long, sweaty, smelly, crowded hours, it looks like we will have internet Monday! Only 6 days left on a trip of a lifetime. I shared…
I am at an internet cafe in downtown bust Freetown but I am living in the lap of luxury as this one is air conditioned & actually working!!!!!! Abrahams is not however (he is the 18 year old son of the Kamara's who accompanies me now that Collins is MIA),.…
I am at the UN Special Court ( the penitentary where the 8 RUF AFRC prisoners & court is being held) this morning in Ray's office. The internet is pretty quick here. Had a great night & morning I had another shower this morning & shave (now I at least…
Saturday's August 2nd 2008 I am e-mailing you from Ray's compound so hopefully I will be able to communicate with you a little bit, instead of the small crowded, hot internet 'cafe's' I've been trying to e-mail you from (after walking around to 3-4 places & 30-45 minutes to log…
