ncolsmith

I hesitated over whether or not I would write a blog entry about Canada's current political situation. I have a lot of opinions about what has gone on on Parliament Hill this year, and of course since the election in October. But I have decided, at least for now, not to write them out, mostly, because I don't want to get myself all rilled up again by writing all of my anger and frustration down. There is just one thing that I will say. Canadians don't like leaders who are nice guys. That, above all other things, I think has been made evident in the last 2 months. Good guys get a really bad shake in the race to be Prime Minister. I say this because that is what I see happening to Stephane Dion. I, ... read more

The craziest thing is that, as I get ready to go home, the time you would think would be the most exciting and least stressful, I seem to have stress coming out the wazoo. At the beginning of November, as the countdown really started, I felt great. The knowledge that I would be back in Canada in a ridiculously short amount of time was making me feel almost euphoric. All of the lonliness and all of the struggles with culture shock seemed to disappear and I felt 100% content and happy. None of the things that bug me about Filipino culture, about Baguio City, about my life, seemed to exist anymore. I guess that was the weightless feeling you get before a big fall. That lasted for a wonderous couple of weeks, and then, without warning ... read more

Dear Friends, As we further the search for our missing colleague, Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) founding member and indigenous leader James Moy Balao, the CPA, along with the Balao family and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), again appeal for your support by joining us in an International Day of Action to Surface James Moy Balao on November 28, 2008. This day marks the 72nd day of James’ disappearance while November 29 is the International Day of Human Rights Defenders. As advocates and defenders of human rights, let us take action on the said dates by paying tribute to human rights defenders around the world, and seek justice for the victims of human rights violations and enforced disappearances such as James Balao. The International Day of Action involves primarily the simultaneous sending of letters of concern ... read more

Yesterday, because no one else was available, I was asked to present the Cordillera human rights situationer to a couple of Norwegen interns. The presentation for the Norwegens went really well. Turns out I know what I am talking about. But since I have never really hosted the interns before I wasn't sure what else to do with them. Since we were finished the presentation by mid-afternoon, I decided to take the girls for a walk around Burnham lake, one of my favorit spots because of it's campy swan paddle baots, and then for iced tea in Vocas, a hippie restaurant with awesome atmosphere. The conversation was initially about human rights and the situation in the region, a continuation of the presentation I had given them in the office. But as iced tea stretched into the ... read more

Those of you who are uncomfortable with stories about mentration, stop reading this blog right now! However, for the sake of writing down some of the funny things that happen to me to balance all of the really emotional entries, I am going to write this anyway. For multiply reasons I decided before I came not to have my period at all while I was in the Philippines. Now this has been a very interesting 11 month experiement. In the initial months it lead to me having low grade pms every 3 weeks. Combine that with the emotional rollercoaster that I was feeling in the first few months of my internship, and there were times that I am sure my host probably thought I was at best weird, and at most nuts. However, my body quickly ... read more

Today, November 17, marks the second month since James' abduction. We held a whole day of activities for the occaison. In the morning we traveled by caravan to different public places in La Trinidad, the capital city of the Procvince of Benguet, to hold programs. Our intention was to inform more people about James's work as an indigenous rights activist and his continued disappearance. In the afternoon we held a long program in the centre of Baguio City for the same reasons. The pubic market in La Trinidad was the last stop for our program in the capital city. It was an important stop for the program, because it is the trading post for all of the vegetables in the province and is always very full of farmers and transporters, middle men, vendors and shoppers. We ... read more

James had not been missing for seven and a half weeks. I am not sure if the campaign has slowed down or if I am just becoming more acostumed to the pace, but things seem physically easier now. Emotionally this is still hard. Although it is also now easier to think about other things. I think about coming home, about where I am going to do my Masters, if I will be able to pull off a road trip this coming summer... and only from time to time now does reality break into these thoughts. That is the beauty of human beings I guess, that we are able to think about other things, that we have this ability to distract ourselves from reality long enough to be able to survive reality. We received information from a ... read more

As a true political junky I was given the best possible gift today. My coworkers allowed me to stay home all morning and watch the CNN converage of the US election results. Being 12 hours ahead of the coverage I crawled out of bed early, cooked myself a big breakfast and watched the last hours of November 4th unfold in the United States in my pajamas. And I admit, I was stunned as I watched more and more states come in blue. After watching the NDP loose time and time again at home, I didn't really believe that Barak Obama could pull it off. Now the Liberals reading this can stop huffing, I did not just comparing Jakc Layton to Barak Obama. It's not a leaders thing (although it is understandable these days if Liberals don't ... read more