curieux

Les exclus d'aujourd'hui

«LES EXCLUS DAUJOURD’HUI»  (05Mai2008-par :Gilles Leblanc)

Aujourd’hui les exclus de ce monde sont les mêmes que ceux de l’époque du ministère terrestre du Christ. Encore maintenant, son message fraternel sur l’amour et le nouveau mode de vie qu’il nous propose, nous sont offert gratuitement. Qu’importe notre mal de vivre, nos maladies physiques ou mentales, ou nos rôles de victime. Son pardon, sa simplicité, sa bonté, sa compassion et son sacrifice supportent encore les faibles, les souffrants et les malades. Bref, les sans espoirs et les mal aimés.
Pour le monde dans lequel nous vivons, les divins miracles ne suffisent plus. La confession catholique n’est plus en vogue depuis une trentaine d’année au Québec. Elle a été remplacée par des intervenants en santé mentale, équipés d’une grande diversité de médicaments psychiatriques. Ces nouvelles ressources ont développées, dans la deuxième moitié du vingtième siècle, une considérable quantité de méthodes d’interventions thérapeutique. Les individus fragilisés, vulnérables, très sensibles et dépendants affectifs, se voient mis à l’écart des autres pour de mauvaises raisons. Ils sont; maniaco-dépressifs, schizophrènes, personnalités limites et souffrent trop souvent de troubles d’anxiété qui leur occasionnent des problèmes de comportement.

Les variations de l’humeur des bipolaires sont disproportionnées, voir extrêmes. Elles vivent avec difficultés les évènements du quotidien. Travail, famille, amis et finances sont aux nombres de celles-ci. Hospitalisations, faillites et ruptures de relations peuvent les attendrent au tournant. La phase dépressive est caractérisée par la tristesse de l’humeur et le ralentissement général des facultés. La phase maniaque fonctionne inversement. L’humeur s’exalte et les facultés s’accélèrent. Il y a aussi Les phases mixtes, mélange entre les deux phases précédentes. Malheureusement un bipolaire (maniaco-dépressif) ne peut échapper aux symptômes de sa maladie puisqu’elle est héréditaire. Une médication bien dosée peut  permettre l’atténuation de trop grandes instabilités (inégalités émotionnelles). L’instance médicale qui prescrit les médicaments, offre habituellement un suivi à la personne atteinte. Même si les médecins en psychiatrie sont relativement compétents, ils font parfois des erreurs sur le diagnostique du client qu’ils soignent.

Les personnalités limites sont souvent colériques, impulsives et accusatrices.

Human Trafficking

Some us jumped in on a conference on human trafficking that took place in Montreal this weekend. Since my exposure to this issue had up to now been only a couple of CBC/PBS documentaries, It was a real eye-opener for me.

DID YOU KNOW:
27 million slaves exist in the world today...    2 million people are trafficked each year...     UNICEF sestimates over 1 million children are sold into slavery each year...     80% of trafficked victims are women...     Most victims are under 18 years old...     Annual revenues of the slave trade are estimated to be $32 billion and quickly surpassing drugs and weapons as the biggest criminal enterprise. NGO's estimate 12 - 15,000 people are trafficked to and trough Canada each year.

Here are come clips from the movie - CARGO: INNOCENCE LOST by Michael Cory Davis which we saw Saturday night.

DECEPTION

DEMAND

Here are some links you may want to follow if you want to investigate this issue
www.catwinternational.org Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International
www.ijm.ca  International Justice Mission Canada
www.thefuturegroup.org  The Future Group
www.stopthetraffic.org Stop the Traffic
www.freetheslaves.net Free the Slaves
www.ecpat.net End Child Pornography and Trafficking
www.polarisproject.org Polaris Project
www.sharedhope.org Shared Hope
www.chaste.org.uk Chaste
www.iabolish.org I Abolish

Justice Jam

More Videos of Shane Claiborne

The Elders...

Out of deep concern for the challenges currently facing all of the people of our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu have convened a group of elders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the world's toughest problems. Check out this video of the announcement.

Kiva Update

Here's an update on the micro-loans that curieux contributed to with the money from our summer garage sale (decluttering) event. Through the umbrella organization Kiva (www.kiva.org),  we distributed $400 in loans to 4 women entrepreneurs - 2 in Nigeria and 2 in Cambodia. Below, you can read a bit about them and their businesses.  Our money was combined w/ funds from other Kiva lenders  (sometimes w/ 20 or so lenders contributing small amounts for each loan.)  The monies were distributed in early October, and all 4 women have already made the first installment in paying back their loans.  When a loan is fully repaid, we'll have the option of re-investing our money in another small business.

Along w/ the money we have relayed to these women, let's also try to open a compassionate place in our hearts for Philomena, Alice, Yim and Phorn, and send along some prayers of blessing and hope for their families.

"I am proud to have been a LAPO member for five years now," says Mrs. Philomena Igudila. She is 39 years old and is married and mother of four children. She lives in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Philo sells food items to people in her community. She needs a small loaUS$ 400 to boost her business by adding to her inventory. She has been in this business since 1994.

Mrs. Alice Ebako is 48, married, and has six children. She sells bread and provisions to earn her living. She needs a small loan in the amount of US$ 400 to enhance her business, i.e., buy more bread and provisions for resale. This will enable Alice to earn a better living as well as taking better care of her family. She has been a faithful and trustworthy member of LAPO for the past 7 years.

Mrs. Yim Srey Mom is 27 years old and lives with her husband and 3 school-aged children in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. (This is a picture of her husband because Mrs. Srey Mom was unavailable.)  To support her family, Mrs. Srey Mom sells live fish in her community, which enables her to generate around $5 in income each day. Her husband is a worker and makes only $2.50 each day.

This loan is vitally necessary to them and will be used to expand Mrs. Srey Mom's fish-selling business as well as to fix their house in order to keep it from leaking during the rainy season.

Mrs. Phorn Sokhum is a 36-year-old mother of three children and works selling food and some grocery products to the people in her community, where she can typically earn around $ 4 each day. Her husband is self-employed as a construction foreman and also works as a farmer, earning only a meager sum.

Mrs. Phorn Sokhum has recently applied for a loan to expand her inventory by adding more grocery products and invest in her business to grow it.

Red...the new color this fall

Here's a couple of things on the color red.

1. “Product Red is a brand that partners with companies such as American Express, Apple, Converse, Motorola, Gap and Giorgio Armani. The companies produce products with the (RED) logo, giving a percentage of the profits from the sale of the products to the Global Fund. Many of the clothing products are actually made in Africa, adding fair trade industry to several regions.

(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA, to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT) RED-branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT) RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa. www.joinred.com

Check out these videos: why I made a red video and the red video. And the (red) blog

2. Red-Letter Christians...taking the words of Jesus seriously. Could this US phenom spill over into Canada?

Interview w/ The Psalters

Aaron Weiss from Philly

Avenue du Parc

The name of a street is a witness to the identity and history of a neighbourhood. To change a name primarily for political reasons without consulting the residents is an imposition lacking of respect. The Mile End district has Park Avenue as its major artery. Please add your name to this petition and support the local committee. Thanks,

Pierre

http://causes.ca/duparc
We need your support.

We firmly believe that with the great number of signatures we have received (over 7,500 now), we can have the city officials change their mind. Our goal was much smaller than this, but we now believe that we can reach 20 000 signatures, a number that would have a significant impact on our elected officials. We would be very thankful if you could simply tell your Montreal friends and family about the petition. If you have a little time, you can send this message:

Save Park Avenue! Petition! If you believe in this please sign the petition, send along to your friends, otherwise apologies for the disruption. http://causes.ca/duparc

Thank you for your interest in this cause.

Also check out - Petition on the Web