Protest Prorogation!!

I am amazed at how many people do not know what Harper has done! Proroguing is a routine part the parliamentary cycle, it is conventionally used by a government to come up with a new agenda, after they have completed, to the best of their ability, the goals set out in the previous throne speech. This is not the case with the current conservative government! They are using prorogation to evade questions on the Afghan detainee cover up scandal and in their haste to run for cover have discarded 36 Bills that were before parliament. Any laws that were in process, with the exception of private members’ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.

Here is a great letter that was written by Political Science Professors from across Canada:

http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/

Also,I was interviewed for this article in the Waterloo Chronicle:

http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/199580

Cheers!

Sweet Heart of Mine

Her gesture, motion, and her smiles,
Her wit, her voice my heart beguiles,
Beguiles my heart, I know not why,
Enriches life, my heart does Fly.

Check out this Blog...

My friend Matt and his girlfriend Angela have moved to Taiwan for a year or so, they are adding pictures as they go!

Working Hard for your Money

Getting some tips from Hard working construction Workers in Kumasi!!

Travelling through Ghana left me with feelings of Guilt when I compared our circumstances in Canada. The poverty was numbing in its appearance and scale. After awhile you almost did not notice it quite as much. I guess you just got used to it.

It is not that people do not want to work, it is that there are not many jobs that pay well. People are doing whatever they can to make a living. Most people derive a substantial part of the income from relatives living abroad. Recently I read that due to the current economic situation across the world foreign remittances have fallen by 16%. Combining this with a drastic currency depreciation of 25% and you can imagine that life is getting a little difficult for people! What would you do if your income fell by 41%!

Oh and don't forget about the price increases of food.

Here are some interesting statistics:

- The World Bank has estimated that the crisis has set back the battle against poverty by seven years, with an additional 44 million children suffering permanent physical or mental impairment because of rising malnutrition last year.
- An estimated 73 to 103 million more people will fall into poverty because of the global economic crisis. .
- The number of hungry people in the world is projected to hit a record this year – more than a billion.

I do not know what I or you can do to make this better. I just had to write about it becuase it makes me feel small.

My Favorite Kid Picture

We were walking through Patrick's family neighbourhood (Asenemaso)when we took this picture. As we got out of our car we started to hear "Obruni" coming from all over. People were coming out of thier houses to stare at us and the kids started following us as we went from house to house to say hello to what seemed like an unending supply of relatives. You had to be careful walking as it was almost like a path but with rocks and debris where you did not expect it. Lizards scooted out everywhere, some were really beautiful and others were camaflouged nicely against the walls.

The kids in this picture were the bravest!

Family Picture!

Patricks Father (Samuel Ampofo), Brother (Isaac Akowuah), Patrick and his mother (Marta Achiaah)