GuluWalk 2006 in Vancouver

Today I walked a few kilometres with a few hundred people in Vancouver to raise money for the child night commuters in Northern Uganda. These children walk long distances every night to find a safer place to sleep in the larger towns, away from the very real risk of abduction leading to a life as a child soldier or sex slave with the Lord's Resistance Army.

Thanks to a number of kind donors, I was able to raise $158.

I met up with my friend Kath and a bunch of strangers at UBC at 2pm and we got to Trout Lake Park just after 3pm. There was a big drumming circle which was pretty nifty.










My friend Dennis who, like Kath, went to school with me in England was there:




And, of course, Kath was there:




Dr Erin Baines, a Research Associate at the Liu Institute for Global Issues (where I work, but we've never met) who has done some great work on transitional justice in Northern Uganda (read this for more info), was also at the opening ceremonies and gave a moving speech.






My favourite photo from the day:




I didn't take any photos during the walk itself as we were confined to the sidewalk in a very long, thin procession, which didn't make for very good camera angles.

All in all it was a great day, though very tiring, and I got to meet a bunch of cool new people too!

AUS Whistler Retreat etc

It's been a long time since I've put anything up here, owing primarily to my busy schedule but partly due to lack of interesting goings-on in my life. This past long weekend, however, I got to go up to Whistler with the Arts Undergraduate Society for a retreat. Essentially, we went up there to party and get to know each other. After all, we'll be working together for the next 6 months!

We had a great time, stayed at the UBC AMS Whistler Lodge and had all our meals and transportation covered by the AUS. The food was plentiful and delicious and we even had a scavenger hunt in Whistler Village.

I definitely got to know my fellow AUS councilors a lot better over the weekend and had heaps of fun in the process. We definitely all owe a huge thanks to everyone who helped organize and run the retreat. In particular, AUS President Stephanie Ryan and AUS VP External Avneet Johal for really putting a tonne of effort into the whole thing. Thanks guys!

Stephanie:



Avneet:



We got back to Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, and I headed out to Bowen Island a few hours later to meet up with my family. I spent the night with my window open about 20 metres away from the waves crashing on the shore below, then spent today rowing a couple times and eating massive amounts of turkey and veggies at lunch and supper before coming back to Vancouver on the 8pm ferry.

And now it's time for bed.