| New Mount Royal College program hopes to address nursing shortage
Mount Royal College has introduced a new program that will help nurses who received training overseas become certified to work in Canada.
The program, which will take between four months and a year, depending on the students’ language skills and practical knowledge, will start this September.
Christine Boyle, co-ordinator of the new program, says it will help address the nursing shortage in Calgary and will make it easier for foreign-trained nurses to work in their chosen profession.
Homeless soccer players to compete in South Africa
Three homeless Calgarians will be competing for Canada at the 2006 Homeless World Cup in Capetown, South Africa from September 23 to 30.
John Gagnon, Adam Vernon and Mike Morgan, who play for the Calgary soccer team the Downtown Dogs, were selected as part of the team that will represent Canada at the games. At least 48 teams from around the world are expected to compete.
Esau, a coach and counsellor for the team, who asked that his last name not be used, says the opportunity is "fantastic."
"When they come out and play sports it’s something for them to look forward to. They don’t have to worry about their problems. They can run around and do their thing and it’s inclusive," he says. "The competition’s good for the health benefits, for the mental benefits. They’ll be playing a lot of games so they’ll be in a healthy state of mind."
Esau, who is an employee at the Calgary Drop-In Centre, has been coaching the Downtown Dogs since May and says he looks forward to it every week. He’s noticed that the soccer team has helped players make major life changes. One of the players, who is bipolar, has moved out of the Drop-In Centre and is now living with his girlfriend.
"You really see a change in people," he says.
The Downtown Dogs are seeking donations so that they can afford to get to South Africa to compete. Donations for the team can be made at the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Calgary NGO helping to save endangered mountain gorillas
The endangered mountain gorilla is about to get some help from a Calgary non-profit organization called Light Up the World Foundation (LUTF).
LUTF brings inexpensive solar-powered lighting systems to impoverished villages around the world. The organization has started a new project in villages in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo that are adjacent to the Virunga/Bwindi Gorilla Reserve. The reserve protects 700 mountain gorillas.
Kim Veness, chief executive officer of LUTF, says gorilla habitat is threatened due to wide-scale deforestation mainly caused by poor local people who cut down trees for cooking and for light in the evenings.
"If you were to see the parks in all of the three countries, they are farmed right up to the fence. It’s really important for the gorillas to have that habitat preserved."
LUTF plans to provide lighting to 4,000 homes starting this fall using solar-powered white light emitting diode lighting systems. Solar panels are used to charge batteries, which then provide light for four or five hours in the evening.
"It helps them out economically almost immediately because they will have lighting for cottage industries," he says. "This is one of the best tools to hand people that I’ve ever seen. It really helps them develop their own economies and helps them help themselves."
LUTF has found that bringing effective, inexpensive lighting systems into poor villages also improves child literacy because children are able to read after dark, says Veness.
LUTF has also started a new project in 10 villages in the Peruvian Amazon where it aims to install lighting systems in 200 homes, 10 schools and 10 community centres by the end of 2007. |
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