Travel
Kasenya and Lacey tour a remote Chinese village. (Laverne Bissky)
The Vietnamese orphanage run by Buddhist nuns didn’t have a volunteer program, but they appreciated our offer to help and welcomed us openly. We spent our first morning playing games and singing songs with the children. Then, we were served a special lunch of vegetarian delicacies. After helping to wash dishes (over 200 children live at the orphanage) in huge aluminum basins filled with cold well water, we were shown to a room with beds so that we could take a nap like everyone else in the orphanage. This was not what we expected.
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Belonging

In this, the third of our series from the Belonging Initiative, John Ralston Saul advocates for a circular approach to inclusion and community. The following is excerpted from his keynote address for the PLAN organization’s 20th anniversary.
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People
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Being born without arms has never stopped Jessica Cox from doing anything she sets her mind to. She swims, bikes, surfs, scuba dives, tap dances and has two black belts in tae kwon do. She is also an accomplished and certified pilot.
By Floyd Allen
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Sexuality + Relationships

Growing up, Bonnie felt like an outsider at her elementary school and considered herself “extremely ugly and different looking,” a belief that carried over into her teen years and adulthood. Her disability set her apart from others, and it didn’t help that she couldn’t find any role models in mainstream culture. “The media had nothing in terms of disabled people except human-interest stories, which really didn’t talk about being adults,” she says, adding that her summers at a camp for persons with disabilities were the only times she felt normal. “I was even popular.”
By Scott Bremner
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Travel

It is our last night at Sinchicuy Lodge in northern Peru. It is early November, near the end of the dry season. The setting sun turns the haze from forbidden charcoal cooking fires into a ruddy pink. Sitting in my wheelchair in our flat-bottomed boat, gliding past submerged logs and debris, I feel like the Amazon queen.
By Lynn Atkinson
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Health + Activity

Like millions of other Canadians, did you resolve to improve your physical fitness in the new year? One way to make your goal a reality is to take advantage of the resources available at fitness centres in your neighbourhood.
By Megan Purpora
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Social Policy

From Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, international.gc.ca (No. 99 - March 11, 2010 - 11:15 a.m. ET)
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, today announced that, with the support of all provinces and territories, the Government of Canada has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at United Nations headquarters in New York City.
“Canada is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and enabling their full participation in society,” said Minister Cannon. “Ratification of this convention underscores the Government of Canada’s strong commitment to this goal.”
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Accessibility

Visitors to the home of Frank and Sharon Palermo are struck by the beauty of the house – open-concept design, hardwood floors, granite countertops and maple cabinetry in the kitchen, a deck off the dining room and another off the kitchen. The entryway is flooded with light from windows lining the four-storey stairwell that circles behind a central elevator. How decadent – an elevator!
By Veronica Leonard
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Human Rights

Government of Canada is presently conducting consultations on Canada's ratification of the Convention.
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Work + Money

When you shop at more than 700 online merchants, a percentage of your purchase can support our work - with no extra cost for you. All you need to do is click through our http://caf.we-care.com and then shop from the merchants you use every day
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