Famine in Yemen

By Dylan, Molly, Mickayla and Maddy

In Yemen, there are around seven million people on the brink of famine as yemen is war-torn. 45% percent of Yemen’s medical treatment centers such as hospitals are still in tact and the other 55% are shut down. Aid agencies are now warning that Yemen’s already catastrophic humanitarian crisis could soon become a “nightmare scenario” if Saudi Arabia does not ease the blockade of the country’s land, sea and air ports. This is a huge eye opener as this shows us how bad 3rd world countries can be and how much they need help from the ones that can. The interesting part about this is Yemen has tons of food, enough to feed everyone, but with the war all the prices have been doubled so nobody can afford to eat as it is near impossible to find a job in Yemen right now because of the war. This relates to our group because we are working to help solve world hunger so hearing about stories like this help us spread awareness and it helps us give real life stories that are happening now so then more people understand and are more willing to help us take action.

References

Iona Craig in Aden, Sana'a, Taiz and Hodeidah. (2017, November 12). 'Only God can save us': Yemeni children starve as aid is held at border. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/millions-on-brink-of-famine-in-yemen-as-saudi-arabia-tightens-blockade

We Have It In The Bag!

Blogged by Kyla, Mady, Sarah, Ethan and Hunter

We have officially gotten the ball rolling towards educating our school about Good Health and Well-Being!

This past Wednesday, our group sat in our school’s foyer and sold Mental Health Care Bags. The bags contained homeade stress bags, holiday crackers with jokes and trinkets in them, as well as mental health statistics and coping mechanisms for students. We are selling them for two dollars each, and are sending all the proceeds to Indigenous reserves in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Indigenous reserves in Canada are going through a crisis at the moment; 126 of 100,000 male and 35 of 100,000 female Indigenous people take their life every year (That is roughly 5x higher than non-Indigenous Canadian). Their mental health is dwindling, that’s why we’re sending the proceeds to reserves in Nova Scotia!

If you would like to support our cause, we will be selling our Mental Health bags for $2 at lunch from November 21st to the 25th!

References

Indigenous Suicide Prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.suicideinfo.ca/resource/indigenous-suicide-prevention/

A Recurrence of Avoidance

Blogged by: Molly

Recently, data was released proving that the Federal Government was aware about mercury spreading to the soil in Grassy Narrows. Previously, there had been a problem with mercury poisoning from water, fish and other substances. Problems such as these have caused many health issues to the citizens of Grassy Narrows, the results have been fatal. There have been injuries, brain damage, death, and a complete alteration of their daily lives. Although it has been announced that 85 million dollars will be spent over the next ten years cleaning out the mercury, why would the Government not have done anything as long as 55 years ago? The Government has been avoiding issues regarding Indigenous people from as long as the Residential School System. The first formal apology was from Stephen Harper in 2011, a whole 15 years after the last school was closed. This would never be acceptable in a place like Toronto, things need to change.

Picture Reference

Ontario should take action on Grassy Narrows: Editorial. (2016, June 03). Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/06/03/ontario-should-take-action-on-grassy-narrows-editorial.html

The Consequences of Someone Else's Actions

By. Rebecca

Grassy Narrows and their history with mercury poisoning has motivated me to find out the actual side effects and long term disabilities that come with mercury poisoning to truly understand what these people are going through due to selfish behaviour. During my research I learned that the most proper name for mercury poisoning is elemental mercury toxicity. Having high levels of mercury in your system can result in muscle twitching, insomnia, tremors, weakness and decreased cognitive functions. Learning just how many symptoms people suffering from mercury poisoning have to live with is especially shocking when you realize that they have to deal with them because of the actions of others. The people affected by the poisoning were simply trying to eat from their number one food source, when a factory had poured the mercury into the river, causing the people of Grassy Narrows to be poisoned. Overall, the effects of the mercury poisoning are substantial, and in the case of Grassy Narrows, the people did not have a choice but to be affected by it.

References

News, C. (2017, February 28). 'Super-high' levels of mercury still leaking near Grassy Narrows, report suggests. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grassy-narrows-old-mercury-report-1.4001775

Think of the Children

By: Hunter

I get it, sometimes you get stressed and need a smoke or a drink. Sometimes you would rather take the elevator, and sometimes you get Mcdonalds because it's down the street and you don’t have to cook it; but if you choose these things everyday you might be unhealthy.

I’m not going to go on a spiel on the effects of being unhealthy because we have all heard it before. I want to talk about how you being unhealthy effects your family and friends.

You might think that your smoking or drinking or unhealthy eating habits don’t affect others. Secondhand smoke causes approximately 7,330 deaths from lung cancer and 33,950 deaths from heart disease each year. But i'm not just talking about the physical effects, you are also affecting their well being. Your family is there when you get sick, they see the pain you're in, they see you getting weaker and not being able to do the stuff you love, they have to pay for your medication and treatments and then finally they have to deal with the lose when you pass away at an early age.

I know how they feel, I was a child watching my grandfather dying in front of me because when he was young he smoked cigarettes. I watched him pretend he was okay when nurses opened his chest and when he had many heart attacks. I watched as my grandmother cried because he passed away to soon at the age of 61 one month from his 62nd birthday. In his defense he had heart issues already since he was born, which was in 1946, he started smoking because of family trauma at a very young age, and he quit smoking in 1997; but his smoking lead to a chest infection and for his heart to get worse. Because of this, I didn’t have my papa while I graduated grade 8, when I got my driver's licence and he won’t be here for me to graduate high school or for me to follow in his footsteps and join the military. Be healthy so you can be there for your family as long as possible.

References

Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects-of-secondhand-smoke.html?referrer=https://www.google.ca/

Climate Change is Happening!

By Bethany and Presley

        Today more than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries  have issued a global warning that states “There needs to be change in order to save earth” when a warning like that is issued to the public from over 15,000 scientists from almost every country in the world, it should not be ignored and should be recognized by all humans, if they care about our future. So why are people ignoring? Besides warnings, nothing environmentally catastrophic has happened to our area.

     Although we don’t see these changes, it doesn't mean they aren't happening. Facts and stats don’t lie, the amount of carbon dioxide is higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. Did you know that burning one gallon of gasoline puts 19.64 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the earth's atmosphere, thus contributing to climate change. Think about how much gas we use for our cars, or how much your parents use. It all adds up.

References

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.ca/search?q=climate+change+pictures&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ3N6GlcHXAhWk54MKHWVuAuQQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=621#imgrc=c32EazTlrJhuaM:

Taking Action

By Jordan, Chris and Cory

    Did you know that harmful minerals like led can be found in many Canadian reserves water systems? Our group is working towards Global Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation. We think is important that everyone has the right to clean water.

Raising money to put towards our global goal has been an ongoing challenge for us, we need something effective that can actually make a difference while still keeping close to the subject and remembering why we are choosing this subject. We have been tossing around many different ideas and have come to the conclusion of doing freshwater snow cones because it is both convenient to us, regarding our subject and circumstances. We believe it will be effective in raising money and awareness for our cause. We think that it is more about spreading the awareness for the subject, yes raising money for a good cause is a great way to take action but it's more important to make sure people are educated and know what's going on with other people.