Making a difference Former Douglas student has a speci By Garth McLennan, Acting Staff Reporter here are approximately 15 million starving people currently living in East Africa. While it is almost impossible for anyone to significantly lower that number on their own, Carli Travers and her husband Robert are doing their part to help, one child at a time. It was just four years ago that Carli was a student here at Douglas College, enrolled in the Social Service Worker Diploma Program. Urged into it by her mother, decided to take part in a trip to Uganda through and it changed her life forever. “T always wanted to help people but I didn’t quite know how. I ran for school board and in provincial and federal elections, but I wasn’t really sure of what I wanted to do,” said Carli. “My mom told me that I should take Worker Program at Douglas but I wasn’t sure about it. I kind of said ‘no, I don’t really need to do that’ but I ended up in it anyways.” Carli applied to the pilot project her program was offering to Uganda, and travelled there with three other students. She had no idea of the amazing effects it would have on her life. “As soon as we touched down in Uganda for the first time I knew I was home. I mean, the culture was just people were wonderful,” Carli recalled. She soon met her future husband, Robert, a Ugandan native who was a self-described ‘street kid’ for seven years before getting help from friends of his father’s. After her trip to Uganda was over, Carli returned to Canada for five months, but yearned to go back to Africa. al connection to Uganda of their own. Two are biologically theirs while Juliana, Benjamin, Martin, Vanessa, Christie, Godance, Marjorie, Douglas and Sandra have all been adopted from some of the most horrendous of circumstances. All of their adopted children have been quite literally rescued from the slums of Uganda and the war ravaged regions of the Congo and Rwanda. Some have even been sexually abused, abandoned, beaten and half starved. Carli soon the program, the Social Despite their troubled backgrounds, Carli and Robert’s children have adapted and are on their way to a future that would certainly have eluded them without the kind of love and help given to them by their parents. It is that kind of help that Carli, Robert and Abetavu want to give to as many children as possible. They have said that their dream is to have 10 acres of land in Uganda where they can help and house as many kids as possible for their school. To make that dream a reality however, they are asking for help. “We want to help children be what they want when they grow up and be happy doing it,” Carli said. “The need never amazing, the ends.” “T wanted to go back almost as soon as I got back to Canada. My parents said that I could go as long Christmas. So I left for Uganda on December 26",” she said with a laugh. Carli and Robert soon started up Abetavu, a school of sorts dedicated to providing some of the most underprivileged and in need children in the world with basic food and education. Abetavu began with a maximum goal of teaching 20 children. Today they have 93. Carli and Robert are also the proud parents of 11 children as I stayed for DMI Ministries 32171 Ashcroft Drive Abbotsford, B.C V2T 5C7 Donations of money or clothing can be made to: Ol H1N1 advisory A second wave of the now notorious swine flu is expected to hit schools during the 2009- 10 school year. As such, students are being advised to take certain precautions and keep themselves well informed of the situation. If you have any kind of flu, please stay home until you are completely symptom free and only go to your doctor if you remain ill after a few of days of home recovery. _ Getting a doctor’s note may not always be possible but let your teachers know if you are staying home with flu-like symptoms. Douglas will be compiling absentee data to report to the Fraser Health Authority. Please note that illness does not excuse you from class work. To view Douglas’ plan for dealing with an HIN1 outbreak, visit: http://www.douglas. be.ca/hin1-flu-virus html#protect_myself. If you think you may have HIN1, call the HealthLinkBC line at 811. Carli Travers Week of the Coach at Douglas Week of the Coach is a week-long celebration of community coaches open to Douglas students and staff. September 21-25 is dedicated to the recognition of these people who help inspire so many. The week’s events will include guest speakers, open sport practises, Q&A sessions with student coaches, as well as an Investors Group Community Award. No registration is required. For more information and complete event listings, visit http://www.douglascollege.ca/coachweek. DouglasisHere.com open for submissions A blog for the Doulas community goes online join the conversation By Kristina Mameli, Acting News Editor relatively new project by Douglas’ Atte and Communications fice is DouglasIsHere.com, affectionately known as “Doug.” Doug is an interactive blog open to postings from Douglas students and staff intended to help unite the Douglas community online. The idea began simply enough. “We started working on putting together an online edition of the employee newsletter,” said Lori Kittelberg, a writer and media specialist within the department. “We sort of batted ideas around about what sort of format it should be in and we started to talk about the potential there was to create a blog for the Douglas community, 4 rr mainly for students.” Kittelberg maintained that this blog is a little different from the traditional. “It’s not just one person posting their own opinion all the time. We like the idea of having a more casual format that really invites people to submit their stories to us in their own words, rather than it being a more traditional reporter type style.” As technology develops and changes, there is a push to adapt and change with it. “With Facebook and Twitter and whatnot coming into play, we saw a lot more potential with blogs; we saw them as working together,” said Kittelberg. “Students really seem to source information on their own, and this gives them a tool to be able to do that in a very quick way. The way things are now, most of us have story. our email, Twitter or Facebook, open all “T’d like to get a really good cross the time. So it’s a really nice fast way for section of students submitting to it; people people to get a response and I think that from all faculties. Right now, I’m sort of helps foster a sense of community.” trying to focus on what’s happening within The potential of the blog is limitless, the next week,” laughed Kittelberg of plans as Kittelberg explained. “It’s really open. to expand the blog. “That would be a great The one thing I love about having this blog start.” is it really opens up having more photos and having video as well.” The stories featured on Doug are mostly human interest and are told in a very relatable first-person way. They range from a woman being inspired by a Douglas student to make the move from retail to school to encouraging students and staff to volunteer. Everyone in the Douglas community is encouraged to share their If you'd like to submit your story (approx. 200 words), photos or videos, email Kittelberg at douglasishere @ gmail.com Check out http://www .douglasishere com) for more information