Ria Voros’ debut novel uses a special relationship to explore the grief of a child whose parents were killed in an accident
For thirteen-year-old Jakob, the summer is looking pretty bleak. A few months before, he was in a car accident that killed both his parents, and though he can’t remember exactly what happened, he can’t stop turning it over in his mind. (more…)
‘Dying with dignity’ has been supported by many members of Unitarian Fellowships across Canada—for over thirty years
It’s your life and it should be your choice as to how and when you die. That’s what British Columbia resident Gloria Taylor believed. That’s why Taylor, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease, took her case for the right to die to the B.C. Supreme Court. She won that battle. Now, Gloria Taylor has died, of natural causes. Gloria’s mother, Anne Fomenoff, said of her daughter’s passing, “Gloria was able to live her final days free from the fear that she would be sentenced to suffer cruelly in a failing body.” (more…)
Rais Bhuiyan forgave the man who tried to kill him in a hate crime, then campaigned to save him from the death penalty
Ten days after the September 11th attacks in the U.S., Texan Mark Stroman entered the gas station where Rais Bhuiyan was working, asked “Where are you from?” and then shot him in the face. Rais, who is from Bangladesh, was one of three victims shot during Stroman’s revenge attacks on “Arabs,” and the only one to survive. (more…)
Gloria Taylor is given the right to physician-assisted suicide but observers expect the federal Conservative government will challenge the ruling
A recent British Columbia court ruling has struck down the law that makes physician-assisted death illegal in Canada. The June 15, 2012 ruling [opens to PDF] found that the current law violates the constitutional rights of the three plaintiffs, including Gloria Taylor, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease. The landmark legal challenge was launched by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. (more…)
‘It’s different now,” a new social marketing campaign says, as warnings to ‘high-risk groups’ become yesterday’s news
This year’s 2011 World AIDS Day campaign is about “getting to zero”—zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths. The campaign is set to run until 2015.
An estimated 65,000 Canadians are living with HIV—with perhaps 26% of those people unaware of their HIV status. It’s one reason why Vancouver Coastal Health says that every adult who has not had an HIV test in the past year should have one the next time they have a blood test for any reason. (more…)
With counseling and ceremony, Stephen Jenkinson has for a quarter century been guiding individuals, couples, families and communities through all the human sufferings, sorrows and confusions in life. He is a Harvard-trained theologian, a sculptor and a traditional canoe builder. Stephen is also the subject of the National Film Board documentary Griefwalker, a lyrical, poetic portrait of his work with dying people. (more…)
