Page 23 - On the Trail of Elizabeth May

ISSUE : Issue 53

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1990/1/1

their being so sloppy. They haven't followed up on the deaths--massacres--of many Indians. And the deaths of priests who (died) working with the Indians, and so on. So we had what could have been a very tense and unpleasant situation, was absolutely.... I mean, I never went to Woodstock, and I don't know what going to,Woodstock was like. But in a sense this was a group high. They deliber? ately didn't translate things into English be? cause they didn't want the government to be able to say that this was just something put on by environmentalists from rich countries. And we were actually--the Canadians were the largest contingent. The Kaiapo village we were invited to one night--you have this traditional village of huts, with naked women crouching down, turning fish on spits, and children running around-- the most extraordinarily beautiful children-- wearing body paint. Arid it's really funny-- people wearing body paint don't look naked. And feathers. And just a mob of people in this traditional Kaiapo village. And in the middle of this there is a knot of about 200 reporters with cameras and mikes and sound booms and the whole thing. And in the middle of that is Sting, a rock star. And all of them knowing that this was a major event to stop the dams.... (Or, to not stop the dams....) Yeah. The local people from Altimira were more split than I'd thought. We were originally told that we would not be welcomed by the people of Altimira-. We were originally told that our hotel rooms had all been cancelled, that we would be likely not to have a place to stay. The Church was sponsoring the event, the Catholic Church. So they were saying that we could maybe sleep in a school that they had. And that it could ac? commodate several hundred foreigners, but there was only one bathroom. And this was be? ginning to sound pretty grim. But we headed down anyway. We were also told we'd have to bring all our own food because the community wouldn't be able to feed all these foreigners. But sometime be? fore we arrived, the community of Altimira de? cided to really accommodate this thing. They laid in a new sewer line to the town. They did mammoth amounts of work to accommodate for? eigners . And we ended up staying in a perfectly lovely hotel. I mean, it was really nice-- pleasant, clean hotel. And there was plenty of --well, there wasn't always quite enough food, but we didn't have to carry all our own.... And we found that a good proportion of the people in Altimira didn't want the dams. And through the process of the protest taking place in Altimira. a lot of people were con? verted, to decide they didn't want the dams. They really had an open mind. And even though it would mean lots of jobs during the con? struction phase, a lot of these people hadn't seen any maps of what would get flooded. So suddenly, some of the people were saying. "But that's my farm that's going to get flooded." So a lot of people switched sides during the event. Even the people who were in favour of the dam would do things like--one of the fel? lows, a young student who was with us was tak? ing pictures. And a man came along, well- dressed local man. And through sign language more than anything else persuaded him to come home with him. This was a man who wanted the dam, he ran a lumber mill. And he took Bill on A Message From The Minister International Literacy Year 1990 will be an opportunity for member countries of the United Nations to focus on literacy needs within their own boundaries and throughout the world. The achievement of literacy remains a primary aim of education in Nova Scotia. We also recognize that literacy, in Canadian terms, embraces a broad range of communication skills and abilities. For adults acquiring literacy and other skills through continuing education classes, the Department of Education hasl-ecently amended its requlations and funding base. In future, funding will be related to the adult population in the school district This will greatly assist school boards to offer more classes in basic skills where needed. Every avenue must be explored if we are to achieve our aim of a fully literate population. I welcome the expanded working relationships with other government departments and agencies that are being established by continuing education administrators in association with the Department of Education. These co-operative efforts will help serve the basic education needs of various sectors from correctional institutions to senior citizen centres. Last year, 4500 adult Nova Scotians were enrolled in adult basic education classes in the public schools. I wish them and their instructors every success as they work together to meet the challenge of International Literacy Year. Nova Scotia ??' Department of Education Honourable Ronald C. GIffIn, Q.C.

Cape Breton's Magazine