been busy getting ready for can. crossroad international's (cci - place i volunteer) fundraising auction. it has been good for me in many ways. i've been involved in work that i want to do as a career and love it. before going to japan to 'teach' i had considered becoming teacher. i quickly realized that teaching wasn't the profession for me. however i LOVE the ngo 'scene' and know this is the career for me. i've also met lots of people working in the field. there ARE jobs out there and i can't wait to get one of them. it also feels good to give back to the community.

yesterday i attended a regional meeting for cci. they had a woman from swailand there who works at an hiv/aids shelter. according to her, 40% of pregnant women in her country are hiv/aids infected. almost 50% of the population is affected as well. (i checked the unaids website and it said 33% between 15-49 years of age were infected) she explained the social, economical and psychological implications of this reality. she also said that the best thing for us to do to help in the fight against hiv/aids was keep our statistics down. currently 2% of canada's population is affected. it seems like such simple advice but the way she spoke was anything but simple.