midweek edition WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12, 2011 Vol. 102 No. 3 • Established 1908 • West
19
SweaterLodge warms museum United on court
21
Dentist will walk three days in Iraq for orphans Walkathon joins massive Muslim pilgrimage Naoibh O’Connor Staff writer A Vancouver dental surgeon heads to Iraq next week on a humanitarian mission to raise money for Iraqi orphans. Dr. Asif Tejani is a member of a six-person team, including four Canadians and two Americans, who will walk from Najaf to Karbala on behalf of Child Aid International, a nonprofit founded in 2004. The walkathon is billed as a three-day, 90-kilometre “walk for life.” Each year, a procession of Muslims travel to Karbala, a Shiite holy site southwest of Baghdad. “We will be participating in part of this
walk, so we will be with millions of others as they make this journey. The only difference is, in addition to having the physical and spiritual dimension, there will be a humanitarian component to it as well,” said Tejani, who hopes to personally collect at least $20,000 for the orphans. The group’s collective goal is $100,000. The federal government has warned the group it’s not safe to travel to the troubled region, but the team isn’t dissuaded. “[The government has] strongly urged us not to do something like this. They understand the drive behind a walk like this, but they caution us, in very strong
words, not to undertake such an endeavor,” explained Tejani, a staff dental surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital. Tejani is familiar with the region, having been involved in humanitarian work in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and he believes the walk will create awareness about the plight of Iraqi orphans and the difficulties they face. “My interaction with Iraq stretches back to when it was under embargo by the UN and people unnecessarily suffered. These people, who have lived through decades of a brutal dictatorship under Saddam Hussein, followed by war, See CHARITY on page 4
Olympic Village houses disabled B.C. Housing adapted suites Cheryl Rossi Staff writer
Asif Tejani will walk from Najaf to Karbala on behalf of Child Aid International, a non-profit charity. photo Dan Toulgoet
Tessa Schmidt knew she’d become a media “poster child” for low-cost suites at the Olympic Village. The 19-year-old woman who has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair moved into her new home New Years Eve. Schmidt moved from living with her parents on Vancouver Island, to GF Strong
Rehabilitation Centre for three months, to six months of accommodation in a suite in an accessible building on Clark Drive. She needed to vacate that suite by the end of the year. Schmidt heard of social housing at the Olympic Village at the start of December, but was told there were no accessible suites. Two weeks later, B.C. Housing called her back to say it had adapted suites available there. See SUITE on page 4
YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.VANCOURIER.COM