Weyburn Review - July 13, 2016

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Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Vol.107–No. 28 • 18 Pages $1.25 (Includes GST)

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40069240 Publication Mail Registration No. 09093

Opinion • 2

Ag, Oil & Business • 6

Sports • 8

Obituaries/Classified • 12

Making a difference in Afghanistan By Greg Nikkel Jeff McMurdo is working to make a difference in Afghanistan, as he helps ensure his agency will save lives in the long run as they seek to make the country a safer place to live. For the past two years, McMurdo has been the program manager for the United Nations Mine Action Service Office based out of the capital of Kabul, Afghanistan. The work can be intense and very busy, he said, but it is “more on the level of security and life and death. Their futures are in the balance, so you feel privileged to be involved in that. The work is really interesting, but it’s very satisfying too.” He grew up in Moose Jaw, but has a brother, Barry, and a cousin, Duane Schultz, who both live in Weyburn, and his grandfather came to Weyburn when he settled in Canada. Jeff was in Weyburn for a visit when he took some time to talk about his work. Asked how he got involved in this project, McMurdo said he first visited Kabul in 2001 when he was working for a non-government organization (NGO), which was an international organization concerned with the migration of internal refugees within Afghanistan. “I had always wanted to go back,” he said, explaining he began travelling when he was 22 years old, and felt he would like to be involved with international development and worked with the NGO for

On a UN mission in Afghanistan

Photo 11298 — Jeff McMurdo

Jeff McMurdo, the program manager for the United Nations Mine Action Service Office in Afghanistan, is shown at a project site near the Salang Pass north of Kabul in Afghanistan where he is working to coordinate efforts to eradicate land mines from the war-ravaged country. This was taken while he was on a road mission shortly after arriving in Afghanistan in August 2014. He has lived in Kabul for two years, and took the position after having served there in 2001 with an NGO in Afghanistan. about 10 years. For the last seven years, he has been working with the United Nations, and took this position when it came open. “In the last 40 years, I’ve lived in Canada maybe 12 years,” he said, noting he hasn’t lived in Canada since 2000, but will return here in about four years time. In his United Nations position in Kabul,

he works with the Afghan government coordinating technical support, advisory support and fundraising support, working with 140 national staff and six international staff, with six regional offices around Afghanistan. Canada is the second largest donor to the landmine eradication program after the United States. McMurdo is proud to

note that the effort to find and eliminate land mines is a mostly Canadian-led effort, and has been noted globally, with other international de-mining efforts following their lead, and modelling their program on the UN’s program Afghanistan. When they began, they were the most mine-contaminated country in the world, but they were also

the first to begin the effort to clear and remove land mines. Now, with about 78 per cent of the known land mine fields cleared, they rank about the fourth-most contaminated country for land mines. “There were so many people getting killed by mines, they realized they needed to do something very quickly,” said McMurdo, noting that as for-

eign military forces were reluctant to come in and do it, the United Nations stepped up and said they would start a de-mining program. One of the problems they’ve encountered is the constant discovery of more minefields, which is keeping the 22-per-cent uncleared number static as they get more to clear. Continued on Page 5

Local students enter videos in Young Citizens program By Greg Nikkel Three Weyburn students who had entered a local and regional heritage fair have joined with 200 others from across Canada to post videos on the Young Citizens program through Canada’s History Society. Nation-wide, the students are from Grades 4 to 11 who had outstanding Heritage Fair projects, and they used video cameras to interpret the history that grabbed their attention. From Weyburn, Kent Shumlich, Gracie Renner and Abbie Hayward were among those chosen to take part in the video series posted online at YoungCitizens.ca. Unlike most other young citizens competitions, Kent’s video was always part of his original heritage project on the Sask. Air Ambulance service. “I had a goal to win the digital award and I thought that making a TV show would help me win it,” he said. The digital award goes to a project that shows use of technology and excellent communication skills. “I like using technology and I like making little videos anyway, so it wasn’t too hard for me,” he said. The idea for his topic on the Sask. air ambulance came from a trip to the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw a few years ago with his family. They saw an old air ambulance (the CF-SAM) and the family was surprised that an air ambulance service existed way back

in the 1940s. The idea was filed away as a good topic for a heritage project as they knew Kent would eventually have to do one. Kent said, “I also love planes and I am really interested in them and I kind of want to be a pilot, so it was fun to learn about.” When Kent presented at his school and at regionals he

His project made him appreciate Canada because “it shows that we want to help everyone in medical trouble, and even though it was a hard service to have we did it because our province cares about us.” He added, “We still have people way too far away from big hospitals and they would be in trouble without this service. We were the first air ambulance service in the world and we should be really proud of that.” Grade 6 student Abbie Hayward did her project on the CBC, as she feels this is an invaluable service to the citizens of Canada. “My project describes the importance of the CBC in telling the stories of the Canadian people,” she said, adding that the national broadcaster is a part of who we are as a country. “It broadcasts to give Canadians a sense of comstudent Kent Shumlich mon Canadian identity. If Canada did not have the found that many people CBC, our national identity would not be the same,” didn’t know about the province’s current air ambulance she said. services. Everyone knows about STARS but not many Abbie was able to visit the CBC studios in Regina as knew the service has airplanes too, so he thought he want- a part of her research, and they were able to help her out ed to add to his “TV show”. with her video project as well. He got in touch with the air ambulance in Saskatoon She was given a tour of the studios by on-air personaland they offered to give him a tour, where he filmed the ity Jill Morgan, and saw both the TV and radio studios, second episode of the show. as well as meeting the executive producer of the news. “They are amazing people,” said Kent. Continued on Page 5

Even though it was a hard service to have, we did it because our province cares about us.

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