June 2018 - Page 2 of 3

News June 18, 2018

Is gaming disorder a mental condition?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially listed gaming disorder as an ailment people suffer from and would need rehabilitation to cure.

WHO describes gaming disorder as having “impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

They added that in order for the disorder to be diagnosed, those suffering would need to exhibit a pattern of severe behaviour that would impair their family and social lives or negatively impact their education.

Video game addiction is not unheard of and several cases have popped up throughout the years. A couple in 2010 neglected their child while obsessively playing video games. They were raising their virtual child, Anima, in a game called Prius Online. Meanwhile, their real daughter passed away from malnourishment and neglect. In 2015 a 32-year-old Taiwanese man died after a three-day gaming binge, which made him the second gaming-related death in Taiwan that year.

One of the more recent cases follows the story of a nine-year-old girl who was brought into rehabilitation for her Fortnite addiction. It was reported that she was playing for up to 10 hours a day and had even wet herself during a binge to avoid having to log off. Her mother expressed to Sunday People that she wasn’t aware of how addicted her daughter would be when allowing her to play.

Though WHO and various psychologists believe that gaming disorder is a sensible mental condition, gamers on Twitter were quick to shut the idea down. Many Twitter users and gamers specified how they spend 20 hours gaming a week and how classifying gaming as a disorder opens the door for more unjustified disorders.

Of those to express their concern was American wrestler Xavier Woods. He wrote on Twitter that “If this becomes a thing then it sets a precedent for anything to become a disorder. Reading too much, watching the world cup too much, hanging out with your spouse too much. At this point anything done too much that someone doesn’t get = a disorder.”

Other online personalities like Ben Broman (better known as ProfessorBroman online) wrote on Twitter that “[…] instead of raging at news organizations about reporting on this “gaming disorder” report, offer to educate and inform them about your passion and the good things gaming does on a daily basis. We control the conversation, we must do it in a respectful way.” Various studies have concluded that video games help children’s cognitive behaviour by improving multitasking and external functioning. Studies have also discovered that video games treat amblyopia and helps children overcome dyslexia.

WHO explains that the reason gaming disorder is included in the Revision of the International Classification of Diseases is because of available evidence and the general consensus of experts from around the world. They also warned that those who play video games for excessive periods of time should monitor how long they play and any negative changes to their mood or physical health.

What's Hot June 17, 2018

The development cluster-fudge in Toronto

The public would be utterly shocked if they knew the length of time it takes for a building development to get approval from the City of Toronto planning department. The 9-month window that government has designated as the appropriate window of time for project approval never gets met. A report done by the C.D. Howe Institute shows that municipalities ignore this time window. In Toronto developers were forced to take projects to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in order to get city planning to respond to them. Even with the OMB approval, most projects still took between 3 and 4 years to work their way through the planning department.

With the disbandment of the OMB, developers are scratching their heads and wondering who will hold municipal planning accountable to a time frame. No longer can they appeal to the OMB for help. With no accountability the approval process will likely climb to 6 or 7 years.

The provincial government announced the formation of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) but their power is limited to issues around conformity to local or provincial plans. The goal was to give more power to the local municipalities, but decision makers seem to have ignored the fact that planning departments have ballooned in scope without the extra investment by local governments.

Like any government agency the planning department constantly fights the urge to expand their reach into the public sector, and haven’t had much success in Toronto. The planning department has inflated their authority far beyond the role of ensuring buildings are safe and built to code. Unbeknownst to taxpayers the planning department has taken on the role of architecture and design supervision – a role that belongs in the private sector. Few city planners have a full education in architecture or design and yet they have spread their authority to a point where they can completely change the architectural designs of a building. The amount of time spent by Toronto’s planning department doing work that should be done by the private sector is costing Toronto taxpayers millions of dollars, not just in wages, but in housing costs.

Another problem with this expansion of authority is that when a public servant starts choosing the shade of beige they want for a wall (yes, they do this in Toronto) or imposing the shape, size and design of a building (they think it should match everything else around it) they go beyond the scope of their education or ability and no one can stop them. They literally dumb down architecture in the city and truly magnificent buildings never get built.

In Toronto the process of getting a building development approved is a complete cluster-fudge of repetition, with the plans moving between so many city divisions and external agencies (building, roads, parking, water, heritage, etc.) with each having their own silo of authority.

The problem with this overreach of authority is that it adds time (years) to the building approval process, and time has a direct cost that is added to the cost of housing.

The more time a developer has to put into upfront planning the more expensive the overall cost of a building

As more time gets added the more likely it is that developers will choose not to develop. Add to this the fact that development charges in Toronto have nearly doubled over the past year and the cost of housing dramatically increases. Now add in the fact that property prices in Toronto have skyrocketed and it is easy to see why housing prices have increased so dramatically. Time is the real culprit. Toronto planning must refine the process a development application goes through, and city planners need to curtail their desire to weigh in on design and architecture (which they are not educated in) and focus on the job of ensuring buildings are safe and built to code.

The bottleneck of development applications at city planning today is increasing and slowing down construction of new homes all across Toronto Toronto’s new Chief planner, Gregg Lintern, has quite a challenge ahead of him. Not simply because the approval process needs a complete overhaul, but also because there is a “closed-door” culture running rampant at the planning department. It breeds an “us against them” mentality that pits city staff against the city’s development industry. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Lintern is able to change the culture, reach out to stakeholders, and make the changes that will impact housing affordability. If he simply carries on with the status quo and allows even more time to be added to the development approval process, he will push the cost of housing even further out of reach for average families.

Recipe June 15, 2018

Tastes to try in Colombia

Showing up in Medellin, Colombia, an adventurous traveller best be ready to get a good taste of local flavours. From its traditional recipes to its fresh, tropical fruits, Medellin doesn’t come up short when it comes to offering visitors delicious flavours. When I first visited the city in the spring of 2016, I fell in love with the flavour of a crunchy, beef empanada with a cold, refreshing beer on a hot afternoon. Now, two years later, I live in the South American city and my list of favourite foods and drinks has grown. Below, my recommendations on the most mouth-watering menu picks that a tourist simply can’t miss out on.

Trout: For me, you can’t go wrong with an order of trout in one of Medellin’s traditional restaurants. Always one of my go-to choices, the trout here is fresh and filling and in a region of the world that skews towards rich, red meat mains, trout is a great lighter option when the appetite isn’t raging.

Buñuelos: To a Canadian, these spherical, doughy treats look like Colombia’s answer to the timbit. These deep-fried desserts are a great morning treat with a cup of coffee or, when peckish, they make for a great on-the-go snack. The region where I live – Sabaneta – is known for having giant buñuelos. Just don’t make a habit of these treats… they don’t exactly score a lot of health points.

Aguardiente: Don’t dare leave Medellin without having a proper night out with friends and shots of aguardiente. This local spirit tastes a lot like black liquorice and will be found in every single bar. Those from Medellin will say it’s supposed to be shared with friends so make this known to pals ahead of time.

Empanadas: For me, empanadas are the perfect snack after my morning Spanish class. The novelty from two years ago never quite wore off…

Guanabana: Personally, I feel this spiky, green fruit looks more like an alien than the delicious fruit that it is. Guanabanas are large, nearly watermelon-sized fruits that are delicious in juices or smoothies. Flavour-wise they taste tart but slightly coconutty at the same time.

Chicharron: Boarding the return flight home from Medellin without having tried chicharron would be a terrible mistake. This fried pork belly delight graces the menus of most authentic Colombian restaurants. Bacon lovers won’t know what hit them.

Limonada de coco: In my opinion, this is the best beverage on the menu. Period. On a hot day, it’s a refreshing drink to sip on and it’s worth the extra pesos. When done right, a limonada de coco is creamy like a milkshake with the zesty, tartness of lemonade.

Women of the Week June 13, 2018

The Intuitive activist ~ Danielle Da Silva

Danielle Da Silva’s photos do more than entertain the eye‒ they provoke the mind. Scrolling through her portfolio is an experience that pulls at your core and demands your attention. Each compelling image tells a story of the people she’s met, the places she’s been and the moments she’s lived; a journey, which she says, was guided by none other than intuition itself.

As a photographer, filmmaker, conservationist and activist, Danielle has catered her career to producing stories that rouse interest and inspire change. In 2009, she founded Photographers Without Borders (PWB), an organization that connects visual storytellers with grassroots initiatives, nonprofits and non-governmental organizations around the world. She is the sitting CEO and, since PWB’s creation, has connected over 175 storytellers with over 175 organizations, all the while addressing all of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in over 35 countries.

“Storytelling helps us visualize and imagine new possibilities,” reads a quote from Danielle on her website. “That way we can manifest new realities.”

Growing up, Danielle says she was always filled with a burning sense of curiosity. Having a Portuguese mother and a British father of Indian-Pakistani descent, she said, prompted her to carry forward a quest of identity that was passed on from the generations before her. Her circumstances manifested into various solo travels at a young age, but it wasn’t until 2008 when she visited Kerala, India and worked with the Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission that she was truly propelled on a path of self-discovery.

“I took photos the entire time I was there and produced these amateur images that people seemed to really like when I came back. And that kind of struck a chord in me,” she said. “With those images, we were able to raise money to build nine schools in little villages. And that was a huge indicator to me of the power of storytelling.”

With no real formal training behind the lens, Danielle’s knack for photography came about rather organically. Following her trip to India, she was urged to pursue this apparent gift, and slowly, she began to merge her newfound passion for storytelling with her education in science and global development. Her work was met with a strong momentum, and has since carried her to more than 80 countries working with humanitarian groups that assist women, children, marginalized communities and conservation efforts.

In 2016, after a trip to Indonesia with PWB, Danielle co-founded the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary, which works to conserve rainforest habitat near the Gunung Leuser ecosystem. That same year, she also co-founded a local non-profit called The Dandelion Initiative, which, after witnessing cases of harassment in her field and experiencing the trauma of assault herself, advocates to end sexual violence through community action.

Throughout this dynamic journey, she’s mastered six languages and garnered the inspiration for two powerful TED Talks. But, the real goal in each of her ventures is to produce a narrative that evokes something visceral. “My photography is very, I think, unsettling sometimes…and I find that that’s something that’s really necessary right now. We’re so overloaded with information and imagery…and I think that my images make people look twice,” she said. “I think that can have an impact on people’s emotions, how they view different situations in the world and how they view their relationships to them.”

Danielle believes that it’s this exact push and pull between photograph and viewer that can reshape perspectives and breed positive change. Her motivation for setting the stage, so to speak, is rooted in her intuition‒ a natural, instinctive feeling that tells her what’s right, she said. Using this guiding force to navigate through the world, she hopes that her content continues to shed light on her own self-discovery, and not only inspires the communities that are featured through her work, but also other female storytellers who are awakening to the true potential of their art.–

“Don’t let anything get in the way and always follow your intuition because we [women] have a very strong sense of it. It’s something that a lot of men don’t have or have to work hard at, and I think that that can really be a good guide,” she said. “Using that intuition will help you flourish and thrive, and reimagine what the industry can be.”

What's Hot June 11, 2018

Ruthless packing

Before the busyness of the holiday season hit, I had made up my mind: I was going to leave Toronto. I had booked a plane ticket to Colombia and on the first week of December, I gave my landlord his two months notice. I had moved in as a university student in the summer of 2012 and after five-and-a-half good years, I was leaving.

I planned my year of work-travel abroad on the sly for some time but in the weeks that followed, I was putting my plan in action. My dream quickly became a reality and so, with two months to leave the city, I learned how to pack up my life, tie up loose strings and leave.

It was a steep learning curve for me. And, as it turned out, a lesson in ruthlessness both in getting rid of old things and also in slicing out the unnecessary schedule demands. When faced with a deadline to leave the city, I simply didn’t have time or physical space to accommodate the excess I had allowed into my life for years. Thinking back on that time, I see there were a lot of lessons that shook out of the clutter.

When I said my move was a lesson in being ruthless, I meant it. In the weeks of downsizing, I’d regularly block off short sections of time to toss out anything I didn’t see myself using in the future. That whole “If it doesn’t bring you joy, get rid of it,” piece of advice from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is true. I know because I put it to the test. When packing up your whole life and leaving, I learned, there are some items you just can’t take with you: old university papers, doodles from five years ago, unused and unflattering makeup, the dozen t-shirts that are used only as pajamas, highlighter pens.

As I started to declutter, my ruthlessness gained momentum. The high-waisted short shorts that were just that bit too small became history. Those wedges I always regretted buying? Goodbye. The hand-me-downs I had half-heartedly accepted also went straight into my bag of to-be-donated goods. Know those desk drawers that seems to just collect unwanted junk? I tossed it all. Old bathing suits? Gone. Mismatched socks? Gone. The magazines I would one day read? The stationery from an ex-boyfriend? Non-functional pens? I ditched them all.

Slowly, I could breathe again. And my decluttering sessions became cathartic. I loved my apartment but now that I was abandoning so many of my things, I came to like it even more. So, I started to apply this attitude to more than just the material.

Like my apartment bedroom, my schedule was filled up with things I didn’t need – or want. I did to the flakes and the shouldvitation (read: a non-genuine invitation) culprits what I had done to my junk: I cut them out. We all have the folks who always, to no avail, suggest perhaps getting a drink or a coffee because “we should catch up!” Well, when left with eight weeks in a city that was my home for nearly eight years, the patience wears thin. It’s funny how once under pressure, I did the thing I always should have done: I stopped letting it all in.

Of course, I kept the clothes, the shoes and the books that I adored. I kept race medals that had special memories attached. I made one-on-one time for the people I am closest to whose friendships I value and I had a going away party where I invited all of my favourite people. I had less but I was happier. In Colombia, my possessions are the tip of the iceberg compared to before. It’s for the better. I knew I’d learn a lot from my year away, but as it turned out, that started before I even left.

What's Hot June 6, 2018

Election 2018: how many seats needed for majority?

Majority government = 63 seats ~ Official party status = 8 seats

If liberals drop to under 8 seats they could lose official party status and be relegated to the back getting little meida coverage, no coverage for research or stakeholder outreach or a causus service bureau. They could go from the governing to having little say in any of the decisions for the next 4 years.

There is an annual subsidy that goes to each part of $2.71 for every vote cast for them. If the Liberals drop to just 20% their funding would drop from approximately $5Million to just $2.5Million

With 124 seats available a majority government needs to win 63 seats. If the PC party wins with less than 63 seats they will have to form alliances and work to ensure they don’t lose confidence in the house. In 1985 this happend when PC Frank Miller won the general election with just 52 seats; David Petersons Liberals won 48 seats and Bob Rae’s NDP held 25 seats. Miller lost confidence in the house and David PEterson formed an accord with the NDP – the Liberals formed government for two years on condition that they impliment a number of the NDP policies.

A minority PC government could still be pushed aside if the PCs can’t gain support and work with the other parties – an me thinks a PC government under Doug Ford will have a very hard time getting support from any party.

What's Hot June 6, 2018

Don’t like camping? Try glamping

With summer around the corner and school coming to an end, it’s time to make some travel plans that fit everyone’s expectations: The nature and adventure junkie, and the comfort and luxury lover.

I’ve always liked the idea of camping and my experience of it in my 20s was positive so much so that I would have gladly repeated the experience if my other half were more agreeable with it. Camping is simple and inexpensive way to travel and experience a new place. All you need is a tent, a sleeping bag, a knapsack with clothes to last enough days, toiletries, cooking supplies, and off you go. Well, if you like that sort of experience, great! But what if your partner in life and travel is not into roughing it? No worries! If you don’t like camping, how about glamping?

Glamping is becoming popular especially with families, people with high income and the over 60 crowd. You can find glamping sites everywhere across Canada and around the world. The demand is high and so is the offer.

Simply put, glamping is glamour and camping combined. Glamping is the perfect compromise; the camping lover will not have to renounce their need for adventure, love of nature, and experiential travel while the luxury lover won’t have to throw a wrench by demanding style and comfort. Glamping is camping with the comforts of a four-style hotel. When you “glamp”, you ditch the traditional tent that needs assembling each time you use it. Instead the options are: A barn, a hut, a cottage, a lodge, a tent, a teepee, a yurt, a villa, a treehouse, or a wagon; in any case, a very comfortable, fully-furnished, often elegant and uniquely decorated unit. Proper beds, queen or king size, guarantee a good night sleep. Units come with electricity or battery powered outlets to charge your phone, use your hairdryer and so on. On another note, if camping evokes the thought of toilets located under the stars, put all worries to rest. Glamping sites provide fully functional bathrooms with hot and cold running water, showers and or tubs.

Like all respectable campsites, glamping sites offer entertainment to all heart’s content with activities such as zip-lining, axe-throwing, wine tours, to name a few. It’s all about connecting and embracing whatever the area has to offer. As for dining, some sites come with fully equipped kitchens if you don’t mind cooking, some offer the most demanding food junkie a fine dining experience to taste the flavour of fresh and local ingredients.

It’s good to know that just like all vacation options, glamping is for all budgets, from the most affordable to the most upscale. So, do your research and surely you will come up with the alternative vacation that works for you, your family or friends. I am doing mine and leaning very much towards a glamping experience. So, taking the liberty to conjugate the verb, I say: I am glamping this summer!

Politics June 5, 2018

Oh Doug Ford what would Rob think?

Mr. Ford your first duty is to take care of your brother’s widow, there is no situation where you can ever shirk that duty – even if you really, really, want to be Premier!

Renata Ford and her children were driven to seek legal councel in her fight to gain what she alleges is their one third inheritance in Deco labels, as well as funds from the late Mayor’s life insurance.

The lawsuit alleges that despite Doug Ford’s focus on his political career he has continued to take “extravagant compensation” out of Deco even though the family business is losing money. The statement also claims

“Doug Ford knowingly and deliberately put (Renata and her two children) in a highly stressful and unfair financial position during their period of grief after Rob Ford’s death, and continued to do so for more than two years after Rob Ford’s death.”

Mr. Ford what would your brother Rob think of you now? He asked you to take care of his wife and kids; he made you trustee of their inheritance and he believed you would do right by her. To have let your relations with her get to the point where she was driven to seek legal help is disgraceful.

Our prayers are with Renata Ford and her children. It isn’t easy stepping out publicly against Doug Ford. He will do all he can to discredit her, and claim her accusations are completely false. He won’t openly call her a liar after strutting her out on his campaign – so he insinuates that she is. Doug Ford has a history of discrediting women who tell the truth. That he is now attacking Rob Ford’s widow is disgusting… and shows a man so ambitious he would destroy his own family.

The lawsuit further claims that

“Deco was worth $10-million when founder Douglas Ford Sr. died in 2006 and he had amassed personal investments worth between $15-million and $20-million. The company is alleged to have lost more than $5-million over the past six years”

No one can know what goes on behind the Fords’ front door, but the fact remains that Rob’s widow Renata has had to turn to the courts to receive what she alleges is one third of the family business and his life insurance.

Today conservative supporters have to face the fact that the character of their leader might have some serious flaws and begin to question him.

Has Doug Ford lied to his supporters about his personal success as a businessman?

Has Doug Ford taken a salary from Deco labels that he didn’t earn and thus robbed his brother’s widow and children of their rightful inheritance?

Doug has attacked Renata Ford, suggesting that her allegations are untrue, his words work to discredit her. His actions are of a man so desperate for power that he seems to have forgotten his first duty is to protect and care for the widow and family of his late brother Rob. We urge Doug Ford to step down, to take the time to settle his chaotic family issues, and allow Christine Elliot to take the helm.

However we know that ambitious men rarely do the right thing. It will be up to Conservatives to decide just how low they are willing to go to support a conservative mandate. We encourage them to take a look at the Green Party platform before voting, it has some very smart and strong conservative economic policy issues within it.

Editorial June 4, 2018

Green isn’t just a dream

The Ontario election is just days away and with so much up in the air there seems to be a vacuum when it comes to smart government leadership. Moderate voters looking for balanced leadership are wondering who to vote for.

As I sit on the GO train heading back to Toronto, I’m reminded of all the transit work the Liberal government has done over the past decade. As a transit advocate I know that they did their best to build as much as possible. But Wynne let a lot of people down in Toronto when she refused to approve the tolls Mayor Tory’s council asked for. Tolls that would have been dedicated to funding transit expansion and relieving some of the enormous debt burdening our province.

I spent the weekend carefully analysing all the platforms – and the quality of the party leaders. My experience as a candidate opened my eyes to the control and power the leader has over the rest of the party. Don’t be fooled by those who suggest you can avoid the leader and vote for the local candidate – the leader has total control over what the party does in government.

As a long-time Liberal I was surprised to hear Wynne give a concession speech this weekend, and I wondered why she wasn’t fighting to the very end. I have to admit that she pushed me to look outside the party for other options.

Who can moderate liberals realistically vote for?

After checking the positions each party put forward I have to admit that I was impressed with the support of the relief line that the NDP have touted as well as the huge list of all the other transit they plan to support. But read through the entire platform and their ability to pay for all the items comes into question. There are literally hundreds of special initiatives the NDP promises to make, as if trying to give each and every voter something. With promises so extensive, delivering on them would be impossible, and the level of debt it could bring on is worrisome. I admire Andrea Horwath. Her character and contribution to this province is without question, but I worry over the lack of fiscal accountability the NDP platform reflects.

Looking over the Conservative platform I also see a lot of promises without any clear explanation for funding them. Add to this Ford’s suggestion of selling the Greenbelt – which could devalue house prices across the GTHA – with his retraction of this policy, and it’s obvious he has little understanding of economic forces. Doug Ford has a somewhat shady history – who can forget the ease at which he lied publicly about his brother never touching drugs? He lacks integrity, and I worry he’ll make backroom deals that would threaten the open and just system of balanced government we have achieved in the last decade.

By chance I found a printed copy of the Green Party 2018 election platform left on a bench at the Burlington GO train station. I read through every page and found it both a smart and a balanced platform that doesn’t over promise, and has a clear and concise explanation of how their initiatives would be paid for.

The Greens are the only party openly willing to consider using tolls or congestion charges to create dedicated transit funding. As well, Green Party leader Mike Schreiner told me that the relief line is their top Toronto priority. I’ve known Schreiner for years. He’s consistent, steady, smart and dedicated. Just the sort of leader Ontario so desperately needs. Anyone who has done their research will note that the Green party also has some of the best local community candidates in the province.

The Green party platform points out the serious transit issues that commuters have, with the average daily commute in the GTHA sitting at 80 minutes (equivalent to eight 40-hour work weeks each year). Gridlock costs the economy $11.5 billion in lost productivity and congestion delays in trucking cost Canada $650 million per year. The Greens plan to invest $1 to $1.5 billion per year and fund 50% of the operating costs of municipal transit systems – which would be a huge relief on our local municipalities – and they plan to pay for it all by implementing revenue tools such as congestion charges, parking levies and land value taxes, which will raise over $3.9 billion per year.

With so many people wondering who to vote for in this election I’m guessing the Green party may well get a surge of support – if they can get their platform out to voters in time. Their 2018 platform is one of the best I’ve evaluated. They will provide grants and interest-free loans to help homeowners, renters and businesses invest in energy conservation. And even better, they will pay for it by closing the Pickering Nuclear station and replacing it with the much lower cost of water power from Quebec which will save $1.1 billion per year!Ontario needs smart leadership and the vast majority in the middle need a party that can represent them. The Green party has put forward a well-balanced platform, they have a reliable smart leader in Mike Schreiner, and when combined with the excellent local candidates (52% are women) representing them, they are an excellent option for those in the middle who want an open and balanced government.

Liberals have lost their chance of winning and the only hope for moderate voters is to go Green. It is time for Ontario residents to stop thinking that the Green Party will never get elected and start thinking about what Ontario could achieve if they did.

Editor's Journal June 3, 2018

The impact of action

It’s one of those overly warm spring evenings at the cottage. An afternoon storm passed through Muskoka and the air is still heavy. The lake is calm, like glass, and the large puffy clouds in the distance are lit bright orange by the setting sun. Spiders are busy in the corners of the boathouse windows, I’ve just turned on a lamp and their webs will catch the bugs attracted to its light. It is so quiet I can hear the clock ticking away the minutes. A bird calls to its mate, or maybe he is just letting his friends know where he’ll be for the night. I am feeling thoughtful thinking about the new journey my family and I are setting out on.

Our goal is to have a positive impact on the world through the work that we do. We’re heading to Barbados to start a project working with local communities to build a culture-entrepreneurial centre that will be sustained by a unique “experiential” resort.

Tourism has become the biggest economic driver on most of the islands, but it has also had some negative impacts on local communities – like the loss of local food production and manufacturing. Even local arts and craft markets are becoming dominated by cheap Chinese imports. The cost of importing food and products has risen as local production has slowly disappeared; and many of the islands have become far too dependent on imports. Our goal is to reignite the entrepreneurial flame by providing space, encouragement and resources. We hope to inspire local entrepreneurs, artists and manufacturers.

Barbados will be our first “proof of concept” location and we are moving there to launch the project. It’s a big life change but one both my husband and I are looking forward to. We have some terrific local partners and just recently the island elected their first woman Prime Minister – Mia Motley. She is a strong, smart, and dynamic woman with an excellent record. Prime Minister Motley sat in opposition to the local government as leader of the Barbados Labour Party for over a decade. She was elected in a landslide victory winning all 30 seats in Parliament and over 70% of the popular vote. With no opposition she’ll be able to bring about significant changes to a government that was plagued by inaction. There is a new sense of vibrancy on the island, and it fits well with our own determination to contribute to the community.

The sun is low in the sky and long shadows stretch out over the lake – a stillness has settled over things and all the possibilities that a new day will bring are just beginning to form.