Happy Memorial Day from beautiful Flagler Beach, FL, USA!

The Canadian Women’s Club is still doing great work in Jamaica. The CWC (I am a member) recently raised funds and donated equipment to the Special Olympics Jamaica. President Dr. Barbara Matalon presented the equipment to swimmers from the University of Technology last week. As you can imagine, there are many organizations in need in Jamaica, with Special Olympics athletes being among them. They lack basic equipment for training, and the funds the CWC raised went, in part, towards stopwatches, swimsuits, kickboards, armbands, vests and goggles.

Athletes are currently training for the 2015 games, which will be held in Los Angeles from July 25-Aug. 2. Congratulations to all involved and good luck to the athletes!

It seems as though there has been some movement by the government on behalf of the homeless young men who live around Kingston. They have nowhere to go as they have been kicked out of their homes and communities as a result how people react to their sexual orientation.

But MP Julian Robinson has launched a study in conjunction with the Peace Management Institute to intervene on behalf of these young men with “psycho-social counseling” and other activities. In this video (which you should watch), he says he got a lot of complaints and residents about petty crimes and criminal activity. So he got funding from the British High Commission (which is just across the street from where the young men used to live, in a gully underground.)

Robinson reveals that the study has produced some positive results. “A number of the young men has come off the streets.  A number of the violent criminal activity has come down,” he says. “The issue here is less about their sexuality…the problem here is their behavior and trying to tackle the root causes of their behavior,” he continues. Finally, some sensible words from a politician!

Robinson goes on to say that the work will continue and must include skills training. I hope he recognizes the work that the Colour Pink Group is doing, and does not duplicate it. CPG has already made great strides in training dozens of these young men and equipping them with practical skills and experience so that they can ultimately support themselves and not have to live on the street.

Checking out Aquarium. No flash.

Last week, we went on Skyview Atlanta, which is sort of like a mini-version of the London Eye. It provides a beautiful view of downtown Atlanta, at about 20-stories high. At first, I was frightened by how far above ground we were, but soon became entranced by the sights.

We went on a tour of the CNN newsroom. So cool for a journalism nerd like me. This was only seen through a glass window overlooking the newsroom, but still amazing to see it buzzing with activity. It is a 24-hour operation, of course, and it seems each reporter, producer, etc., had three screens of their own. We were taken through the whole process of producing a story, and a tour of the seven story building. The headquarters occupies a building that is also a hotel, which was purchased by Time Warner (parent company of CNN) several years ago.

We also visited the Georgia Aquarium. Lots of fish, dolphins, blue whale sharks, manta rays. So ethereal, if you ignore the hundreds of shrieking children on their school trips.

Yesterday we visited the Centennial Olympic Park. It was created 20 years ago in a “run-down” part of Atlanta during the lead-up to the Olympics. A $75 million project, the park is now a lovely place to gather, with a concert area, a fountain for children to play in, a concession stand and grass to lie on. It has been busy every time we walked through, with the most delightful sight being the children playing in the water. We sat for awhile, enjoying the gorgeous weather.

CNN Center in Atlanta. So cool!