HRM Interesting Person #9: Megan Leslie, MP

One of the keys to meeting people is to be where people are. While volunteering for the Blue Nose Marathon back in May, I ran into Megan Leslie, the newly re-elected MP for Halifax. Elected in 2008, Leslie was voted Rookie MP of the Year by Maclean's Magazine in 2009, Best MP by The Coast in 2009 and 2010, "Top Up and Comer" by The Hill Times in 2010, and was named one of "the five best MPs" by The Mark News.

On this day she was running to raise awareness for a charity cause dear to her (I can't remember now, but I think it had something to do with getting fresh water out to rural villages in Africa). She agreed to take a photo with me so long as I agreed to stop calling her Ms. Leslie, and start calling her Megan.

HRM Interesting Person #8: Art Moore

Art Moore is a high school English teacher in Moncton, New Brunswick. I met him in Halifax at the Atlantic Fringe Festival, where he was a performer. Art Moore is interesting because of one fantastic story he has.

The students in one of his classes decided to support a number of nearby University students from Haiti, who were waiting for word from relatives caught in the horrible earthquake there, by sending a large card on which they had all collaborated. When Art Moore went to the University to deliver the card, he was approached by a professor who was interested in leading a team to Haiti to help volunteer with the relief effort. The team needed someone with prior military experience to act as security, and that's where Mr. Moore comes in. As a former soldier with the Canadian Armed Forces, he accompanied the team and help starving, homeless Haitians over in Haiti.

I met Mr. Moore briefly, about a week apart. He was in a rush the first time I met him, because he had to head back to Moncton to teach school the next day. When he saw me again the next time though, he still remembered my name. Art Moore is an every day hero.

Interesting Person #6 and #7: Jennifer Kean and Mike Cross

Jennifer Kean and Mike Cross are bicycle riders training for a 4300 km ride from Vancouver, British Columbia to Austin, Texas, to raise money/awareness for cancer. This year's ride will be the fourth year in a row a team has been organized by the Halifax charity/volunteer organization, GiveToLive, and both Jennifer and Mike have been personally affected in one way or another by cancer.

To help raise the $5000 each needed to take part in the ride, Jennifer and Mike took part in a gruelling 24 hour training session at the Spring Garden Road Library. This picture was taken in the 22nd hour, and poor Mike could barely move his legs.

Please take a few moments and explore the interesting GiveToLive website to learn more about this great ride/cause. Additionally, please consider donating even a small amount to help support either Jennifer or Mike (or both).

Interesting Person #5: Alyn Ware

Alyn Ware is an International peace and disarmament educator and activist from New Zealand. He is currently Director of the Peace Foundation Wellington Office, Global Coordinator of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Director of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace, and Consultant at Large for the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy (USA) and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms. In 1986 Alyn Ware was awarded the UN International Year of Peace Award the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, which referred to him as "one of the world's most effective peace workers."

Alyn Ware is a Member of the New Zealand Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, and has been on government delegations to the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and the UNESCO Ministers of Education Conference in Geneva in 2001 at which he was Head of Delegation. Ware is also on the boards of the International Peace Bureau, Global Campaign for Peace Education, Abolition 2000, and the Middle Powers Initiative. He founded the Mobil Peace Van peace education initiative and is co-founder of the Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme, which has been introduced into approximately half of New Zealand schools.

Alyn Ware started out his career as a kindergarten teacher. Read even more about his amazing work here.

Interesting Person #4: Logan MacGillivray

When Logan MacGillivray saw pictures from a Centre for Development and Peace Education (cdpeace) presentation on the poverty stricken school children in the war-ravaged nation of Sierra Leone in 2008, he wasn't just moved, he was moved to action.

At that time Logan was just 10 years old, but that didn't stop him from spearheading a project to collect donations for and send a 40-foot shipping container full of school supplies and sporting goods to a small rural community in that impoverished West African nation. It also didn't stop him from spearheading a second project to send another 40-foot shipping container immediately afterwards.

To help raise funds for his projects, Logan used his award-winning film making skills (click here to watch the video) to make a short documentary about the endeavour, which was featured in the 2008 Atlantic Film Festival. He published the documentary in DVD format, sales of which have since helped raise over $32 000 for Logan's charity, Listen To The Children. This is in addition to the approximately $57 000 worth of donated goods he sent away in the two containers.

At present, the 12 year old winner of the Make A Difference Award, the Boston Celtic's Hero Among US Award, the YMCA Peace Medal, the Premier of Nova Scotia's Power of Change Award, the Canadian Living Magazine's Me to We Award, and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission's Human Rights Award, is working on his next major project: a community education centre in Sierra Leone replete with computers, sports equipment and paid teachers.

Please visit Logan's website to send your encouragement or to help out.

Interesting Person #3: Alexa McDonough

Alexa McDonough is a Canadian politician who made history when she became the leader of the Nova Scotia NDP party in 1980. Before this time, no woman had ever led a major Canadian political party. In 1995, she went on to become the leader of the Federal NDP party, and stayed there until she stepped down in 2003 and was succeeded by Jack Layton.

In 2009 she became the interim president of Mount Saint Vincent University. In that same year she was also awarded the Office of the Order of Canada - the highest honour that can be bestowed by the Governor General of Canada. As I am writing this post she is planning and preparing for a three-day peace conference she organized for this week in Dartmouth.

Interesting Person #2: Chang-geun Lee

Chang-geun Lee came to Canada from South Korea 7 months ago to study English. I met him outside the Subway on Spring Garden Road. He told me that he was on a journey from Toronto, through Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, up to Newfoundland, and then back to Toronto. He couldn't have been more friendly. When I later told Chris Waldron about Chang-geun's proposed journey, while he was in the last fifteen minutes of an 8 hour ride, his jaw dropped in amazement at the staggering distances he would have ridden each day over the last month. Follow Chang-geun's journey on his blog here.

Interesting Person #1: Chris Waldron

Chris Waldron a local cyclist who is training for a 430 km Coast to Coast mountain bike race through the tropical rain forests and over 11 000 metres worth of volcanic mountains in Costa Rica this November. On this day I saw him training outside the South Park Street YMCA where I go swimming, and where Chris used to hang out every Saturday morning as a child.

Over he course of several 8 hour stationary training sessions like this one, Chris hopes to help raise the $10 000 he pledged to donate towards YMCA's Strong Kids program. I gave him $2 because I was trying to stretch my budget as far as it would go at the moment, but the next time I see him I hope to be able to donate more.

As well as being incredibly fit, Chris Waldron is also an all-around nice guy, and he was gracious enough to chat with me for several minutes even during the final minutes of his gruelling 8 hour training session on this day.

To read more about Chris Waldron, his cause, or to donate, visit his website here.