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Beaver THE OAKVILLE Voted Ontario's Top Newspaper Four Years in a Row - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 www.brantflorist.com/ob Girls just want to play lacrosse Sports 905.639.7001 www.dentistoakville.com 905-842-6030 www.carstaroakville.com 905-8457579 905-847 -2595 2212 Wyecroft Rd. 547 Trafalgar Rd. A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 53 No. 6 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010 32 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Stay or leave? Forum presents opposing views on Canada's military role in Afghanistan By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER PENCILS 4 KIDS: The Oakville Chapter of Pencils for Kids is launching a campaign aimed at raising funds so children in Niger can go to school. Pictured are (clockwise starting with the girl holding the Pencils for Kids sign) Rebecca Kurtz, Ayzhan Alimukhambetova, Sammi Phung, Stanley Phung and Vivian Leung holding letters they will be sending to Niger. The power of the pencil to educate By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The problem may be big, but so is the effort to help. The Oakville chapter of Pencils for Kids is gearing up for a new campaign aimed at raising funds needed to help bring the tools of education to the children of Niger. There is no shortage of need within the African nation, which is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world and is ranked nearly last on the United Nations Development Fund Index of human development. With little government funding coming their way, this means that in some Nigerien schools 30 children share a single pencil. This sad fact is something Vivian Leung, 17, the organizer of the Oakville Pencils for Kids campaign, is trying to change. "There is a huge population of children and youth in Niger and we really want to be able to empower them and give them the tools and skills to support themselves and become successful," she said. "Education is so important." Leung, a student of Abbey Park High School, noted her group will be accepting donations and will also be selling special pencil necklaces, made by Nigerien artisans, with 97 per cent of the proceeds going toward the educational needs of Nigerien children in the community of Libore. The remaining three per cent is needed to cover the national Afghanistan: Work in progress or lost cause? With more than 2,500 Canadian soldiers continuing to serve in the war-torn country, the question of whether Canada should still be there after eight years and 138 lives lost is on many minds. More than 200 residents from Oakville and the surrounding area were given the opportunity to explore this issue Sunday night during a special debate on the Afghan mission. Housed within the main hall of St. Jude's Anglican Church, the presentation, which was hosted by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, featured Sally Armstrong, supporting the view to stay in Afghanistan, and Haroon Siddiqui, supporting the view to withdraw. A contributor to Maclean's magazine, Chatelaine and other publications, Armstrong has reported extensively on Afghanistan, visiting the nation both before and after the collapse of the Taliban regime. Her concerns about the consequences of Canada's departure from Afghanistan are many and include deep fears for the fate of Afghanistan's women and girls who were beaten, disfigured and murdered when they did not follow the Taliban's laws while the regime was in power. Armstrong noted she does not want to see a repeat of such oppression. "When you look at the Taliban, here is a gang of thugs who hijacked their religion for political opportunism. There is not one word in the Qur'an that supports what the Taliban do. There's nothing in the Qur'an that says a woman can't go to work or a girl See Small page 12 See No page 3 DORVAL DRIVE I 905.845.6653 Between Kerr & Dorva etween Dorval WYECROFT RD. SPEERS RD. YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS! · www.lockwoodchrysler.com Celebrating 26 years in Oakville KERR ST. TRAFALGAR 175 Wyecroft Rd., Oakville QEW