Statement made on 01 December 2009 by Senator Lorna Milne (retired)
Hon. Lorna Milne:
Honourable senators, last month, I had the privilege of attending the annual SHARE Agriculture Foundation dinner. I wish to take this opportunity to update you on new developments in the work of this very important farmer-based organization.
For those unfamiliar with it, SHARE stands for Sending Help and Resources Everywhere. It is an effective rural Canadian non-profit organization working with partners, including CIDA, that provides funding and guidance to community-based agricultural projects in Third World countries with a focus on Central and South America. Their motto is a hand up, not a hand out.
SHARE's projects are in the poorest and most isolated communities. These communities are often made up of refugees who have left their home areas due to war and poverty. SHARE chooses communities where the projects will have the greatest impact.
SHARE director Trish Murphy delivered a powerful speech at the event entitled "The People at the End of the Road — Reflections on El Salvador." In describing the poor and displaced people at the end of dirt roads that SHARE encounters, Ms. Murphy illustrated the projects they are currently working on. The stoves project replaces old stoves that filled rooms with smoke, causing health and environmental hazards, with new, healthier and more efficient stoves. Other ongoing projects include: high school scholarships for children in Belize; training and education in rural communities in Guatemala; teen and adult literacy programs for 800 adults in rural communities in El Salvador; and micro-credit programs for agricultural enterprises throughout South and Central America, such as chicken and egg farms, cattle farms and apiaries.
I commend SHARE for the tremendous contributions it has made in helping to improve the quality of life since 1976 for those people at the ends of the roads. I wish them much future success in travelling the isolated dirt pathways ahead to spread opportunities and resources to others waiting at the dead ends of these muddy roads.