DSC_1509sDec 6:

Gather with us at 5:30 in Diana Krall Plaza, light a candle, and join in remembering the 14 female engineering students shot by Marc Lépine at Ecole Polytechnique on this date in 1989.

December 6 is a Canadian day of mourning not only for these 14 female students, but for all girls and women who have been victims of violence – in BC we particularly remember our sisters in spirit, the missing First Nations women of the Highway of Tears.

Step next door to Mon Petit Choux, 120 Commercial St, at 6pm for some hot refreshments and join Roberta Staley whose collaborative project, Journeys to the Edge  Afghanistan Rising is a 30-minute photo and video slideshow showcasing the inspiring stories of our sisters across the globe also fighting for their rights to schooling and a career. The presentation highlights Young Women for Change, a youth organization in Kabul that raises awareness about women’s rights.

The slideshow features female politicians who brave Taliban threats to fight for gender equality, an Afghan-Canadian cardiologist who treats everyone for free, and many others working to restore civil society in a nation devastated by three decades of civil war. A Q&A, mingling and a chance to donate to the scholarship will follow.

Visit: http://www.facebook.com/VIUStatusOfWomen

For more info contact:

Joy Gugeler, Chair VIU Status of Women joy.gugeler@viu.ca 250-797-2623