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My (“minions and readings have raised some questions for me Clearly. such it uniust war has no definable reason or continue Therefore i wonder who it benefitting from the perpetuation o! M Conflid? what companiel m p homthe saieofarmsand (5‘, both armies? which leaderl. locallymd iniemaionally, are benefiting Ml from this conflict? Will a violent m m: Span mm by Community Homonm Church of Stoummo ant in facL a Canadian wnh a beard and.there- fore. a possible hairy-foot- ed. cigarette smuggling. mad-cow-disease and anthrax-carrying. Taliban- supponmg,non¢eydem aHenAThathasneverbeen so forcefully pointed out as n has been recenfly meaning since O/Il vari hav of F V ry. 5 0rd: ing in [l othe ed nurr ‘ FAITH aLlFE supplies and to abduct children. Their primetaraetsaredwildrenaged'lto l4. These children are taken Into rebel mps. Once there. they are exposed to brutal violence and desensitized to killing childrenofthisagedonothavea wellâ€"developed sense of morality and can easily be influenced to Become vicious lighters. We learned that more than ”$0! the rebel army was developed this way. After a period of tralnlng. these child rebels are given automatic rifles and taken into combat with the Ugandan Army with c consequences. ism is not unique to Uganda. From ihavedone while living here I have learned that children are being used a lighter: in other conflicts throudlout Africa by both rebel armies and oflldllvmemment armies. I also learned that mmmuhcturers have identified this airman. Met for guns and have developed Halter. lunior size automatic weapons more suitable for use bychildren.fl‘heshadowofthe9um Rymrtl Apuscinsm _ . First of all, much as I may like it or feel at home in the US. [after all, three of my kids were born there, as was my father). I Ocala. Fla. -- For those of you who don't spend a lot of time in the United States. I am here to tell you there have been some changes since 9/! l. My family and l are in Uganda'dolng a four-month voluntary service aslgnment with Mennonite Central Committee lMCC). Atarecentretmat,wemetwlththeother MCC workers in Uunda. We shared experiences and talked about situations in other pats of the country. We learned that much ol MCC's work In Uganda is involved with peace makingln the regionsol the countrythatarelnvolved in conflict. - "WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE THIS MONTH" â€" See A MENNONITE Point 13th We are in Sprint territo- ry. so I phoned Sprint and ordered a phone. expect- ing I'd get it tomorrow, like in the past. The guy on the other end of the line want- ed my Social Security number. . The evidence is some- times subtle, but I'll give you the gimlet-eyed response to my attempt to get a phone installed last year in Ocala, Fla. Despite having a phone the past three years. the rules have changed. We are in an area where everybody has Sprint. It seems' that the ‘various phone companies have carved up the state of Florida. The Mennonite Church teaches that as people ol God, we are called to respond to violence In a non-violent way. As a Mennonite. I believe that lesus' teaching to respond to violence with passive resistance continues to be relevant to our world today. M I said above. i recently spent time with MCC personnel who are woriing in the midst oi this Ugandan conflict. These are brave people. They wear no armour. Their only weapon is the lane at their words and deeds. These he not like military commanders behind a desk isouing commands. theyareworidngontheground in communities where the war is being ght. They are rovidlng relief to dud-ad people. ey are grieving with people who have lost friends and family are working at initiating talks between the Ugandan military and the rebel commanders to develop trust needed lor eventual peace talks. which style of conflict resolution do you iavour’? i HE; E Feedback? We’d love to hear your W.anua us at: aeatlng a lasting peace? These questions could be aked about any of the worid's conflicts and specifically of the Canadian Government as It considers Its Involvement In the "War on Tenonsm' and the war on Iraq. by the miliyaty have any realistic chance of ComMchhurchOml .com Box 95028, 5892 Main Suez! SmufMllc. ON [AA 238 Richard Recsor us on 'www.5louflvilleonline.com' Without a Social Security number I was an unknown quantity. an out- lander, and they weren‘t about to put a dangerous instrument like. a tele- phone into my hands that easily; I'd have to apply and the process would take three weeks 'to a month. I'm not kidding. I explained I was a Canadian and didn't have a Social Security number. Well. that bit of informa- tion brought a cool response. He now sound- ed like a CIA agent who suspected my real name might actually be Osama bin Whoever. But, I explained. lihad Request For Phone Raises The Flag Although Vacmaster is located on Bullock Dtive in Markham, many of its cus- tomers come from the Whitchurch- Stouffville area, said Mr. Bond. "I would like to thank pedple in Stouffville for all their support, because they are a big part of the reason for our success." I phoned again the next day. but this time got a woman who sort of apolo- For the third year in a row. Vacmaster was named Dealer of the Year for its sales of Beam products, and made the Beam Top 20 Club. it is the first Canadian dealer to be named a member of the Beam Million Dollar Club. The dealership owes its success to a strong emphsis on high quality customer service. said loe Bond. "Well," he said. "you can courier the completed form to us if you wish, but we‘ll be mailing it to you." Once head office had "processed" the form and approved it. then I may get a phone. This was the only way, I was assured. A minimum of three weeks. unfl.somen@synpcfico.co "Could it be couri- ered?" I asked. He wasn‘t interested. They would mail me a form to fill out, which I was then to take someplace and have it notarized, then send it to. their office in Kentucky, along with two pieces of photo ID and the name and phone number of a US. citizen who could vouch for me. 90-5- 642-9282 recently phoned for water and hydro and they had accepted my Canadian Social Insurance number, plus I have an account at the Bank of America (I hoped that would sound impressive. It's a very tiny account, admittedly. but I didn‘t say that] CGMPUTER "°'"°°'°" 0 SAlES O DESIGN SERVICE 7 x24 Systems from $499 by Ralph Pohlman On-site- sgmce for Lour Keeping Canada clean strategy Maybe we could create a triumvirate by joining up with Sweden and Australia to form the "axisâ€"of- nations-thatâ€"are-actually- quiteâ€"niceâ€"butâ€"some- timesâ€"secretly-have-nasty- thoughts-about-America." The fact is, Americans don't really think about Canada very often. As for- mer prime minister Kim Campbell said in a So. I drove to Ocala, taking my passport and driver's license. It went very well, thank you very much, and I now have a phone. But be prepared to jump through a few hoops. I know. I'm a canadian, but l'm,not a member of the lran-lraq-North Korea "axis of evil" that President George Bush warned of in his state of the union address. Snubbed again, eh?\ gized for the inconve- nience but said this was the new policy, which she had 'to follow. "However," she said, "you might try going to our office in Ocala, bringing your photo ID, and see how it goes‘" all materials and a light gm each da; Museum members receive a 20 percent disâ€" count For infomaflon and registration. call the museum's toll-flee line at 1-888-290-0337. Participants will explore a variety of her- itage aaivlfiee and calls and will make their own origami wreath and beaded flower to take home. They will also have an opportuni- ty to hone their cooking skills in the Brown House kitchen. The cost is $25 and includes Children are invited to attend a threeâ€" part workshop at Whitchumh-Stouffville MuseumMarch I2to l4fmm‘l30to ll230a‘m. homeoro'ffice heritage program I'm told the Star Spangled Banner has become the most popu|ar tattoo. 'often applied to very personal parts of the anatomy. I'll have to check on that. I expect soon to read that an exhibitionist has been arrested for stepping out of the bushes and waving his raised flag tattoo at a passerby. But I‘ll bet he' has a phone! There is not much chance of forgetting where I am these days. since the business to be in, in the US, is the flag business. | see more American flags than Mel Lastman has hair implants. They are every- where (flags. not Mel's implants). and not just the usual places like flagpoles or houses, either. I see them on cars (sometimes three or four per car), con- struction sites, dumpsters, lampposts, mobile homes and an occasional fore- he’ad. speech, "Kmericans view Canadians as "unarmed Americans with a health plan.“ \\ MARCH 2003