HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-06-16, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2005.
Locals backpack in Europe
A whirlwind tour
Two Brussels natives, Nicole Lowe, centre, and Amy Ross,
right, with Amy Bennewies of Brodhagen returned this
spring from an 11-day backpack adventure in Europe. (Photo
submitted)
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
It was a vacation certainly not well
suited to those looking for calm and
relaxation.
Two former Brussels girls, Nicole
Lowe and Amy Ross, spent 11 days
back-packing in Italy, Germany.
Belgium and France. “The idea
came up when a friend of mine, Amy
Bennewies from Brodhagen,
mentioned that she was going and
thought it might be something I’d
like to do.” said Lowe. “I ran it by
Amy Ross and from then on we
North Huron council hears
report on poverty in county
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
Lynne Bonnett of the Huron
County Social Justice Coalition
attended the June 6 meeting of North
Huron council to offer some
information on poverty in Huron.
Bonnett, who works for the Huron
Perth Community Legal Clinic,
explained that the committee has
been meeting regularly for one and a
half years. Its members are service
providers, church leaders, media and
community individuals.
Its goals are to collect local
statistics and anecdotal information
regarding social justice issues and to
provide that information to the
community and advocate for change.
The committee meets six to eight
times a year.
In Huron. 600 families, most
headed by a single parent, live on
social assistance. “That is 12,000
people living at or below the poverty
line, or 20 per cent of the
population.”
Many, said Bonnett, are disabled
and more than half are children.
The consequences of poverty are
many. They include lower levels of
overall health, mental illness,-fewer
opportunities for higher education
and a shorter life expectancy. This
puts increased pressure on the costs
of services in the county.
Because of several factors poverty
in a rural community is often worse
than in urban areas said Bonnett,
fewer economic
There is less
“There are
opportunities.
infrastructure and transportation."
basically flew by the seat of our
pants. We booked nothing but the
Euro Rail pass for tram travel.”
They landed in Rome on the day
of the Pope’s funeral.
While in Rome they met two girls
from South Carolina who were on a
two-month vacation from their
studies in Germany.
In Florence the girls, “had some
issues,” said Lowe, including nearly
being run over and seeing a
transvestite and a hooker.
They found a clearn, cozy hotel
and took a walking tour of the city.
“We saw some awesome
She told of one man who had the
chance for employment but not the
means to get to and from the job.
There are also fewer social
supports in rural areas. Income
supports are based on urban models.
Poor people in rural areas are also
more open to discrimination because
they are more visible, more known
in small communities.
The level of social assistance is a
big problem, said Bonnett. Though
the federal government has set the
poverty line at $19,256 per year for a
single person, social assistance is
$6,833 per year. For a couple with
two children, $36,235 is the poverty
line, while social assistance pays
$18,400.
“So basically it pays half of what
the federal government has said is
the poverty line,” said Bonnett.
If a family of three receives
$1,126 social assistance per month,
after rent and food, they are left with
about $257 to cover utilities,
clothing, insurance and
transportation.
Bonnett said the committee’s hope
is for the county to become a partner
in the fight against poverty and
asked North Huron councillors to
become more aware of the problem
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architecture. I can't even begin to
explain how beautiful it is."
The streets were quite crowded.
“We saw police on horses, police
and guards with big machine guns
and vests. There were lots of one
way streets with mopeds and cars
parked everywhere. The drivers are
crazy, worse than me.”
On the third day, they arrived in
Napoli which was “very scary,
dumpy, just gross,” said Lowe.
The weather was less than perfect
for a two-hour ferry ride to Capri.
Once there they found a hotel sitting
right on the edge of a cliff.
The fourth day, they took a bus to
Capri and a cable car to Marina
Grande (Large Seashore). From
there they took the ferry to
Sorentthen eventually the train to
Pompeii.
After returning to Napoli they
took the train back to Rome, and
went on a tour of the Vatican. They
waited in line for about 30 minutes
to enter and stayed to attend the
public mass for the Pope on the final
day of mourning. “We just thought
we were going in to sit and look at
things.” said Lowe.
The next stop was Munich. There
they visited an historical church,
then walked around looking at other
buildings. With good shopping and
“better pizza than in Italy”, they
“enjoyed the day in Germany a
lot.”
Arriving at night in Brussels, “was
very scary. It reminded me of
downtown Detroit.”
After a night’s stay in a less-than-
passable hotel, the pair got an early
start for Paris. From there it was
back to Munich, then Rome.
“It was hectic, filled with long
train rides, sometimes 12-13 hours a
day. One time we only had a half
hour to eat so we sat on a blanket
near some stairs. We didn’t look the
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greatest and someone thought we
were homeless and threw money in
our tray.”
But, despite the rather insane
schedule. Lowe said she'd do it
again in a heartbeat, just with a little
more time. “We really tried to see all
the major things. We did a lot for
days.”
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June 17
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for
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and
Katie McConnery
Saturday, June 18
9:00 pm
Brussels, Morris & Grey
Community Centre
Brussels, Ontario
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grandchildren
lives of
Murray
Bonnett
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Sunday, June 19
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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