By SANDY NAIMAN, TORONTO SUN (Canada)
Community activist David Peck is waving his magic wand to help battle AIDS in Cambodia.
After spending time in the war-torn southeast Asian country, the Oakville electrician and award-winning magician realized people here know little and care less about the plight of adults and children over there.
Raising awareness about Cambodia, along with funds for fighting AIDS, is the latest in a list of "social justice issues" that Peck, 40, has devoted half his life to.
And it all started with a pair of shoes.
In 1990, while wiring a new medical centre in a tiny village in Kenya on his first relief mission, he saw a plasterer with his toes sticking out of his shoes.
"I couldn't imagine being on a worksite like that, so I gave him my shoes," Peck said. "I had others."
The next day, however, the plasterer showed up without Peck's footwear, shyly admitting "he was keeping his new shoes for good occasions."
And that's when it hit.
"For the first time, I saw real material disparity. My old worn shoes were this man's treasures," he said.
'PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED'
"People worked for $2 a day, yet were so generous despite their lack of material possessions. I came back from Africa a different person, profoundly affected."
That was when the phrase "social justice" became part of his vocabulary.
Since then, he's used all his skills -- from his electrician's training to his magic -- to create a better world for people in the global community and on smaller stages.
At Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre, Peck was instrumental in making magic therapy a permanent program for brain injured children.
During the 10-weeks of "Magic Hands," kids not only increase their manual dexterity and build self-esteem doing magic tricks, they learn how to perform them and stage a show.
After a fall three years ago, Cory Savage, 13, lost his fine motor skills. He couldn't hold a pencil or eat with knife and fork, but Peck's magic classes changed all that.
A quiet child, he giggles as Peck watches him pick up a thin piece of rope to perform "the knot trick."
Peck amuses students of all ages as an advocate for volunteerism and mentoring at York University, where he sits on two advisory boards and often gives inspiring, funny, magically enhanced presentations.
"David embodies community. There's a gentleness about him. He's thoughtful and knows the importance of giving back," said Carole Umana of Atkinson College.
Peck's passion, more than his magic, brought Stephen Lewis to the University of Guelph to speak last year.
It was a major coup for Peck, who was completing an M.A. in philosophy and determined to "do something" to shake up the student body.
He galvanized the university community around Lewis, canvassing all over campus to cover costs. With more than 700 people crushed into the lecture hall and 300 turned away at the door, Peck raised $5,000 for Doctors Without Borders.
But a lot more was raised that night.
'LIT A FIRE'
The event "inspired and lit a fire in a large, disparate group of people," not only keeping HIV/AIDS awareness in the world front and centre, but educating students about the threat of HIV/AIDS in their lives, said Mary Ann Burrows of the Guelph AIDS Awareness Partnership, a grassroots group formed as a result of Lewis' speech.
One of Peck's dreams is to manage a relief project in Cambodia. He was stunned by the lack of awareness of Khmer Rouge atrocities when he was there on a house-building mission in 2004 .
Last fall he applied to Humber College's International Project Management Program. He was already planning his latest project, Comedians for Cambodian Children, on May 18 at the The Living Arts Centre in Mississauga to benefit HIV/AIDS programs in Cambodia.
"Using humour was certainly a creative way to raise funds for this cause," said Rupen Das, director of the International Project Management Program.
"(Peck) was already involved, had already done relief work overseas," Das said. "It's obvious he has the heart for it."
For more information on Comedians for Cambodian Children visit canforcamfam.com
After spending time in the war-torn southeast Asian country, the Oakville electrician and award-winning magician realized people here know little and care less about the plight of adults and children over there.
Raising awareness about Cambodia, along with funds for fighting AIDS, is the latest in a list of "social justice issues" that Peck, 40, has devoted half his life to.
And it all started with a pair of shoes.
In 1990, while wiring a new medical centre in a tiny village in Kenya on his first relief mission, he saw a plasterer with his toes sticking out of his shoes.
"I couldn't imagine being on a worksite like that, so I gave him my shoes," Peck said. "I had others."
The next day, however, the plasterer showed up without Peck's footwear, shyly admitting "he was keeping his new shoes for good occasions."
And that's when it hit.
"For the first time, I saw real material disparity. My old worn shoes were this man's treasures," he said.
'PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED'
"People worked for $2 a day, yet were so generous despite their lack of material possessions. I came back from Africa a different person, profoundly affected."
That was when the phrase "social justice" became part of his vocabulary.
Since then, he's used all his skills -- from his electrician's training to his magic -- to create a better world for people in the global community and on smaller stages.
At Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre, Peck was instrumental in making magic therapy a permanent program for brain injured children.
During the 10-weeks of "Magic Hands," kids not only increase their manual dexterity and build self-esteem doing magic tricks, they learn how to perform them and stage a show.
After a fall three years ago, Cory Savage, 13, lost his fine motor skills. He couldn't hold a pencil or eat with knife and fork, but Peck's magic classes changed all that.
A quiet child, he giggles as Peck watches him pick up a thin piece of rope to perform "the knot trick."
Peck amuses students of all ages as an advocate for volunteerism and mentoring at York University, where he sits on two advisory boards and often gives inspiring, funny, magically enhanced presentations.
"David embodies community. There's a gentleness about him. He's thoughtful and knows the importance of giving back," said Carole Umana of Atkinson College.
Peck's passion, more than his magic, brought Stephen Lewis to the University of Guelph to speak last year.
It was a major coup for Peck, who was completing an M.A. in philosophy and determined to "do something" to shake up the student body.
He galvanized the university community around Lewis, canvassing all over campus to cover costs. With more than 700 people crushed into the lecture hall and 300 turned away at the door, Peck raised $5,000 for Doctors Without Borders.
But a lot more was raised that night.
'LIT A FIRE'
The event "inspired and lit a fire in a large, disparate group of people," not only keeping HIV/AIDS awareness in the world front and centre, but educating students about the threat of HIV/AIDS in their lives, said Mary Ann Burrows of the Guelph AIDS Awareness Partnership, a grassroots group formed as a result of Lewis' speech.
One of Peck's dreams is to manage a relief project in Cambodia. He was stunned by the lack of awareness of Khmer Rouge atrocities when he was there on a house-building mission in 2004 .
Last fall he applied to Humber College's International Project Management Program. He was already planning his latest project, Comedians for Cambodian Children, on May 18 at the The Living Arts Centre in Mississauga to benefit HIV/AIDS programs in Cambodia.
"Using humour was certainly a creative way to raise funds for this cause," said Rupen Das, director of the International Project Management Program.
"(Peck) was already involved, had already done relief work overseas," Das said. "It's obvious he has the heart for it."
For more information on Comedians for Cambodian Children visit canforcamfam.com
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