PTSD: Friedman, Massey, Trudeau & Dallaire
Was at the Post Traumatic Stree Disorder (& the Global Village) conference both Thursday and Friday past…searching for clues and narratives that may lead to a burning question I should take on and figure out through a PhD.
Nothing burned but my own temper, as I was left listening to the headliner >> Friedman << discuss PTSD among Israelis, without reference to or mention of Palestinians (we can never hope to live together when the 'sides' continue to deny the humanity of the other). After listening to his embarrassing lectures on the first day, I opted out of the morning half of the second day and waited for Gen. Dallaire to take centre stage.
Massey Beveridge is the quintessential ‘chap’. He presented a rather exquisite talk on violence / trauma and the reality that they do not exist in a vacuum, and so the actions of a surgeon such as himself, should not begin / end with surgery. On a greater scale, he was also talking about global citizenship. Have requested a copy of his lecture. Google this man and learn from him, STAT.
Gen. Romeo Dallaire also presented. He told us a story of one of his soldiers, a soldier who had come face to face, gun to gun, with children soldiers in Rwanda. He had a choice to kill or be killed, and he pulled the trigger, watching the heads of children shatter. I’d never heard Gen Dallaire speak before, and was completely mesmerised. And like the spaz that I am, I was crying throughout this particular story. Mascara was running, it was a real mess.
Alexandre Trudeau spoke about Liberia. This guy is a politically philosophical bulldog. My impression is that he spoke over the heads of about 90% of the attendees. Strange, but a random female later harassed me for posing a specific question…and I think the only reason I was told my question / comment was "rude" and "uncalled for" was because he was a Trudeau (and this I believe because much more controversial questions were posed to the other speakers, and went largely unchallenged). What I didn’t anticipate from Trudeau was that he is seriously aggressive in his politics / positions. We managed to chat for a few moments after he jumped off stage at the Macleans lecture later that evening; I would have liked to talk to him at length, but there were others interested in speaking with him and I didn't feel proper in taking up more of his time.
Nothing burned but my own temper, as I was left listening to the headliner >> Friedman << discuss PTSD among Israelis, without reference to or mention of Palestinians (we can never hope to live together when the 'sides' continue to deny the humanity of the other). After listening to his embarrassing lectures on the first day, I opted out of the morning half of the second day and waited for Gen. Dallaire to take centre stage.
Massey Beveridge is the quintessential ‘chap’. He presented a rather exquisite talk on violence / trauma and the reality that they do not exist in a vacuum, and so the actions of a surgeon such as himself, should not begin / end with surgery. On a greater scale, he was also talking about global citizenship. Have requested a copy of his lecture. Google this man and learn from him, STAT.
Gen. Romeo Dallaire also presented. He told us a story of one of his soldiers, a soldier who had come face to face, gun to gun, with children soldiers in Rwanda. He had a choice to kill or be killed, and he pulled the trigger, watching the heads of children shatter. I’d never heard Gen Dallaire speak before, and was completely mesmerised. And like the spaz that I am, I was crying throughout this particular story. Mascara was running, it was a real mess.
Alexandre Trudeau spoke about Liberia. This guy is a politically philosophical bulldog. My impression is that he spoke over the heads of about 90% of the attendees. Strange, but a random female later harassed me for posing a specific question…and I think the only reason I was told my question / comment was "rude" and "uncalled for" was because he was a Trudeau (and this I believe because much more controversial questions were posed to the other speakers, and went largely unchallenged). What I didn’t anticipate from Trudeau was that he is seriously aggressive in his politics / positions. We managed to chat for a few moments after he jumped off stage at the Macleans lecture later that evening; I would have liked to talk to him at length, but there were others interested in speaking with him and I didn't feel proper in taking up more of his time.
posted by just a girl at 12:10 PM
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