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The sun is brightly shining, the sky is azure blue,
Little children laugh and play like happy children do;
Mister Jones and Missus Jones relax out on the lawn,
The world is picture perfect till the evening news comes on.
And shows....
Sun so brightly shining, a sky of azure blue,
One thousand people died today, tomorrow there'll be two;
Children cry in hunger like only starving children can,
Their tears the only rain that falls in this God forsaken land.
Could it ever happen here?
Oh Lord, it couldn't happen here;
Seems it's always somewhere over there,
Say it couldn't happen here.
Somewhere the peace is shattered and gunfire fills the air,
A child lies broke and bleeding but there's no one left to care;
Armoured trucks just tow away the grass on Jones's lawn,
How could this ever happen to our quiet little town?
Could it ever happen here?
Lord, it couldn't happen here;
Seems it's always somewhere over there,
Say it couldn't happen here.
Yes, hope and pray we'll never see the day,
That it ever happens here.
Mr. Bernie Gilmore, a health professional working at the London, Ontario, Health Sciences Centre, answered the call for emergency assistance to Ethiopia in 1984. He went first as a member of the Kinsmen African Medical Relief Team, which worked in central Ethiopia establishing Camp Bete and saving thousands of lives. He had an idea about reforestation, displayed the leadership to inspire people in Ethiopia and Canada to do something about it, and then he had the skill to convert the idea and the enthusiasm into a sustainable contribution to development. He went home to found Future Forests, an organization committed to planting trees in Ethiopia - and to finding the financial support and forestry know-how to succeed.
Today, through the tireless efforts of Bernie Gilmore and the volunteer Board he chaired, Bete Valley has been transformed from a parched, barren landscape to a lush land where more than 400,000 trees have been planted. The London Free Press reports that clean water facilities have been established, a profit-making grinding mill has been built, gardening projects are underway, and adult literacy and health education classes are being taught in a school sponsored by Future Forests.
