Learning from a Ditch

08/13/2013

It just seems clear to me that as long as we are all here, it's pretty clear that the struggle is to share the planet, rather than divide it.
Alice Walker

Ron Blatz from Manitoba, Canada, a member of the

World Forum Foundation Men in Early Childhood Education Working Group, made this observation:

"Hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunamis are all foreign to us 'inland dwellers.' Tornadoes are the most likely tragedy to hit us, and then there is the annual worry about overland flooding from the spring thaw. In the mid '50s our Provincial Premiere (Duff Robin) decided to dig a huge ditch around our city so we could divert some of the floodwaters that come down the Red River. It's affectionately known as Duff's Ditch. It was the second largest movement of land in the world at that time (eclipsed only by the Panama Canal).

"The people thought he was nuts and did not re-elect him the at the next election. Now we know him as a hero as this 'floodway' has saved our city from being 1/3 under water at least 10 times since then. It has proved to be one of the best investments this province has ever made. Doing what's best for a community will always have a price and doesn't always translate into popularity at the time. Any lessons in that for the ECE movement? I think so!

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