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AHA MEDIA films Sam Sullivan, former Mayor of Vancouver speaking about SALOME – Vancouver’s New Heroin Maintenance Trial at VANDU in Downtown Eastside
Sam Sullivan speaks about SALOME –
Vancouver’s New Heroin Maintenance Trial at
VANDU in Downtown Eastside
Sam Sullivan with Photographer Kim Stallknecht
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The following text is from http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/s…
The Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME) will choose a Downtown Eastside location next month and begin taking applications from potential participants in February, according to a Tuesday press release from the Inner Change Foundation, which, along with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is funding the trial. With selection of participants supposed to last only three weeks, that means SALOME could be underway by March.
SALOME will enroll 322 hard-core heroin addicts—they must have been using at least five years and failed other treatments, including methadone maintenance—in a year-long, two-phase study. During the first phase, half will be given injectable heroin (diacetylmorphine) and half will be given injectable Dilaudid® (hydromorphone). In the second phase, half of the participants will be switched to oral versions of the drug they are using.
The comparison of heroin and Dilaudid® was inspired by unanticipated results from SALOME’s forerunner, NAOMI (the North American Opiate Medication Study), which began in Vancouver in 2005 and produced positive results in research reviews last year. In NAOMI, researchers found that participants could not differentiate between heroin and Dilaudid®. The comparison of success rate among injection and oral administration users was inspired by hopes of reducing rates of injection heroin use.
SALOME was also supposed to take place in Montreal, but Quebec provincial authorities effectively killed it there by refusing to fund it. SALOME researchers have announced that it will now proceed in Vancouver alone.
With an estimated 5,000 heroin addicts in the Downtown Eastside and a municipal government that has officially embraced the progressive four pillars approach–prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and law enforcement—to problematic drug use, Vancouver is most receptive to such ground-breaking research. It is also the home of Insite, North America’s only safe injection site.
The NAOMI and SALOME projects are the only heroin maintenance programs to take place in North America. Ongoing or pilot heroin maintenance programs are underway in Britain, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.
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In the following 7 videos, Sam Sullivan, former Mayor of Vancouver talks about SALOME – Vancouver’s New Heroin Maintenance Trial and other things to Members of VANDU and Ann Livingston in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Videos by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a New Media camera – Kodak Zi6. AHA MEDIA is about exploring mobile media production through New Media cameras. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
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Below is a photo of Sam Sullivan – Former Mayor of Vancouver, Richard Cunningham of VANDU, Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA, Robert Vincent – President of VANDU, Hugh Lampkin – Vice President of VANDU
April Smith of AHA MEDIA is very honored to be featured by Gillian Shaw – Digital Life Writer for The Vancouver Sun Newspaper on Christmas Eve 2009
By GILLIAN SHAW
23 DEC 2009 DIGITAL LIFE
As it comes time to wrap up 2009, I wanted to share the story of a journalist who has inspired me this year.
A citizen journalist – April Smith, who is making an impact not only for her work chronicling the news and stories of Vancouver’s inner city but also for giving back to her community by mentoring others.
April didn’t graduate from any journalism program. Hers was truly the school of hard knocks and her background one of hardship.
I first met April at WordCamp Whistler last January. She was a grad of the Downtown Eastside’s Fearless City Mobile project, which helped residents and artists of the neighborhood learn to tell stories through mobile media.
At the time April said the experience had been ‘life-changing.’
“I have moved from one side of the tracks to the other,” she told me.
The other side of the tracks was pretty ugly. It was a life of homelessness and struggling to survive on the streets.
April shares her story with eloquence and honesty that is all the more compelling because it is free of self-pity. Her optimism for the future is what comes through loud and clear.
You can listen to Vancouver’s CBC radio did with April. And you see her at work in an episode of With Glowing Hearts the Movie. She is @AprilFilms on Twitter.
WGHthemovie.ca -April Smith storyline from Andrew Lavigne on Vimeo.
The mentoring April received is being returned to the community many times over with the creation of AHA Media, a fledgling new media company started by April along with Hendrik Beune and Al Tkatch – AHA coming from the first letters of their names.
April is teaching and mentoring others in the Downtown Eastside, sharing her skills and enthusiasm in the hope of offering alternatives that will help improve lives.
April lives in a single room in the DTES and carries out her work and volunteering on a shoestring budget – no shoestring might be too generous to describe it. When I talk to April on the phone, I know that it’s using up precious minutes that she must buy to recharge her cell phone. I recently found out that the Nokia video phone that April was using in her work was borrowed and had to be returned. So I asked her what she needs to carry on.
While it has been a tough year for media organizations, not many list food and warm clothing on their wish list, but those are among the items AHA Media, which does volunteer peer training at the LifeSkills Centre near Oppenheimer Park, is seeking for its DTES neighbors.
The organization also needs: FIDO Pay as You Go Phone Cards for cell phones, digital cameras, SD memory cards, laptop and desktop computers, video cameras and audio equipment.
If you have any of these things kicking around, consider sharing them with others who will pay it forward many times over.
Hendrik Beune of AHA MEDIA and his gift “Under the Sea” quilt for his parents 60th Wedding Anniversary in the Netherlands!
For Hendrik’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary coming up!!… He bought an original work of art for them: It is a quilt, a beautiful wall-hanging, depicting a tropical fantasy scene that is called “Under the Sea“.
Under the Sea: Sandi Bajcar
Laurel Birch panel. Machine practice piece. 30,000 stitches, maybe more.
Hendrik would like to present it to his parents as coming from the Beunes in Canada (including his daughters). He selected it because it struck him right away as being very beautiful and fantasy rich. and hopes that his parents will feel a connection through this piece for the reason that they all shared a very close connection to the sea.
“I have bought an original work of art for them: It is a quilt, a beautiful wall-hanging, depicting a tropical fantasy scene that is called “Under the Sea”. I hope that they have a good spot for it in their new apartment. At the end of the hall, near the bathroom door, I would envision to brighten up an otherwise dark and uninteresting cul de sac.”
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In this photo is Hendrik Beune and Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA with Lisa Fox Valdes of Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts admiring the over 30,000 stitches that went into the making of the “Under the Sea” quilt
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In this photo and video Hendrik Beune speaks with Lisa Fox Valdes of Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts where they auctioned Under the Sea as part of the Fabric Arts Program 2009 – Community Quilt Project in October
Hendrik Beune says:
I would like to present it to my parents as coming from the Beunes in Canada (including my daughters). I selected it because it struck me right away as being very beautiful and fantasy rich.
I hope that my parents will feel a connection with us through this piece for the reason that we all shared a very close connection to the sea.
My parents helped me to get through university and become a marine biologist. Hence my daughters were conceived practically on the sea shore, where we also lived and worked for many years (12 in my case).
These years were formative for my daughters, because it brought them into close contact with Mother Nature at an early age. I hope this will carry through into their adult lives and result in a respect for nature that most City born children never have the direct connection and experience of.
For my oldest , this is certainly true: She has often said that she wanted to become a marine biologist. The mermaid in this picture reminds me of my daughters’ early childhood, as we traveled to town in a small boat on a weekly basis and were on the beach practically every day.
The mermaid in the quilt represents my daughters!
I will recount the above story to my parents as I present them with the quilt for their 60th Wedding Anniversary! 🙂
AHA MEDIA was pleased to attend BOB’s Christmas Open House 2009 at Main and Pender in Vancouver
AHA MEDIA was pleased to attend BOB’s Christmas Open House at Main and Pender in Vancouver. Their new location was beautifully decorated and very spacious… located right at Main and Pender in Vancouver
Based in Vancouver B.C., Building Opportunities with Business (BOB) is a non-profit organization that is championing an inclusive revitalization process for the inner-city that values existing businesses and residents. BOB is a connector, a resource and a facilitator working to: strengthen the inner-city’s community capacity; identify and build on untapped business opportunities; improve employment opportunities and retention; and increase investment in Vancouver’s inner-city.
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In this photo is Libby Davies – MP for Vancouver East
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In this photo – Shirley Chan – CEO of BOB and husband Steve Hopkins
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In this photo, Andrew “Muskie” McKay – Industry Initiatives Coordinator for BOB
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In this photo, Shirley Chan presents a certificate to London Drugs at Woodwards
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In this photo, Shirley Chan presents to Nester’s Market at Woodwards
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In this photo is Kerry Jang, Vancouver City Councillor and Lorraine Murphy aka Raincoaster http://www.Raincoaster.com
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In this photo, Andrew “Muskie” McKay, Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA, Lorraine Murphy aka Raincoaster
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In this photo, Irwin Oostindie – Executive Director of W2 Community Media Arts, David Lee, Toby Barrazoul and Peter Davies
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In this photo, Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA at BOB’s Christmas Open House
To see all 15 photos of BOB’s Christmas Open House 2009, please see our Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahamedia/sets/7215762302541
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Co-Working Opportunities are available at BOB.
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To further our mission we would like to make available to select partners, individuals, and businesses the main floor of 163 East Pender Street. We hope that this open shared work space can contribute to the revitalization of the inner-city by providing a space for creative professionals to flourish, for ideas to percolate, to cross pollinate, for businesses to grow, a place where stuff gets done.
What we’re offering is a work surface, be it a desk, a chair, a table, a couch, or the bay window, wherever you’re most comfortable.
Of course we’ll offer wi-fi and other niceties such as an electronic white board and a projector to facilitate discussion and creative thinking. There’s a fridge for your food, a microwave, filtered water cooler, and secure storage for your bike.
The price is a flat $200 per month and includes keyless access.
We’re looking for creative professionals, progressive thinkers, the socially responsible and ecologically conscious who want to be surrounded by others of like mind.
Folks who want more than a cubicle and a 9 to 5 and dream of bigger things and a better Vancouver to call home.
If this sounds like you, contact Andrew “Muskie” McKay 778-328-7672 or write coworking@bobics.org
AHA MEDIA is very proud to present “With Glowing Hearts” – a documentary on social media and W2 Community Media Arts Centre in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Animal Mother Films invites you to join us for a drink and exclusive preview from the film at the official launch party for the website for our documentary project With Glowing Hearts. We continue to capture the pressures facing Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as the city prepares to host the Winter Olympics next February, and how a remarkable group of individuals is using cutting edge social media technologies to empower their community.
WGH-is a story about a revolution, one of social change and a paradigm shift in media representation. Vancouver sets the stage, against the backdrop of the 2010 Winter Games, for our documentary about a marginalized community embracing social media tools to empower, inspire and breakdown the digital divide.
This is a project that Andrew Lavigne is directing and is being produced by animalmotherfilms.com. Shot on various capture devices including the Red, the HVX 200, the 5D MkII and the Nokia N77 cellphone. We began shooting Feb/2009 and will continue through March/2010.
Director Andrew Lavigne and Producer Jon Ornoy are now 9 months into production, charting the inspiring story of the creation of the W2 Media Arts Center as part of the Woodward’s redevelopment and the vital steps towards breaking down the digital divide that will take place within its walls.
With the launch of wghthemovie.ca, our Facebook presence and the Games only a few months away, we’re excited to throw the doors wide open and let you have a look inside.
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