Debb Bodkin - Global Citizenship

A police officer for almost 24 years, Debb Bodkin rose to the rant of Sergeant in the Waterloo Regional Police Services and won numerous awards, including two Officer of the Year distinctions. While working for the WRPS, Debb also lent her talents to the United Nations as a Scene of Crime officer in Kosovo, as an investigator for the UN Commission of Inquiry in Darfur and as an Investigator for the Coalition for International Justice in Sudan.

She believes that we won the lottery by being born in Canada and we owe it to the world to share the wealth.

Debb doesn't subscribe quite so much to my charity begins at home philosophy and knowing only a tiny part of what she's seen in her life, I can't blame her.

As Debb worked in Darfur, she saw the worst that humans had to offer. The suffering. The cruelty. The lack of basic human necessities. And among that, she still saw hope, generosity, strength and love among the victims and survivors. She returned to Canada with a conviction, to educate everyone she could about the situation in Darfur and how it is our responsibility as citizens of humanity to help others who aren't as fortunate as we are to be living in Canada.

PHOTO CREDIT: Canadian Jewish News, http://www.cjnews.com/node/89968 YOU SHOULD REALLY READ THIS GREAT ARTICLE

Debb's website is completely devoted to Darfur. Once there, you can find background information on the genocide in Darfur, other blogs and websites devoted to the situation in Darfur and ways you can get involved by encouraging our own government to take action against the crisis in Darfur. There are many "take action" options to choose from with the 1-800-GENOCIDE campaign being the biggest, most likely easiest and probably the most effective that there is. Click the link to find out more about this unique, ready-made advocacy campaign.

As I repeat over and over, we all have different talents and we all have something we can give to make our world a better place. Debb used her outstanding skills as a police officer to serve in other countries which in turn, gave her a passion to follow for the rest of her life. Who knows where your next volunteer experience could take you?

*This is part 14 in a series of 15 blogs detailing the amazing projects presented in the world's first ever Ignite Charity: Waterloo. For more info on Ignite Charity visit www.ignitecharity.ca and follow the conversation on twitter @IgniteCharity.