Submitted by Anna Paccione

Eight high school students from Vancouver Island were stranded in Japan earlier this week after a cargo flight crashed at Narita Airport, forcing the closure of a runway.

A group of 23 high school students from Wellington and Woodlands secondary schools in Nanaimo were on their way home from a spring break trip when a FedEx plane crashed Monday, disrupting the busy schedule of flights out of the main airport servicing Tokyo. On short notice, 15 students and three chaperons managed to get a flight home on Tuesday morning.

The remaining eight students and a chaperone are now on their way back home.

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Anna Paccione was travelling with her husband and befriended the stranded students.

Here's her take of the events.

"I ended up meeting these kids at the airport around the Air Canada booth on March 23, the day of the scheduled flight. My partner was on the same Air Canada flight, so when we went to check the status of his flight, I saw all these kids sitting in a circle.

I started talking with them and kept checking up on them regularly. The last time I saw them they were getting ready to walk for an hour as their chaperon had found them shelter for the night. They were amazing considering the circumstances. Though I do have to say that at one point they started to get really tired as they had been there all day. I think some of them were also worried.

A few of them told me they had no more money and at that point in time, Air Canada had told them that the earliest they could get home was on April 1. I hope they are all back home safe and sound"

Submitted by J in Calgary

My take: I moved to Calgary in September of 2008 & I found a well paying job within days of arriving.
January came & I got laid off. I have applied for E.I. benefits, however I did not qualify because I am short on the required hours. At my previous job I was considered a "self-employed" worker, therefor I cannot use those hours towards my claim.

Submitted by Lindsay Baxter

Bio/About: I am a 23 year-old student at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario and am studying Social Welfare & Social Development/Sociology. I grew up in North Bay and have become more and more involved within the community. Recently, my volunteering and literature-based research projects have made me more interested in the field of mental health as a possible career choice.

My take: Over the last three years, while working in the downtown area, I have seen a drastic increase in the amount of "supportive housing" for out-patients of the Northeast Mental Health Centre.