Reaching out to Africa
 Warren Creates is more than a top Ottawa immigration lawyer and Headmaster Wolfe’s former Cub Scout pal. He’s also a humanitarian who has made it his mission to help the Afar people, a nomadic population living in dire conditions in the Horn of Africa. Mr. Creates spoke at Stanstead College’s Academic Assembly on Tuesday, January 8, accompanied by his friend and fellow humanitarian, Ahmed Mohamed, a member of the Afar people living in Canada.
Mr. Creates spoke of the severe conditions the Afar people find themselves living in, not just in terms of trying to survive in what National Geographic described as “the cruelest place on earth,” but in terms of persecution the Afar suffer in Djibouti and Eritrea. This is leading to a flow of refugees into Ethiopia, which Mr. Creates described as “the bleakest situation I have seen in my life.”
 In 2007, Mr. Creates and Mr. Mohamed traveled to the Danakil Desert to see what they could do to help. Together they have established a foundation with ambitious goals, not only to provide education and clean water to the Afar but also to negotiate rights for the people in order to stop the flight of refugees.
Equipped with a plan to construct simple but effective water purifiers, Mr. Creates’ team plans a trip back to Ethiopia later this month.
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