Maria Almudevar-van Santen, a Canadian
national, is the Regional Business Development
Contact with the Waterloo Region
office (Ontario, Canada) of the national law
firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG).
Maria was with the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), United
Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, from 1995 to
2001. Her responsibilities included being
part of the team that initiated and implemented
WIPO’s first distance learning
course followed by researching and analyzing
data on the Least Developed Countries
and preparing reports on the results
obtained. She holds a BA (Hon) from Carleton
University in Ottawa.
While at WIPO, Maria appreciated the
opportunity to meet people of different cultures
and to gain a deeper understanding of
global issues and their effects on others.
After seven years with the UN she decided to
move to the UK and spend more time concentrating
on her writing.
A writer since childhood, Maria was
inspired to write ‘Vanna’s Dance’ after meeting
Belgian film producer Eric vander Borght.
He was working on a film about an eightyear-old girl named Vanna who lost her leg to
a landmine while feeding her father’s chickens.
The family had thought the area was
mine-free.
‘Vanna’s Dance’ depicts the young girl’s
determination to overcome her injuries, and
interweaves elements of Khmer mythology
and legend into the story. In 2001, Maria sent
the story to Heather Mills McCartney who,
with Sir Paul McCartney, had agreed to
become patrons of the organization ‘Adopt-AMinefield’
(AAM). ‘Vanna’s Dance’ was
posted on the AAM website and used as part
of the information materials provided for
children.
AAM, a campaign of the United Nations
Association of the U.S.A., works diligently to
clear landmines and assist landmine survivors.
“I first learned about Maria Almudevar-van
Santen’s story because of my work with Adopt-A-Minefield,” says Heather Mills McCartney,
who wrote the forward for the book. “’Vanna’s
Dance’ is both a tale of caution and of joy. The
great victory is that Vanna does not let the
landmine take her spirit. She works hard to be
able to walk and to dance again.”
In 2002, Maria returned to Canada after 12
years and five countries abroad. Wanting to do
something more with ‘Vanna’s Dance’, she
organized a contest with the Waterloo Catholic
District School Board to have students provide
the illustrations. The book then became a fundraising
project for AAM with author profits
being donated to the organization (www.landmines.org). A portion will also be put aside for
a private fund for Vanna. Maria is currently
working on obtaining the contact details for
Vanna to do so.
Vanna’s Dance was translated into the
French version, La danse de Vanna, by Jean-Guy Latulippe of Montreal, Canada.
Scott Fairweather, President of the Canadian
Landmine Foundation/AAM has this response
to the book “Do you believe in
miracles? Vanna’s Dance is a miracle. How else
can the brutal injury of a child become an
inspiration? How else can a story illustrated by
children improve the lives of some of the most
disenfranchised people in the world? Read
it. Feel it. Act on it.”
The publication of these books was made
possible through the support of Borden Ladner
Gervais LLP, one of Canada’s leading law
firms (www.blgcanada.com).
BLG also held a book launch in May 2005
where winners of the illustration contest were
awarded with signed copies. Guest speakers
participating in the ‘Vanna’s Dance’ launch
event were Scott Fairweather, President of the
Canadian Landmine Foundation (the Canadian
affiliate of Adopt-A-Minefield), and Paul Heinbecker,
inaugural director of the Centre for
Global Relations, Governance and Policy at
Wilfrid Laurier University and Distinguished
Fellow at the independent research Centre for
International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in
Waterloo and former Ambassador for Canada
to the UN.
The books are published by Trafford Publishing
and are available online at www.trafford.com and through AAM.
Maria resides in the Waterloo Region,
Ontario, where she is working on other projects
for children.
About Adopt-A-Minefield (AAM)
Adopt-A-Minefield® is a compaign of the United Nations Association of the U.S.A., which engages individuals, community groups, and businesses in the Unied Nations effort to resolve the global landmine crisis. The Campaign helps save lives by raising funds for mine clearance and suvivor assistance and by raising awareness about the landmine problem. Adopt-A-Minefield(AAM) has branches in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Sweden. The organization has as patrons Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney.
About the Canadian Landmine Foundation
The Canadian Landmine Foundation is
Canada’s foremost fundraising organization for
landmine action. The Foundation is a registered
charity with a mission to raise awareness and
funds to end the human and economic suffering
caused by anti-personnel landmines. The Foundation
has a strong history of building significant
partnerships for mine action and of reminding
Canadians of the international leadership provided
by the Government of Canada.
The Foundation is a managing partner in
the global Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign.
www.canadianlandmine.org
About Trafford Publishing
Trafford Publishing provides an innovative service for self-publishing authors known as “on-demand publishing”. Trafford was the world’s first company to provide this service in 1995, and has grown steadily ever since. Over 6000 authors (representing 7500 titles) from more than 90 countries use this service. Trafford currently launches about 250 new titles every month – roughly 2% of all new titles published in North America. Trafford Publishing has offices in Canada, USA, UK and Ireland.
About Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
With more than 670 lawyers, intellectual property agents, and other professionals working in six major Canadian cities, Borden Ladner Gervais is one of Canada’s largest and most respected national full-service firms. BLG offers fully bilingual legal and intellectual property services and represents a wide variety of regional, national and multinational companies as well as public institutions. For further information, visit: www.blgcanada.com
For more information or to request a review copy of ‘Vanna’s Dance’ please contact
Annette Humphries
Trafford Publishing
Publicity and Promotions Coordinator
Tel: 250-383-6864
Annette@trafford.com
For more information on BLG or to arrange an interview with Maria Almudevar-van Santen please contact:
Jennifer Eyskoot
Tiffany Schier
Media Relations Coordinator
Media Relations Manager
Tel: 416-367-6343
Tel: 416-367-6610
Mobile: 416-432-0084
Mobile: 416-949-1910
jeyskoot@blgcanada.com
tschier@blgcanada.com
