20 Days until I leave...

It truly boggles my mind to think that I will be leaving Canada in 20 days to move to Africa. I don't think the thought has truly settled into my mind. I think I am not letting it set in because I don't want to deal with saying good-bye to everyone and thinking about the great uncertainty that lies before me. I don't even have a clue as to where I will be living, don't know how I am going to deal with being by myself in Kumasi, or how I will cope with being the only female at my office; talk about scary. I  know I will eventually figure things out, but I must say there is no easing me into this, I guess this is the only way to figure things out.

Schools out for the summer?! NOPE.

I’m really excited that July is my last month of summer school and soon I get to relax for a month, before my placement. At this point, though, I am very overwhelmed and burnt out. And I have way too many assignments to even catch my breath. On top of the ridiculous amount of lengthy papers I need to write in the next couple weeks, I have a lot of INDEVOURS stuff to do. If anyone wants to donate more money to INDEVOURS , I won’t protest! But seriously. I don’t have much time to just have me time or hang out with my friends as much as I want to this summer (seeing as though I’m leaving in less than 2 months and won’t be back for 8!). I am also burnt out because this is my 11th month in a row in school. How am I suppose to have the energy and motivation to push through this last month? I also need to get my VISA complete for Ghana, get the rest of my immunizations, extend my healthcare, OH and I’m trying to learn Twi! *insert a million sighs* and that’s the beginning of my list.
All in all, if anyone has some motivation they want to through my way that would be great. Any advice?

Excited for something new!

Today is a “I’m realllllllly excited for Ghana day”. My feelings towards my trip change almost daily. I’m not bi-polar I swear. Today is one of those days where I can’t help but googling Ghana and smiling at all the amazing things I will get to experience. One thing I am really looking forward to is experiencing a new culture. Submerging myself into a culture that is new is going to be very challenging at times but definitely a good learning experience. I wish I had more time to just sit and plan all the things I want to do in the country, but I guess I will have to wait until August for that.
A week ago when my class and I had our inter-cultural pre-departure training I was quite scared. I had thought much about being by myself in Kumasi. The most nerve racking moment that is scaring me right now is the point after I have spent a week with Adam in Accra doing orientation and then having to climb into a car and drive to Kumasi and get dropped off, alone. I’m sure Adam is nervous about this too. I will be sitting in my new place trying to grasp how I am going to a) make friends b) feel comfortable at home and c) fit in at work seeing as I am the only female and probably the youngest person there. I’ll have to blog something as soon as I get to this point just to see the true feelings I am having. Who know, maybe i’ll be busy getting everything together and won’t have time to just sit and think about all this.   But then there’s always before bed….ugh
One thing I’m going to try and do is prepare myself mentally for all of this. It is going to be hard because I don’t really have anything to compare it to besides going away to university for the first time- although I was only 45 mins from home… One comforting thing is that Kyla (another classmate travelling to Botswana) is going to be the only one in her city too. I know I am going to be messaging her along the way and sharing the similar concerns.
But enough about my worries! Today is my “I’m soooo excited to go to Ghana day”!! :)
Have you ever had this experience???

Under the Wire: Canadian Aboriginals

Something that really worries me is how little Canadians know about the issues that are occurring in their own backyard. I must say I am not perfect, and I am constantly learning, which is what everyone should do. This is why I have set out this summer to learn as much as I can about the issues aboriginals face within Canada. In international development we are constantly learning about other countries and the trials and tribulations the people in different ethnic communities have. Not once have we learned about aboriginal history or the current day problems they incur. It is not right. Since taking my environmental assessment classes I have begun to be very interested in the issues facing aboriginal communities and increasingly, their culture. My Canadian geography class (that I took with Kelsey Herglotz) opened my eyes to the different core and periphery regions of Canada and I realized how fortunate I am not only to be Canadian, but to live in Southern Ontario. I hope to continue my learning and hopefully do a masters in northern environments and culture, it truly fascinates me.

Recently I did a presentation on Aboriginal issues in Canada for my geography class. It felt so good to express what I find to be such an important topic. I hope people learned something from it, just like I learned something from their presentations.

A little summary from my presentation:

A meaningful quote:“ The adoption at treaty of your family by mine held promise of a good future for our children… You became my relative at this treaty, you are my relative today, and our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and so on, will be relatives in the future. We have an obligation, Kiciwamanawak, you and I, to make things right between us so that the future generations do not inherit our missed opportunity” -–Harold Johnson Two  Families treaties and government

Colonization

Once again we hear about the white man going over to what they think is a new place (when it’s actually already inhabited!) and abusing it. The aboriginals opened the Europeans with open arms; offering them food, materials, and everything they had to share with them, but instead the Europeans diminished the aboriginal’s wildlife so they had no food, spread disease, and on top of all that made written treaties. What’s wrong with treaties? Well a) they were written in a foreign language b) aboriginal culture supports oral agreements that are not bound to forever and c) yeah they’ll give you all their land and move on reserves while you exploit all the resources they have. That sounds like fun. Sign me up. NOT. Anyways so that’s the summary of treaties/colonization from this girl but there’s a lot more info out there.

Residential Schools

This was not a proud moment for Canada. If you haven’t heard about residential schools you need to listen (or read I guess) carefully. Starting in the 19^th Century and peaking around 1934 the government decided that “modernizing” aboriginals and making them like all other Canadians was what was best so they created residential schools. They figured that children were ‘easiest to mold’ so they took thousands of aboriginal children out of their homes and put them in schools that would teach them English and Christian & Canadian customs. Children spent about 10 months of the year in poor living conditions and abused regularly and then dropped back into their communities. It was very hard for the aboriginal students to try and deal with going back into a culture that they have been taught to hate. The effects of residential schools, in my opinion, are still being felt to this day and some forms of this same “assimilation” is still going on within the school system.

Unemployment

One last thing that I want to talk about is the unemployment/labor participation rate. The unemployment rate for aboriginal people is more than double than the Canadian average. Many unintelligent people would look at this and huff and puff and say that it’s all their fault for not working and they get so much from the government and blah blah blah (I’ve had this argument before). This is far from the actual story. If you look at the labor force participation rate, which is the amount of people working and looking for work, the difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians is not much different. Also, there are many more obstacles that aboriginal people face such as job market discrimination. I just want to point out that there are always two sides to the story.

All in all I just want to say, just like mentioned in the quote, we need to work together to conquer the problems that happening in our country. It is not all on the government (let’s be real…….they’re not awesome at it) or all on the aboriginal people or even all on us; we need to collaborate and promote equality. I can’t help but take on a little responsibility for what the Europeans did when they first arrived because I enjoy so many of the benefits that Canada has to offer as a developed nation. We can’t reverse everything that happened in the past, but we can change our attitudes and do something productive instead of destructive (educate yourself!).

If you want a good read the expresses aboriginal history through an aboriginal Canadian’s perspective read the short book: Two  Families treaties and government by Harold Johnson. It’s a really easy read.

What are your feelings about the issues Aboriginals face in Canada?

What are the most prevailing issues? What should we be doing?

Ghana: the place I will be living in for 8 months!

In 74 days I will be leaving the wonderful country of Canada and moving to the awesome country of Ghana in Western Africa. From now on I am going to try and increase the amount of blog posts I have about my placement to a) make it more real b) become more educated about the place I am going to be living in!

One important thing to note about Ghana is that it is a peaceful and stable country. Hopefully that comment calms down some people. I’m not going to die, I’ll be fine. The political environment is also quite stable (which hopefully won’t change with the upcoming elections this year). It will be quite interesting to see how elections are done in another country and how media plays an important role. Ghana also has a fast growing economy; increasing about 6 percent every year (CIDA, 2012). A challenge that they face is the increasing global food and gas prices. Although, recently there has been the discovery of oil, so perhaps things will soon change.

Even though Ghana could soon become a middle income country, there are still many issues that the country faces. About 30% of Ghanaians live on US$1.25/day, 2 million people have limited access to food, specifically in the north where food shortages are recurring (CIDA, 2012). According to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Ghana’s main challenges are:

•  Weak public sector institutions; poor delivery of basic services in areas such as agriculture, health, and education

•  Persistent food insecurity in the northern regions

• Limited access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

• Inequality between men and women (CIDA, 2012)

Personally, I think these main challenges are lacking at least one other issue; the whole idea of “environmental sustainability”. Everyone I have talked to that has been/is from Ghana has mentioned the lack of solid waste disposal, on top of many other environmental issues. Even the organization I am working with is interested in the impacts of deforestation on local communities. Not focusing on such issues can make Ghana’s other challenges much worse, which is why I believe they are important. 

I am looking forward to going to Ghana and seeing the state of the country through my own eyes. It is one thing to read about it in the newspaper or on the internet, but getting to experience the country first hand will be personally fulfilling. 

The ticket has been bought!

WOW. I’m officially leaving Canada on Sunday September 9th at 8:50pm and arriving in Accra on Monday the 10th at 8:20pm. I’m sorry what?! This does not feel real but it sure is exciting! I keep thinking that me leaving is so far away but it has become a little more real. I’m really glad that I’m going to have someone with me on the flight that is going through the same emotions! I hope I don’t annoy Adam when I keep turning to him and saying WE ARE GOING TO GHANA…..FOR 8 MONTHS. FOR 8 MONTHS ADAM. hahaha I can already picture it in my head.
I know I’m going to look back on this moment and smile so that is why I’m blogging about it. It’s a defining moment of my journey because it makes me leaving in September more final, perhaps more scary. Marking this down on my calender is going to be a weird feeling.
I am also glad the flight is at 8:50pm… nothing worse than being half awake in the morning say good-bye to everyone. And I just know that I am going to be running around finishing my packing the day of. That’s just how I roll.
Anyways, enough of this boring stuff. I’m gonna go stare at the itinerary some more.
Cheers!

What is INDEVOURS?!

If you have never heard of INDEVOURS your life is about to change. My international development classmates and I are very passionate about what we learn about in the classroom and want to explore development even further by completing our 8 month unpaid internships in an array of developing countries this fall. Not only do we want to create awareness of our program and what we aim to achieve personally, but we also are working hard to fundraise for our placements. Our placements are not like the ones volunteers go on because unlike them we are getting school credits for it. Because of this we are required to pay tuition for both terms, pay for housing, food, and airfare there and back, not to mention the fee we need to pay for WUSC  to organize our placements and help us during the process. As you can already tell this is quite expensive!!
Each one of the members of INDEVOURS is an investment. Just like giving money to an NGO in a developing country, giving money to us funds our ability to work on projects. During our placements we will be working on many projects that pertain to microfinance, small business development, and the environment (like myself who will be working on an environmental education project) and many more, and with your help we can afford to do these wonderful things.
We aren’t just asking for donations. We have organized many events this summer to fundraise and spread awareness. A few of these events include an ultimate frisbee tournament, a bottle drive, and a Global Gala. For more details you can check out our website.
We are truly 32 of the most passionate and hardworking students and I hope you take the time to check us out and support us.
Follow us on Twitter & like us on Facebook!!
<3

One of the most important development topics that is near to my heart is the empowerment of women around the world. I’m not saying this because I am a feminist and think men are horrible dictators, but I truly believe in women and the stability they can bring to a community. It just doesn’t make sense for development practitioners to ignore suppressed women because they make up for about half the population and are the most in poverty.
Some facts from the Because I Am A Girl website :

• “70% of the one billion people living in extreme poverty are women and girls
• Girls are 3X more likely to become malnourished than boys
• In the poorest of countries, 50% of girls do not attend secondary school

Why you should care…

• An extra year of school for girls increases their lifetime income by 15%
• children of women who have completed primary school are less likely to die before the age of 5 than children of mothers with no schooling
• women invest more of their income into their families than men do”

This is why I care so much. Supporting and empowering our sisters around the world is not only a necessary development initiative, but something that I believe people are emotionally connected to. I hope no one ever loses sight of this and it opens some people’s eyes. It is time to allow half our population to have a voice and equal rights to a higher quality of life.
Learning more about this topic has lead me to think about it constantly while I am learning about development. Education is one of the most powerful tools in the world. I hope I can bring some of this female empowerment to my placement next year in Ghana. Like they say,
GIRL POWER!!
What do you think about empowering women? Important?

Asking why: The Kony Movement

Yesterday the Kony Video spread like wildfire over facebook. Everyone had it, on their profile, spreading the message that Kony needs to be captured and brought to justice. Now today I have woken up and checked facebook and everyone is having numerous opinions about this video which I think is awesome! I think it is great that people are critically analyzing media that is thrown at us. My criticisms and appreciations of the video are as follows:
It was an effective use of social media in spreading a powerful message
The organization focused on one person and had a clear goal presented (whether that is where their funding is ACTUALLY going or not…)
Transparency of funding I think is an issue
Encouraging viewers to mask their towns with posters and vandalism in April is creating a whole other issue of polluting our neighborhoods…
Overall, I think it was an effective video and presented an issue that is quite relevant, even though there are many other issues out there that could be presented. Other people have presented ideas like there are other injustices going on right now (like the one in Syria) killing thousands of people. I think it is good that we can now talk about the problems of the world and inform people, but maybe not all at once. Another person stated that yes this video has become annoying as it is on everyone’s facebook wall, but it is better than having people update about their workouts and homework, which I think is true. And some people are very informed and state that the current president has done a lot of injustices and killed many people. Once again I think that it was a good thing that this invisible children organization focused on one person and one cause.
One really good article is the “Stop Kony yes. but don’t stop asking questions” and everyone should give it a good read.
Here is some of the opinions found on facebook. State your opinion below, I would love to hear what you think!!
“I’m gonna be the bad guy here for a second with these Kony 2012 movements.

I posted the video because a) the kid was cute and b) Kony absolutely deserves to be brought to justice, that I certainly agree with. HOWEVER, people seem to be completely overlooking that the Ugandan military is using this entire Kony campaign (the funds and the awareness) as a thin excuse to cross borders and steal resources from other countries like diamonds and timber. Not to mention the recruitment of children by the LRA has decreased 80%, there has been a peace treaty signed and there has been a rapid decrease in the violence since the filming for this began in 2003. This isn’t due to the Invisible Children organisation - it’s because Ugandan military and the ICC have intervened. The Ugandan army also has a history of leaving high HIV rates in communities behind them wherever they go, and this is essentially what Invisible Children is lobbying to fund.

Also, the guy we’re helping catch Kony for has used child soldiers himself. Except he won that war (Ugandan Bush War) and the Acholi (Kony’s people) lost. He’s now the president of Uganda, helped kill 6 million people in the DRC during the Second Congo War and is not exactly someone we should be propping up by sending military advisors and funds (albeit for the purposes of catching Kony). The history of the wars that happened these past three decades in Central Africa is incredibly complicated and the film ignores all of that. Yes let’s bring Kony to justice, but let’s not prop up and fund a dictator and his army while doing so.

I want to reiterate that I’m not saying we should do nothing, but before we donate money ($60 for their kit or however much per month) and go around vandalizing major cities on behalf of an apparent charitable organization, it’s important people do their own research and draw their own conclusions instead of blindly following the message of an emotionally charged video.” - Kassandra Cruciano
“i love how people bitch about how annoying the kony2012 campaign is,
about how annoying it is when people fb blast their daily routine/gym habits,
about how you hate dumb bitches & heartless douchebags..?

how about we all pull our heads out of our asses and start being positive? wonderful.” -Chelsea Stamp
“k, so no everyone’s now finally aware of the Lord’s Resistance Army’s initiatives over the last 20 or so years, I’d like to bring your attention to a place called Syria, where the government is currently massacring unarmed civilians by the thousands. Like right now. Sorry things are a bit more complicated there, but hopefully you’ve got 4 minutes for a (very) quick background. Assad 2012?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElRoN-uNli4&feature=player_embedded”

-Lee Folis


This is what I like to see! Question and be critical!

How not to be an anti-feminist ...

CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!
So this girl…I can’t even call her a woman because..well you watch the video and see for yourself. We have gone so far with woman’s rights and equality among men and women that it scares me that there are people (including WOMEN) out there that have these views. I even respect that you want to be a stay at home wife and have six kids, GO FOR IT! It doesn’t bother me and I’m sure you would love it. There is nothing wrong with that. But making a video like this just makes you sound so unintelligent and rude. I mean she said it for herself, “I don’t have all my facts straight”…then don’t post a video. Please.
The point of my post is that perhaps you don’t like all that feminists have to say, but that doesn’t mean that you should go about talking about the role of women this way. I mean, I probably don’t agree with everything that feminists have to say but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect everything that women activists have done and accomplished. I am so thankful that I can go to school and speak my mind on this blog. It’s alright that women want to be housewives, I personally don’t see that as backtracking, but I think that EVERY woman should have goals that she wants to achieve personally, apart from her family goals and strive to achieve them. I think that’s what this girl in the video should think about. Perhaps she doesn’t have career goals (clearly youtube sensation is out of the question) , but she should at least fill her head with knowledge or go experience the world and not take anything for granted.
Please comment about the video or about what I’ve posted below :)

' right to spank' law called public health threat'....right..

So apparently people are saying spanking kids is a “public health threat”, that seems a little extreme to me. I mean I don’t like people beating their kids but giving your kids a spank when they don’t understand what they are doing is bad isn’t a public health threat. I mean OBESITY IN KIDS is a public health threat. I know these are one of those things that people love to argue about but my opinion is that sometimes kids have to know that what they are doing is not right and isn’t going to be tolerated. I mean parents are just preparing their kids for the real world when they are going to get punched in the face regularly (ok I mean that figuratively haha). And I know people always give the “I got spanked and look how good I turned out” but it’s true. I was only spanked a few times when I was younger, I mean before I was like 5 and I didn’t turn into a serial killer or have no self-esteem. When it gets down to it I just think that the two extremes are wrong aka beating your kids with brooms or not spanking your kids at all. I swear you see some of the kids today at the mall or grocery store and you just know that their parents don’t lay down the law….

Passion is not enough?

There’s something I’ve been wanting to blog about for a while. I’ve actually talked about this with other people in my class and I’m glad there’s a general consensus that they get bothered by this question too. There’s nothing greater than a table full of people asking you the following:
what are you going to “be” when you graduate?
what is international development?!
what kind of job can you get with that degree?
what are you going to do after school?
Oh so you’re going to be helping people do chores in Africa (on my placement)?
Then after all of these questions come at you like shrapnel from a bomb you just want to pretend you didn’t hear them. Ok so it is nice when people are generally interested in what you are doing, especially when they know about development issues and are actually interested in your degree, but these questions make me want to pull out all my hair.
Answers:
I am going to be a graduate and have a degree in environmental studies and a diploma in environmental impact assessments when I am finished school. Is that cool? or do I need to be a doctor, engineer, nurse, mechanic? what is in a title? credibility? so frustrating.
As to what international development is, that’s a complex thing to answer, umm its developing countries around the world using environmental and social (etc.) means that attempt to make a sustainable difference? Yeah I took many courses on indev so explaining it in a few sentences is hard and that confused look on your face means I’m going to tell you to look it up.
hmm and the job I can get with this degree is working with an NGO (non-governmental organization, like OXFAM- you know what that is? cool, I’m glad something that is coming out of my mouth doesn’t sound foreign), the United Nations if I want no life… and so on.
After school? working. If you haven’t noticed school costs you everything, yes monetarily but also mentally, socially, and such. but the thing I will be focusing is the working-to-get-money part. After that I intend on going back to school and then I will fly to the moon….ok no, but you were actually interested for a second there
and no I will not be helping people in Africa do their daily chores. This was legit what some people asked me about my placement next year… how is that international development? HOW. I will be working with an environmental NGO, called A Rocha in Ghana, that focuses on environmental restoration, protection, eco-tourism…(http://www.arocha.org/gh-en/work/overview.html)
Sorry for the slight tinge of anger but its super stressful and frustrating when people grill you on these topics. I”M GOING TO UNIVERSITY, I’M LEARNING. I’m passionate about what I am learning about and love it. Is that not enough? I’m not a drop out, I don’t do drugs, and I contribute to society. I will learn more along the way, but for now I’m going to school for international development and I am right where I want to be.