Tic, tac, tic, tac…

20 days!

Excited? Nervous? Zen?

Hum… maybe a bit of the three?

Nervous?

Oh yes! Not a lot of days left before pre-departure training and so much to do until then! Catching up with readings, more research about Zambia, development in Africa, getting the last vaccine required, trying anti-malaria pills, packing and realizing that shopping is not over…

I am also nervous about the expectations for the placement. What will be my role overseas? What kind of impact will I have in my host community? How will the partner organization and host community perceive me? To be honest, I have the fear of not being able to meet up with the expectations from EWB, my chapter and myself. There is always the fear of doing more harm than good while overseas. I don’t want my actions to create a negative impact in the community, but I am aware that my knowledge about international development and the history and culture of Zambia is limited and that will affect my perception of current situations and my decisions. I also don’t want to reinforce existing stereotypes about Westerners that have money to give away and knowledge to spread around. To avoid references to neo-colonialism and hopefully break the image of Westerners coming to save the world, I think that the attitude that I will have is key. Going with an open mind and a desire to learn and understand will put me at the same level than Dorothy.

(Who is Dorothy? I will tell you more in future posts but in short: Dorothy is the name that we give to the person that we are working for in EWB. She is the community that I will be living with. She is the people that I will be working with. She is there to remind us that our actions and decisions can have an impact even miles away from us.)

I also have the fear of getting sick in a remote area but hopefully the vaccines will help me and the insect repellent as well. (I am a real candy bar for mosquitoes!)

Feeling isolated is another fear, but my journal will be my best friend and I can’t wait to discover the surprise package especially put together by the GEWBies (The Guelph EWB Chapter) for those loneliness moments. Thanks GEWBies!

One would think that having gone already in a developing country would immune you from cultural shock, but no one is ever prepared enough to resist it. I hope that it won’t be worst than the first time I had it and that I will be able to jump in right back in university life as I only have a few days between my arrival and the start of the classes.

Excited?

BIG YES! I am very excited about meeting my partner organization and see how EWB can collaborate with them! I am excited about finding out more about my role within the organization to contribute to positive change! I am excited about living in a totally different culture, learning the Bemba language, learning about their livelihoods, meeting new friends, meeting Dorothy… I am excited about gaining a better understanding of development and come back to Canada to share my experiences!

Zen?

Not often these days, but I do experience some moments of calmness… in my sleep!

Métro boulot dodo...

(Le français suit.)
During the past weeks, I got caught in the typical cycle of exam time: study, eat, sleep, study, study, eat... Exam time put my preparation for the summer a bit on the side, but I don't have my next (and last!) exam before Thursday, so I have more time to enjoy the sun outside and update my blog!

So let's start with the great news!
I'll be working with Development Aid from People to People - DAPP (exciting name!) on a project in a partnership with Water Aid Zambia and funded by UNICEF! The project in a nutshell is to help people to have access to the tools and knowledge needed to improve their household's well. I will be based in Luapala Province in the North of the country.

DAPP values capacity building and focuses on projects related to current issues in Zambia: orphans, HIV/AIDS, community development, agriculture, environment, social development and education. As I was reading their website, I came across this paragraph in which they explain the idea behind their approach and I am looking forward to see how this approach impact the communities:

"By empowering the individual, DAPP supports various communities in Zambia to develop. The projects promote education at all levels through programs in schools, training the teachers, teaching the peasant farmers and their families, training the workers in the projects and training those around the projects. The idea is to create good examples as inspiration to many people."

DAPP is a new partner to EWB and I will have the chance to be the first to establish a good relationship with them! Having a long term volunteer already working with UNICEF on the project, others with Water Aid and myself with DAPP will allow us to get a better understanding of the interactions and politics between the three organisations!

Since 1986, DAPP has been working to empower Zambians to break away from the cycle of poverty.
In a matter of one day, I moved away from the cycle of exam time.
Imagine if the cycle of poverty was that easy to break...


Au cours des dernières semaines, j'ai été emportée par le cycle de la période d'examens: étude, bouffe, dodo, étude, encore étude, bouffe... La période d'examens m'a obligée à mettre de côté ma préparation pour cet été de côté, mais mon prochain (et dernier!) examen n'est pas avant jeudi! J'ai donc plus de temps pour profiter du soleil et mettre à jour mon blogue!

Alors commençons par les grandes nouvelles!
Je vais travailler avec Development Aid from People to People - DAPP (un nom excitant!) sur un projet en partenariat avec Water Aid Zambia et financé par UNICEF! En bref, le projet consiste à aider les gens à avoir accès aux outils et aux connaissances requis pour améliorer leur puits domestiques. Je vais être basée dans la province de Luapala dans le nord du pays.

DAPP valorise le renforcement des capacités et met l'emphase sur des projets liés aux enjeux actuels au Zambie: orphelins, VIH/SIDA, développement des communautés, agriculture, environnement, développement social et éducation. Alors que je lisais leur site web, je suis tombée sur ce paragraphe dans lequel ils expliquent l'idée derrière leur approche et j'ai vraiment hâte de constater à quel point cette approche a un impact dans les communautés visées:

(Traduction libre)

"En travaillant à développer chaque individu, DAPP soutient plusieurs communautés de la Zambie dans leur développement. Les projets font la promotion de l'éducation à tous les niveaux à travers des programmes dans les écoles, des formations pour les enseignants, les agriculteurs et leurs familles, des formations pour les travailleurs impliqués dans les projets et des formations pour ceux qui gravitent autour des projets. Le but est de créer des modèles exemplaires comme inspiration pour plusieurs personnes."

DAPP est un tout nouveau partenaire d'Ingénieurs sans frontières et je vais avoir la chance d'être la première à établir une bonne relation avec eux! En ayant une volontaire long-terme avec UNICEF, d'autres volontaires avec Water Aid et moi-même avec DAPP pour travailller sur le même projet, cela nous permettra d'avoir une meilleure compréhension des intéractions et des politiques entre les trois organisations.

Depuis 1986, DAPP travaille à empower les Zambiens à briser le cycle de la pauvreté.
En un jour, j'ai réussi à me défaire du cycle de la période d'examens.
Si seulement le cercle vicieux de la pauvreté était aussi facile à briser...

And now, a bit about the Junior Fellowship Program...

A Junior Fellowship placement with Engineers Without Borders doesn't start the day we take off on the plane. In fact, I am not yet gone, but the program has already started for me!

Since December, I have started what is called the Foundation Learning to get ready to go overseas. It consists of readings, assignments, monthly webtrains (online discussions) and weekly coffee shops with two past Junior Fellows from the EWB Guelph chapter that covers a wide range of topics from Rural Livelihoods to Creating Change. I especially really enjoy the coffee shops every Wednesday with Kyla, Janna and Kim. Kyla and Janna, who went to Malawi and Ghana respectively this past summer, are full of resources and are very supportive. Kim is the other wonderful JF from Guelph who is going to Ghana this summer.

Once overseas, I will be working during 3 months and a half with a partner organisation in one of the two following areas: water and sanitation, or agriculture. My role has not been defined yet nor the partner organization that I will be working with. Eli, the Junior Fellowship Support Staff in Southern Africa, is currently meeting with local NGOs to find where the volunteers can have a potential impact.

When I will be back in Canada, my role as a returning JF will be to share my experience with the chapter and the community. I think that this experience will allow me to talk with more confidence about the challenges faced in developing communities and discuss with further depth the approach taken by EWB overseas. I can hear people say: ''but you already had experience overseas.. what would be the difference?'' Well, it is true that I have already volunteered in Cambodia for 8 months and saw some of the challenges in developing communities. But at that time, I knew little about development work and poverty issues. I am not pretending to know a lot more now, but I want to build on that previous experience and see how the approach adopted by EWB can be improved to have a greater impact. Having that past experience will allow me to relate certain things with the current situation in Zambia, but I cannot simply recreate what I have done before. In other words, I should not make assumptions based on previous similar cases that I have seen. Zambia has a totally different history and culture and things that are perceived acceptable in one community might not be in another. Things that worked in a particular context might not work in another. This is going to be one of my challenges, but with the readings that I am doing about Zambia I will have some kind of background to help me out!

A bit about Engineers Without Borders (EWB)...

When I first found out about EWB, it was four years ago.

At that time, I was simply searching on the Internet about any international development organizations that worked in Cambodia.

And at that time, EWB just seemed to me like any other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

When I 'second' found out about EWB, it was three years ago.

At that time, I was on the phone with a friend who had just met someone from EWB and had decided to join the chapter at his university. He was telling me all about their work and I remember hearing him say 'critical thinking', 'driving change' and 'awesome'.

When I 'third' found out about EWB, it was almost two years ago.

At that time, I was coming back from a gap year spent in Cambodia volunteering with an NGO that allowed me to see a lot of the negative sides of development. I came back with some sort of disillusionment and frustration and I did not know if I would ever work in development again. But then, I came across a booth ran by a few EWB members of the Guelph Chapter wearing bright orange shirts. The sign on their table said: "Promoting human development through access to technology".

That's EWB mission statement. EWB is in fact a non-profit organization that works to improve the livelihoods in developing communities by focusing on human development. EWB helps to build capacity within the communities and works with local partner organizations to find effective and appropriate ways to break the cycle of poverty. EWB focuses on supporting existing projects in the following rural technical sectors: water and sanitation, energy, food processing and production, and agriculture. While EWB has been working in many different countries on three continents in the past, the focus is now narrowed down to four countries in Africa: Ghana, Zambia, Malawi and Burkina Faso. Putting all the energy and resources in one area of the world allows EWB to be more effective and to seek for a more sustainable impact in the communities.

EWB does work in Canada as well. With all the learnings and experiences that the overseas volunteers bring back to Canada, EWB wants to encourage global citizenship in each individual and in our government. Awareness and lobbying campaigns, school and corporate presentations, and public outreach events are some of the things that EWB does here. You have probably heard of the Make Poverty History or the Stand Up Against Poverty campaigns, the bill c-293, the 0.7% pledge...

And as we like to say in EWB, "we hope to work ourselves out of job within our lifetime".

Here is the Z-Unit! Team Zambia is meeting!

Team Zambia 'experiencing' some sort of illness...
L'équipe Zambie qui 'éprouve' un certain malaise...
From left to right, top to bottom (de gauche à droite, haut en bas): Brett, Brian, Vera, Cherie, Mark, Florin, Madavine, Mina, Olivia, Helen

This past January, over 700 delegates from all across the country gathered in Montréal for the Engineers Without Borders National Conference, and 39 of them were there as the ongoing Junior Fellow volunteers that will be doing a placement this summer in either Ghana, Malawi, Zambia or Burkina Faso! I am part of the team of 10 volunteers that will be heading to Zambia on May 15th! The conference gave us a great opportunity to share our excitement, fears and hopes, and even though we are now back in our little corner of the country, we are still sharing ideas, thoughts and information via the wonderful world wide web...

En janvier dernier, plus de 700 délégués provenant de partout à travers le pays ont convergé à Montréal pour le Congrès national d'Ingénieurs sans frontières, et parmi eux, 39 délégués faisaient partie de la nouvelle cohorte de volontaires du programme de Junior Fellowship qui entreprendront un stage cet été soit au Ghana, au Malawi, au Zambie ou au Burkina Faso! Je fais partie de l'équipe de 10 volontaires qui s'envoleront au Zambie le 15 mai! Le congrès fut une belle occasion de partager entre nous nos excitations, nos craintes et nos espoirs, et même si nous sommes maintenant de retour dans nos petits coins de pays, nous partageons régulièrement nos idées, pensées et informations grâce au merveilleux monde de l'Internet...