It has been a week already and things are going so fast!

Yesterday, I had my first day at work! For the next three months, I will be working for the Ministry of Environment ( MINAM) of Lima, Peru. I will be working as a research assistant for the Ministry’s network. Since I’m studying in International studies, one of my task will be to create a forum where reasearchers of different Universities of different provinces of Lima can post, exchange information and comment on other studies posted. Eventually, if everything works well, my team would like to create a link at an international level. The goal is to transmit information about climatic or environmental events happening in Lima to other provinces of the country and the other way around. Peru is divided in departments which include Lima, San Martin, Cusco, Ica, etc. Those departments are themselves divided in provinces which are divided in districts. For example, let’s say, I live in the country of Canada, in the department of Quebec, in the province of Montreal, in the district of Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Therefore, Peru has ALOT of districts.The Ministry of Environment is relatively new and was created about four years ago. In this sense, it’s a question about organising and transmitting the information at different levels of the government, such as the provincial government/organisations/ departments/ provinces/districts.

Also, knowing three languages, my supervisor asked me to do the translations of documents that will be shown in workshops, presented at Canadian Organisations coming to Peru!

As things may change, my tasks may vary, but at least I now know one of the many goals of my team and what are some of the difficutlies of the Ministry of Environment.

Also, being able to mix with the locals, I have seen how much peruvian are hardworkers. What is strange is how I have seen so few homeless people just asking for money in the streets. Thing is, they might ask you for money, but by trying to sell you little keychains or homemade crafts for example. Few, will just ask for money without trying to sell you something. Even poor people work for their money. This is maybe a sign of how much people of developing countries do not take anything for granted and work for what they have. Nothing is given easily, which makes them a country very hard working and grateful. However, that is the impression I get of living in the city, but I don’t know how it is in other districts… 

Thereupon, I will keep you updated in what I will be up to and my reflexions.

Hasta luego!

Coming to Antigua to become a tourist again with my mother who is visiting me for my last little while here was a really good decision. It is serving as a transition point between being a « local » to being a complete foreigner.

After a couple successful meetings and coordination I have left my projects at work in the hands of people who will definitely continue on with our initial goals. Hopefully before the end of April I will receive news from my supervisor that construction has began on the pilot project that I spearheaded myself. I am looking forward to hearing about the changes taking place in the department and projects be accomplished in the final two years of my host organizations work.

What I have learnt during this internship has been truly invaluable:

-how to work in a completely different work environment

-how to interact on a professional and personal level in a different cultural context

-how to be patient, truly, very patient and to live life at a different pace (there is always time for a coffee)

-how to be assertive with my priorities and objectives in my third language!

-what kind of work I am passionate about and what field I want to pursue in my studies

-how to shut up and just listen, when my beliefs and values should take second place in order to appreciate and learn from the experiences of others
-when in doubt don’t drink that juice or eat that food, better to be hungry than sick!

Que le vaya bien,

Raquel

Finding my way in Dhaka has been a long, difficult journey, and it feels almost cruel to have to leave just as I’m feeling incredibly settled and so happy here. My internship proved to be one of the greatest learning experiences I have had to date: working in a global health research institute, I was given the chance to learn to conduct better research,and to take part in various teams working on a DFID-funded project to evaluate the health and facilities available to poor urban women. I learned so much about public health, about the life of the poor in Dhaka, and
about the city and country in general. As this burgeoning mega-city explodes, I’m pleased to have seen it as it is today – the population is set to hit nearly 30 million in the next decade, and in a city already bursting with as many people as it can hold, and infrastructure not nearly able to catch up, it is fascinating and worrisome to wonder which direction this city will head in the next few decades, and how the systems and services will keep up. As more and more people (1000 per day) flood Dhaka in the hopes of better jobs, education, and access to services, more and more groundwater is extracted – making the city more susceptible to major earthquakes, as the groundwater is no longer there to absorb the tremors; just one of the many ways this city is becoming more disaster-prone by the day. Monsoon season hit early this year too: one night I trudged home from a day trip to a nearby village, through torrential rains and winds, to find my street flooded – knee-deep in water (and sewage, not something I want to think about…). The next morning, I woke to feel my whole building shake – a minor earthquake. This place could be described as many things: chaotic, overwhelming, intense – but certainly never boring.

Despite all of the difficult times I have had here, I know I will look back with nothing but fondness for my time in this wonderful country, and I am so so fortunate to have had the experience of living and working here for three months. I can’t wait to come back. Until then, Ottawa: your clean streets, sidewalks, trash bins, and safe-to-drink tap water beckon! See you soon!

As I reflect back on the places I’ve seen and the experiences I’ve had, I feel as great sense of gratitude and appreciation for my university education and the skills that I’ve acquired as a student. I know that it is because of the critical thinking and analytical skills that I developed from being in this program, that I was able to objectively survey my environment and process all that I was seeing in a contextually based manner. Though the process has had its ups and downs, making the decision to come to Cape Town had been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve left Cape Town with a greater desire to understand the world in a more tangible and practical way and a basket full of memories and adventures that I hope to never forget.

The university program is an online correspondence program with various Jesuit universities in the U.S such as Regis University. Upon arriving I quickly noticed the extended periods of time that the students spent on the computers. This is understandable since they must submit their work online, but spending seven hours a day on the computer with hardly any interaction is not a healthy thing for anyone. Slowly I started to organize group discussions with the students, debates, spelling games, lectures and book clubs. Not only did this help them improve their spoken English, it helped them understand the course material better since they were discussing it together and not thinking about it alone and it also allowed them to learn how to help one another out with their work instead of sending an e-mail to their professors asking questions that may only be answered 1 or 2 days later.

My time as an academic tutor has been an unforgettable experience. Although I believe that I have helped the students in many different ways, I have learnt so much from them as well. Getting to know and interacting with people of different nationalities that have incredible life stories to tell, has truly made me feel much stronger in my intercultural communication skills and able to facilitate group discussions with such a wide diversity of people. At times, it was and still is hard to know that the people I was working with have suffered so much and in many cases are still suffering: Whether it is from posttraumatic stress disorder, starvation, illness or family deaths. These are all things in which I felt hopeless in terms of being able to help them. Many of them though explained that even though I could not help them solve their suffering it is just nice for them to have someone to talk to who is not in a similar situation.

Volunteering in a refugee camp has triggered many interests for me. For a long time now I have been interested in the field of education, not knowing specifically what I would do with education. Being here and observing the different programs within JRS, how they are run, how they are coordinated and how they are taught has been a great opportunity. I was able to be part of some of the coordination component of the diploma program and see what some of the many tasks are of coordinating a program of its kind. Although this has increased my passion within the field of education, it has also ignited many other passions. As mentioned in previous blogs, there is an immense food shortage in the camp and the refugees are very hungry. This issue has developed my interest in refugee rights. It is not something I have been able to research while being here but it is something I am going to pursuing once I am back. I had thought I would be able to get some of information about refugee risghts, while being in camp but it proved much harder than I thought. The UNHCR is never available, and many of the refugees are not even aware that they have rights. I want to know if the refugees have a right to receive a minimum amount of food per month or if the current food rations that they do receive can continue to diminish. With hope, the little rations that they currently receive will not continue to go down. If they do, there will be a large increase in the amount of people dying of starvation. Dzaleka is considered a good refugee camp, where the living conditions are luxurious compared to other camps. This really makes me wonder what the food ration situation is in other camp and what the living conditions are like. The whole issue of the food rations and people being hungry has also made me develop an interest in nutrition. I am positive that the refugees would be capable of growing various produce that could provide them with the vitamins and proteins that they need, but instead they grow almost only maiz since for them, culturally this is what they grow. It could be incredibly beneficial for the hungry refugees to be taught how to grow varieties of vegetable such as beans, lettuce, sweet potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, carrots and so on. It would also be necessary for them to be taught how to prepare these vegetables. In some cases in the camp, the refugees do grow the vegetables mentioned above. Instead of using the produce for consumption though, they sell the produce to make a profit and buy maiz and therefore are still lacking in many of the vitamins that they could have gotten from their vegetables. there therefore is great need for one of the implementing organization to take on this role…

Overall I do not believe that this internship has made me feel like I have a clear idea of what I would like to do as a career but it has open so many interest for me that other wise I may have never developed and for this I am so grateful for everything I have learnt and all the interests my internship has developed for me.

Through out the three months of being here I have lived in a little village 10 kilometers away from the refugee camp with a Malawian host family. Coming here and living in a host family was one of the highlights of my internship. Not only was I able to integrate myself in the refugee camp and work with people of all different backgrounds, I was also able to integrate myself into the Malawian culture with a family willing to teach me everything I wanted to know about the culture; from how to carry a bucket on my head to how and make nsima.:)

If I had a few suggestions for the following intern, my first and most important suggestion would be to live with a host family; this will enable you to have the most fulfilling and exciting experience. I would also suggest being ready to be extremely patient. Malawians are kind and very very relaxed people, this means that their patience levels are about 10000 times greater than the average western person is. So although, often events or meetings will start a couple hours late, you must just embrace it and talk to the people around you. Often you will learn a lot from them, and then waiting is not as frustrating. It is also important not to give money or food to any of the refugees. Being a white person in camp, they assume that we have a lot of money and the demands from refugees are very constant. If one person gives money or food to them, this will just heighten the demands, not only is this exhausting for the volunteer, it creates jealousy between the other refugees and presedent for the following volunteers. Since there is 17 000 people in the camp it is impossible to give to everyone and therefore important to just say “no, sorry I cannot give you money, but I can help you with your education if you are interested”.

Malawi is an amazing country with some of the kindest people I have ever met. My internship with the refugees has been great and has allowed me to really understand some of difficulties that refugees face, while also understanding some of the opportunities that refugees have to be resettled, to be repatriated or to be part of the Student Refugee Program which is implemented by World University Service Canada (WUSC).

I am very sad to leave, and it was difficult to say goodbye to the students of which I have made some strong friendships. I am so happy though, and feel extremely fulfilled in so many ways having done this internship!

Pour bien m’adapter et apprendre la culture sénégalaise, j’ai développé mon sens de l’observation, car il m’est arrivé souvent de porter attention à plusieurs petits détails importants et qui m’ont évité des problèmes et des malentendus avec les gens. J’ai aussi développé un excellent sens de l’orientation. Après 3 semaines, je pouvais me promener à Dakar sans problème et je connaissais tous les quartiers, cela m’a évité beaucoup de frustrations et de problèmes en prenant les taxis. Bien souvent, même en demandant aux chauffeurs s’ils connaissaient l’endroit où je voulais aller, ils finissaient la plupart du temps à me demander des indications. Je trouvais ces situations très drôles, jamais cela ne m’a vraiment frustrée, car lorsque le chauffeur se perdait, j’en profitais pour observer et connaître la capitale. J’ai énormément de souvenirs qui resteront graver dans ma mémoire et certains petits détails me manqueront comme monter à bord d’un taxi à moitié brisé, les centaines klaxons par jour (les taxis te klaxonnent pour savoir si tu veux en prendre un), les gens qui te disent mille fois bonjour par jour, les petits enfants qui te suivent parce qu’ils veulent jouer avec toi, prendre le thé sénégalais avec mes amies, souper à 21h, etc…

Au niveau du travail, nous avons créé des liens d’amitié très forts entre collègues et j’ai de la peine à imaginer que je retourne chez moi en les laissant ici. J’ai acquis énormément d’expérience et enrichi mes connaissances et compétences professionnelles. Avec le Réseau Siggil Jigéen, j’ai eu l’opportunité de mettre en valeur mon sens de l’organisation et de concrétiser le côté pratique de tous mes effectifs déjà acquis. J’ai adoré mon travail et je crois que je suis arrivée à un bon résultat. J’ai réussi à élaborer la première mouture du plan stratégique 2012-2016. Ce fut pour moi un plaisir d’avoir travaillé avec cette grande organisation. En bref, j’ai beaucoup appris sur la culture sénégalaise et sur moi-même. Je crois que le retour au Canada sera assez difficile pour les premières semaines. Je sais déjà que tout va me manquer, mais heureusement que j’ai pris des tonnes de photos. Mes photos sont mes meilleurs amis arrivés chez moi et les meilleurs souvenirs resteront toujours gravés dans ma mémoire.

After an insanely long journey home (4 stopovers including an eleven hour layover in Korea) I’m back in Ottawa, decompressing and readjusting. The last two-three weeks at my placement at North Thang Long Economic Technical College, on the outskirts of Hanoi, were extremely busy. Although I had plenty to do during the course of my internship, I should’ve known that my most active times would be towards the end. Things always seem to work out like that! On March 26th the college celebrated its tenth anniversary, with speeches, singing competitions, and traditional dancing. Personally I was most impressed with the break dancing and popping and locking performances by the students! Many now-successful alumni and municipal officials were also in attendance. Also, during my last week there I was able to give a 2 hour, one-off workshop on gender equality and healthy relationships. I had been preparing for this workshop for a month and was worried about how it would be received. Fortunately, it was well attended (almost 40 students) and even though there were some sleepyheads in the audience I also saw some students taking notes. Hopefully, this presentation can be continued in the future… Additionally, with the help of WUSC and a Vietnamese sexual health expert, the college is organizing a big student event on reproductive health and gender for the end of April! I wish I could attend, but I still plan to help out and stay involved even from a far. All in all my time at North Thang Long has been an incredibly valuable experience and really rewarding as well. The staff and students were so kind and patient with me. I’ll never forget their generosity.

After working hard at the college and working hard at adjusting to life in Hanoi, I have to work hard to readjust to the life I left behind for three months. In Hanoi, everything was so incredibly busy, loud, and crowded. Personal space did not exist, especially on the bus. This was my greatest adjustment, and I’m very proud to have burst my personal space bubble! I learned to absolutely love everything about Hanoi that caused such great culture shock at the beginning of the journey. Now, back in Ottawa, the city is too quiet. There are no motorbikes here, nobody honks at each other, even the dogs don’t seem to bark quite as loud. Also, there’s space. Everyone is spread out and mostly keeps to themselves. While I thought I would be comforted by these things when I got back, they are actually a bit freaky. But I know in time, just like in Hanoi, I’ll get used to it. For now, I’m excited to see my friends and family,  but also to reflect on all the wonderful things I’ve experienced during my time in Vietnam!

Tam biet!

There are so many things about Cape Town that I am going to miss: the breath-taking landscapes and natural views; the beautiful floral gardens scattered throughout the city; the local markets and street vendors; the relaxed sea-life attitude and pace of time; how around every corner you can find a diversity of music playing out of shops, restaurants and houses; how Cape Townians break out in song and dance at any time of day and in any public place; the many little mannerisms and slang words used by the people; the extremely outgoing nature of South Africans; the intermixing of different cultures and especially the braais and meaty foods! But I can’t give everything away. You are just going to have to come here for yourself to see all of Cape Town’s wonders.

It was really hard to say goodbye to many of these things as well as the good friends I have made here. In the midst of wondering if I will ever see them again I am enlightened by the realization that I now have friends from all over the world and Cape Town that I can keep in touch with and visit in my future travels. This aspect of my internship has really been one of the best if not THE best. I have met so many amazing people. I was lucky enough to be placed in a host family who lives across from a student house of international interns. I now have friends from all over Europe and an insight on not just local South African cultures but a peak at the cultures of many other countries. Even in meeting just the locals you are learning about more than one culture; you are learning about all the cultures of the countries and people that these locals draw their ancestry back to. Oh the beauty of the Rainbow Nation.

I am really not ready to say goodbye. I have spent a considerable amount of time planning out how I could extend my stay and dreaming about a future life in Cape Town. But reality strikes again and I find my-self packing my things for a very unwanted plane ride home. Despite seeing and doing so much there is still so much more to see and do. A city of endless adventures.

But it is never really over. I may be leaving the awesome braai food and local beers behind, but a piece of South Africa will stay with me forever. This experience has definitely changed me as a person; in ways I that I have seen already and in ways I have not yet discovered.

On a personal level, the internship program reaffirmed my belief and value in social justice and development work. I really love field research, interacting with people, and experiencing different cultures! I love that the social sciences are so complicated and messy and that development is made up of billions of individuals, all of whom have different goals and ideas. I also love being constantly challenged and learning new things. However, the next time I do fieldwork, I know that I want to know the language that I’m working in and I want to spend an extended time period there as it takes at least a few months to fully feel comfortable in your surroundings – at around the three month mark, something clicked for me and I finally began to feel like I understood what was going on in the office and feel like I could become a valuable team member. Just as basically all other interns have said before me, the three months fly by in the blink of an eye. Time is relative, and based on your attitude!

While tourism will undoubtedly always play a role in the economy of Nepal, tourism alone is insufficient to build a stronger economy and strengthen the sense of national unity. This fact is why I am so proud I have had the opportunity to work with 3 fair trade handicraft organizations. Each has a unique business model, yet they are aligned not only by their membership with Fair Trade Group Nepal but by being self-sufficient businesses that put producers before profits. They prove that successful businesses can pay livable wages, earn a profit and produce high quality goods. Growing these types of companies is necessary to the future of Nepal’s vibrant and diversified economy. They are not new institutions and their products reflect thousands of years of tradition. In this so called era of globalization, these producers and retailers have the opportunity to export their goods all around the world while simultaneously strengthening Nepal’s global image and local economy. Since Nepal is so diversified in terms of geography and ethnic groups, there is a treasure trove of cultural products available in the fair trade stores like Ten Thousand Villages. My suitcase is filled with many of them.

I did much more than shop though. Working 6 days a week with these organizations kept me very busy and I’m fortunate this was the case. You hear tales of internships or more generally volunteers who are not assigned any work. I had the opposite problem, with my time always in demand. I wish I could have had at least 6 months here! Even with the dreaded “load shedding” (or for those outside of Nepal, electricity black outs) I was able to complete all my work and still enjoy (most) of my Saturdays off. Some have suggested I worked too much or didn’t do enough tourist activities. For me this experience is a learning process. I learned more from being at work than I would from hiking up a mountain, which I did do once. The relationships I developed with my coworkers was an immeasurable source of insight into Nepal’s social, cultural, economic and political spheres. Even beyond our friendships and their willingness to speak freely with me, I was impressed with every single person I worked with. The level of skill and capacity of the employees at my organizations is a wonderful example of what we can often in the North overlook or undersell when speaking of the people in the South. Nepal is not only rich in terms of geography, culture and handicrafts; its industrious, intelligent and artful citizens are its most valuable resource. I will miss them dearly.