An open letter to the Dalhousie community

Here's a little ditty I wrote after National Conference in Toronto.




Jan 28 2009

Dear Friends, Family, Students, Faculty and the Greater Dalhousie Community,

What started off as an invitation to friends to attend a Dal-EWB day conference evolved into a reflection piece about my experiences thus far in my university community and academic programs. As chapter Junior Fellow for Dalhousie 2009, this reflection is a great organic start to sharing my experience with others as I prepare for my overseas placement in Northern Ghana this summer.

I attended my first Engineers without Borders national conference this past January where 700 student delegates from every major university across Canada got together because they are motivated and are actively engaging in change. Change in the way Canadians view development issues, how our society, government, universities, work places, engages in change both here and abroad. I approached EWB with very little knowledge of the work they do, where I fit, what the organizations goals and aims are especially when it came to their overseas plans and work. After attending this 4 day conference, I’m seeing the Dalhousie community in a way never seen before. Let me explain my situation.

I came to Dal to fulfill my obligation to create change. I've felt this obligation I signed up for IDS, and added Environmental Science to the mix 2 years later. I feel anyone who takes any IDS class wants to be a part of changing some of those structures we constantly learn about and get frustrated by and we can only do so because our situation of priveledge. We learn development theories, global structures, NGO work and the root causes of poverty. We do this without getting a real sense of how International development plays out in the regions we are most concerned about. There is very little motivation to engage, and truth be told my overall critical mind was fed up. Truth is I abandoned IDS issues. I wasn’t sure in what way I could engage and be involved. I didn’t see the point. The world was, as I saw it, screwed. I switched into environmental science, because I was frustrated with only talking about development. It wasn’t until I got involved with SustainDal, the sustainability society on campus, that I found a better way of learning and being involved and creating change with others. Sure, sustainability is just as broad and complex as IDS issues and almost equally as frustrating. However, I can proudly say I’ve been a part of an ever growing movement and culture of environmental sustainability and awareness building in my community. There is a serious lack of care for development issues and human livelihoods in this community.
A friend of mine, doing a MA in IDS, told me about the fine line between being critical and being cynical. I often find it extremely difficult to sit through any speech or panel or lecture without picking a part what is being said and casting it off as biased or neo-colonial or environmental unsustainable or what have you. I think a lot of students get pushed over the line and come to the point where they throw their hands up in the air and give up, myself included.

Anywho, attending this conference gave me the hope and inspiration and drive and determination and belief in change that I had lost and didn’t think really existed to begin with. Dear Cynics, just wait a second and hear me out. I dare you to share a conference centre with 700 actively engaging youth and professional who are standing up and demanding change, and have plenty to show for it and not feel anything. As for the critics, EWB is flexible. Ever heard of organizational flexibility? How about learning from your mistakes? It is an organization that recognizes its limitations as working within a system, and creates relationships, dialogue and opportunities for change. The pressure the group has put on the Canadian government, specifically the Canadian International Development Agency, through its voice from Pacific to Atlantic and its relationships with the engineering world finally saw the total unraveling of tied-development assistance abroad last year. This is to say that aid receiving nations are not required to use it on Canadian goods and services thus increasing the efficiency of this assistance.
More importantly, seeking to learn from mistakes is an extremely important mechanism for growth of an individual, NGO or university department. During the conference, the founders of EWB burned the outdated mission statement which aimed “to promote human development through access to technology”. It’s a relief to not be bogged down by a mission that may have started the seed of this movement and to recognize that it is time to take a step back to figure out who we are and were we are going. It isn’t really about the technology, or the engineering, or international development. It’s about the people. It’s about creating relationships and understanding. It’s about being humble and compassionate. These are qualities each and every human possesses but is often too deafened by the noise of everyday western capitalistic life and the pressures and vulnerabilities they create everywhere. It’s not really about the technology, it’s about the people. I may not be an Engineer, but I’m doing my part to build a movement towards a more socially and environmentally just world.

As anyone who's attended can surely attest, the EWB National Conference is an out of this world event. It combines inspiration and energy; with deep learning and insights on international development and social change; with questioning and planning around specific programs and EWB's culture and approach; with showcasing EWB to the broader development, engineering and corporate community; with sharing program/chapter ideas across the organization and building a broad community and movement. I began to see I had a part of this big EWB family, a fellow in the broad sense of the word. As the new Junior Fellow for Dalhousie, and a new member of EWB thinking I was going to a conference full of engineers it wasn’t hard to fit in and realize its not about what you’re doing in University because we’re all coming together to be part of the change. We all have a place and a part to play.
Every year, each University chapter across Canada selects a Junior Fellow to work in a placement with a partner NGO of EWB in 1 of the 4 countries the organization concentrates its efforts. This person is someone who not only has passion for building a better world, is flexible, open minded, has a sense of self awareness and a thorough, yet critical, understanding of “good” development. While EWB JF’s have some impact in the community in which they work, their greatest impact will be in their home community and at their university upon their return. Through talking about what they learned and experienced with people here in Canada, they will play an integral role in raising awareness about the urgent need for development overseas.

I applied for the placement after a couple of years of literally ignoring everything I learned from my other major, IDS, not to mention not having the slightest clue how to use any of it. I was ready to engage. I’ve finally accepted some of the ways in which the world works in the sense that they many of these structures and processes are completely unacceptable. This is my chance to define development in my own way and to see who and what is being developed. I knew, from taking 3 core IDS theory classes I didn’t really have a definition of what development is. After 3 theory classes comes a simulation course that teaches you how NGO’s work by creating a project proposal. My group members and I felt planning a simulated development project for a community that didn’t exist wasn’t very useful. Even if they did exist, this type of planning without actual understanding of the issues and concerns and needs of people on the ground are ludicrous. That’s the lesson of the class itself; the mainstream way development is being done is a messy, mostly bureaucratic process that doesn’t always address the actual needs of people. However, no alternative to this kind of development is talked about in my IDS program.

There needs to be more a practical components to our learning, in whatever field of study. We all need to actually engage in IDS issues and see that we should stand up for what is right. We need to stay hopeful and motivated for change. This is why I applied to become a junior fellow. This is why I’m excited to share the knowledge and lessons with my academic IDS community that doesn’t know what to do with itself. I’m excited to share with engineers who don’t know what opportunities they can create for others and for everyone else who wants to be involved in this shift. Ultimately, this organization isn’t about International development and Engineering or whoever; it’s about coming together for what is right, coming together for people, in solidarity for Dorothy. She is no single person, she’s the archetype which EWB does all its work. She is the person living in poverty facing numerous challenges and vulnerabilities to improving her livelihood. She is the individual that every EWB overseas volunteer is responsible to, our boss, our decision maker. After being critical and analyzing development work, you lose the purpose and motivation by getting caught up in all the global structures no longer able to see what exactly you’re studying all this for. I’ve realized that by combining my International development studies with involvement in an organization that is building a movement, gave me the understanding I need to work for Dorothy in an appropriate way.

What’s next? Well, I’m heading to Northern Ghana in a month to work with farmers via the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. EWB and MoFA’s Agriculture as a Business program creates opportunities for farmers groups to increase their livelihoods with increased access to markets. That means increased access to health services and education. I'll find out more details about my placement come April 1st so stay tuned.