Capacity building. Education. Empowerment. These have been buzz words in the international development community for some time - and for good reason. Those in international development have learned that it is better to work in partnership, rather than simply doing things for others. And what better place to put this philosophy into practice than in your own organization? Enter internships.

Internships work best when the intern and organization are matched in terms of mission, vision and values. The experience is one of learning for all involved, not simply for the intern. It is a time of mentorship. Of growing in understanding and experience. SoChange works with a number of partner organizations and schools, pairing students and NGOs for both short and long term internships, here in Canada and abroad. This past year, SoChange helped facilitate the internship of Erika Bachmann at Asian Outreach, Mongolia.

While in Mongolia, Erika focused her time and attention on a literacy program - working to build capacity through the education and empowerment of youth and young adults in rural Mongolia. While there, Erika was touched by Khongoroo, and recently published the following article in Asian Report, June 2010. As we gear up for another school year here in Canada, Erika’s words call us to be mindful of all the opportunities that we have - and the realities faced by others seeking to better their lives through education.

The Girl Who Had To Burn Her Bed

It’s hard to believe Khongoroo is 14 years old. Many of the children who are in our literacy program are severely stunted by years of malnutrition, and the unhealthy life circumstances that so often accompany poverty. Her outlook, however, is that of one many years her senior. Such is also the case of many of the literacy class children, who have had to adapt to a very hard life early on, creating a wisdom and maturity beyond their years. Khongoroo is studious and loves attending the classes. When asked what her favorite subject is, she smiles shyly and responds that she likes “everything.”

Before joining the literacy program, Khongoroo was in grade one of the government school system but could not afford to buy textbooks, stationery, or pay the school fees. She dropped out because her teacher would beat her when she didn’t meet expectations.

Khongoroo’s life has not been easy, even by Mongolian standards, where a third of the population live below the poverty line. Both her parents have died and she is living with her older brother. He walks three kilometers every day just to get water and 15 km every day for firewood. Unfortunately, like many families in Mongolian society, alcohol has caused serious problems. Khongoroo’s brother was recently caught stealing, while drunk, and was arrested for one month. During that month there was no one to collect water or firewood, so out of desperation, Khongoroo was reduced to burning part of her bed to stay warm in temperatures that dropped to - 35 °C.

Upon discovering the situation, Asian Outreach staff connected with her teacher, visited Khongoroo, and made sure she could stay with members of her extended family.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Khongoroo has kept up her near perfect attendance at the literacy class. Her progress in the classes is encouraging and she should be able to reintegrate into the government school system next year. The dedication of these children to their education, when given a second chance, is inspiring. She would like to be a “doctor of children” when she grows up, because she wants to work with very young children. We want to help make her dream come true.

Capacity Building. Education. Empowerment. These are the tools to move international development forward – and they can be achieved through internships – as is articulated in Erika’s experiential story.

Malcolm Fraser the former Prime Minister of Australia, declared that “Reconciliation requires changes of heart and spirit, as well as social and economic change. It requires symbolic as well as practical action.” The world in which we live is deeply broken. Humanity is self-serving, for evidence simply look at the hunger for power we pursue at the cost of countless others. Sometimes this hunger becomes vicious. Violent conflict. War. Genocides, past and present. When philosopher Emmanuel Levinas said that “Goodness consists in taking up a position such that the other counts more than myself,” he provided humanity with a mirror in which to examine its own goodness. What it sees, however, is certainly not an image of goodness. Brokenness prevails.

The Holocaust. Armenia. Cambodia’s Killing Fields. Rwanda. Darfur. Still others. Over 100 million people have died in the 20th century because of who they are. Their race, ethnicity, politics, sexuality, and faith making them targets. A threat in need of extinction.  Things are not the way they were meant to be. Fixing infrastructure and patching bullet ridden walls is a start, but something deeper needs to be done. Restoration and reconciliation must take place. But we need more than a simple Band-Aid solution. Humanity needs an example of how to bring about reconciliation to the abundant brokenness.

Sign marking a Rwandan Reconciliation Village

I recently returned from Rwanda were I visited a reconciliation village. Rwanda’s countryside still bears the scars of the Genocide, as do its people. Physically, emotionally, metaphorically, Rwanda is a country that was seemingly broken beyond repair.

I met a man, Jean de Dieu (John of God) who has claimed responsibility for the deaths of seven people. I shook his hand, the hand that took human life, and learned that he is a part of a Rwandan campaign that deals with reconciliation and forgiveness. So what does it look like?

In Rwanda it involves villages of victims and offenders living and working side by side to rebuild their communities and lives. Offender and victim. Enemy turned friend. Coworkers in bringing about goodness. Could this work?

In one meeting I met a victim and an offender and heard their painful stories. I was humbled and astonished at the desire of this community in Ruhengeri province to work through their responsibility to themselves, and others. I was moved to tears. How is forgiveness for such a brutal reality a possibility? How can one look in the eyes of those who stole their family from them? Who tortured them? Who inflicted the machete scars on their body? And yet, in Rwanda, and other countries around the world, it seems to be happening – slowly.

I took away six main teachings on reconciliation and forgiveness from Rwanda:

1.       Our responsibility to the other begins in the face-to-face encounter. We must know them to understand their experience.

2.       Reconciliation must always be practiced within community. “In facing one I face everyone.”

3.       True forgiveness, which leads to reconciliation, is about both living and acting well. It is considering and valuing the other.

4.       To avoid forgiveness is to run from our freedom. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says “The one who pursues revenge should dig two graves.” To be freed from our pain, we must forgive the persecutor.

5.       Forgiveness is, in a sense, grounded in self interest. For in being for the other we are being for ourselves. To do well for the other, we are also doing well for ourselves. We are truly all connected.

6.       The other is grounded in a relationship of inter-subjectivity and interdependence. In Victor Chan’s book The Wisdom of Forgiveness, the Dali Lama reminds us that “The theory of interdependence allows us to develop a wider perspective. And with a wider mind, less attachment to destructive emotions like anger, therefore more forgiveness.”

We are all harbouring pain and anger, both large and small. We all have someone to forgive. We are all awaiting forgiveness from another. Living an other-centred life will help us on that path. Rwanda has much to teach the world about forgiveness, relationships and reconciliation.

As Rwanda begins to move forward perhaps there’s hope for other blood stained lives. Perhaps we can, as a world, forgive and reconcile and never repeat these actions again. Perhaps we can heal the brokenness through reconciliation and forgiveness, and foster a new world, where goodness and mercy prevail.  

David listening to stories shared at a Reconciliation Village

I’m flying Kenya Air on my way to Kigali, writing on the back of an airsick bag. It’s unused. I don’t get sick when I fly, I just get sick of flying. Sure it’s still a bit of a rush to travel to new and incredible places that for years only existed on a map for me, but eventually it does wear you down. Last time I flew with Kenya Air was in 1990 when I was on my way to Eldoret, Kenya to help build a medical clinic. They’ve come a long way. Kenya Air that is.

That trip they ran out of Coke, the AC didn’t seem to work, they had no blankets, they left the sound on high throughout t the cabin so we could watch She Devil, quite possibly the worst movie Meryl Streep has ever made. Actually quite possibly the worst movie ever made. The sound was on because, oh yeah, they ran out of headphones. Ever since that flight I’ve always checked for my life vest below my seat before takeoff. If it’s there I’m good to go.

We’re just passing over Harare. I’m going to work alongside an NGO that works in the field of restorative justice. I will be visiting a reconciliation village about three hours north of the city. Need a crash course on contemporary Rwanda? Watch, or better yet read, Romeo Dallaire’s Shake Hands with the Devil. Rwanda is a poor country that suffers a high child and maternal mortality rate. Malaria is a serious threat throughout the country. HIV/AIDS is orphaning children. The usual stuff. Plus the long term effects of the Genocide.

As we fly some thousands of feet above the earth, I’m listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits , enjoying Homeward Bound, wishing my plane was headed towards my family, not further away from it.

Before boarding this flight I spent some time in Johannesburg amidst the noise of the vuvuzelas and hubbub of soccer fans. I was taking part in some leadership, capacity building training for a group of NGO leaders from countries around Africa – Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Uganda and others. Amazing people, from whom I have already learned so much.

This morning before heading to the airport I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the Soweto district just outside of Johannesburg. Rich and poor. The gap is in your face. Left and right. This street riches and that street rags. I know poverty is not just an economic distinction, but it’s a major factor that can’t be ignored. And yet I look one way and then the other. The tin shacks lack electricity and sanitation. They bake the families in the summer and freeze them in the winter.

I wandered through Freedom Square and thought about the Orlando riots of 1976. This is where it all started. The hell with apartheid they said. The seeds of the march can be traced to a public school on Kliptown. Children organized. They formed into groups. They strutted their way along the streets with a passionate message. And then they walked the streets in peaceful protest against am angry, morally reprehensible political ruling ideology that demonized and ignored the other.

Hector Pieterson was the first child to die at the hands of a frightened and clearly intimidated police force. They lobbed tear gas and fired on an unarmed crowd. He was only 12 years old.

(photo by Sam Nzima)

Seeds were planted that day. Change had been waiting. Change was on the way. Children and change. Sounds like the name of a new NGO. Passionate 8, 10 and 12 year olds who know better. I shed some tears for Hector and his family, proud that I stood alongside his resonant memory in Freedom Square. 

The Boxer is now filling my ear drums. S and G are harmonizing as they sing, “Seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go, looking for the places only they would know.” A fitting soundtrack to my trip so far.

As we bank for our landing I can’t help but wonder what lessons I’ll learn in Rwanda…surely none that I am anticipating.

“I contend that non-violent acts exert pressure far more effective than violent acts, for the pressure comes from goodwill and gentleness.” Mahatma Gandhi

An active citizen is one who takes an active, rather than passive, role in their community. For example, an individual who sits on neighbourhood watch, a parent on student council, or a friendly face at a homeless shelter. Of course, community can be explained on a variety of scales – there’s your home community (those individuals living in close proximity to you), work community and social community. Geographically speaking, community can mean neighbourhood, city, region, province or country. And in today’s “global village” community can extend around the world. Active citizens, then, are those who get engaged in any level of community, seeking to help encourage and foster the common good – that which benefits the majority.

Many espouse that a peaceful protest is a component of active citizenship. Often also referred to as nonviolent civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance and Satyagraha, a peaceful protest can be loosely defined as a gathering of individuals to give a public show of an injustice. As its name suggests, such gatherings do not condone any acts of violence. So what happened at the G20 in Toronto? A group of thousands joined together, standing and marching in unity against poverty related issues, climate change and other G20 hot topics. But, rather than that being highlighted, the media stars of the day were those dressed in black, trashing stores and setting police cars ablaze.

In some ways the Black Bloc’s involvement in the protest seems other worldly – like a mega blockbuster satire on the event. By all accounts, they were party crashers – uninvited hooligans who stole the attention away from the message being sent, spreading a new message, about protesters, the city of Toronto and even Canada.

Many people don’t understand who the Black Bloc are – that’s because they aren’t a social justice group, but rather a protest tactic. With roots stretching to the 1980s, the Black Bloc uses violence to get a reaction from the police and greater public. A loosely organized militant group of anarchists, the Black Bloc come in to cause hysteria, often deterring attention away from important issues, and then sit back and enjoy their work. They dress all in black so that they all look the same. They wear masks to hide their identity, but also easily remove them to melt back into the crowd from which they came.

And there is irony in the Black Bloc’s involvement. Take a look at this picture:

(Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press; as seen on CBC.ca)

I wonder…Who is the service provider for the cell phone hanging from the belt? And are those Nike shoes? I bet the bandanna was made in a former Gap Cambodian sweat shop. And those look like cheap socks, probably made on a less than a dollar a day wage somewhere in the majority world. What was this Black Bloc’er protesting again? Poverty? The affluent West? While the intention was to draw attention to these issues, it looks as though this violent protester could have started a little more closely to home.

It’s important to note that the Black Bloc were not invited to the peaceful protest march approved to take place in Toronto on that Saturday. Their actions were not spreading the message of the gathered active citizens. And while they have stolen much of the media’s attention, hopefully the world doesn’t forget what the initial protest was all about: Holding the world’s leading governments accountable to the Millennium Development Goals.

As Gandhi so eloquently said: “Violence breeds violence…Pure goals can never justify impure or violent action…They say the means are after all just means. I would say means are after all everything.” The G20 may be over, but the MDGs still need to be met. Consider how you can become actively involved, in nonviolent means, to spread that message to the world.

I just returned from Washington DC this afternoon and was expecting traffic, security and a military presence at the airport here in Toronto. Didn’t see much of that, but I did see a line up of large jets right next to Air Force One. Check out my Black Berry photo. For a moment I was encouraged and excited by what was going on in our city. Call me a Platonic idealist if you like, but I do believe this world can be a better place. Dialogue and discussion may lead to intentional decisions that can make a difference for millions around the world.

With all the hype, build up and money going into the G8/G20 you’d think that everyone would know what’s going on. Unfortunately, all too often what we’re hearing is “The G What? Who are they? What do they do?” It’s no wonder that things like the MDGs and trade and development promises can get swept under the table and forgotten when the public is uncertain as to who should be held responsible in the first place.

So, a crash course. The G8 stands for the Group of Eight, and since 1997 consists of: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Russia. It is a forum for the heads of state for each of these countries to deal with major trade, development, health, poverty and climate issues.  The European Union is represented at the G8 but in an informal setting, and at times, five developing countries, or the Outreach Five (O5) have joined the summit. These include: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. The G20 stands for the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, or the Group of Twenty. It is comprised of 19 countries and the European Union. This is a powerful group as the G20 holds, collectively, 85% of the global GNP and controls 80% of world trade, yet comprises only two thirds of the global population. To say it short and sweet – the G20 are the world’s influential countries in terms of wealth and trade, and the G8, the most influential of the 20. The old adage remains true: the few holding the wealth and power over the many.

The pressing question for many is why is so much money invested into the G8/G20 summits – from travel to security – when they are meeting to discuss issues such as world poverty? Think about how far Canada’s rising 1 billion dollar investment as host could have gone when invested wisely in international development. That’s 50 million dollars per G-20 leader. A circulating rumour states that one head of state from the G20 wanted to purchase the top floor of a hotel, retrofit it into his personal suite for the duration of the summits and then leave it as is for the hotel to retrofit after he left. Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed and the hotel said no; just think of the waste of resources if they had agreed. Or, consider the amount of pollution resulting from the convoys of planes and helicopters bringing leaders, delegates and their own security and mobile hospitals – and the climate is an issue to be discussed

With all of the world’s technologies you’d think there would be a better, more economically and socially responsible way for the world’s leaders to meet. After all, if photo ops for the 2010 event are in front of an indoor, man made lake with a projected image of Muskoka’s waterfront on the back, why not just Photoshop the leaders into the pictures as they meet in front of their computers for a teleconference?

It’s not that meeting as the world’s leaders is unimportant – because it is. They need to be talking. They should be listening. And they should be acting on promises made and those they haven’t kept. These meetings foster good international relations, collegiality and, of course, foster trade ties. But, perhaps there’s a better way to meet as heads of state, to lead by example, and make the MDGs, poverty, climate change and health the true reason to get together. It’s important that as citizens committed to social justice and international development, we equip ourselves with knowledge and hold our leaders accountable. That’s always the first step in making change happen.

Air Force One at right, Toronto International Airport

“Failure is to fail to learn from failure.”
~ Ian Smillie, What’s Next? 2010

Consider a room of nearly 100 young adults committed to positive and sustainable change. Now add to this a group of strong mentors in the field of social justice and international development. Welcome to the reality of what was What’s Next?

On Friday June 11, students from Humber’s International Project Management program, NGO professionals and experts from a variety of fields gathered together at Toronto’s Assembly Hall to learn how they can make a positive change in our world. To rely on a common cliché, the energy was electric. You could literally feel it pulsing through the room. Minds worked together to challenge the definition of international development – what it means, how it has worked, how it’s working, and, perhaps most importantly, how it’s failing. And though the topics were challenging, the atmosphere remained optimistic.

From conflict diamond expert Ian Smillie’s plenary address – looking at Dead Aid, and the hope for the future – to a number of breakout sessions and a large round table discussion, the day was filled less with theory and more of practice. In his book Freedom from Want Smillie wrote: “…development is not about buildings; it is about what goes on inside the buildings, and inside the heads of the people in the buildings. It is about persistence, hard work, enterprise, optimistic, common sense, and values. These things, when correctly applied in the right measure, can bring about lasting development to very poor people in very poor countries.” So, how do we go about doing development in the 21^st Century? Smillie’s comment on failure – :Failure is to fail to learn from failure” – was at once simplistic and profound: For how often do we keep repeating cycles and practices in international development that just don’t work? How often do we focus on the buildings and not the people and actions happening inside of them?

And though many may have begun to feel small and insignificant in the vastness of international development, this was never the case. Indeed in Karen Craggs’, of Gender Equality International, One Voice Can Lead to Action breakout session , participants left feeling equipped. “A participant told me she was going home and donating two thirds of her wardrobe to a needing organization because it was something she could do right away,” Craggs reported happily. In this case, one voice did lead to action.

Beyond inspirational, What’s Next? left participants equipped to demand What Now? And they asked this not only of others, but of themselves.

Ian Smillie speaking to a small group at What’s Next?

Jean-Marie Brohm, a French sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher, once said that sports spectating is a prison of measured time. Anyone know what that means?

I’m okay with sports. I really am – I’ve had two concussions, and a broken elbow, arm and wrist to prove it. I skateboarded like some kind of four wheeled madman late into my teens, and played hockey for about five and soccer for three years. I even made assistant captain for my hockey team and spent very little time in the penalty box. I scored winning goals, navigated the field with kid-like fervour, and ease and wore magazines in my socks as shin pads.

I also like to win. I understand the competitive spirit. I think good values can and are often tacitly passed on from coaches to captains, from team members to fans, from parents to children. I’m looking forward to tossing a baseball around with my son Spencer in the near future. The old game of 500 up is not too far away for the Peck family.

Sports. I get the desire. I understand the fascination. I can appreciate the obsessive attraction.

46, 105 people can sit and watch baseball on any given Sunday at the SkyDome here in Toronto. Apparently that doesn’t include luxury seats. According to answerbag.com, the average length of a baseball game is 2 hours and 47 minutes. So combined that’s just under 138,315 hours spent watching one baseball game here in the Big Smoke.

Right. I forgot about those watching the game on TV. In the US the annual game schedule runs at about 162. From 2000 to 2009 735.5 million people watched baseball in the US. That’s 2 billion people, 205 million hours of human capital invested in watching a game during those nine years, assuming all spectators watched only one game in those nine years. I doubt that’s true or even possible knowing what I know of the human psyche. When you start to do the math the numbers are astounding. And yes, please remember that’s one sport. What about hockey, football, basketball, Nascar, soccer, golf, tennis and fishing, to name a few mainstream sports?

Russ Grimm said he would run over his mother to win the Super Bowl. Funny. Macabre. And yet, dare I say, deeply tragic on some level.

All of this spectatorship adds up to lost opportunity. Undeveloped human capital. It’s the antithesis of capacity building. As someone who works in the field of international development, who sees issues of genuine human concern the world over, I often wonder what we could do if we invested all this time. I want to say it’s wasted. I want to say it’s irresponsible on some level to abuse the privilege we all have. I won’t. I wonder though.

What about water related problems? What about treatable and preventable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea? Maybe we could eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Yes, we all have a right to play. Agreed. But what of your brothers and sisters around the world whose lives are defined by subsistence living? What kind of rights do they have?

Caring for the human race is not just about trying to solve daunting global issues. Where does the environment fit in? How can we give back in some small way? Helping others might include a baseball, soccer ball or maybe even a golf ball, but my guess is we might want to reconsider where we invest out efforts if we truly want to make a difference in this world. A prison of measured time suggests we may not get out. The metaphor stands. Are we on parole or merely keeping the bench or our couches well worn and warm?

The problem is we think we have time.

Just a few weeks ago the Gulf of Mexico was rocked by a massive explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Beyond the immediate damages and environmental concerns caused by this accident, a leak formed in an underwater pipe. Now there is a massive oil slick covering a vast section of the Gulf, threatening wildlife, marine life and the surrounding ecosystems.

The current oil slick has many recalling the Exxon Valdez accident – another historical environmental disaster. And though it was devastating, it wasn’t one of the most devastating spills in our history – indeed we saw 520 million gallons flow in Kuwait in 1991, and in 1992, Fergana Valley was home to one of the largest, most devastating inland oil spills. But, images of the sinking ship, spreading oil and covered marine life remain imprinted in our minds. As will photos of the current disaster. And, unfortunately, as long as we rely on oil, then accidents and spills will continue to happen.

For many, development may appear like an oil spill: Something too big and too burdensome for any one person to concern themselves with. For in development, as is the case in cleaning up an oil slick, every time one issue is dealt with, another issue springs up with far reaching effects, hindering progress around it in a ripple effect. Like the swells in the Gulf of Mexico, spreading the oil, threatening to devastate all that it touches.

But, there are those who, despite the problem – big or small – get out there and work to make change. Sticking with the oil slick theme, there’s a number of people in a variety of fields reaching out to help in any way with the clean up – including an Orangeville beauty and hair salon sending clippings to help sop up the oil. It’s not really a big thing, when you think about it. Rather, just a diversion of where the sweepings of a day’s, week’s or month’s worth of haircuts gets sent – the dump or the Gulf of Mexico. But, the results of the action, when combined with the actions of others, could result in positive, substantial change.

That’s how change and development work. People working together – joining forces to combat big issues. Often, when we try to go it alone, we become stranded, drowning in our own sea of oil. However, when we form partnerships that traverse boundaries and geographies, we discover that together we can change the world. One small action at a time.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick Photos

Death and taxes; of this we can be certain. But, there is also another certainty with regard to social justice issues that I want to bring to your attention. In short, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) will not be met by 2015. Universal primary education, improving maternal health, promoting gender justice and empowering women - these are all worthy goals, as are all the MDGs. They are all potential certainties, if we get on board.

Enter the Robin Hood Tax, or FTT: A Financial Transactions Tax. Something my fiscally conservative friends won’t be pleased to hear that I’m endorsing.

In short, the Robin Hood Tax is a small tax levied on financial activities that has the potential to raise billions of dollars to assist in the fight against climate change and poverty, both locally and globally. According to the KAIROS website, “The Robin Hood Tax (Financial Transactions Tax) would enable governments to honour their promises to finance climate change adaptation in developing counties and meet the Million Development Goals. It would also ensure that banks and the financial sector, not citizens, pay their fair share of the global economic recovery.”

Leaders from a few G20 countries including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have endorsed it in one way or another. Paul Volcker (former US Federal Reserve Chair and current advisor to President Obama) and billionaire George Soros have supported the FTT.

I know what you’re saying, “We don’t need more taxes. We need accountability.” True. I couldn’t agree more. Checks and balances, though, are only as good as those endorsing them. Consider that as we ante up and spend our tax revenue wisely.

Bruno Jetin, an economics professor at the University of Paris, has calculated that $180 billion dollars per year is needed from 2012 to 2014 to close the gap and potentially meet the MDGs. At the current rate the goals will not be met. Taking into account how most western countries spend their money one has to wonder about true accountability to the Other and not just disinterested fiscal responsibility.

As Romeo Dallaire reminded us with his question in the book, Shake Hands With The Devil,  “Are some humans more human than others?” In other words, Dallaire believes that the history of the west, particularly its lack of response to the Rwandan genocide, has shown itself to be exactly that. Self interest has ruled the day to the point of ignoring others and the often extreme conditions of the Global South. Check and balance that.

Death, taxes and meeting the MDG’s. A trilogy of certainty. Now there’s something worth working towards.