Long time no post...

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, mainly due to school work wrapping up, so I figured I should give an update! I’ve certainly been keeping myself busy, going out with Vietnamese friends and my roommates. They’re even teaching me how to cook! And this city is really growing on me more (as frustrating as the traffic, pollution and language barrier may be sometimes). I have my favorite places to eat street food, for coffee, for shopping, for biking, for live music, and for a drink on a Saturday night. And I keep on discovering more of these “favorite places” every day. I feel like I’ve built a life here in Hanoi, and it’s one I’m going to miss when I have to leave in a just 4 and a half months. I can’t believe how fast my time here is passing! 

 As for work, things are going well. Apart from my routine article writing, website updating and social media work, I've designed our New Years cards and notebook. This task proved to be more challenging then I expected because of the many opinions that I needed to be incorporate. As my co-worker said, it was a case of "too many cooks in the kitchen". I'm also helping prepare for a big project launch that will be happening next month, which includes developing a climate change adaptation "drama" that will be performed by locals at the launch. Although I have been slightly frustrated and disappointed by the fact that I am not more involved in SRDs projects (and the fact that I am not a communications expert), I feel like this project launch is a good chance for me to finally offer some development expertise!

And of course, the holidays are upon us. It doesn’t really feel like Christmas without the snow, the traditions and the people I love back home, but there certainly is an air of holiday cheer in Hanoi with all the decorations and events around the city! When I first got to Vietnam, I was planning on going back to Canada for the Christmas. But after a lot of internal debate, I decided to take advantage of being in Asia, and I’ll be traveling with some fellow INDEVOURS over the holidays instead. Although not being with family this time of year is very hard, I am excited to get to have a “different” Christmas and New Years, as I go scuba diving in Thailand and travel around Malaysia and Singapore! The care packages from home are certainly helping the waves of holiday blues I get from time to time.

My holiday travels aren’t the only ones I have planned. From January 30^th to February 5^th is the Lunar New Year celebration of Tet , which has been described to me as “Vietnamese Christmas”. It’s a very family-oriented holiday, so most businesses close as people travel to their hometowns for the week to spend time with relatives. Seeing as Hanoi (and other Vietnamese cities) will be pretty dead during Tet, I decided to go to the Philippines to volunteer with the Typhoon Haiyan reconstruction effort, through an organization called All Hands! I’m so excited to be a part of All Hands’ Project Leyte, especially because I really want to get some on-the-ground experience in disaster relief effort considering I’m looking to pursue my Masters in disaster management. I’m also fundraising for the project, which you can find here! I’ll share more about the project I get more details about exactly what I will be doing.

Well, that’s all the updating I have for now! Happy holidays everyone… and indulge in an extra Christmas cookie or two for me. Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ!

A field trip at last!

After much anticipation and waiting, last week I finally got to go on my first field trip for work. My destination was the district of Can Loc in Ha Tinh province, central Vietnam. The project that I visited is SRD's VM038 project, "Taking a value chain approach to improve rural livelihoods in the context of climate change and natural disasters". The main goals of this project (as the name suggests) is to help the farmers, especially women, improve their ability to make a living in agriculture through improving their market access by taking a value chain approach. The project aims to do this while taking into account the challenges of climate change, by improving the local's adaptation and disaster risk management skills. Reading the project's proposal document as preparation for the trip and getting to know more details got me really excited to see the project! These kinds of projects are exactly the kind of work I hope to do as a career (which, as a side note, means I guess I'm destined for NGO jobs). I love that this project embodies a more sustainable approach to poverty reduction. It places it's beneficiaries at it's core, and more importantly, is helping them cope with issues that they are facing on a daily basis.

A co-worker and I departed Hanoi on a night train to the the city of Vinh, and when we arrived at 5 am the next day we hopped in a cab for an hour to get to Ha Tinh town. The commune of Vinh Loc (one of the the farming villages we work in) is about a 10 minute drive from Ha Tinh.

In Vinh Loc, my co-worker facilitated a workshop on gender equality for the farmers. They discussed the difference between a man's day and a woman's day, the barriers to equality in their community, and the gender inequality in other parts of the world. They also made plans for overcoming those obstacles to gender inequality. I was so inspired by the enthusiasm that the community members showed for this workshop! They were all excited to participate, and were very open to talking about the somewhat serious topic of gender equality. The atmosphere was optimistic and happy, with tons of laughter and music throughout the day. Even though I could only understand a little of what was being said during the workshop, I felt the drive that the farmers had for bettering their community. I felt unbelievably welcomed in Vinh Loc, having lunch with some locals in their home and being greeted with smiles everywhere I went. I also got to ask the leader of the farmer interest group about his thoughts on the project and visit some farms as well, which was really rewarding. I learned that the project has helped farmers cope with disasters and improve their incomes by introducing a rice variety that has a faster germination period so it can be harvested in only a few days. The leader also shared with us that he felt the project could be applied in other farming communities prone to disasters.

The next day of my field trip, the district of Can Loc came together and participated in a competition that SRD organized about climate change. There were 2 groups that competed, and they performed songs and skits that spread messages of climate change/disaster awareness and community spirit. There was even climate change trivia! Many locals, of all ages, came to the community center to watch the event. I thought the competition was a fun and approachable way for the farmers to get informed about climate change! There was no shortage of laughter and comedy during the event for sure. I think the crowd's favorite moment was during one of the skits, when a woman played a drunk man and stumbled all over the stage while pretending to smoke a tobacco from a dieu cay (farmer's pipe). I loved to see that the farmers of Can Loc were so passionate about climate change issues. They understand these issues not from textbooks or journal articles as I do, but from their own experiences of climate change effecting their lives; and that was a really invaluable thing that I got to experience on this field trip.

              

The competition was followed by a community meeting and dinner. The meeting consisted of both leaders and ordinary community members sang songs, and talking about the recent activities and progress being made in the district. Dinner was a huge celebration of the community, and I was again overwhelmed with the friendliness of everyone! I couldn't keep count of the number of handshakes I received and times I was cheers-ed. My coworker told me that the villagers don't often see many foreigners, so they were very happy to meet a Canadian like me.

Overall, the trip was a great chance to see my organizations work "in action", and to learn more about Vietnamese culture. I really got to see what NGO work is like on the ground, and I absolutely loved what I saw. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to go on this trip, and I hope to travel for work a lot more of course!

Climate change and Typhoon Haiyan

First of all, I reassure my friends and family (again!) that Typhoon Haiyan did not reach me in Hanoi. Though the storm’s projected trajectory did say it would hit Hanoi at one point, all that we got was some heavy rain. That being said, mass media has already well documented Haiyan’s impacts in the places it did strike. Haiyan could be one of the strongest cyclones to make landfall ever recorded, with the highest measured wind speeds clocking in at 315 km/h as the storm hit the Philippines. The destruction and loss caused by this terrible storm are so heartbreaking to see. Death toll and economic loss estimates keep rising. News reports continue show the dire situation of Filipino victims. Emergency supplies, aid, and humanitarian efforts are starting to flood into the country.

For me, Haiyan has opened my eyes to the reality of climate change victims. When in Canada, the stories of natural disaster victims were part of my motivation for getting into the development field. Now they’ve even become my reason for pursuing masters in climate change and disaster management. But living in South East Asia, where these extreme whether events occur on a regular basis, has made these stories hit closer to home. I can’t help but think about how I am only a boat ride away from those Filipinos who have lost friends, family, and livelihoods due to Haiyan. It has made the impacts of climate change more real than ever for me. Of course the direct link between climate change and weather events like cyclones is a hard one to make, as this article shares.  However, we do know that rising sea levels (caused by climate change) make storm surges from cyclones bigger, which is why these storms have become more damaging for island nations like the Philippines. If Haiyan has taught us anything, it's that it can not be denied that climate change is threatening the lives of the already poor and vulnerable (whether you believe Haiyan was caused by global warming or not). “There is no need for exaggeration and there is no excuse for inaction.”

With COP 19 (the United Nations conference on climate change) discussions happening now,  I can only hope that the devastation caused by Haiyan is a wake up to policy makers! It often takes events like this typhoon for major action to be taken…  but whether action really will happen this time remains to be seen.

Ha Giang adventures!

I’m think I can safely say that I am becoming a little more Vietnamese with every passing day. By now, eating with a knife and fork is odd to me, I can navigate through rush-hour traffic on my bike no problem (even with a passenger on the back…), and “ôi giới ôi” has become part of my daily vocabulary. But this weekend, on a trip to Ha Giang province, I got to see a whole other part of what it means to be Vietnamese.

I got the opportunity to go on the trip with a group called Hanoi Couchsurfing, with about 70 people in total! After a grueling night bus from Hanoi to Ha Giang city, we rented motorbikes and I was luckily paired with a great driver. Then we hit the winding mountain roads, and spent the day driving to the small town of Dong Van. Along the way, I got to take some incredible photos and make some new Vietnamese friends. The sheer beauty of the province was breathtaking. I felt like at every turn, there was another amazing mountain view to be mesmerized by. The stops at lookouts/restaurants/cafes, and the bond fire we had in the evening also made the experience a real adventure!

On the trip, we also got a chance to see what life is like for the ethnic minority, farming, communities in the area. We visited a traditional home, went to the local market, and gave some kids fruits and sweets. I took in so much just by passing through neighborhoods…  seeing the day-to-day lives of locals.  I saw children as young as 3 and women as old as 70 carrying enormous baskets and herding livestock down the steep roads. That includes at 5am, when we were on our way to a mountain peak to see the sun rise. Having the chance to experience this part of life in Vietnam, and not just read or research about it, was truly eye opening. I couldn’t help but want to spend time with these interesting people, and learn more about their lives. I realized that this curiosity is why I’m in the development field!  I want to help give opportunities to people like those I met in Ha Giang. Now that I have a field trip planned for work later this month, I hope that I will finally get to help my organization do exactly that!

A road trip, and lesson, to remember

For my Thanksgiving weekend, my roommate invited me to go on a road trip to the province of Thai Binh with her and some of her friends from Kung Fu class. I did want to spend some time with Canadian friends to celebrate the holiday, but I decided that I might as well take advantage of the opportunity! It was certainly an eventful trip, and despite the flat tires, unreasonable hotel owners, and disappointing “beach” we ended up at, it really was a great experience. There was incredible scenery along the way and I got to make a few new friends, but there was one person I met on this trip who made it very special.

During one of our pit stops, we were sipping tra da (iced tea) on a street corner when a young boy around 9 years old and his father sat down next to us. The boy came up to us and started grabbing our arms, waving at us with the biggest smile on his face. We said hello to him and smiled back enthusiastically, but he did not speak back to us. He also had a physical deformity where his head was very small for his body. Without us even asking, his father soon began explaining his son’s behavior, and told us that he is a 3^rd-generation victim of agent orange (The herbicide that was sprayed to during the Vietnam war to destroy forest cover, contaminate water supplies as well as destroy the crops of the Northern Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops). He said his son only has 2 more years left to live, but is still very happy and friendly. As could be expected, I felt a lot of sympathy for the both of them and wished I could help somehow! As they left the street corner and we continued our journey, that little boy stayed on my mind. I decided that the best way I could help them was to educate myself more on the effects of Agent Orange, and to share what I learned.

According to this article, over 1 million Vietnamese have been impacted by Agent Orange, including 150,000 children who suffer from birth defects such as physical deformities, tumors, blindness, deftness, metal disabilities, and even cancer.  What’s more, according to The History Channel, Vietnamese victims of the herbicide’s effects have yet to see any form of justice. The class-action lawsuit made by a group of victims in 2004 was dismissed by the American court.

After reading the articles I mentioned above, it seems to me that that the lives of Agent Orange sufferers are defined by their physical/mental abnormalities. So how can I, as a development worker, improve their lives and help them reach their full potential? Even if Agent Orange victims do somehow receive compensation from the companies who produced the herbicide, would that really make their lives better? Or would skills training, and helping victims adapt to the challenges they face, have more impact? The answer to me (as a development agent) seems clear, but by no means can I claim that I understand what the victims of Agent Orange want and need. These questions are ones that I would like to start discussing with my co-workers, seeing as SRD does work with people who have disabilities. My time at SRD is meant to help me better understand how to approach complicated development issues like Agent Orange, and discussion is certainly a great place to start!

The best, and worst, of times

These past few days have really shown me the highs and lows that being on placement will be putting me through for the next 7 months. Of course I knew that good days and bad days were going to be an undeniable reality, the last week has really brought me on an emotional roller coaster that I wanted to share a bit of!

Let’s start with the good (because I want to keep this post optimistic, don’t get me wrong). Over the weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to go on something called a Hash run. Basically it’s a group of runners (and beer-drinkers!) who get together every Saturday and go running in the rural areas around Hanoi. Let me tell you that the scenery and people I meet on the run were truly remarkable, and I cannot wait to do it again! I also went to go see some live bands with my room mate and her son to celebrate her birthday, which was a lot of fun too. Finally, on Sunday I took a bike tour around Hanoi with two of my fellow INDEVOURS, where we got to learn a lot about the city and take in some Vietnamese culture. My work week had it highs too! I got to attend a workshop on organizational accountability and transparency within SRD and got to give some input into our accountability policy, which really made me feel a part of the SRD team.

Then came the lows. On Sunday night, I started to feel a fever coming on and by Monday morning I was pretty sick. Now if you know me, you know I hate being sick with a passion and I will say that I’m “fine” no matter how bad I feel. I ended up making it through my work day (partially because of my stubbornness), and managed to sleep the sickness off over a few days. I was hoping that would be the end of my “low” streak, but I was wrong. I decided after work one day to try and figure out (on my own, might I add) where to renew my bus pass. Long story short, my attempts landed me at a closed booth in a dark bus terminal with no new bus pass and frustrated as ever with my lack of Vietnamese. I do admit I was in tears on my ride home, but luckily when I finally made it back to my apartment I was greeted with tea and a funny movie.

What I’ve taken away from all these ups and downs is that Vietnam is truly going to make me a stronger person. I’m going to have to learn to take the good with the bad, and to work hard to make my time in Vietnam what I want it to be. If I let experiences like the one I had at the bus terminal get to me too much, then I’m only setting myself up to have more of them. And most of all, I’ve learned that I need to pick up more Vietnamese!

I apologize if this post was a bit of over-sharing, but it feels good to get all of it off my chest. Until next time, Internet! Xin Chào

Tôi yêu em, Hanoi! (I love you, Hanoi!)

As I sit on the balcony of my room in my apartment writing this, I’m feeling pretty excited about my life here in Hanoi. This city has such an atmosphere of excitement and adventure about it! From the horns of motorbikes, to the karaoke bar across the street, to the fruit vendor trying to get your attention, Hanoi has truly captured me! There always seems to be something new for me to try (like the snails I ate yesterday with my co-worker) and discover. Even though I have gotten into somewhat of a routine having been here for about 2 weeks now, every day has been an experience for me. Just walking by myself in my neighborhood today, I couldn’t help but feel fascinated despite my surroundings being somewhat familiar to me!  I can’t wait to explore the city even more, and I think that even in my 8 months here I still won’t get to see it all. I guess for the first time, I’m feeling like my “placement experience” is really coming together and that I am on track to experience some pretty amazing things both professionally and personally. And I definitely already have, especially now that I’ve started work. My time so far at Sustainable Rural Development has been really incredible! I feel right at home in the office, and have made some great friends already. The communications department is such a close family… I’m so lucky to be part of such a great work environment! I also feel really good about the work I’m doing. In my first week at the office, I’ve helped fixed our website, developed a facebook strategy to grow our fan base, and even written a few articles myself. I’m also going to have the opportunity to go into our project sites to collect some of the information for these articles myself, which is the part of my mandate I’m most excited about.  Although the kind of work I’m doing right now is not what I plan on doing as a carrier, I’m already learning so much from it. I feel like I’m diving into the world of NGO work very quickly, but I’m enjoying every second of the ride! 

GOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!

My journey in Vietnam has officially started and I still I can’t believe it’s finally here. In the 4 days I’ve been in Hanoi, I’ve experienced so many new and amazing things. I’ve seen a lot of the wonderful touristy sights like the Vietnam Women’s museum, I’ve enjoyed tons of good food (and coffee!), figured out some customs and behaviours, tried out what little Vietnamese I know! It’s been a bit overwhelming at times, but I’ve loved every minute of my time here so far. It’s incredible to finally experience the city that I’ve been reading about for 3 years now. But now that the reality has set in a little, I’m also realizing that I am no longer just a tourist on vacation. Hanoi is my home for the next 8 months, and I am truly going to be immersing myself in life here.

 

Meeting my co-workers at Sustainable Rural Development today was a big part of that dose of reality! When my supervisor and I started talking about my mandate, I got this overwhelming feeling of responsibility. All I could think was “wow, I’m actually going to do things that will contribute to this NGO work, and maybe even make a difference”. It’s a humbling, but exciting thought. My title is a communications officer, and so far it looks like I’ll be writing project reports and proposal, newsletters, and maybe some social media stuff. Although I’ve never done that kind of stuff, I’m very happy to have the opportunity to try out “communications work” . I’m really excited about what I’ll be doing, because I will get to be informed and involved in all aspects of Sustainable Rural Development’s work. As well, I’m going to get some really practical skills and help SRD in a very tangible way. I can’t wait to get started working, and for all that Vietnam has to offer me!

With a month to go...

August 8^th is a big day for me. It’s my last official day at my part time job, I’m moving out of St Pauls, I wrote the last final exam I’ll ever have to write in my undergrad degree, and there’s exactly one month until I leave for Vietnam! I really don’t know what I’m feeling… or how I should feel. A part of me is sad to say goodbye to a lot of my fellow INDEVOURS, and to the great people I work with. Another part of me is freaking out, wondering what I’m about to get myself into. The other part is so excited to embark on my journey of a lifetime, and to start “doing development work”. 

But for me, this landmark day of August 8^th isn’t really about all those feelings. It’s about reflecting on everything I’ve learned in these past 3 years of school… and hoping it’s enough to prepare me for the real world. I can explain to you what why the poor are most susceptible to climate change, I can define neoliberalism, I could even tell you how eutrophication impacts a river system, but in the end will any of that matter when I’m in the field? What’s even more scary to me is the thought that pretty soon, I’ll be making decisions and writing reports that (hopefully) will impact the livelihoods of real people. I won’t just be learning about these development problems, I’m going to be a part of them. I can only hope that everything I’ve learned will help me make the right decision, and the decision that will have the most impact. I suppose that if my studies have taught me anything though, it’s that development problems are too complicated to have an answer to. I’m just going to have to go into my placement organization with the most open mind possible… ready to learn and prepared to fail.

DOMA = done!

June 26^th was a huge day in the fight for equality of rights. The United States Supreme Court voted to cancel DOMA, a policy that was preventing marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. George Takei, famous Star Trek actor and gay rights advocate, summed up my feelings on the subject very well with his facebook status on the day the vote happened:

“Today marks a watershed moment in history and a tremendous victory for the principle of equality. The 5-4 decision by our Supreme Court striking down DOMA affirms the universality of love--the desire of all people not only to find, but to value and affirm, a lifelong commitment to another person. 

I have lived nearly four score years, and have borne witness to both the heartbreak and promise of true justice and equality in America. Today my heart soars, and my faith in the promise of our great nation is renewed. 

Now, if there's anything we gays know how to do well, it is to celebrate! Let the joy of this day ring out with PRIDE.”

Although I am not American, and not affected by American policies, I consider this change to be a great stride forward in not just in gay rights, but human rights worldwide! The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world, and has now taken a stance to show the rest of the world that marriage quality is a right. This has not only furthered the development of the United States as a nation, but also sets a precedence for other countries to do the same. In my opinion, marriage equality is a human right. I believe people should be able to marry whoever they love, no matter what. I also firmly believe that one’s sexual orientation should not affect the way they are treated. This makes gay rights an inherently development issue, because it brings into question equality and reducing discrimination against minority groups. As someone with gay family members and friends, gay rights is an issue close to my heart which I am extremely proud to support! Although this one decision doesn’t solve inequality and rights issues entirely, it’s certainly a huge step in the right direction.

Canadian... what does that mean?

With the number days left until I leave for placement winding down, there are tons of things running through my mind. One thing that I hadn’t really considered until a conversation with my fellow INDEVOUR Anna, (you can follow her blog at http://afiume.wordpress.com) is my identity as a Canadian while on placement. It was certainly on my mind yesterday while I celebrated Canada day with my family. Being Canadian is something I’m used to taking for granted, and living 8 months in another country is really going to make me question what it means to “be Canadian”.

So what makes a Canadian? Is it our excessive use of “eh”? Is it our tendency to talk about the ever-changing weather? Is it the over-politeness, or slight obsession with hockey? I think those things do help form our identity, but what makes us Canadian is our diversity and embrace of that diversity. We live in such a vastly large country, with mountains and prairies and everything in between. We’re also home to people from all over the world, with different cultures and languages which they are free to express and share. Canada is the country it is today because of the rich variety of people who live here. I suppose the question “Who are Canadians?” can’t really be answered then. However, the question “What do Canadians value?” is a pretty easy one to answer: diversity, acceptance and pride towards our great country!

When I get asked these kinds of questions, I’ll have to be careful in how I answer. As a student of development, I’m often reminded not to impose my views and Western ideals when working in a developing country. I need to respect and immerse myself in local culture, and learn as much from the people I work with as they learn from me. Of course I wholeheartedly believe that I need to do all those things, however, that doesn’t mean I cannot express and uphold my Canadian values and beliefs. Also, I think development practitioners often forget that development work is a two-way exchange. The people I meet in Vietnam will want to learn about Canadian culture just as much as I want to learn about Vietnamese culture! I definitely experience this sentiment when I lived in Ecuador. People loved when I shared my stories, photos and recipes with them. I was reminded that Ecuadorians were sharing so much about their lives with me, that it was only fair I share some of my culture with them. I don’t doubt that I’ll experience this mutual sharing again in Vietnam, and I want to be prepared to do it in the best possible way.

Inspiration from an unlikely source...

Ever have one of those days that reminds you of why you’re in school? About why you care about what you study? And in my case, of why you’re going to live and work in Vietnam for eight months? I had one of those days a while ago, and it feels pretty amazing. And it surprisingly happened thanks to social media.

An old high-school friend of mine recently read my last blog post, and noticed that I’m studying International Development. I hadn’t talked to this friend in probably around 5 years until he sent me message asking me to define development. It made me so happy that someone outside my “INDEV bubble” was taking such interest in my field of study!

I had to ponder his question for a while, which kind of made me concerned. I mean, I’ve been “studying development” for 3 years. This is a question that I should be able answer without even thinking about it. But of course, there is no one answer to “What is development?”. In the end though, this is what I replied to him:

I haven't been asked that question since first year, and it's one I'm still trying to figure out. It's hard even for development students like me to define. In the most basic sense, it's trying to create progress in reducing the vast inequalities between the rich and poor of the world. That means it's a very multi-disciplinary field, which tackles issues from human rights to climate change and everything in between. And, of course, all these issues play into one another which makes solving them even more complicated.

“I think all development practitioners are driven by the general passion to see an end to poverty. They care about making this world a little less screwed up, which is probably why you find you talk like development students! As one of my friends and fellow students says, development practitioners are working themselves out of a job.

Another big aspect of practicing development (in my opinion) is that we must always be humble, adaptive, and open. We can't go into a developing country and expect our Western ways to solve their problems. Change must be made by working with the poor, not by telling them how they should be doing things.”

Creating this definition reminded me that I really am working towards positive change. It reminded me of the core reason I decided to go into International Development: because I want to help people. I get to say that I’m trying to save the world as a carrier… and that sounds like a pretty good job description to me.

The "Growing" Informal Economy

A few weeks ago, a guest lecturer in one of my classes said that the informal economy is a declining sector (to clarify, the informal economy means all economic activity that isn’t monitored or taxed by the government. Think of a poor slum-dweller starting a small business from their home). When she said that, I had to think that she didn’t have her facts straight. I’ve researched the informal economy in developing-world cities before, and believed it’s growing with rural-urban migration and urban poverty. I decided that, like a good scholar, I’d do more research into it to see what the real story on the informal economy is.

The answer is that the informal economy is growing, on a global scale. It’s hard to quantify the growth considering it can only be measured by self-reporting, however, many sources will tell you it is an expanding sector. In the past decade, informal employment has accounted for over 60% of urban employment and 90% of new jobs (According to the United Nations). In 2010, Informal employment made up 82% of all non-agricultural employment in South Asia, 66% in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 51% in Latin America. In other words, it’s huge contributor to the livelihoods of the poor. It contributes 25% to 40% of GDP in Asian and Africa, for example.

What’s more important than these numbers are the causes, effects, and solutions to them.  People are forced into the informal economy when they migrate from rural, majorly agricultural, areas into cities with the prospect of finding a job and a better life for their family. However, when they get there, they find that they can’t find a job or are unable to be an entrepreneur in the formal economy because of start-up costs and regulations. The biggest problem with informal employment is that the government isn’t there to regulate wages, working conditions or safety standards, meaning informal workers are often in danger and get paid very poorly. Informal businesses are also at a competitive disadvantage because they lack access to markets and have a bad reputation. The solution to these issues is not to try and get rid of the informal economy altogether, but to recognize the potential it has! Think of how many people are involved in the informal economy, and the innovation that these entrepreneurs create. A few ways to work WITH rather than against the informality might be microfinance, or giving the poor land tenure rights. Can you think of any others? And what do you think about this issue?

Turners Syndrome and Development

This post is a little more personal, but it’s something I’ve wanted to write about for a while. I have a condition called Turners Syndrome, which is a random genetic abnormality where a girl is born with only one X chromosome (as opposed to the usual 2). Turners Syndrome has a prevalence rate of about 1 in 2500 female births, and 98% of pregnancies where the baby has Turners end up in miscarriage. Turners has a long list of symptoms, and each girl with Turners has a unique combination of these symptoms. The ones I have (which are some of the most common) are short stature, infertility, a wide neck, low hairline, birthmarks, a bicuspid aortic valve (a heart condition), and a horseshoe kidney. Some other more severe symptoms include webbing between fingers and toes, learning disorders and spatial problems. If you want to learn more about the condition, take a look at this article by another woman with Turners Syndrome: http://bethanymaxine.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Turner-Syndrome

I was diagnosed with Turners at age 15, and consider myself very lucky to have modern health care to help me manage my condition. Regular doctor’s visits, heart/kidney scans, and hormone replacement are all I need to live a completely normal life with Turners. However, I can imagine there are many girls all over the world with my condition who are not as fortunate as me. For women in the developing world, Turners could have a big impact on their lives. First of all, diagnosis is probably very low in developing countries, seeing as the technology needed to diagnose genetic disorders would not be very accessible. Also, the resources needed to manage the symptoms (such as ultrasound machines and growth hormones) would be few and far between.

Turners would also be socially stigmatizing in developing countries. For example, I take birth control as an estrogen replacement (as do almost all women with Turners). Contraception is frowned upon and culturally unacceptable in many poorer regions of the world, so Turners women in those places would avoid taking the birth control they need. Also, infertility would cast women out of marriage and a family in developing countries and would diminish their “value” to society. The learning disabilities that often come with Turners could also isolate women, seeing as learning disabilities are not well understood or provided for in the developing world.

As a woman with Turners and a development practitioner, I can only hope that conditions like mine will one day be manageable in both the developed and developing world. This might not be the kind of change I will be working for in my future, however, it’s an issue I am now more conscious of.

Rain Barrels

As a fundraiser to help subsidize some of the costs of our placements this September, INDEVOURS (my fellow 4^th year International Development students and I) are selling rain barrels. You can check out this fundraiser and take part of it at http://indevours.wordpress.com/events/rain-barrel-fundraiser/ and www.rainbarrel.ca/indevours (Feel free to check out the whole website to learn more about us as well!). So I thought I’d share some of the benefits of rain barrels, and how they are so effective (especially in cities)!

A rain barrel does exactly what the name says… it collects rain. You can use that rain for watering your plants, doing your laundry, doing your dishes, washing your car, or anything else that you’d use unfiltered water for! The first benefit for homeowners is saving on your water bill. In the summer, 40% of residential water is used for lawns and gardens, which is a lot on your monthly water bill. Rain barrels can save 1300 gallons of water per household during the summer alone, which saves you money! Another benefit is healthier plants and soil. Tap water has chlorine and fluoride in it, which isn’t good for the soil or it’s microorganisms. They also reduce runoff (aka rain water that isn’t absorbed into soil), which is especially important in urban areas where the majority of the ground is paved and rain water is forced to runoff into rivers, streams or storm drains. This reduces flooding, and also means less water needs to be drawn from other sources. In other words, rain barrels are a quick and easy way to save money and the environment. And just think of the possibilities it has as a tool for development! Rain barrels would allow slum dwellers and even rural farmers to start small gardens, reduce their utilities expenses, have cleaner water (which could be boiled or filtered for drinking), and become more self-sustaining!

So what’s your opinion on rain barrels? What other benefits can you think of?

Urban issues in Vietnam

With my placement growing ever nearer, I’ve been very into Vietnamese culture lately… especially the language! So I wanted to educate myself more on Vietnam’s urban issues, and figured I’d share my findings! I don’t claim to have the solutions to any of these issues, I just thought I should learn about some of the development challenges I can look forward to when I get to Hanoi. They’re also the kinds of challenges I hope to take on as a carrier.

Right now, Vietnam is urbanizing faster than it ever has before… and faster than most of the rest of the world too. Hanoi is considered one of the most dense and crowded cities in the world. This urbanization has been both planned and unplanned, with the unplanned happening mainly on the peripheries of large cities like Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi. Since 2000, the central state has embarked on large-scale urbanization planning in order to foster economic development. This has meant developing agricultural land into urban (such as building industries as well as housing for migrant workers) and revitalization in slum areas (which has displaced slum dwellers into public housing complexes). Vietnam is still developing ways in which they can ensure growth is sustainable, and this is one way they are trying to do so. This is especially important as Vietnam is one of the top 10 countries that will be impacted by climate change and needs to mitigate the impacts that climate change will have on the economy and health (which is also why I think my placement organization is so important for the country)!

I also found out that Vietnam, in Hanoi especially, is very focused on preserving it’s architectural heritage. Architecture in the city ranges from traditional merchant quarters to the French-planned administrative district of the city. The built heritage of the area has of course changed over time due to war and poor economic times. Despite the city’s effort, Hanoi’s built heritage is at risk of disappearing if nothing is done to curb degradation, inappropriate renovations, and rapid demolitions.

Public space is another issue in Hanoi. With few parks and clear sidewalks, people have little social space to interact. Planning standards do indicate minimum green space requirements, however, these aren’t meet in reality. This also ties into the issue of traffic in the city. With growing private vehicle use (due to increasing incomes) and narrow roads, Hanoi is a very congested and polluted city. The city does have plans to significantly improve public transit and increase ridership, seeing as it is very underused currently.

The future...

The past few days have had some real emotional highs and lows for me, so I thought I’d try something different for this blog post and talk about how I’m feeling about my placement and the future.

When I finally found out where I’d be working, I was of course really excited. My last blog post explains that. But I have to be honest, starting my last “academic” term of my undergrad and hearing the experiences of graduating INDEV students made me nervous. Although I know I’m going to love my placement, the sudden realization that I’m leaving in less than 4 months really hit me hard this week. There’s just so much to think about and so much to do before I go! And I think the part I’m most nervous for is those first few weeks once I get to Vietnam. Culture and language shock is definitely going to be a reality. I guess all I can do is embrace the fear and have the confidence in myself. Talking to students who just got back from placement was a bit of information overload, but what I really took away from them is that my experience will be what I make it out to be. So I’ve decided to stay positive and take advantage of every opportunity I have while on placement.

Another thing that’s got me thinking about my future is an assignment in one of my classes to write a “personal mandate”, which is basically a statement about your values/beliefs that’s supposed to help guide your decision making. It’s such a weird exercise to try and analyze what you think you believe in and your personal goals! So far, I’ve determined that I value constant learning and sustainability… which comes in handy in the dynamic field of development. I also determined that a goal of mine is to contribute to my placement organization’s research on their climate change projects. My other goal is to get into grad school at Waterloo for Planning… which is a something I’m going to have to start working on now (another one of the reality checks I got this week).

So as scary as the future might be, I’m excited to see what it has in store for me. Bring it on world, cause I’m ready for you!

My Placement Organization: Sustainable Rural Development

This post is long overdue, but still very exciting. I may not have a mandate yet… but I can officially say I’m going to be working for the Center for Sustainable Rural Development in Hanio, Vietnam this September! The more I read about them, the more excited I get!

The Center for Sustainable Rural Development is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that aims to support rural communities in adapting to the changing environment while also sustainably managing their resources. Their expertise is in the areas of sustainable agriculture and livelihoods, climate change, networking, and research/advocacy. They take a truly holistic approach to development; spanning from grassroots capacity building to international advocacy. All of their projects include a strong capacity building focus, and also integrate crosscutting issues like gender equity and rights for the disabled. Here’s their website to read more about them: http://www.srd.org.vn/

To be honest… SRD was my second choice placement. When I was doing my application back in December, I remember thinking “I don’t know if I want to apply to that organization… they work in rural areas and my dream job is planning sustainable cities”. I really liked the kind of work they did, so I decided to apply there anyway. I realize now that I’m going to love working for this organization, even if it’s not my “dream job”. That was never the point of this field placement in the first place.

The reason I’m most excited to work for SRD is their focus on working WITH communities to build capacity. (In case you couldn’t tell from some of my previous blog posts… I’m a bit of a suck for grassroots development. In fact, I believe it’s the only right way to “do development”). I’m also really excited to get some experience in climate change/disaster management projects. Climate change is an area I’m really interested in, considering the effects that climate change is having on the livelihoods of the poor. I can’t wait to finally apply all the natural disasters, environmental assessment/management and ecology knowledge I’ve gained over three years of studying.

How do you feel about my placement organization? What kinds of projects do you think I should work on or try and start while I work there? And to my fellow INDEVOURS… where are you going on placement and what do/don’t you like about your organization?

Earth Hour: Environmental Hero or Villain?

Last Saturday (March 23^rd) was Earth Hour. It’s an event where people all over the world turn off their lights for an hour, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and raise awareness about climate change. As an environment student, I can’t help but question the real impact that this event has. I’ve always been skeptical environmental movements like earth hour though… as are many other people. If you google “the impact for earth hour”, one of the first articles that comes up is about how earth hour will not cut carbon emissions (here its is: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7527469/Earth-Hour-will-not-cut-carbon-emissions.html). The article claims that turning off lights for an hour will not likely lead to less energy in the grid. Not to mention, once the lights go back on, power stations will need to fire up quickly, which might actually result in an increase in emissions. These are valid points, I don’t deny that. But Earth Hour is not just about the hour itself, it’s about raising consciousness about climate change. The Earth Hour website makes it clear that we must take action beyond the hour itself, and it does that by sharing  stories from around the world of people who are making a difference. (http://www.earthhour.org/page/about/about-earth-hour)

After stirring for a while on how I feel about Earth Hour, I’ve decided that it is in fact a very positive environmental “movement”. Although the impact of the hour itself might not be huge, it’s the awareness and call to action that the hour creates which really matter. Also, it empowers people and inspires them to take even more steps towards reducing their emissions. Participants realize that doing something about climate change is as easy as turning out the lights! Simple changes in lifestyle do make a difference, and Earth Hour really demonstrates exactly that.

Earth Hour is also great because it’s done it cities all over the world. Earth Hour reminds us that climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions. On a personal level, Earth Hour also reminds me that the poorest of the world influence climate change too… and that cities must be center in the fight against climate change. Cities are, of course, the source of almost all carbon emissions on earth, which makes them the source of the problem but also key to the solution.

So, do you support Earth Hour? How do you think cities, which are the target participants of Earth Hour, are going in influence climate change?

A new approach to advertising

I’ve been wanting to write a post about marketing for a while now, because it’s been a big part of my studies this term. To put my own twist on marketing though, I want to talk about advertising in slums. I found a really cool article about how advertising in Rio De Janerio is evolving... take a look at it!

http://adage.com/article/global-news/rio-slums-undergo-a-marketplace-makeover/235257/

As Rio’s Favelas get safer, marketers are finally venturing into these previously inhospitable communities. This is especially important, considering that Rio will be hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. As I learned in my class my Regional Planning and Economic Development class last term, sometimes it takes a big event like the Olympics for a city to improve itself.

An ad agency called NBS has opened in Rio’s Santa Marta favela, and has attracted big names like Coca-Cola. They want to talk to the community in order to develop the brands that they take on as clients, but they also want to create social good (each brand in the area has to contribute in some way). For example, Coca-Cola offers entrepreneurship courses, and banks in the area offer micro credit. One of the most amazing displays of this agency’s work is Akzo Nobel’s project where they donated paint and trained locals to revitalize 2000 buildings across Brazil.

I think companies like NBS need to be the future of advertising, not just in developing countries, but all around the world. They create benefits for not just their clients, but the community as well. Clients get the advantage of tailoring their advertising to their potential customers, get to get their message across in new ways, as well as access to a greater customer base. Communities get to take advantage of the products/services that the brands offer, as well as the brands' contribution to their community (whatever form that may take). Not to mention, this new way of advertising could start to combat the problem of consumer immunity to marketing. People will start to feel connected to the brands that advertise to them, and might begin to trust advertising again.

So what’s your opinion on advertising with a social motive? Can marketers here in Canada learn  from NBS?

A ramble about the state of the world

This post isn't really related to the theme of my blog... just something I wanted to talk about. So, at some point over the Christmas break this year, I was watching TV with my family and I can't remember why but a show we watched (I think it was about millionaire/billionaire lifestyles) got me really frustrated with the world in general. I decided to write down that frustration, and ended up with a poorly worded page-long thing about why I hate the human race. I'm not terribly proud of what I wrote and it feels like its a huge rant, but an informed rant nonetheless. I wanted to share it and see where people agreed/disagreed with me and what reactions they had to it. It is a little long, so don't feel obligated to read the whole thing. Well, here it is:

"Let’s face it: Life can suck. The human race sucks. We’re destroying our planet and live in a hugely unequal world. Even though we can see this destruction and inequality happening before our eyes we aren’t really doing anything about it. It can make a person who cares, like me, feel terribly frustrated. I want to help and change my own lifestyle, but I feel kinda small in a world of 7 billion other people. I feel like no matter what I do I won’t make a difference. And then you hear “one person can make a difference” all over the media and it makes you feel guilty for not being that “one person”. The truth is, the world isn’t going to change overnight if one person decides to buy a hybrid car or to give money to some charity. What we need is a massive social movement.

We need to realize what consumerist zombies we’ve become. I know change is hard, because it would mean that those with power and money (aka: most of the Western world) will have to give things up, and this would inconvenience them. I’m completely okay with admitting that the reason I have not made significant changes in my life is because making those changes would mean I can’t have all the things I want. It makes me question my own morality… I’m all for helping others and bettering the environment, but why is it that as soon as I helping involves lowering my own standard of living I’m a little more hesitant? The reason, I’ve decided, is that most people to have good intentions and want to make a difference, but we also want to have the best lives possible for ourselves and for the people we care about. The issue is therefore changing people’s mindset. We need to make the rich realize that taking action to help the environment and the poor will benefit everyone, so lowering their lifestyles just a little will be good for them in the end. In the world I am living in right now, I don’t see that happening. It’s a slightly depressing conclusion, but I just can’t see the polluting, unequal lifestyles of the West going away anytime soon. Why? Because we like the status quo.

We like having “stuff”. We’d like everyone to have “stuff” like us, but getting them “stuff” is too hard. There’s several problems with that view. First of all, more “stuff” is not what we need. Having a huge suburban house to fill with things we don’t need is not the good life. Second of all, consuming more “stuff” will only worsen the environmental crisis we already have. Shipping food, clothes, toys or microwaves from some country with cheap labour so we don’t have to pay full price is incredibly unsustainable for the environment and perpetuates poverty. Third of all, we could indeed give the poor “stuff” if we really want to. As a development student, I’ve heard statements like “we could solve world hunger with the money Europeans spend on ice cream in a year”, and I do truly believe those statements.

In my opinion (and I do not exclude myself from this at all), the Western world spends a lot of money on things we don’t really need, and we believe that this means we have a higher standard of living. The “World Happiness Index” is a function of consumption… how screwed up is that? So, how could we possibly get that social movement I was talking about in order to change this status quo? I don’t have the answer of course, and I don’t think anyone does. My conclusion is again, kind of depressing. I think it might take a major disaster for the rich to wake up and realize we are killing our earth and each other. I also think that there may be a few people, maybe from my generation, who will find a way to drill the harsh reality of the current state of the world into the minds of the rich and make them change.

Maybe it will just take one passionate person to make everyone realize that we need a major shift in how we live our lives. And you know what, I know I’m not the only one who cares. When it comes down to it, we all care about each other and want to make life on this planet better. So what’s it gonna take to get people to realize that we can’t keep living the way we do and that we need to work together to figure out how we should live? It’s a question that may not be answered in my lifetime, but it’s something the human race is going to have to figure out sometime soon. In the end, I’m skeptical but optimistic about our future. I think we do have the ability and will to figure out how to live sustainability  but it’s gonna be really hard getting there. Sustainability may just be the biggest challenge the human race has ever faced; now we just need to raise up and accept that challenge."

Transit in Ecuador

A classmate of mine wrote a blog post about the importance of transit, which inspired me to write a post on transit as well (thanks Sumbal! Her blog is sumbalwrites.blogspot.ca). I decided I want to talk about transit in small town Ecuador because I did a project on it when I lived there. It amazed me that my host brother and sister made the hour-and-a-half trek from Guyallabamba (the town of 7000 I lived in) to Quito every day to go to university. What amazed me even more was how many other people did the exact same thing. This is a picture that my host brother put on facebook the other day, referencing La Flota Pichincha (the name of the bus system in the community). The caption translates to “Get on! It’s empty!”.

It’s been a while since I wrote the assignment, but I do remember the reason I chose the issue of transit was because of the inefficiencies I saw in the system. There’s only one route that goes through Guyallabamba, which goes along the main road in town and then to Quito. It was accessible for me, as my family lives a little off the main road. I know for some of my co-workers at the preschool I worked at had a far walk to get to the bus. There’s no extra buses at peak times, meaning people often couldn't get on the bus and buses were filled to the brim and very unsafe because of that. Also, many buses are not up to safety standards or don’t work properly (which is especially important considering the hilly, mountainous terrain they have to drive through). There’s also the issue of fare and fare collection. Everyone, regardless of demographic, paid the same fare which was collected by a bus boy who came around and asked you where you were going and told you your fare.

Once you get to Quito though, transit becomes much more efficient. There’s designated bus lanes in the middle of the road, and rapid light rail transit that I found easy to access with multiple connecting routes which made getting from one end of the city to the other fairly easy. You pay fare to get into the bus terminal/station, which made loading/unloading very fast. There’s still a lot of traffic, as depicted in this picture of an intersection in the historical district of Quito on a regular day (which I actually visited!). I thought the traffic was managed chaos though.

It seemed to me that the government, both provincial and federal, had focused on Quito’s transit while somewhat neglecting small town transit (which I would argue is just as important and affects just as many people). I’m now asking myself why that might be and what might make the government start focusing on small town transit. Am I right in thinking small town transit is important? How do you think we as development practitioners should approach transit?

Also, here’s another blogger’s post about using transit as a tourist in Quito… it gives you great idea of how their system works. They have a slightly different opinion then me on the system’s efficiency, which I appreciated: http://finaltransit.com/blog/2011/12/19/quito-public-transport-bus/

Resilience and development aid

In my resource management of the built environment class, we focus on what a developer needs to consider to build in a way that doesn’t have adverse ecological effects; which when I think about it is exactly what I want to do as a carrer (but in a developing country setting). One term we have defined/used in the course is resilience, which is the ability of a natural system to recover from a disaster. The term resilience is important in the aid community too, which I never really considered until I saw this article on the IRIN homepage today

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97584/Understanding-resilience

The United Nations Development Programme and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are trying to figure out how development actors can improve environmental resilience, which is a little tricky considering there is no standard definition of resilience or way to measure it. The problem according to them, which I very much agree with, is that we define resilience in terms of responding rather than preventing disasters. The costs of preventing the damage from a disaster often greatly outweighs the costs of repairing the damage. In my mind then, development practitioners should focus on prevention, while keeping in mind that prevention isn’t always possible and emergency relief is needed sometimes.

The article says “resilience can potentially act as a bridge between emergency response and long-term development aid, tackling the vulnerabilities that make people susceptible to shocks”. Resilience is about aid that helps communities build better to prevent the need for emergency aid all together – which makes so much sense. Development to me is about making sustainable changes in communities not just putting band-aids on problems, and preventing disasters seems like a pretty sustainable strategy to me! But that raises the question, is emergency humanitarian aid just a band-aid solution that we should stop? Should we not give aid to countries in environmental crisis then? I think the trick is to deal with emergencies in a way that allows for transition to development, which means humanitarian and development aid must be co-ordinated together. This is going to require agencies to do things differently and be more flexible, which is really hard to do (which is probably why this type of collaboration hasn’t happened yet).

So, how do YOU think resilience should be defined, and how does that effect the work of aid organizations in your opinion?