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!