Workshops:
ADDRESSING MIGRATION AND POVERTY HOLISTICALLY (Niis Ma’Outa [Clifford White], Business Director, Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Nawaabm Enterprise)
This morning workshop, held by Niis Ma’Outa (Clifford White), Business Director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Nawaabm Enterprise, focused on helping participants gain a better understanding of how Aboriginal values, specifically those presented as principles and practices within the “Medicine Wheel” (or the “Wheel of Life”) can be used to better address the issues of migration and poverty, beyond conventional methods. Specifically, as the principles and practices are very much universal around the world, Mr. White stressed that they can be applied to various issues related to migration and poverty to ensure that there is balance in one’s life. The Wheel is made up of four quadrants: Mental, Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual, and each quadrant can be used to ensure that one is living a well-balanced, and holistic life.
For this workshop, participants were broken into 4 smaller groups of about 6 people each, and given a piece of cardboard making up one-quarter of the Medicine Wheel. There was one facilitator, and one scribe. The task of the facilitator was to challenge the group to brainstorm various concerns, issues, and challenges, and possible solutions to address “Migration and Poverty” within their quadrant. The task of the group as a whole, then, was to focus on questions such as the following::
For 15 minutes, participants were engaged in trying to answer the above questions in the context of their assigned quadrant, after which thoughts and the individual quadrant boards were presented back to the larger group. The boards were also placed together one by one on the board at the front, to form the Medicine Wheel. The following are some of the ideas that resulted from each group discussion, on each of the quadrants (descriptions have been taken directly from Mr. Clifford White’s workshop handout):
Mental (How can we address poverty by focusing on our mental state? Our mind is a gift and can create wonders if used well. We can build our mental capacity through education, training, skills development, study and ensuring that we are very much aware of what our minds are focusing upon. We need to be aware of what we are thinking and to ensure that we are taking care of ourselves, as well as teaching others how to care for themselves. As a result, we can create mental wellness from depression, delusions, fear, helplessness, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts, just to name a few):
Mental development starts in early childhood and continues for the rest of one’s life. To support this continuing development the following points of actions are of importance:
Physical (How can we address poverty by addressing our physical wellness? If we view our body as a vehicle, how well do we take care of it, and how can we teach others to be aware of their physical wellness? How our physical body is performing definitely affects how we will view our outward predicaments. Taking care of ourselves goes a long way to also allowing us to care for others. We need to be aware of our nutritional intakes, the types of food that we consume, our environment, whether we have access to clean water, fresh air, and motivating relationships. We also need shelter):
Some ideas and points of action towards ensuring physical wellness:
Emotional (How can we address poverty by focusing upon our emotions? When we are starving, without shelter and seemingly have nowhere to turn, emotional wellness almost seems like the last thing that we have to deal with; being aware, however, of how we are feeling, what we are thinking about, our values and our behaviours affects the decisions that we make. Being emotionally aware of our mental state, our feelings, our physical cues, as well as our outlook on life can be very empowering and motivating to change our environment for the better):
How can we use our emotions to address poverty?
- Before you can do anything, you need to know yourself: if you do not have your own life sorted out it seems hardly possible to help other people. It is therefore that we need to be aware of our own mental states: Acknowledge the fact that you have value and that whatever you are feeling is okay. This involves taking actual time for yourself: time without input or output.
- After that, it is important to think about what it feels like to be in poverty? Key themes to should come to mind are “hopelessness” and poor people’s mode of survival that does not provide them with time that allows them for self-reflection.
- Thirdly, we need to acknowledge poor people’s existence, but at the same time we should be cautious that we do not marginalize them;
- Lastly, we should always take into account that everyone grows up in their own culture with their own experiences and perspectives.
Spiritual (How can we address poverty by focusing upon our spirituality? Spirituality is that inner essence of our highest values of our being. Spirituality can be practiced in many forms, such as meditation, contemplation, going to church, to a synagogue, or to a sweat lodge, or mosque, for example. There are many rituals that can be performed that can help us to center ourselves, as we attempt to define how we fit into the larger scheme of things):
Spirituality is that mental connection that we as human beings have to the world, and is often lacking in poverty. We need to gather people with the same mindset to help spirituality to appear in the poverty setting. It is important to bring spirituality into the discussion of poverty:
After group sharing and discussion on each of the quadrants, the workshop ended with acknowledgment that each of the above areas can be tough to develop and implement, depending on the available resources within particular areas of residence, for example; nonetheless, the Medicine Wheel is a very useful tool to apply to one’s life.
For this workshop, participants were broken into 4 smaller groups of about 6 people each, and given a piece of cardboard making up one-quarter of the Medicine Wheel. There was one facilitator, and one scribe. The task of the facilitator was to challenge the group to brainstorm various concerns, issues, and challenges, and possible solutions to address “Migration and Poverty” within their quadrant. The task of the group as a whole, then, was to focus on questions such as the following::
- How do we define poverty, using our heading challenge (e.g. Mental, Physical, Emotional, or Spiritual)?
- Focusing on the assigned quadrant, what are some of the causes of poverty?
- What effect, if any, does migration have on poverty?
- What would be some possible solutions to address poverty?
- What are some indicators of poverty?
- What types of support systems, if any, would be necessary to extinguish poverty?
- What resources are available, if needed?
For 15 minutes, participants were engaged in trying to answer the above questions in the context of their assigned quadrant, after which thoughts and the individual quadrant boards were presented back to the larger group. The boards were also placed together one by one on the board at the front, to form the Medicine Wheel. The following are some of the ideas that resulted from each group discussion, on each of the quadrants (descriptions have been taken directly from Mr. Clifford White’s workshop handout):
Mental (How can we address poverty by focusing on our mental state? Our mind is a gift and can create wonders if used well. We can build our mental capacity through education, training, skills development, study and ensuring that we are very much aware of what our minds are focusing upon. We need to be aware of what we are thinking and to ensure that we are taking care of ourselves, as well as teaching others how to care for themselves. As a result, we can create mental wellness from depression, delusions, fear, helplessness, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts, just to name a few):
Mental development starts in early childhood and continues for the rest of one’s life. To support this continuing development the following points of actions are of importance:
- Art & Creative Expression (don’t cut the funding for the arts);
- Being able to set goals and actualize them: hope for the future needs viable possibilities and resources;
- Internal motivation needs to be supported externally: a teaching/learning environment needs to be created in which knowledge and skills can be passed on. We need to find models of doing so that local culture;
- Overcome apathy and lethargy amongst our youth by promoting agency and engagement: grandparents and peers as mentors;
- Broaden educational delivery to include all learners’ “intelligences”.
Physical (How can we address poverty by addressing our physical wellness? If we view our body as a vehicle, how well do we take care of it, and how can we teach others to be aware of their physical wellness? How our physical body is performing definitely affects how we will view our outward predicaments. Taking care of ourselves goes a long way to also allowing us to care for others. We need to be aware of our nutritional intakes, the types of food that we consume, our environment, whether we have access to clean water, fresh air, and motivating relationships. We also need shelter):
Some ideas and points of action towards ensuring physical wellness:
- Ensure housing: schools could be used as community/rethinking spaces
- Protection of the environment
- Well-intentioned ideologies relating to human rights
- Improvements in health: food security; access to clean water; overcoming our language barriers
- Critically evaluate overconsumption (greed, capitalism) by ensuring an equitable distribution of wealth and resources;
- Strive for a smaller unemployment rate.
Emotional (How can we address poverty by focusing upon our emotions? When we are starving, without shelter and seemingly have nowhere to turn, emotional wellness almost seems like the last thing that we have to deal with; being aware, however, of how we are feeling, what we are thinking about, our values and our behaviours affects the decisions that we make. Being emotionally aware of our mental state, our feelings, our physical cues, as well as our outlook on life can be very empowering and motivating to change our environment for the better):
How can we use our emotions to address poverty?
- Before you can do anything, you need to know yourself: if you do not have your own life sorted out it seems hardly possible to help other people. It is therefore that we need to be aware of our own mental states: Acknowledge the fact that you have value and that whatever you are feeling is okay. This involves taking actual time for yourself: time without input or output.
- After that, it is important to think about what it feels like to be in poverty? Key themes to should come to mind are “hopelessness” and poor people’s mode of survival that does not provide them with time that allows them for self-reflection.
- Thirdly, we need to acknowledge poor people’s existence, but at the same time we should be cautious that we do not marginalize them;
- Lastly, we should always take into account that everyone grows up in their own culture with their own experiences and perspectives.
Spiritual (How can we address poverty by focusing upon our spirituality? Spirituality is that inner essence of our highest values of our being. Spirituality can be practiced in many forms, such as meditation, contemplation, going to church, to a synagogue, or to a sweat lodge, or mosque, for example. There are many rituals that can be performed that can help us to center ourselves, as we attempt to define how we fit into the larger scheme of things):
Spirituality is that mental connection that we as human beings have to the world, and is often lacking in poverty. We need to gather people with the same mindset to help spirituality to appear in the poverty setting. It is important to bring spirituality into the discussion of poverty:
- Spirituality broadens your personal base of knowledge and experiences and allows you to care for other people’s lives and not just your own;
- It reaffirms the need for people to get together to discuss their personal histories and experiences for the sole purpose of understanding people around you, to move forward together to a more productive, effective, cross-culturally and spiritual mindset;
- Religious discussions bring to the table the issues of justice for humans and non-humans (reciprocity).
After group sharing and discussion on each of the quadrants, the workshop ended with acknowledgment that each of the above areas can be tough to develop and implement, depending on the available resources within particular areas of residence, for example; nonetheless, the Medicine Wheel is a very useful tool to apply to one’s life.
“YOU CANNOT SETTLE LIKE THIS”: REFUGEES, ASYLUM SEEKERS AND HOUSING IN METRO VANCOUVER (Jenny Francis, UBC Geography)
The work shop started with a casual debate/discussion format (on Jenny’s Research and the other side of the issue) followed by small groups discussing solutions to the refugee housing issue in Vancouver.
Other side: Housing crisis in Vancouver doesn’t only affect refugees/immigrants. Is it a systematic problem? – A simple increase in the welfare rate? – Is there is a huge class-divide in our city?
- Majority of Vancouverites are renters. Homeowners income versuss renters income.
o Renters: seniors, single mothers, people with disabilities, young people.
o 70% are renters: 60% of that are recent immigrants in his neighborhood.
- Scapegoating of who’s causing the house crisis. We need to address the affordability of housing.
o The cause of housing crisis: overseas capital, Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong.
o Are we scapegoating them? Blaming Chinese immigrants for high housing prices is a mistake?
Jenny: Research focus on refugees. “Other groups are having a difficult time too, but at the same time, refugees experience big hardships. Emotional experience of been in a refugee camps and the language are important difficulties”
On elites and class division: policy makers can be in the elite class and be distant with these issues.
- The distinction of Federal and Provincial refugee system.
- People on the social system/assistance and people who are refugees may face the same hardships that are not communicated to the upper elites.
The participants then gathered in small groups and read case studies based upon true refugee stories then came up with solutions that they thought would help end the housing issue:
- Policy makers: Implement clear-cut policies and rules in regards to housing. Regular audits where these policies are reviewed.
After studying the different case studies, it was noted that these refugees lacked information about the rent laws and regulations they need to follow and their rights as tenants. Because of language barriers, they didn’t have any way of learning about these rights either. Thus this solution was brought up by the groups.
- Have one single institution that has all the resources and help needed for new refugees. Another problem that arose was the fact that the refugees didn’t know where to go to find information and they were sent from place to place when they wanted to solve an issue. By having one single location, some kind of a help center, they will know where to get all the information they need. Resources such as translators, and help answer their basic questions will be provided in these places
Other side: Housing crisis in Vancouver doesn’t only affect refugees/immigrants. Is it a systematic problem? – A simple increase in the welfare rate? – Is there is a huge class-divide in our city?
- Majority of Vancouverites are renters. Homeowners income versuss renters income.
o Renters: seniors, single mothers, people with disabilities, young people.
o 70% are renters: 60% of that are recent immigrants in his neighborhood.
- Scapegoating of who’s causing the house crisis. We need to address the affordability of housing.
o The cause of housing crisis: overseas capital, Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong.
o Are we scapegoating them? Blaming Chinese immigrants for high housing prices is a mistake?
Jenny: Research focus on refugees. “Other groups are having a difficult time too, but at the same time, refugees experience big hardships. Emotional experience of been in a refugee camps and the language are important difficulties”
On elites and class division: policy makers can be in the elite class and be distant with these issues.
- The distinction of Federal and Provincial refugee system.
- People on the social system/assistance and people who are refugees may face the same hardships that are not communicated to the upper elites.
The participants then gathered in small groups and read case studies based upon true refugee stories then came up with solutions that they thought would help end the housing issue:
- Policy makers: Implement clear-cut policies and rules in regards to housing. Regular audits where these policies are reviewed.
After studying the different case studies, it was noted that these refugees lacked information about the rent laws and regulations they need to follow and their rights as tenants. Because of language barriers, they didn’t have any way of learning about these rights either. Thus this solution was brought up by the groups.
- Have one single institution that has all the resources and help needed for new refugees. Another problem that arose was the fact that the refugees didn’t know where to go to find information and they were sent from place to place when they wanted to solve an issue. By having one single location, some kind of a help center, they will know where to get all the information they need. Resources such as translators, and help answer their basic questions will be provided in these places
Afternoon workshops:
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COUNTRIES: “A SHINING EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN GO RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE EAST” (Laya Behbahani, SFU Criminology, MA Candidate; SFU Policy Analyst)
This workshop in the afternoon was facilitated by Laya Behbahani, an SFU Criminology, MA Candidate, as well as Policy Analyst, focused on “familiarizing participants with the many dynamics of trafficking, and specifically, the interplay of immigration regimes, criminal laws and labour laws.” Participants were also made aware that a holistic approach is needed to “effectively address the problem using evidence-based models and frameworks as personal toolkits.” The overall workshop aim was to help participants to gain a better understanding of existing macro and micro issues for the global community, and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in particular.
After a brief overview by Laya on the above points, participants were introduced to the particular focus needed on:
1. Prevention
2. Detection (investigation and prosecution of traffickers)
3. Protection and assistance for victims, and
4. Protection and assistance for partnerships...
...for all groups involved in addressing the problem of trafficking. We were then split into smaller groups and assigned one of the above four roles, and directed to answer the following questions (with focus on research, challenges, and potential responses to challenges):
1. How do you envision your role and responsibility? (Remember to indicate the role you are assuming, e.g. police, advocacy agency, border control, social worker, health care worker, etc.)
2. What is the process you would implement as part of your action plan?
3. What are some expected challenges and potential responses to the challenges?
4. What are some recommendations you would make moving forward?
After discussing for about 15 - 20 minutes, each group presented their ideas. I was in the group focused on “protection and assistance for victims” specifically, and the following are the ideas we came up with:
ROLE: Advocacy agency and border control
Steps:
1. Research: working with other organizations with similar focus to create joint solutions, and looking at data and research published by online journals
2. Ensure partnerships with border agencies and action-oriented agencies
3. Ensure safe places for trafficked persons to stay temporarily, so they feel safe to report incidences, and have places to move to
4. Raise awareness through media campaigns
Challenges:
- Getting people to care and take action
- Jurisdictional challenges (if organizations are not working together, it’s harder to connect the dots)
- Lack of resources, such as funding and manpower, and lack of resources for regulation
Possible Responses to Challenges:
- Working with existing agencies to multiply efforts and make them more efficient
- Working with judges and lawyers to understand law and possible places in policies for change
- Training healthcare professionals and providers to recognize issues, and to be a part of the detection system for people who have been trafficked
I was able to collect notes for one other group:
ROLE: Prevention
Steps: education, lobbying for policy changes, creating a task force, and liaising with other groups
Challenges:
- Evidence: women who come forth but can’t prove that they were trafficked
- Getting people on board
- Funding
- Womens’ families back home who are now at risk
Possible Responses to Challenges:
- Create partnerships with resorts and massage parlours, among other places, where victims and offenders may often be found, to improve detection
- Integrate knowledge into more police and enforcement agency curriculums
- Partner with other organizations to obtain sufficient funding
Overall, a strong takeaway from this workshop was that it is not possible to separate the above 4 focus areas from one another.
After a brief overview by Laya on the above points, participants were introduced to the particular focus needed on:
1. Prevention
2. Detection (investigation and prosecution of traffickers)
3. Protection and assistance for victims, and
4. Protection and assistance for partnerships...
...for all groups involved in addressing the problem of trafficking. We were then split into smaller groups and assigned one of the above four roles, and directed to answer the following questions (with focus on research, challenges, and potential responses to challenges):
1. How do you envision your role and responsibility? (Remember to indicate the role you are assuming, e.g. police, advocacy agency, border control, social worker, health care worker, etc.)
2. What is the process you would implement as part of your action plan?
3. What are some expected challenges and potential responses to the challenges?
4. What are some recommendations you would make moving forward?
After discussing for about 15 - 20 minutes, each group presented their ideas. I was in the group focused on “protection and assistance for victims” specifically, and the following are the ideas we came up with:
ROLE: Advocacy agency and border control
Steps:
1. Research: working with other organizations with similar focus to create joint solutions, and looking at data and research published by online journals
2. Ensure partnerships with border agencies and action-oriented agencies
3. Ensure safe places for trafficked persons to stay temporarily, so they feel safe to report incidences, and have places to move to
4. Raise awareness through media campaigns
Challenges:
- Getting people to care and take action
- Jurisdictional challenges (if organizations are not working together, it’s harder to connect the dots)
- Lack of resources, such as funding and manpower, and lack of resources for regulation
Possible Responses to Challenges:
- Working with existing agencies to multiply efforts and make them more efficient
- Working with judges and lawyers to understand law and possible places in policies for change
- Training healthcare professionals and providers to recognize issues, and to be a part of the detection system for people who have been trafficked
I was able to collect notes for one other group:
ROLE: Prevention
Steps: education, lobbying for policy changes, creating a task force, and liaising with other groups
Challenges:
- Evidence: women who come forth but can’t prove that they were trafficked
- Getting people on board
- Funding
- Womens’ families back home who are now at risk
Possible Responses to Challenges:
- Create partnerships with resorts and massage parlours, among other places, where victims and offenders may often be found, to improve detection
- Integrate knowledge into more police and enforcement agency curriculums
- Partner with other organizations to obtain sufficient funding
Overall, a strong takeaway from this workshop was that it is not possible to separate the above 4 focus areas from one another.
DIASPORA YOUTH LEADERS: INNOVATIONS IN POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH (Joanna Ashworth, Sr. Researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Community Development, SFU; Sabrina Meharally, Tanzanian Initiative; Jean de Dieu Tuyisenge, Edu-Africa, Rwanda)
Diaspora Youth Leaders: Innovations in Poverty Reduction is a program created in collaboration between SFU and two youth-led projects, Friends of HOL and EduAfrica.
Project Background
This project, Engaging Diaspora in Development, was born out of the interest of the Canadian International Development Agency to explore role of Diaspora in Development. From this idea, Joanna Ashworth from the Centre for Sustainable Community Development and Shaheen Nanji from SFU international brought various communities and Diaspora groups together to share their perspectives on different topics, from the environment to social policy.
Using dialogue and guided by the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, SFU was able to bring the broad Diaspora community together.
The important concepts that the project has operated around are the following:
Diaspora
Diaspora was originally referred to the scattering of Jewish people beginning in the 6th century BC. However, diaspora now refers to the large-scale dispersal of people from an original homeland. Diaspora might also refer to an individual or group who perceives an attachment to two or more homelands. This definition implies a sense of agency and reflexivity.
Project objectives:
-Research
-A series of public dialogues organized around the different themes of the Millennium of Development Goals and to explore the meaning of Diaspora in the context of development.
-Workshops
-Papers and blogs
-A collection of stories: “Diaspora Voices”
Research on diaspora in development shed three unique features of the diaspora:
1) Trans-locality: refers to individuals and groups working at grassroots and local community levels. It is “globalization from below” with people simultaneously being and acting in multiple localities across and within national boundaries.
2) Transilience: relative speed of movement between locations or identities. The notion between host and the home country become interchangeable.
3) Embedeness: Being familiar with the language, culture, and religion allows diaspora actors to be willing to be observers, guests and to operate in a partnership with an attitude of reciprocity and collaboration. To understand what people want and need in local communities.
4) Social innovation: to bring new ideas that are able that resolve, social, economic and environmental challenges.
5) Remittances: are monies that are sent, primary through familial networks, to supplement household incomes. Remittances can meet individuals’ basic needs, enable investment in local enterprise, or provide for social development of families and their communities.
The impact of diaspora is seen in 4 ways:
1.Economic Development and Poverty Reduction
2.Social Development
3.Political Development
4.Knowledge and Skills development
The stories of Sabrina Meherally and Jean de Dieu Tuyisenge represent the transilient dimension of diaspora:
Sabrina Meherally
Sabrina is a young professional who studied Business at SFU. She traveled to Tanzania and to learn about her African roots and cultural background. She volunteered in a local organization called House of Learning (HOL).
The HOL was funded by a Tanzanian couple who dedicated their time and money to send to school and educate underprivileged children from their community. Sabrina knew that what the couple was doing was not self-sustainable because the operation costs of the HOL depended from the husband’s source of income. So, she engaged in discussions with community members about social entrepreneurship to provide funds for the HOL.
Once she came back, Sabrina is second-generation diaspora, and through a diaspora group she was able to connect with people from East Africa and Tanzania and obtain ideas and advice to carry out feasible projects in Tanzania, which could generate income and funds for the school.
Sabrina helped to create a social enterprise in Tanzania and started a grassroots organization, “Friends of HOL”, that assists in providing free education to underprivileged children at the HOL.
From her experience working in Tanzania Sabrina learned to hold back the “I think…” and ask “what do you think”.
She found that her role was to:
- connect great minds with the right people
- respectfully challenge concepts by asking questions
- learn and assist
- inspire innovation and creativity
- understand cultural differences
Jean de Dieu Tuyisenge
Jean de Dieu comes from Rwanda. He lived there during the genocide but became a sponsored refugee in Canada. He is now part of the Rwanda Diaspora community in Vancouver and a Health Sciences student at SFU, and the President of EduAfrica.
In 2009 Jean visited his community in Rwanda and tried to understand the problems that communities were left with after the genocide: children without parents, psychological trauma, a slow economy, etc. He found that, despite the effort of international organizations to help communities move forward, these did not help socially. Their help was mostly focused on improving infrastructure and other related projects.
Jean engaged in talks with community members and he learned that one of the main issues that communities faced was the lack of education. Knowing that education is key for community growth, he started to look for ways to approach this problem.
He asked his family to use their skills to support income-generating projects in Rwanda. Being a fashion designer and a chef, his sisters taught 2 groups of women tailoring and subsistence farming to become food secure and to obtain the money to send their children to school.
Later, with a group of friends Jean organized a club that soon became a non-profit organization, EduAfrica. Through this club, Jean and members formally raise money to support projects in Rwanda and to send children to school.
The efforts of Jean, his family and members of EduAfrica have started to pay off. One student sponsored by this organization has graduated from high school while another has started his higher education at the University of Rwanda.
Project Background
This project, Engaging Diaspora in Development, was born out of the interest of the Canadian International Development Agency to explore role of Diaspora in Development. From this idea, Joanna Ashworth from the Centre for Sustainable Community Development and Shaheen Nanji from SFU international brought various communities and Diaspora groups together to share their perspectives on different topics, from the environment to social policy.
Using dialogue and guided by the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, SFU was able to bring the broad Diaspora community together.
The important concepts that the project has operated around are the following:
Diaspora
Diaspora was originally referred to the scattering of Jewish people beginning in the 6th century BC. However, diaspora now refers to the large-scale dispersal of people from an original homeland. Diaspora might also refer to an individual or group who perceives an attachment to two or more homelands. This definition implies a sense of agency and reflexivity.
Project objectives:
-Research
-A series of public dialogues organized around the different themes of the Millennium of Development Goals and to explore the meaning of Diaspora in the context of development.
-Workshops
-Papers and blogs
-A collection of stories: “Diaspora Voices”
Research on diaspora in development shed three unique features of the diaspora:
1) Trans-locality: refers to individuals and groups working at grassroots and local community levels. It is “globalization from below” with people simultaneously being and acting in multiple localities across and within national boundaries.
2) Transilience: relative speed of movement between locations or identities. The notion between host and the home country become interchangeable.
3) Embedeness: Being familiar with the language, culture, and religion allows diaspora actors to be willing to be observers, guests and to operate in a partnership with an attitude of reciprocity and collaboration. To understand what people want and need in local communities.
4) Social innovation: to bring new ideas that are able that resolve, social, economic and environmental challenges.
5) Remittances: are monies that are sent, primary through familial networks, to supplement household incomes. Remittances can meet individuals’ basic needs, enable investment in local enterprise, or provide for social development of families and their communities.
The impact of diaspora is seen in 4 ways:
1.Economic Development and Poverty Reduction
2.Social Development
3.Political Development
4.Knowledge and Skills development
The stories of Sabrina Meherally and Jean de Dieu Tuyisenge represent the transilient dimension of diaspora:
Sabrina Meherally
Sabrina is a young professional who studied Business at SFU. She traveled to Tanzania and to learn about her African roots and cultural background. She volunteered in a local organization called House of Learning (HOL).
The HOL was funded by a Tanzanian couple who dedicated their time and money to send to school and educate underprivileged children from their community. Sabrina knew that what the couple was doing was not self-sustainable because the operation costs of the HOL depended from the husband’s source of income. So, she engaged in discussions with community members about social entrepreneurship to provide funds for the HOL.
Once she came back, Sabrina is second-generation diaspora, and through a diaspora group she was able to connect with people from East Africa and Tanzania and obtain ideas and advice to carry out feasible projects in Tanzania, which could generate income and funds for the school.
Sabrina helped to create a social enterprise in Tanzania and started a grassroots organization, “Friends of HOL”, that assists in providing free education to underprivileged children at the HOL.
From her experience working in Tanzania Sabrina learned to hold back the “I think…” and ask “what do you think”.
She found that her role was to:
- connect great minds with the right people
- respectfully challenge concepts by asking questions
- learn and assist
- inspire innovation and creativity
- understand cultural differences
Jean de Dieu Tuyisenge
Jean de Dieu comes from Rwanda. He lived there during the genocide but became a sponsored refugee in Canada. He is now part of the Rwanda Diaspora community in Vancouver and a Health Sciences student at SFU, and the President of EduAfrica.
In 2009 Jean visited his community in Rwanda and tried to understand the problems that communities were left with after the genocide: children without parents, psychological trauma, a slow economy, etc. He found that, despite the effort of international organizations to help communities move forward, these did not help socially. Their help was mostly focused on improving infrastructure and other related projects.
Jean engaged in talks with community members and he learned that one of the main issues that communities faced was the lack of education. Knowing that education is key for community growth, he started to look for ways to approach this problem.
He asked his family to use their skills to support income-generating projects in Rwanda. Being a fashion designer and a chef, his sisters taught 2 groups of women tailoring and subsistence farming to become food secure and to obtain the money to send their children to school.
Later, with a group of friends Jean organized a club that soon became a non-profit organization, EduAfrica. Through this club, Jean and members formally raise money to support projects in Rwanda and to send children to school.
The efforts of Jean, his family and members of EduAfrica have started to pay off. One student sponsored by this organization has graduated from high school while another has started his higher education at the University of Rwanda.
DISPLACEMENT WITH DIGNITY? A human-rights based approach to protecting women migrating due to climate change (Joanna Habdank, MSc in Human Rights, LSE)
This workshop was facilitated by Joanna Habdank who asked the participants to divide into smaller groups and discuss and try to answer the following questions:
- How can we involve human rights to make a change? How can we engage communities that are not engaged?
- Can the Human-rights framework deal with local issues?
The groups came together at the end and the ideas that came up within the groups were then discussed. Some important points that arose included the lack of contextual definition of human rights and the need for international commitment from organizations such as Amnesty International. By doing this we can recognize the existence of all people, especially the displaced without the proper paperwork and try to negotiate on how human rights are advocated universally.
While discussing, a unique concept that was brought by a workshop participant was the Boomerang pattern that was introduced by Keck Sikkinck. This was explained by imagining two states among many others - State A and State B. State A’s civil society is disconnected with the government of that country, the people feel that they are not heard by their own government. So they contact the people from State B who then involves international communities and together pressure the government of State B to do something about the civil society. This concept brought up the importance of international involvement. But at the same time, someone brought up the point of the extent the international community can be involved in a civil issue in any country.
In regards to if human rights can deal with local issues, participants discussed that at the end of the day numbers matter. If there’s a large group of people bonded together, then they can continue the conversation. A problem arises when many small groups are created instead of one big organization, as all these groups fight for the funding available and the marketing time, etc. So a good solution is to follow the recent trade where many organizations such as Unicef, Oxfam and Amnesty International work together to solve local or international issues.
Overall the human rights is a very complex and intense topic. Questions such as how can Human rights work universally if they’re based on western thinking? Is it accessible to everyone? And how can we use human rights efficiently? The definition of human rights and what each of us believe what a human right is essential to solve any issue in the first place. Thus, by recognizing this human rights can be used as a resource to campaign the government on how they can reflect on certain communities whether it be aboriginal rights or minority rights. Human rights can be used to change the status quo and teaching everyone in the community as education and human rights go hand in hand - using human rights helps unite all different ways of thinking whether it be economical, environmental, political or a social issue. Thus no matter how complex it could be Human Rights are essential and a basic guide to be ‘civilized’.
- How can we involve human rights to make a change? How can we engage communities that are not engaged?
- Can the Human-rights framework deal with local issues?
The groups came together at the end and the ideas that came up within the groups were then discussed. Some important points that arose included the lack of contextual definition of human rights and the need for international commitment from organizations such as Amnesty International. By doing this we can recognize the existence of all people, especially the displaced without the proper paperwork and try to negotiate on how human rights are advocated universally.
While discussing, a unique concept that was brought by a workshop participant was the Boomerang pattern that was introduced by Keck Sikkinck. This was explained by imagining two states among many others - State A and State B. State A’s civil society is disconnected with the government of that country, the people feel that they are not heard by their own government. So they contact the people from State B who then involves international communities and together pressure the government of State B to do something about the civil society. This concept brought up the importance of international involvement. But at the same time, someone brought up the point of the extent the international community can be involved in a civil issue in any country.
In regards to if human rights can deal with local issues, participants discussed that at the end of the day numbers matter. If there’s a large group of people bonded together, then they can continue the conversation. A problem arises when many small groups are created instead of one big organization, as all these groups fight for the funding available and the marketing time, etc. So a good solution is to follow the recent trade where many organizations such as Unicef, Oxfam and Amnesty International work together to solve local or international issues.
Overall the human rights is a very complex and intense topic. Questions such as how can Human rights work universally if they’re based on western thinking? Is it accessible to everyone? And how can we use human rights efficiently? The definition of human rights and what each of us believe what a human right is essential to solve any issue in the first place. Thus, by recognizing this human rights can be used as a resource to campaign the government on how they can reflect on certain communities whether it be aboriginal rights or minority rights. Human rights can be used to change the status quo and teaching everyone in the community as education and human rights go hand in hand - using human rights helps unite all different ways of thinking whether it be economical, environmental, political or a social issue. Thus no matter how complex it could be Human Rights are essential and a basic guide to be ‘civilized’.