Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Swim-a-Thon
Our celebratory online slideshow will be posted tomorrow, on the first anniversary of completion of construction! Letting everyone know of our success, and inviting you to join the celebration has been a great experience. Wade and I have been truly amazed by the feedback and stories that have come our way... the surprise ripple effects that we learn about. Like this one from my friend Tim:
"In the summer of 2008, I was working in a private ESL college where I had been employed for over five years. My class that summer was comprised mostly Mexican university students, visiting Canada between terms in order to improve their conversational English.
During our first week together, a lot of time was spent getting to know one another. A lot of time was also spent comparing and contrasting Canada and Mexico, often resulting in giant freehand VEN diagrams drawn on the whiteboard. In the process, one thematic contrast began to emerge: the responsibility of local and global citizenship. We finished our first week in deep discussion of this responsibility, and the differences the students had noticed in relation to the concept since arriving in Canada. Two sentiments were shared unanimously by the students: Canadians seemed committed to upholding and improving the standards of their communities, and sadly, a cynical and unhealthy skepticism that a similar style of citizenship could never happen in their particular state in Mexico. I left school for the weekend knowing the challenge I faced—how could I replace the skepticism with something more productive?
That weekend, while attending a backyard garden party, I learned about theWATERproject.ca and the work being done in Adexor. The answer to my classroom conundrum hit me like a flashflood.
On Monday morning, I set out to work on the task at hand and culled all my resources that dealt with Africa, water, and sustainability. I spent the week building, tuning, and restructuring schema through short story, song, film, and language acquisition. We read traditional African folk tales adapted for emergent literacy, watched a locally–made documentary on a volunteer group in Mozambique, and discussed initiatives such as theWATERproject.ca. We also spent a lot of time comparing Africa with Mexico in terms of the social, political, and environmental challenges both regions face.
Satisfied that the schematic foundation had been sent, I made my pitch: how would the class feel about participating in a fundraising initiative of our own? The proposal was to have a swim-a-thon at a local pool, collecting pledges for completed laps, and donating the pledge money to theWATERproject.ca. I got permission from my boss, consensus from my class, then put together a pledge sheet for my students to bring home to their homestays.
My students went out into the community and canvassed for pledges, practicing their English skills out of the classroom and off of the worksheet, in authentic surroundings with meaningful outcomes. The energy was infectious: the intermediate ESL decided to host a bake sale, and build a unit on cook vocabulary around the fundraiser.
When it came time to hit the pool, the symbolism of swimming in this abundance of water overpowered everyone. We spent a morning swimming, and an afternoon enjoying brownies and muffins. When all was said and done, we had raised hundreds of dollars. We also developed a greater sense of what it means to belong to a community, and broadened the definition of citizenship: students visiting Canada from Mexico could help fund a rain harvester in Ghana. The process dulled the students’ cynicism, and gave them pause to think as they returned to their University classrooms. School, home, and community came together in a lasting and meaningful partnership, evidenced by the friendships that remain to this day."
"In the summer of 2008, I was working in a private ESL college where I had been employed for over five years. My class that summer was comprised mostly Mexican university students, visiting Canada between terms in order to improve their conversational English.
During our first week together, a lot of time was spent getting to know one another. A lot of time was also spent comparing and contrasting Canada and Mexico, often resulting in giant freehand VEN diagrams drawn on the whiteboard. In the process, one thematic contrast began to emerge: the responsibility of local and global citizenship. We finished our first week in deep discussion of this responsibility, and the differences the students had noticed in relation to the concept since arriving in Canada. Two sentiments were shared unanimously by the students: Canadians seemed committed to upholding and improving the standards of their communities, and sadly, a cynical and unhealthy skepticism that a similar style of citizenship could never happen in their particular state in Mexico. I left school for the weekend knowing the challenge I faced—how could I replace the skepticism with something more productive?
That weekend, while attending a backyard garden party, I learned about theWATERproject.ca and the work being done in Adexor. The answer to my classroom conundrum hit me like a flashflood.
On Monday morning, I set out to work on the task at hand and culled all my resources that dealt with Africa, water, and sustainability. I spent the week building, tuning, and restructuring schema through short story, song, film, and language acquisition. We read traditional African folk tales adapted for emergent literacy, watched a locally–made documentary on a volunteer group in Mozambique, and discussed initiatives such as theWATERproject.ca. We also spent a lot of time comparing Africa with Mexico in terms of the social, political, and environmental challenges both regions face.
Satisfied that the schematic foundation had been sent, I made my pitch: how would the class feel about participating in a fundraising initiative of our own? The proposal was to have a swim-a-thon at a local pool, collecting pledges for completed laps, and donating the pledge money to theWATERproject.ca. I got permission from my boss, consensus from my class, then put together a pledge sheet for my students to bring home to their homestays.
My students went out into the community and canvassed for pledges, practicing their English skills out of the classroom and off of the worksheet, in authentic surroundings with meaningful outcomes. The energy was infectious: the intermediate ESL decided to host a bake sale, and build a unit on cook vocabulary around the fundraiser.
When it came time to hit the pool, the symbolism of swimming in this abundance of water overpowered everyone. We spent a morning swimming, and an afternoon enjoying brownies and muffins. When all was said and done, we had raised hundreds of dollars. We also developed a greater sense of what it means to belong to a community, and broadened the definition of citizenship: students visiting Canada from Mexico could help fund a rain harvester in Ghana. The process dulled the students’ cynicism, and gave them pause to think as they returned to their University classrooms. School, home, and community came together in a lasting and meaningful partnership, evidenced by the friendships that remain to this day."
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Slideshow on the way! (Pt III)
In the lead up to our slideshow I'm posting excerpts from Wade's emails from his last visit to Ghana a year ago. I love this one:
"Today I will get into a metal tube with wings that will carry me to Canada. Bizarre and wonderful. I'm coming home rested and renewed, with more learning than I can fit in my bag.
Construction of all 15 rainwater harvesting tanks is complete. We celebrated with drumming, dancing, speeches, an official ribbon cutting, and a white man dressed in traditional Ghanian cloth, beads and sandals. It's important to say that there have also been some complications and confusion in the project, which is the nature of cross-cultural development work. I've been reading stories about international development that tell in a few brief highlights how a situation of poverty and struggle was transformed and peoples’ lives were improved. Something is lost when powerful and hopeful stories don't acknowledge the stumbling and uncertainty that are also part of the story, the times when the work doesn't feel hopeful or powerful. Over the years of the project I've often thought, 'Helping people should be easier than this.' The fact is that this work is hard, and in the end it has been completely worth the ups and downs.
Above all I'm grateful for the gift of being here - knowing that it is a significant privilege, and the absolute treasure of being welcomed by name into a village. I'm also grateful to have listening ears (and reading eyes) to share with. It helps me pay attention and reflect on what is important."
"Today I will get into a metal tube with wings that will carry me to Canada. Bizarre and wonderful. I'm coming home rested and renewed, with more learning than I can fit in my bag.
Construction of all 15 rainwater harvesting tanks is complete. We celebrated with drumming, dancing, speeches, an official ribbon cutting, and a white man dressed in traditional Ghanian cloth, beads and sandals. It's important to say that there have also been some complications and confusion in the project, which is the nature of cross-cultural development work. I've been reading stories about international development that tell in a few brief highlights how a situation of poverty and struggle was transformed and peoples’ lives were improved. Something is lost when powerful and hopeful stories don't acknowledge the stumbling and uncertainty that are also part of the story, the times when the work doesn't feel hopeful or powerful. Over the years of the project I've often thought, 'Helping people should be easier than this.' The fact is that this work is hard, and in the end it has been completely worth the ups and downs.
Above all I'm grateful for the gift of being here - knowing that it is a significant privilege, and the absolute treasure of being welcomed by name into a village. I'm also grateful to have listening ears (and reading eyes) to share with. It helps me pay attention and reflect on what is important."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Notes from Ghana, Pt II
"It amazes me that being here increases my love for Ghana and also increases my love for Canada. One does not diminish the other. I also observe patterns of behaviour here that perpetuate poverty and contribute to their struggles, and I wonder why these patterns continue. Then I look at my own culture, and it is so clear the behaviours that lead to the stress, isolation and loneliness that are often the struggles in western society. I can see the patterns of busyness and consumerism, clutter and technological distraction, and know very well the results. But while trying to make life-giving choices each day, I still find myself participating in those behaviours more often than not. The gift of the perspective from here is that I am seeing these things with more clarity and less judgment. I feel inspired to return home and make life-giving choices in my own cultural context." -- Wade
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Let's raise our glass!
This January 29, 2011, the people of Adexor will celebrate one year with clean water. Their community will gather in the village to sing, drum and dance -- giving thanks for the gift of water. We invite you to join this celebration in your own home, at your own tap! On January 29, take a moment to pour a glass of water and be refreshed as you check out the project’s celebratory slideshow - to be posted right here on our blog.
Leading up to the slideshow, I'll post a few excerpts from Wade's emails during the last visit to Ghana in January and February 2010. This one's pretty fun.
God Firts
"I'm back in Ghana, where taxis often have religious stickers on them, sometimes with spelling errors. This one was supposed to say 'God First' but ends up looking more like 'God Farts'."
Leading up to the slideshow, I'll post a few excerpts from Wade's emails during the last visit to Ghana in January and February 2010. This one's pretty fun.
God Firts
"I'm back in Ghana, where taxis often have religious stickers on them, sometimes with spelling errors. This one was supposed to say 'God First' but ends up looking more like 'God Farts'."
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A few thoughts and images from Adexor
"I am proud to mention that in the whole of Mepe Traditional area, we have the best quality of water and can host any visitor or event comfortably, a situation which used not to be the case."
"I no longer go into the rain to trap water from nearby zinc roofs for the family drinking anytime it’s raining because we now have good water collecting in our Tanks which serves us throughout the dry period."
"We students no longer go to school late or carry water to school because we are able to get water from our Tank for our domestic chores and in school, we have two big Tanks where we get water."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Help us fill their glass
A heartfelt thank you to Matt Politano of Oculus Design who came to our rescue! Matt donated his time and considerable design skills to produce a fantastic postcard for our donors. We moved well beyond my novice searches for "fundraising thermometers"...
Look for the real deal in your postbox soon!
Look for the real deal in your postbox soon!
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