Neighbour helping neighbour
At the recent World Neighbours Canada AGM, the directors snuck a few minutes to take a group photo. Here are the members of the Board:
Back row, left to right: Dale Dodge, Laurena Rehbein, Bruce Petch, Nav Gill, Graem Nelson, Dave Denbigh
Front row: Mary Doyle, Judy Gray
Dale, Laurena and Mary live in Oliver, B.C. while Bruce, Dave and Judy live in Kamloops. Graem makes his home in Penticton and Nav’s home is in Cawston. Always good to be able to put a face to a name!
posted by Judy Gray; with information from Nav Gill
At the recent AGM, WNC directors were very pleased to elect a new member to the Board: Navjot Gill. Nav was born and raised in Oliver, BC and currently resides in the Similkameen Valley. With a degree in International R
elations Nav has focused heavily on sustainable community development both internationally and regionally. Since 2011, she has worked as a sustainable development advisor with numerous grassroots NGOs in Nepal, who all work to increase the health and wellbeing of marginalized populations. Regionally, Nav works as a researcher based out of UBC-Okanagan. Her work explores cross-cultural mental health promotion and community belonging in the South Similkameen Valley.
When asked what compelled her to become a member of the Board she stated: “There needs to be a paradigm shift in regards to the methods that are utilized to increase community development, both on a local and international level. We must incorporate sustainability and grass-roots solutions that are championed by community members themselves. When I visited WNC’s partner organization in the Ramechhap district of Nepal, it was evident that this was the vision I wanted to be a part of. Sustainability and grass-roots solutions are at the core of the World Neighbours Canada mandate. It is truly an honour working with folks who are consciously engaging in community development on an international level.”
Over the next 4 years Nav will work with World Neighbours Canada as a volunteer gender equality advisor under the new federal government funding. She also plans to build capacity with youth involvement in World Neighbours international development work over the years to come. Simultaneously, Nav will begin her Masters in Public Health and Social Inequities at SFU in September 2016.
We extend a very warm welcome to Nav and look forward to working with her over the coming years.
According to recent news reports, and confirmed by Charles Tankoano of our partner NGO (APDC), the situation in Burkina Faso is more settled. Charles writes: “Calm has returned but it is not very reassuring because the splinter group (RSP) is not yet fully désarmé. But disarmament continues. The whole country is mobilized to resolve this situation in the best interests of the people.” However, Charles also adds that a lingering worry is the support and power of former president, Blaise Compaore, currently in exile in Morocco, but whom Charles believes is secretly supported by France and some other African countries. Thus, looking to the future, the political situation in Burkina Faso and some of its neighbours remains unsettled. The upcoming elections, slated for October 11, 2015 will be critical for the people of Burkina Faso and I’m sure there will be ongoing updates. For more information about the recent political events, click on the links below.
BBC news: Seven lessons from Burkina Faso’s seven-day coup
BBC news: Michel Kafanda re-instated as president
Suresh Shrestha, coordinator of TSS (Tamakoshi Sewa Samiti) in Nepal will be in Kamloops on Friday, September 25 and will speak to nursing students at TRU. He will be sharing his knowledge about the work TSS supports in the Ramechhap district in Nepal which is directed towards drinking water supply, sanitation and community health. He will also touch on their work in the district hospital and a UNICEF post-earthquake nutrition program TSS has been supporting. The talk is free and open to the public.
When: September 25, Friday, 9:30AM – 11
Where: at TRU ~ in the Barber Centre; House of Learning
by Judy Gray, with information from Charles Tankoano
I have received two emails recently from Charles Tankoano, coordinator of APDC, our partner NGO in Burkina Faso. A couple of days ago he mentioned that, though the coup was disrupting life in Ouagadougou, it was not affecting life in the rural areas like Fada, where the World Neighbours Canada project is centred. People were travelling on the roads a little less often and taking more care during the village visits. Today Charles is in Ouagadougou and had added more information which I have translated from French into English while keeping the intent of his message: ” I am at the moment in Ouagadougou but it is not easy, even in Fada, because of the nearby border with Togo (Togo’s president is a friend of President Blaise Compaore ~ the Burkinabe president ousted a year ago), and there has been an entry attempt by Togolese soldiers against Burkina. We pray to God that the situation quickly ends with medium damage (as little damage as possible).” Let us hope that Charles is right.
Here are links to two news reports with updated information:
Bruce Petch and Dale Dodge, directors with World Neighbours Canada attended the recent BCCIC Leadership Award Ceremony for Suresh Shrestha, coordinator of Tamakoshi Sewa Samiti (TSS), and World Neighbours’ Canada partner in Nepal. Vera Radyo, chairperson of BCCIC and Mike Simpson, executive director of BCCIC presented the award. We, at WNC, are very happy to see Suresh recognized for his many years of involvement in the projects in Nepal.
Suresh will be speaking at a number of locations in Western Canada over the coming week, including Oliver and Kamloops. Suresh will be sharing information about the water projects in Ramechhap, the effects of the earthquake and the political situation in Nepal. Details of the Oliver meeting ( September 23 ) have already been published and information about Suresh’ Kamloops engagement will be on the website later today.
by Judy Gray
Two days ago, a small group of military elite overthrew the transitional government in Burkina Faso. I have attempted to contact Charles Tankoano, APDC employee and coordinator of the WNC project in that country but have not yet had a response. Given the uprising and lack of stability in the country, internet connection may be interrupted. Hopefully we will have an update soon.
To read more about the political situation in Ouagadougou, click on the link below:
Nepal’s World Neighbours Canada’s partner Suresh Shrestha, coordinator of TSS (Tamakoshi Sewa Samiti), will be coming to Oliver to speak on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.
The talk will be an update of the latest project, a preview of the new DFATD project, a review of the earthquake and the TSS response, and an update of the political situation in Nepal.
Where: Upstairs foyer of the Catholic Church
6044 Spartan Street
Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.
No charge, cookies and fair trade coffee by donation.
Earlier this month, we learned that the World Neighbours Canada proposal submitted to the federal government in January 2015 had been approved. This is very exciting news for a
number of reasons, not the least of which is the number of hours that we spent during the Christmas vacation meticulously filling out the 54 page application document!
As a result of this successful application, we will receive government funds for the next five years to support the work of our partners in Nepal, Burkina Faso and Honduras with respect to Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (this was the focus of the call for proposals from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development).
World Neighbours Canada would not have been able to submit the application WITHOUT the support of our donors – 15% of the funds for the project have to be raised from private donations. A huge THANK YOU to our donors for allowing us to be eligible for this initiative. Continue reading “World Neighbours DFATD proposal is approved”
World Neighbours Canada is pleased to announce that one of our parters, Tamakoshi Service Society (TSS), has been named by the BC Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC) as the 2015 recipient of the International Award of Leadership.
Read more about the award here: http://bccic.ca/bccic-international-award-leadership-goes-world-neighbours-canada-partner