Bloggular absenses

Hello All,

If you were to look, you'd find me in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. I'm having some trouble posting on my blog because of slow internet connection (it only works VERY early in the mornings), so if you want news and don't find it here, go to:

My Work Blog

And send me an email!

Kate

Holy Nervous, Batman

So, I have my ticket, I have my waterfilter, I have my antimalarials, I have my sleeping bag, and my safari outfit. But where is my courage? I keep telling myself that it's only a year of my life, and one that I have the wealth and mobility to escape from if I so choose. But at the same time, this impending trip to Africa is the most significant event of my life so far. My stomach is churning, but there are also butterflys of excitement. I know I won't believe it until I get there, no matter if my suitcases are nearly packed and I have the yellow fever vaccinations seering through my veins. 13 days to go. I hope you'll all stick with me on this trip, as I certainly hope I'll have some good stories to tell!

blog introspective

Just read Meryl Evans' article on Five Quick Tips to Building a Better Blog. According to Meryl, there are certain ways to pass the "in the blink of an eye" test, which is usually how long people give to a blog before deciding whether to stay or move on. It's safe to say that I don't pass. But, it's exciting to read about this BLOG WORLD that I occasionally dabble in. And here is the big news: I think I will be increasing my dabble in the next few months. I am working with Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) who I will work for in Ethiopia to create a blog hosted on their Canadian website to be used to increase the dialogue on development, and try out a new angle for gathering and maintaining donors. So, I am busy at the moment doing blogging research in order to maximize the reach and quality of the blog.

In addition, I intend to upgrade this blog. Thanks to some mentorship from Dev at DreamNow, I have been giving a lot of thought to active creation of my future. The result requires some self marketing. Since my career goals don't fit into a tried-and-true job box, I am working on a website that will act as a business card extension, helping people I meet to really understand my professional intentions. I plan to link this blog, with a new face, and implement Meryl's five tips...and a few others.

Stay tuned!

trash, admin and vacations

Oh Dear. I'm afraid I might have had a bit of a trashy week. I am going through a bit of an icecream phase, and I saw the Devil Wears Prada twice (but that counts as career research, given my PA to the developmentally fabulous aspirations), and might have accidentally bought OK mag instead of The Walrus or The Economist (well, I did buy the latter but passed it quickly on to the boyf). I must admit also that there is a recently finished Candice Bushnell novel on my shelf. And then to top it all off, I rented the first season of Desperate Housewives.

But, in the midst of this extremely Western propaganda, I have been making exciting progress on my impending Southern excursion. The task at hand is securing a work permit for Ethiopia (an inch closer- still a very elusive item). I have been pricked with sharp but useful medical objects both to protect and determine my general health (though they are less effective against "wellness"...or rather towards wellness). My Centre for Intercultural Learning course is confirmed ("your request is important to us"- yet still it takes two weeks for them to email me back!) and Ella is giving it a test run for me as we speak. And I have an appointment with the lawyer for Tuesday.

I am about to leave, however, on my so-called Summer Vacation. Destination: Texas. More on that?

There you have it.

So, it's settled (though I won't believe it until I'm on a plane on my way to Addis). I am going to Ethiopia with CPAR (canadian physicians for aid and relief) for my placement. There I will be working with two groups, CPAR and CAPAIDS.

With CPAR I will help with a variety of tasks, including communicating with the Canadian office, monitoring and reporting on their Moving Beyond Hunger program, and helping to increase in-country funding for the Ethiopia office. The Moving Beyond Hunger program includes projects focussing on water and sanitation development, food security (tree farming, for example), and safe livelihoods (vocational training, HIV/AIDS education).

With CAPAIDS I will hold the position of program officer, and will monitor and evaluate their Safe Livelihoods for Older AIDS Orphans project. This group of older orphans, often the head of their households after the death of their parents, frequently turn to the sex trade to provide for their siblings. This leads to problems for the individual, and to the spread of AIDS. So, CAPAIDS works with two local NGOs in Ethiopia (and two in Uganda) to provide the orphans with vocational training (like hairdressing, for example) so that they can have more secure livelihoods.

I'm excited as well that I'll be able to work with CPAR and CAPAIDS here in Canada before I leave, so that I'll have a familiarity with the projects and recent developments, rather than just being thrown into the mix upon arriving in Addis. And also that I've met the in-country Director already, so when I arrive, I'll see a familiar face.

Finally, a placement update!

I've been hesitant about posting about my placement proceedings on my blog after what happened last september. I was so embarassed by my failure to get a placement, and even more so by the fact that for months afterwards people were sending me emails saying, "So where are you...aren't you supposed to be away this year?" That everyone (family, friends, friends of family, etc etc) was expecting me to leave made the situation worse, as I had to explain "well, no, I'm not going. Yes, yes, it was my fault." So, I have been reluctant to talk about, or post about, my potentials for placement this upcoming year. Until now. While nothing is for certain, and I could find myself in Toronto once again come September, there are three potential spots in the works. First, I have been recommended for a placement with CUSO in Ghana- this means that the Canadian office has chosen me, but the field office and local NGO get the last word, so I am waiting to hear from them. Second, CPAR (who I've been volunteering with for the past year) has expressed an interest in sending me to work in their Ethiopian office in Addis Ababa. I've spoken with the Canadian program director and the Ethiopian country director, and the placement is contingent on them finding cheap accommodation for me and the job meeting the IDS coop's standards. Hopefully I will get more information on this possibility later this week. Third, I have been interviewed with WUSC Sri Lanka (who chose not to send me last year) and apparently they have placements for all who were interviewed.

All three placements are very interesting (though I don't have details about the WUSC one) and would certainly be a rewarding experience. Each has it's own positive aspects, and if granted all three, it would be a difficult choice between them. That said, because of my previous work with CPAR, my familiarity with their organization, the fact that Addis holds many interesting features (such as being the centre of the African Union, for example), and the fairly flexible job description, a placement with CPAR Ethiopia is my first choice. However, it is also the least certain of the three.

So, there you have a brief outline of my current placement status. Regardless of my geographic and employment status as of September 2006, I feel that I have grown tremendously as a result of my initial placement rejection. I understand my weaknesses better, I have consciously become more involved in the Toronto development community, and have spent a wonderful year in Toronto. Stay tuned for more details.

Kate

Preparing for the Third World

To quote Jen, this might just be "the greatest summer ever". I am so busy with work and play, I don't really have a free moment. But to look at it another way, they are all entirely free moments. Hurrah! With every day I feel like a more capable human being. While that might not sound like a terribly exciting evolution, it is in the face of a placement year, and imminent real life. Last night I was very sick- food poisioning or something- and there was noone there to hold my head, get me water and blankets. All I could think was "I'm glad this is happening, it's good practice for being in a developing country" because I had to get through it myself.

I don't have a computer at home, and while this is a definite plus for my social life and personal growth, it is less good for things such as emailing and blog posting. Thus, please stay tuned regardless of the sporadic nature of my blog status quo, as I'm sure that during placement I will make more use of Kidding Just.

Also, please note the recent additions to my right hand side: Marit, and the On Placements: Lauren, Laura and Jess. These three are other members of our IDS team heading away (you guessed it, on placement) next year, so perhaps it will be interesting to keep track of all of us?

Kate

Wherefore art thou Placement?

I have a bunch of really cool friends. For example, I just got an email from one who just climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, and in the email used this climb to describe his whole experience working in a refugee camp in Tanzania where he's been for the past 9 months. Another is set to leave for Mexico in August to document the Zapatista movement in Chiapas. Actually, I have two friends in Mexico right now: one is volunteering with Doctors without Training, and the other is doing a reciprocal language program where he learns spanish, and teaches english. Speaking of Latin America, one of my closest friends is leaving in September to spend a year volunteering and going to school in Ecuador, and another friend should be arriving back from El Salvador shortly. If you go a little more East, I have two friends in Brighton at the moment, busy discovering themselves. And then there's one who'll spend the rest of her summer treking around Turkey. But even close to home, they're doing interesting things: I have a couple friends from Victoria who will be showing up on my doorstep momentarily to spend a couple of days with me on their trip across Canada. And another who said to Jen last week "this is probably the best summer so far" because it has been filled with trips to big cities, episodes underwater, and as ever, Toronto urban adventure.

So, all this amazingness makes me sit and wonder, what does my next amazing year hold? Why don't I know what I'm doing yet? Is this a bad sign? Even with these questions, I feel confident that within the next three months I will be able to provide a post that paralells these friends of mine in their capacity to adventure. But for now, stop asking me about placement!

granted

My lovely world crashed a little the other day (however it seems to have righted itself now). In the blur of happiness and summer fun, combined with life-sucking jobs, I found myself in a brief crisis of lies, not getting things done, and more responsibility. The main problem in these situations is how hard I am on myself. The feelings of guilt and failure set in. I missed a deadline (I had send my application, but it wasn't up to par) for placement, because I don't have a computer and therefore neglect my inbox. My sublet decided to move out, and so I could perhaps find myself paying two rents in July. Worst of all I ditched Jen for a guy and lied about it (for about 5 minutes before I called her back in tears apologizing!). Today, however, is sunny, and I've got money in my pocket. I like the colour of my hair.

When things start to crumble, though, you realize how much good there is that you take for granted.

Kate

Multiple choice

I told a friend of mine last year that it wasn't often that I felt I had to make big decisions, or rather that my decision is usually 'both'. Yet, every once in a while the need for a decision comes by and virtually debhilitates me. I think this comes from the same place that my desire to be a secretary plus comes from. I want to work for a genius, enabling his/her decisions, but not making my own.

The case is similar now. I have two almost placement offers...two maybes. Both provide me with completely different information, making comparison very difficult, and for both the information is only half there. Yet, both want to know where I stand in the placement process (ie: if I'm working for a different placement, they want to drop me out of the selection). Okay, so I tell both that I'm interested and prolong the decision for one more step. But what then?

The first, I talked about earlier. It would be with WUSC and a small local NGO on the south east coast of Sri Lanka, working with Tsunami victims. So current! So exciting! Buddhists, civil conflict and rainforests oh my!

The second is with PWS&D and the Institute for Development Education in Chennai, India. I would work in the villages outside of the city for 6 months, and then in the city slums for 3 months. The final three months would be research based. The work would be based around women's empowerment, literacy, economics, and child labour issues. Wow! So intense! So self directed! So throwing me in the deep end!

In multiple choice, when you don't know how to decide, they say to pick the longest answer. I don't think the decision will be so easy!

Kate

Ceylon

This is the closest I've been yet to placement: I had an interview today with WUSC who proposes to send me to Sri Lanka (in the south-eastern part) to work with a small local NGO there and help tsunami affected people re-establish livelihoods. The interview went well. I think it was more of a formality with WUSC as it's the local NGO who decides if they want me in the end. So, if any of you are interested in visiting Sri Lanka in the next year, you might have a place to stay!

Stagnant Blog

I wonder, given my lack of interest in blogs (specifically mine) at the moment, if anyone will read this blog. However, in this case the tree still exists even if noone hears it fall.

I am in a one track mode right now. This year is all about PLACEMENT. Yes, three years ago when I decided I wanted to pursue an education in International Development, I was largely swayed by the prospect of one year overseas working in a development situation. And so, preparation for that year is now upon me...inside me...in my head, on my tongue, in my inbox. Some things are becoming clearer: I will actually find myself in a country of the Global South in 9 months or less. I am excited and scared shitless at this notion, fearing curling iron withdrawl and a general sense of uselessness/helplessness. I also know that there are some VERY interesting initiatives going on in the world with the intent to alleviate poverty, and I'm interested in being part of one (or more as life goes on).

I find myself in meetings with potential employers, excited about their projects and mandate, or in others, afraid at the responsibility and self-direction that is required of me. I am conscious of my marks, of the potential to apply the things I'm learning in class, and the state of my resume.

These being the thoughts cycling through my head, I think it's important also to look at the linear and the concrete that is also present in my thoughts: I would really like to find myself in South Asia next year, working with people who I learn from and who direct me successfully in a project that I feel is useful and productive in the face of extreme inequality. Period. This being said, I'm sure that wherever I end up, it will be an experience like none other- perhaps one that I will be loath to repeat, but one that helps me learn about the world a whole lot more and propells me out of academia into real life.

So, stay tuned for my placement wows and woes. Perhaps I'll write more from Anuradhapura?

Kate

Waggwhan?

Ah. And so another one of life's weeks has come to an end. I wonder if it is good to have so much adventure crammed into one, rather than have it more evenly dispersed through the other 51 weeks in a year. This was an amazing trip because it was interesting and relaxing at the same time. While it was only a week, I think that it's prepped me for future travels more than Europe has. I think it'll prove especially useful for my IDS placement year because of what it has shown me about how I interact with people from different cultures in their setting, and also about spending time in a developing country in general. I wondered what topics were taboo, and how much people wanted to talk to an outsider, especially one disguised as an American tourist. But, I found that when I was interested, they were happy to tell me their perspective of Jamaica- and in the end I have a variety of different stories. They tell us to be aware of variability within a culture, but it had never really been concrete until this trip. I'm rambling a bit about just a couple of thoughts this trip prompted, and I'm sure more will come as I further disect my fabulous Jamaican holiday. It's not a cohesive Kate-esque blog, with events detailed consecutively, but I suppose the "no problems" attitude has taken me over.

One love.