Turning Over a New Leaf

My recent health kick has got me out of the house and in to the gym – ironically just above the Superstore, which I chose to look at in a positive light, overlooking all those fruits and veggies as I struggle down the steps following my BodyPump class (a real killer! Beware!) In the past, I had always viewed the gym with hesitation and suspicion, knowing just how hard it will make you work and not always with the rewards hoped for. However, I’ve had a recent change of heart – I initially started going after a friend, day after day expressed how good it made her feel. Knowing my own struggle with the winter blah’s, her ranting and raving got me out of the house and in to the gym – and I think I might be a better person for it! Admittedly, I’m sore. Very sore. But I know it’s a good sore and I definitely can relate to my friend’s jubilation about the benefits of the gym. It’s also motivated me to look at food in a different light – do I really need that slice when I know it’ll take me an hour to burn it off? There’s so many great, colourful and tasty alternatives, why bother? I’m trying things too that I don’t think I ever would have, bored of the same old peas and carrots. Ever tried a celery root? okra? endives? Well, I have! yum yum and off I go hunting for a recipe that teaches me how to make them. Ta da! There’s one exhausting, satisfying and fun filled day all in one! Good bye winter blues and hello healthy, toned and happy me! The only thing that I tend to struggle with is the fact that fresh means no preservatives (not including the fertilizers and pesticides that seem to accompany most imported foods) and spoil far too quickly and I end up having a heap of xyz vegetable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It absolutely kills me to throw out food, knowing very well how scarce it is in different parts of the world. Today, UNICEF is launching a  social media campaign aimed at raising awareness about food droughts in the Sahel region of Africa. It’s pretty awful and makes my daily gym-healthy routine sort of extravagant. At the same time, from my little town just north of Toronto, the most I can do is spread the word and donate my time and attention (sorry, funds are a little low although the right sentiments are there!) to spreading the word. I think sometimes  realizing what other’s don’t have motivates other’s to take advantage of the resources and opportunities that are right under our noses. With that said, I’m off for another gruelling workout, but I’m sure I’ll be better for it in the long run!

Power of Positivity

This blog has been with me for over a year and I’ve always turned to it as a way to express my ideas and thoughts about what’s happening in the world. I have no agenda other than to stay connected with stories that I think deserve more attention and, in a way, keep myself connected with the issues that I cared about. For too long though, I feel it’s become and outlet for complaint and, well, for lack of a better word depressing. Perhaps it’s the nature of the beast that is international development and all the problems that come along with it, but that definitely isn’t me! I like people, like working with them and solving problems that will help others.

I’ll admit it though, it’s not a happy time when loads of people around you are without employment, stressed out for lack of money, worried about the future and to avoid being a self fulfilling prophecy, I’d like to change the tone of how I write. It won’t be easy, but I think it’s worth it to focus on the positive and recognize the things that many of us taking  for granted; I live in a house, granted it’s not mine. I can eat 3 meals a day. I’m computer literate, maybe more than a little. I speak a few languages and am able to pick up a phone and speak with someone, albeit not in the same country, who can lift my spirits and calm my worries.

I hope to turn this blog into a showcase for positive action that will inspire and motivate others to do the same. We can complain all we want, but in the end what are we doing about it and how we  fix it is what is really interesting.

Stay tuned for more information on how I’m starting my very own organization

 

Importance of Relativity

Success! I’ve finally found employment!!! Wooooo0! I’m very excited and as a result, have rewarded myself with doing absolutely nothing! Well,  that’s not exactly true though either, because here I am blogging away – perhaps I’ll slow down later….anyways, what a great time to stop and let the heat of the sunshine drain out all your energy! Thankfully for me, 8 months in the tropics have adjusted my internal temperature so that this is wonderful Don’t get me wrong, I still feel how heavy the air is and yes, it’s hot, but I think I’m coping much better than others. I’ve always  loved the heat though. Remember a few years ago when Europe was suffering from heat waves and people died because of it? That was when I escaped the chill of Ireland to backpack around Spain – most Spaniards, however, had chosen the cool coasts of Barcelona, and there I was – the dumb tourist wandering around the deserted streets of  Madrid at 40 C degree heat at 7pm. Live and learn, or in my case, sweat! And at the end of my trip, back to my studies in Montreal, with arguably the coldest winters in Canada.

Point of the story? People adapt, everything is relative. The other day, we saw South Asians in full out cricket gear playing the under the afternoon sun. This heat must be nothing for South Asians, but for a place that is known for its snow fall, it is out of the ordinary. And so, hot topic of the day is, ironically the heat! And not just in Canada, but in the US as well.

The other day, the national news broadcasted a piece on the suffering of farmers who, with shortages of fresh water, were facing an ailing crop and having to sell cattle before their prime. While droughts are indeed awful, I reminded myself that 1) This is the US and 2) Farmers are not just farmers, but businessmen who control farms the size of small towns and who control the price of corn, much like the way that OPEC controls the price of oil. Silos are stocked to the brim full of supplies in order to control the price, instead of its former use to be dipped in to when supplies were low.  Knowing this, I was disgusted with the news piece to have neglected that point.

I’d like to think that people are good  people and  care about others when a crop dies or business is bad, especially in this economy. I suspect that’s why this news piece aired in the first place – to pull on the heart strings of the average Joe and to highlight the out of the ordinary heat waves.  But believing that Joe is inevitably good, he is not always educated to know that farming has joined the ranks with the rest of corporate America and so will pull up his socks, stop complaining and get back to work. What I find even more disheartening is that this made national news, but the droughts that the rest of the world experiences rarely makes the headlines.

I typed in ‘Somalia Droughts Heat’ in to the google search bar and the first news source, behind research studies, weather reports and alarms was a piece posted by ABC 5 days ago title, “Somalia Drought ‘One of the Largest Humanitarian Crises in Decades.’  Further on down the page, I found the CBC had declared, ‘Somalia drought aid hindered by armed groups.’ This to me, was more a more news worthy subject than farmers in the US.

Admittedly, my knowledge of Somalia and its history is little and I’m very humbled by an Eritrean friend who attempted the topic in her PhD thesis because it’s incredibly complicated and starts dozens of years ago. What I do know is that Somalia hasn’t really had a formal government for 20-30 years and are divided by half that wants independence. More North Americans are more likely to recognize the ‘We are the World’ song in the 80′s that brought Bono, Boy George and many other artists together to raise money for the droughts Somalia was suffering from then. Oddly enough, a remake is in the works!

Mobilizing international food aid is not as easy as it looks – think the forms, red tape and bureaucracy that you have to suffer through when renewing your license and then multiply it by 1000 and throw in a few more countries and disgruntled farmers’ unions that don’t like to part with their stocks. Furthermore, with no formal government, getting food and supplies to people that need them becomes very dangerous and difficult. How to reach the most vulnerable? is likely what is on the minds of most international relief agencies.

As a result, people leave and leave en masse; traveling by (mostly) on foot to neighbouring Ethiopia or Kenya where refugee camps provide an alternative to the already cramped streets of Nairobi or Addis Ababa. Knowing how precarious living standards and conditions can be in a refugee camp, my sympathies are with them. During my grad studies, I was fascinated by environmental changes and what it meant for societies and had written a paper on Environmental Refugees, much like the ones escaping Somalia, only to discover that International Law had yet to include them; to be a refugee, according to the Refugee Convention, doesn’t include the escape of environmental degradation and therefore claimants cannot obtain asylum status or rights in their new country. As a Canadian, I’ll never have to experience this and few Canadians even think of it, but really, what do you do when there is no food or water in your homeland (and therefore no jobs) and  have to migrate to a land that won’t allow you to stay or give you any rights?

Knowing the reality of many Somalis and East Africans, makes me think how stupid we are to complain about the heat, when water is in abundance and air conditioners blazing. Agreed, the plight of farmers is an obstacle, but really it’s a small obstacle that will likely vanish in a couple weeks or when stocks are let out and the weather changes. Is it something that we really need to focus our energy on, complain about or generate sympathy? It’s all relative, I suppose.

 

On Caribbean Time

There are no easy ways to convey just how relieved I am to have found work. And not just work, work that I think I’m actually going to enjoy AND in a new location! Really, what more could I ask for? I just landed a grant from CIDA to work with UNICEF Eastern Caribbean office in Barbados as a Monitoring & Evaluation Officer. I couldn’t be more thrilled and am slowly adjusting to my new life on the island.

First, there’s beach everywhere When hot, move closer to the ocean where winds (and the occasional shower) are sure to follow. People are genuinely lovely and although I’m exercising every precaution possible, it doesn’t seem that I’ll need to. They drive on the left, which you’d think would make crossing tough, but no, drivers politely stop traffic to let the random strangler find a way through. There is a lot of rum floating around the island, white, dark and coconut flavored are slowly making me like cocktails again. Vegetables are in short supply due to the  heavy rainy season and imports are pretty expensive, but my dismay at this has been replaced by the vast array of fruits that are sure to join my palate, paw-paw anyone?

As for work, it’s just been a few days, but getting to know the office and the work done here is going to be an uphill climb. I’ll be working with the M&E Specialist who is virtually instrumental in identifying the problems existing on each of the 10 states in the Eastern Caribbean and balancing that with the budgets we have to work with to direct programs and plan for action. I think I’ll have my hands full. The other officers work in Child Protection, dealing with child abuse, corporal punishment, juvenile justice etc and Early Childhood  Development, dealing with advancements in ECE, life skills advancement and HIV/AIDS – I’ll likely have more to say about each of these issues as time progresses and I learn the work more closely.

I’m truly excited to be working with a great group of people, along with my Canadian counterparts working in Communications, ECD and Sport for Development – who incidentally are my roommates! With the help of a German cum-Bajan lady, we were able to find reliable accommodations, in  a nice residential area of town, not too expensive and 10 min walk to the beach! Fruit trees in the back cinched  it for me and off we begin our life in the Caribbean.

Healthy Confusion

Somewhere, mixed up in the mumbo jumbo of the good, bad and ugly of healthy eating, we’ve gotten our priorities mixed up. How else could you explain the mound of literature dedicated to both revealing the sickening trends in the food industry and de-coding the ingredients that dot nearly every package in the supermarket. Michael Pollan’s books In Defense of Food and Food Rules are prime examples, as are documentaries (Food Inc. was top of the list of Oscar nominees and Super Size Me was a box office hit!) and tv sitcoms (Law & Order: SVU just released an episode featuring the gruesomeness of the meat packaging industry).

All this makes me think that we’re not healthy – we just think we are! As consumer’s, I think most of us are blinded by marketing gimmicks, like KFC’s “Bucket for the Cure” campaign which has gone pink for the month in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. The irony and shock as I read about this is astounding – do they actually think that buying fried chicken will put an end to breast cancer?

Traditional views of nutrition – the four food groups, portion control and weight loss myths – are also tough to beat and gets even more complicated when you throw in pesticides, fertilizers, GMO’s and substitutes. I’m convinced that buying local is the way to go – I’m over the moon that the weather is getting close enough to spring that the farmer’s markets will soon be opening up and I can peruse the aisles of fresh produce under the sun! My support of organic is also growing slowly – I really hate to admit it knowing that buying organic will put a dent in my wallet, but I think we just might be better off for it. Making wise decisions about our health is so important at all ages to ensure our quality of life well in to our retirement years that jeopardizing it now seems reckless.

It’s all Personality to Me

My last post mentioned my passion for the environment and how much I enjoy traveling and marveling at the beauty that the earth has to offer, beyond the city-scapes and artificial-ness. So I was really excited a few months ago when BRAVO came out with a reality-show, PhotoExplorers, documenting a photographer’s journey into the wild to find the almighty ‘perfect shot!’ I was excited and knowing my own challenges in trying to do the same while travelling (the things I went through to get a photo!) made me incredibly intrigued and I promptly scheduled my recording device so I wouldn’t miss it! …. Talk about one of life’s disappointments :S It wasn’t that the cites were dull, the landscapes boring or the colours lustre – it was that the photographers were lifeless!! There were certainly interesting stories to be told, but done in such a monotone and uninteresting way a la retired librarian that made me want to hit the mute button! There was absolutely NO personality in any of these photographers! This was also a shock, thinking that their personalities would match the quality of their proofs, but no – mistakenly wrong. Come to think of it, cooking shows often do the same – loads of great info and tantalizing masterpieces, but none of the pizazz that brings a smile to your face or motivates you to watch the next episode.

Thinking of these two shows definitely shed a bit of light on the importance of PERSONALITY!!! It’s certainly not something that they teach you in school or that can even be learned, but it’s what draws you to them for conversation, for business, for interest and they inevitably become magnets to those around them – a likely asset to any firm or company! And it’s these personalities, whether on tv or in the real world, which bring a certain penache to life and keeps things interesting. Humour helps, actually it helps a lot and being able to not take yourself too seriously.  People are people no matter where you go, no one likes to scowl all day or brim with stress throughout their work breaks and, when used strategically, a  good laugh will get you a long way!

I’m always eager to meet new people, for the sheer curiosity of which personality I’ll uncover, hopefully one that doesn’t leave me snoozing and might even help to make my own more intriguing