So I'm at Pre-dep....

So at pre-dep in toronto, living in a house in the downtown area with only 18 shady beds and 25+ people, so we definately got some close quaters going on! Basically the deal with pre-dep is that we work in sessions learning all day, from about 9am till 10pm trying to figure out what development is, how we fit in, and how to work in particular on our placements. Today was fairly general, but it was a good way to try and bring us all into the "ewb" headspace after finishing off exams and dealing with all the packing shananagains.

I feel I should explain a bit more detail about my placement, as I mentioned earlier I'm working for the Africa 2000 Network, in Pagazaa in northern Ghana outside of Tamale, on a shea butter iniative. Which essentially functions as a side cash crop that allows womens collectives to make extra income which they can then use to improve their lives, send their children to school, etc.... What I in particularily will be doing is firstly, helping the main office of the NGO to run more effective meetings, secondly to travel around to all the various producers in the region collecting information about the cause and affect that maybe limiting/aiding their production, before lastly compling it all into a proposal for the better allocation of funding. While it isn't quite what I thought I would be doing for the summer, I'm still pretty excited, in my head I have this fantasy of myself biking around the region surveying the producers with the sun shining. My luck is that it'll rain though....just like in toronto!

A big issue that I've been looking at with regards to my placement is gender barriers in Africa, and more specifically how I can transcend them inorder to engage in the frank/honest dialogue I'm gonna have to have for my placement to be successful.....got lots of thoughts on that one, but my turns next on the docket, and with one shower for the whole house, even I'm on time for that one!

Hope all is well with everyone,

Hoist the Sails