February a month of learning for new long-term overseas volunteers

Winter 2007 Overseas volunteers take a break from pre-departure training to pose for a photo at the EWB National Office. From left to right: Danny Howard, Trevor Freeman, Sarah Lewis, Florian Villaumé, Brett Stevenson, Catherine Dorval, Ka-Hay Law and Elizabeth Ashby.

In the midst of a cold Canadian winter, a group of eight young volunteers have their sights set on somewhere much warmer: Africa. While children in Toronto throw snowballs, Liz Ashby is pondering her role as a development worker in the global south. As Canadian students bundle up for a cold walk to school, Catherine Dorval considers how she can best integrate into her new community in French West Africa. Gazing at a snowman out the window, Florian Villaume examines the differences between his own values and those of rural villagers in Burkina Faso.

These eight volunteers have Africa on the mind for a good reason. They are preparing to head overseas for 13-14 months as EWB volunteers working in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Zambia and Malawi. Once in their respective destinations, each volunteer will be partnered with a local organisation working in the sectors of water and sanitation, food and agriculture, or rural energy access. The volunteers will work to increase the capacity of their partner organisations, ultimately helping these organisations to improve their poverty reduction efforts in developing communities

Over the next month, each volunteer will push their boundaries as they prepare for their placements. Throughout February the volunteers are participating in intense learning activities as they explore health issues, food and culture of their destinations. They will also delve into much more difficult topics, such as the role of westerners in development and participatory approaches that will allow them to implement successful long-term development projects. By learning from others’ past experiences through books, discussions and workshops taught by both EWB staff and outside experts, the volunteers will be able to improve upon past volunteers’ experiences and have a real positive impact during their placements. And of course, through living and learning together every day, the individual volunteers will become a tight-knit support group for each other as they begin their journeys overseas.

Trevor Freeman, 23, has been involved with EWB for several years. While studying Environmental Engineering at the University of Windsor, Trevor played a large role in Canada as a founding member of his chapter and as Vice-President Finance. Upon graduation, Trevor applied to volunteer overseas with EWB. Now, almost one year later, Trevor is heading off to Zambia to work with WaterAid, the world's leading non-governmental organisation dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. When asked what he expects to be his greatest challenge, Trevor answered “Building trust. I want to build trust between myself and my coworkers and also with the people in my village to avoid becoming the stereotype of a ‘Western development worker’ who thinks he can solve all the problems in a village without understanding local values and customs.”

In the coming months, you will be able to follow along with the volunteers as they find their place in their African communities and learn how to approach their development projects. The group will be keeping a development blog about their collective experiences, and volunteers will also be profiled on ewb.ca.

The air is buzzing with the volunteers’ excitement as they develop their knowledge and skills in preparation for the year ahead. Danny Howard, a former short-term volunteer with EWB who is now starting a new placement in Zambia, echoes the sentiment of the group when he says, “I’m excited and nervous, but the challenge of integrating into African culture and working with the people motivates me to learn as much as I can in the next month.”