CUSO-VSO

George has served in several countries on different assignments. He has refined his skills and loves sharing them from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. Thanks George you have made a real difference sharing your skills.

George continues his story of his projects and partners from Ethiopia to Uganda

George Harris was very young when he started his first assignment. He has worked for CUSO, volunteered and married Shirley Lord and gone with her on assignment. Listen to this life long commitment to international work.George is preparing for his next assignment soon. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife Shirley.

Helen now lives in Comox and is a freelance writer. She has served with Science International, CBC, and is an accomplished Producer, Director and Writer. She talked to me about the founders and the first 16 volunteers that served in India, Malaysia and Borneo. Who were these pioneers. Started with an idea from Keith Spicer PhD and Donald K Farris PhD.To Serve and Learn. Key players Fred Stintson,Ozzie Schmidt,Lewis Perinbaum, Suzanne Johnson. Volunteers Anne Hume, Bill Mc Quinny, Dale Posgate, Hughette Leger, Buffie Curthurs, Steve Wilcomb, John Wilcox, Greta Dahl, John Andrews, Sally Bambridge. Silvia Silverston, Clenn Wodrife, Helen Wodrife- Startowski, Ed Enkin( deceased) and Dick Hamilton.One more name to come. We owe these first 16 a great deal. Over 12,000 Canadians went on to serve with CUSO. Thanks Helen for sharing this history with us. We look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2011.

Helen Startowski is an extraordinary woman and a pioneer for CUSO-VSO. In 1961, the Canadian Overseas Volunteers (COV), to become CUSO, sent its first 15 volunteers out on assignments, Helen was one of those volunteers. She majored in languages (Russian, English and Polish). Working in Toronto she met with Keith Spicer who was doing his PhD at U of Toronto at the time. He was inspired by Donald K Farris PhD who wrote the book called “To Plough with Hope”. The ideas was to send young Canadian just out of University to share skills and bring back International experience. The motto was to Serve and Learn. A meeting was held at U of T and 80 students were interested in the concept. A Group of 15 were chosen. 10 were to go India, 3 to Ceylon and 2 to Borneo. She began her preparation with no previous teacher training. She was to go to Malaysia. During her preparation she met Clenn Wodrife and after a 3 month courtship they were off to Malaysia as husband and wife celebrating their honeymoon on board the ship that was to take them to their assignment. They moved to Malaysia where she went to teach English and then taught British History. Clenn taught Math and Sciences. Surviving on an $80/ month stipend, the two did exactly what they set out to accomplish and in return for their efforts, Helen made life time friends and gained a new perspective and outlook on life. To learn more about Helen’s adventures abroad have a listen.

Geoff Ripat is back in Winnipeg and back at work. He was on his way out when I arrived. I spent a wonderful few hours talking to the family about Bolivia

When Jill left Canada with her young family and her husband Geoff Ripat it was Geoff who had the assignment. Geoff was to do a labour market study in Cochabama mines with Kinde Nolte. This NGO works to benefit children and families. Geoff is a social worker. Jill was an accompanying spouse and began settling her family. She then found s position with the Save the Children helping children write to foster parents. She then went on to create a space in a drop in program for Junior high students. This space encouraged creativity and choice in a more rigid school system. Jill is a teacher. Jill also recorded a CD with Analia Abat, Manuel Rocha, Armin Vilica, Karen Arce, Amado Espinoza and Valerie Frege called A Dos lados. I have listen to it Jill and it is fantastic!

Maureen brought back her Muneca in traditional dress ( Cholita) Sam brought back a flute They tell me about their art lessons, Piano and school. I think their stay in Bolivia will connect them to the country for a lifetime.

Many people ask about taking their children on assignment. Geoff Ripat and Jill Cooper have recently returned from Bolivia. They left 4 year and 7 months ago with their two lovely children. Maureen was 6 when she left and is 11 now. She speaks beautiful Spanish. Maureen was 6 when she left. She talks about friends and how much she misses Bolivia in English and Spanish. Sam Ripat was 3 when he left Canada and is now 8 years old. He too met good friends and can speak Spanish. CUSO-VSO has sent over 12,000 people overseas including families in the last 48 years. After meeting many alumni and their children I think this work has changed families, from language to having a more compassionate view of people around the world. Thanks Maureen and Sam . It was so good to meet you.

Over 700 Manitobans have served with CUSO and VSO now the combined alumni of CUSO-VSO. We met recently at the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation office in Winnipeg. www.mcic.ca Our Alumni included Kate Moncaster, Jude Carlson, Carol Ann Coish,John Westdal,Shirley Lord, George Harris Geof Rippat, Jill Cooper,Jane Stewart,Dennis Lewycky ,Ashleigh Mitchell,Lambert, Denyse Lambert, Katharine Bergbusch,Kate Moncaster,Carol Ann Coish John Westdal We discussed continued involvement in the organization and a possible event on December 5th for the Day of the International of Volunteer- A Manitoba International Social- stay tuned

Eva has just returned from a 4 month placement in China as a Funding Advisor for HIV/ AIDS She talks about the challenges in the region and the work she contributed to with her partners in the field. Eva is still on "assignment" as a Distance placement. I do think we will see more of this type of placement in the future. Thanks Eva for all your work and contributions. Eva Zaleski lives in Calgary , Alberta

A community activist Eva is a person concerned about the world and prepared to put her inquisitive mind to work From working in Geology to Diaspora volunteering in Guyana then to China to work as a funding advisor for HIV/AIDS. Listen to Eva' story .... continued. We did this interview in a coffee shop with the sound of grinders and people. I think it adds a real life element to the podcast... you may disagree Photo:Eva looking down on Fuong town on the Nujiang River (Angry River)

Eva has a PhD in Geology. She describes herself as a " Hard Rock Doctor". She worked on Canadian shield mapping. She describes some forms of mining as "long term environmental impact for short term gain" Eva is a community activist by nature and has served VSO and now CUSO-VSO for over 2 years. Her assignments have been varied. A perfect case of an inquisitive mind. Her first service was in Guyana doing work with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission. This led to work with the Guyanese Diaspora. Imagine the brain drain when half the population of a country have left to live in other parts of the world. 52,000 Guyanese live in Canada mostly in the Toronto area. Diaspora volunteering can reverse the brain drain phenomenon. Photo- Eva in Fugong Province. SW China. Visiting village Doctors along with VSO IV and NV and Managers from our partner ( County HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control office)

In Spanish we hear about programs with youth and environment from Jaques Carrriere. Excuse the backgrond noise as we speak at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City atthe end of a busy day.

I met Juan Carlos Pirir ( Melvin) who had come from Guatemala to attend conferences and meetings in Canada with Jaques Carriere- The program Director for Latin America and Carribean. He has been with CUSO now CUSO-VSO since 1988. A wealth of knowledge and trilingual. He speaks to me about the work in the region in Spanish, French and English for you trilinual people out there. From work on the environment to youth CUSO-VSO, its volunteers and partners like Melvin truly are making a diffrence.

Robert Akester- Served in Philipines 2005-2007 Elections can be a very challenging time. Robert tells how politics permeates life and friendships in the region. Wrap up an dthanks to all who attended. We shall do this again.

• Nancy van Euw – a Peacecorps Returned volunteers talks about meeting her husband Ed Van Euw who is a cUSO RV 1986-1987 Volunteers from many organizations often are working together . They meet and start their journeys and in this case it was a journey of a lifetime. They are married with 3 children. Wonderful story! • Bill Raikes was in Sierra Leone 1975-1977 . Teaching O levels Geography and like many volunteers really begin to become a part of a community and learn about issues facing the community. Bill tells the story of rice and stones and how a small project he helped with is still there and can be seen on Google. Thanks Bill for taking the initiative and finding even more to do on your assignment. • Juanita Tupper Uganda 1967-1969 Uganda has just become independent and Juanita is teaching. She tells the story of Idi Amin and her encounter with him. Thanks Juanita for your service and for serving on the CUSO Board for many years. • Tony Akester- VSO not only once but twice! Tells of Presidents and encounters. • Arzena Turner ( both her and Neil Turner - husband) served in Thailand 1993-1995 She tells a great story about beginning your work in a new country, the languages to learn! Great story of starting out and the funny things that can happen. Thanks for the story and for your service!

Umeeda Switlo- welcomes everyone and thanks Nancy Garrett- CUSO RV India 1968-1970 (wife of the Late Lewis Perinbam), Juanita Tupper (ex CUSO Board member) and Tanis Clarke (CUSO-VSO Circle member, donor, RV and ex staffer) for attending. * Umeeda tells the story about meeting a volunteer in Ukunda on the South Coast of Kenya. * Judy Storr- RV Maldives 1997-1999. Taught English and tells the story of a graduation weekend on an Island. Thank you Judy for your service. * Patrick Lewis- RV Laos 2005-2007 In a town of 7,000in the far north of Laos Patrick serves the partner in Science, Technology and Environment agency. The story is about a business cooperative selling sand filters. Thank you Patrick for your service.

CUSO and VSO returned volunteers got together in Vancouver to talk about their experiences. Listen to 2 returned volunteers and a Board memeber tell us about their service. *Sigit Murdawa served in Indonesia from 2006-2008 He tells us about his work in Ecotourism and Community based tourism. He helped form a marketing network in the region. Thanks Sigit for you service. * Robert Akester served in the Philippines from 2005-2007 He tells us about how he got involved with VSO (Through his father Tony who served in 1961) Robert served in Cultural Resource capacity building. Thanks Robert for you service * Wayne Robertson volunteered over 30 years ago with Crossroads. He now services on the CUSO-VSO Board. He talks about the merger and the leadership role we will play in Environment and Natural Resource Management and Participation and Governance within the VSO International federation. Please go to www.cuso-vso.org to learn more about our work.

Umeeda Switlo answers questions about volunteering overseas with Cuso-VSO. I am always impressed to know how many people want to make a difference in the world. I meet people interested in serving who have questions about working with us. At UBC the other day I went with Paul Watts who served with VSO and he described this NGO very well. We are a professional capacity building NGO. Our volunteers are catalysts for change. We link skills with needs. Our volunteers receieve a professional appointment at an in country rate. Thanks Paul!

Janneke tells me about her work and her VSO- Jitloee assignment. She loves Africa and is making a difference. I cant help but think she will continue to serve in Africa for a long time.

They tell me about how they and Janneke are helping small farmers diversify, feed their families and educated their children. Sunflower oil and oil from seeds from trees in the forest. They use natural resources from the forest floor. Listen to how they do their work.

Tells me about where she lives, how she gets to work and who she works with.

I met Janneka in Nairobi. She has just moved there from a rural area in central Kenya. She arrived in Kenya just before the post election violence. She tell about her life, how much she loves Kenya and the people. I think she has so much to offer and I am so proud that she is volunteering in such an important role.

He is bright, committed and leads a great team of Kenyan's in South to South placements as well as North to South placements. Lets hear about his experience and passion for his work.

Boka studied in Florida and is back in Kenya working at VSO Jitolee. I enjoyed her company and her energy.

He came from the Philippines and is working in Kenya's renowned Kibera slum improving access to water which results in a healthier community. He is truly inspiring and I know is making a huge difference.

A communications specialist from London comes to Uganda and works on Access to Medicine.Nola tells about volunteering in Ethopia, Senegal and Mali. From a BBC editor to Africa. Working with Mulumba Moses working with Equinet. People always ask about what we need. We need skilled people with experience. Lets listen in on how that works.

A couple working at the International Hospital in Kampala. They are volunteering and really making a difference. I was struck by their calm demeanor, their kindness and joy. To think they could be doing anything in the world and they have chosen to help others. We are so grateful.

She has worked with VSO for 7 years. She is a medical DR specializing in International Health. Educated in Nairobi. I loved talking with her and finding out about her work.

The office is a buzz of work in the new year. Lets hear about their work

At last I get to meet some fabulous South to South volunteers. Kenyans in Uganda doing amazing work. Inoset came to Uganda from Kenya.

In a small corner of Bombolulu is a man that has worked there most of his adult life. He learned about plants in Kenya and has sold seeds to many overseas. He is happy to share with you what plants flourish where. I bought seeds for the sensitive plant.

I loved talking with the people at work. Some are visually impaired, some cannot walk but they are determined to make the most beautiful things. I bought a basket used for shopping. They made it with leather lining and made it look beautiful. Cant tell you how many people tried to buy it from me on my way home. This is the place to shop on the coast.

I talked with the partners in the field and found out that in a short time Michael has made a big difference in efficiency. Steam lining production from ordering supplies and storage. One volunteer can make a difference. Lets listen to Shadrack describe Michael's work.

The Local Ocean Trust has rescued Sea Turtles, educates the community about sea turtles, gather data on sea turtles and monitors egg laying........... so much more. The region is being developed at a rapid speed and there is so much to do. Join me and Gerasamo's partners in the field and hear about the work being done in Watamu. Their website is www.watamuturtles.com

Michael came from Ireland and began his assignment at Bombolulu. This fantastic partner works with handicapped people from all over Kenya. They learn new skills and create wheelchairs, jewelery, leather works, clothes and more. I bought some fabulous art there. See www.apdkbombolulu.org Listen and find out more about Michael and his work

With the increase in population ,fishing, tourism and pollution on the Coast of Kenya many turtles have suffered from lost of egg laying territory, have been killed by poachers, their eggs robbed and turtles killed in fishing nets and from swallowing plastic bags that they mistake for food...... turtles are in decline. Gerasomo has arrived from the Philippines and is helping the Local Ocean Trust with outreach- communicating the conservation message to the community. He is doing a fabulous job. Listen to his interview then come along and swim with a rescued Hawksbill sea turtle.

An amazing group of women sat under the Mango tree Emma Jolley was with us. She is helping Solwodi in their capacity building. She loves Kenya and is respected by the ladies we met. Here is an introduction to Solwodi. Please check out their website.

I met Emma with her country partner in Ukunda a small village just near Diani on the South Coast of Kenya. We ate lunch together and we travelled by mutato to the village and to the Solwodi. We are welcomed and invited to a circle meeting under a mango tree. Solwodi believes that every individual has a right for a better life. They are committed to empowering the disadvantaged women and children through education and skills to realize their potencial.

Day 1 Nairobi , Kenya. My thoughts on my first day