Be the Change
Youth play a very important role in the environmental movement. Here are some opportunities that the PEI Environmental Network would like to share with you to become move involved in environmental projects and events - locally, nationally and internationally.
“You Have To Be The Change You Want To See In The World” - Mahatma Gandhi
Victoria Garland - International Youth Internship Program
I have just returned home from Bangalore, India after completing the overseas portion of my internship through ACIC and funded by CIDA. The internship was comprised of three months in Canada working for a local organization (PEI Environmental Network) and five months abroad working with an international NGO (Peace Child India). Now that I am back in Canada I am finishing up the Canadian portion of my internship with PEI Environmental Network here in Charlottetown.
The work that I did while in India was through a local organization in Bangalore called Peace Child India (PCI); the organization mainly deals with social and educational issues affecting poor and vulnerable children. My role with Peace Child was twofold, I worked both with rural school children teaching hygiene and health classes as well as with runaway boys in a government transitional facility.
My first project involved five government schools that catered to rural children just outside of Bangalore. The children at the government schools were all mainly from poorer rural families where basic hygiene, nutritional, and environmental practices could make a large difference in terms of preventing illness and thus improving the quality of life the children experienced. The program that I designed for the children was done with the specific knowledge that most of the children had extremely limited resources and their families simply could not afford basic hygiene tools. Thus the program that Prabhu (a permanent employee with PCI) and I did with the children focused on the resources they did have. For example, if they didn’t have toothbrushes they could always use neem stick to brush their teeth. While, there were some challenges such as language; the majority of the children either had very limited English or understood none at all, speaking only Kannada and Prabhu was forced to do a great deal of translating. However, whatever the challenges were they never seemed insurmountable once I got into the classroom as the children started shouting “Vikki Miss!!” eagerly wanting to get my attention and be the first answer a question I had asked them. Their willingness to participate and learn something new overshadowed any challenge we might have faced.
The second project I was involved in took place at a government ‘transitional’ facility for boys between the ages of six to seventeen. The facility is in actuality closer to a prison-like detention center for runaways and street kids and the conditions in this facility are considerably below anything that could be imagined in Canada. It is in this compound that PCI has a room where they hold classes for approximately twelve to twenty boys where the boys are taught basic numeracy, English and other lessons that will be valuable to them and then in the afternoon the boys are given the freedom to play sports and games. There are numerous challenges with this project in terms of the boys and the restraints as to what the organization can and cannot do with the facility. The most obvious obstacle is often with the boys themselves, not with their behavior they are usually quite lovely, though sometimes it can be difficult. No, the challenge that one comes upon on a consistent basis is again, of communication; the boys are from all around the country and thus speak a multitude of different languages and quite were mute and had created a completely different means of communication. Though, as with the school children, the boys for the most part are just eager little boys who want attention, the chance to learn and interact with someone who is showing an actual interest in them in a positive way. Those who worked with PCI often tried to act as advocates on behalf of the boys in terms of what we saw happening to them and the conditions in which they were forced to live, however, the lack of immediate effectiveness was easily the most frustrating and heartbreaking thing about the whole situation; knowing and not being able to do anything. Thus, it was important to focus on the momentary relief the boys received by being in the class, it created a sense of positive consistency and chance to act like normal little boys.
While, I hopefully contributed to Peace Child and their projects in some small positive way, I feel as though I have probably gained more from the experience than what I was able to give. It offered me a very real and practical window into why development is so important and that while it may be a very slow, long term process it should not be abandoned because the results are not immediately tangible. If you would like to learn more about the work Peace Child India does or contribute to one of their ongoing project you can check them out at http://www.peacechildindia.org.
Victoria Garland
Environmental Education Intern
PEI Environmental Network / ACIC
