More on: Botswana. Somarelang Tikologo

Making of Botswana (data extracted from Gapminder)

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Taking a closer look...

1966 - 1992: #1 fastest growth rate in the world. "Thank God for the Diamonds..."

1992 - 2007: 2nd highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the world. "1 in 3 adults are HIV positive..."

Now what?

View more presentations from Ruby Ku.

Fighting climate change for the sake of the poor? read more

We hear about climate change all the time - but how much do we really know when it doesn't affect us on a daily basis? Watch this video.

Botswana is a water-stressed landlocked country. The development of the country is heavily dependent on its natural resources.

Working with Somarelang Tikologo this summer:

View more presentations from Ruby Ku.

To be continued...in summer 2009.

Sources:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/botswana_30386.html
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15108/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4318777.stm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902200012.html
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=83054
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15108/
http://discovermagazine.com/
http://fex.ennonline.net/29/effectsofhiv.aspx

Overwhelmed

Why do we do what we do?

My friend, Venus, wrote this for a paper in her Critical Thinking class, "Egocentric biases occur usually when someone is overconfident about themselves. People as I mentioned earlier become so proud of themselves when they believe they have done something they believe are right, something they believe will contribute to the environment like recycling. However they do not realized that these are actually just things they should do. We need to distinguish the differences between responsibilities of the society and individuals, and actual real “good moral deeds”. "

There is a difference between doing something because you feel it's a responsibility, and doing it because it makes you feel that you're a better person. Does it become a selfish act when we like that personal fulfillment? the recognition? the pat on the shoulder telling us we did a good job? I feel guilty for feeling good!

But where do we draw the line? Are we even aware of our true intention? Can we? How?

Do we feel good when we have "done the right thing"? When we see others who don't care, we judge and feel better about ourselves because we care? 

How do we stay humble while "doing good"? How do we continue to give without judging others?

I remember a question Scott asked us last term - Who are your heros? Why are they your heros? Mother Theresa? Gandhi? Martin Luther King Jr.? Because they do great things? But if the capacity to love is what makes us human, then why aren't we all doing what they do? Is it them who are doing great things? Or just us not measuring up? Why is caring not normal, and the "road less traveled"? What makes us human then?

Some days I feel afraid to read the news, attend talks, write on my blog - there are so much to learn, so much to know, so much to care, so much to fix. It's so overwhelming. My heart aches.

Joanne keeps telling me that I can't fix the world. I KNOW that - but I can't help to feel all the weight on my shoulder and yell why DON'T I have the solutions. 

There's no point to this post. Just some random thoughts on days when I can't breathe. No answers, just lots of questions. 

Quote of the day

Dedicating this quote to my Beyond Bordians who are so passionate, loving, and courageous. 

"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe." - Winston Churchill

Complexity, Relationships, Questions, Resilience

From a workshop on Innovation and Community Change, I've learned from Dr. Frances Westley that problems we face can be put into 3 categories. The 1st category is simple problem, such as baking a cake. A recipe can be followed, and if everything was done right, one can expect a good probability of success since the steps have worked in the past and should continue to work in the future. The 2nd category is complicated problem, such as sending a rocket to the moon. The system design is sophisticated and the degree of certainty has to be perfect such that success in sending one rocket almost guarantees the next will also succeed. The 3rd category is complex problem, such as raising a child. One can read as many parenting books as available but there are no clear rules to guarantee success, even if they have worked on the previous child. That is because every child is unique, is constantly growing, must be understood as an individual, and building relationship is the key.

A success story was presented to us to demonstrate the need to see problem in its complexity and the importance of interactions amongst people. In 1990, Brazil had almost twice as many cases of HIV/AIDS as South Africa, and a World Bank study predicted that Brazil would have off-the-chart infection rates by the turn of the millennium. The researchers even told Brazil to focus on prevention and simply be prepared to lose all those already infected. By 2000, 1 in 4 people were infected in South Africa, while Brazil's infection rate had dropped to 1 in 160. I was fascinated when I learned that this miracle happened because Freire's theology from Pedagogy of the Oppressed had infused the Brazilian culture, which believed the importance of empowering the poor and creating liberty for all. There was no charismatic leader, just Brazilians at all levels from government to local community leader joining forces in the service of one guiding principle: no person, no matter how poor, insignificant or illiterate, could be written off as beyond cure. They were successful because of the way they worked together and engaged everyone, instead of isolating and looking down upon those who were infected. They asked the right questions with a mindset of abundance. They focused on preventive treatment and educating at-risk youth. More details on the case can be found from the book Getting to Maybe. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has earned my deepest respect when I read his article on "The future of human beings is what matters" on Financial Times last week.

Putting this back to our context, it's similar to what Rebecca was saying last week - it's hard to really define what The Working Centre's model is. There is a clear direction and vision, but at the end of the day most of it is dependent on the community and its dynamics. Every case is different, and policy doesn't account for that. The focus needs to be on the people it serves and their challenges, rather than "scaling up" the Centre or replicating it elsewhere - because it can't. We work with people, not for people.

My takeaway from all this is: nothing really remains "sustainable" forever as long as the world and its habitants are evolving; and nothing really remains "innovative" forever as long as the human brains are at work. There simply isn't an one-size-fit-all solution that can fix all of world's complex problems as much as we long for one. Quoting from Joanne, the world has always had problems since the dawn of time - be it natural disasters or human destructions. Ending one war does not mean there will never be another war. The AIDS epidemic is the "new plague". When we solve the global warming crisis, something else will already be waiting for us. But we will figure something out if we all work together - we've always had. This is why we need to stay resilient as human beings - continue adapting to changes, entering solidarity with others, fighting for the values we stand for while restoring the world to what we think it should be. Why fight, one may wonder, if eventually someone/something is going to ruin it all again - I think because that's just our human nature and innate ability to survive, create, love and care for one another and our future generations.

Photocredit: phinaphantasy

What Inpires You?

I keep another blog and named it "i care. do you?", with a vision to show people in my generation the different opportunities to involve themselves and the potential in all of us to make a difference. I was recently invited by another blogger to be a part of the "What Inspires You?" project that she is featuring on her blog . I don't usually mix content between my blogs but I'd very much love to hear from my fellow Beyond Bordians of what inspires you and makes you wake up in the morning. Keep it simple. You can view my guest post  here and I invite all of you to share your stories either through leaving comments or on your blog. Cheers =)

Good News & Bad News

Just got the confirmation! - Same with Jen and Jessica, I'll be leaving Toronto on May 9th at 5:30pm (maybe I can meet them at the airport?!) My parents will be in Hong Kong then, so I am asking my good friends to send me to the airport. Wagma from WUSC was so awesome that she helped me arranged my flights to enroute via Frankfurt so I can see my friends in Germany. =D

I remember a conversation I had with the group earlier this term - it's the same pattern regardless of how many times you've been away from home - you will feel desperately homesick for the 1st month; then you will start forgetting to call home in the 2nd month because you're having too much fun; by the 3rd month it's a mixed feeling between missing home again and feeling attached to your host family & new friends you've met.... ;)

I totally anticipate this emotional roller coster to happen to me again. I cried on all my first nights when I went abroad. But this time is different - unlike my previous trips, I won't be alone when I arrive in Botswana. I will see Matt and Maryam who would have been there for 2 weeks already. It's so exciting! It's likely that the 3 of us will be living together but working at different places. Every evening we can dine together and share our stories. Maryam is already having dreams about how our apartment looks like and walking together to cafes to read after dinner :)

All day today I was so excited to the point where I couldn't imagine writing my last set of final exams in April. But as I read Krista's post just now, all of a sudden I felt very emotional because it reminded me that the end of this term also means the end of this class. It means I won't be seeing my BB group regularly anymore. It means we'll be all over the world this summer. It means we'll meet again for 3 days in August and then we are all going off onto our own paths...........I really do treasure these friendships I have made over the past 7 months. I've become very attached to my group by now and I miss them already (we aren't even leaving yet and I'm seeing them on Thursday). This sucks =(

For everyone who is reading this: The Beyond Borders 08-09 group is still fundraising for our summer volunteer placements. If you feel this is a great program and would like to support us with donations, please kindly send me an email at rubyku85 at gmail dot com. We appreciate your generosity sincerely. 

Listen to your heart

I was at the SJU lecture last night with my fellow Beyond Bordians. Before the lecture began, Joanne let us go up to the stage to promote our pancake breakfast fundraiser. I loved how we all stood in a line, yelled our names and the countries we're going to, with huge smiles on our faces, as if we were little ambassadors who are being sent by the school to make friends with the rest of the world. It reminded me of drama shows from elementary school :) A wholehearted thank you to my group - for your hard work, for your spirit, for your energy, and for being present.  

Last night's lecture was on "Celebrating the Life and Work of Jean Vanier", presented by Dr. Whitney-Brown. I must admit I'm not very good with night classes. There's something about after 7pm and my ears not receiving as well as it should. Like Dr. Whitney-Brown said though, the words I hear when I wake up - that's my pathetic moment :) 

That's exactly what happened to me. In between moments of thinking about sushi and pancakes, Dr. Whitney-Brown's words suddenly invaded my central nervous system, kicked away all the thoughts about food, as if I was meant to listen to these words. She said that very often people feel they should check in with themselves, have their lives together and become very self-aware before they can contribute to their communities, and later make a difference in the world. More often than not, people don't get past that self-awareness stage. However, when she looks at Jean Vanier's life, it seems as though he did it backwards. He was born into a diplomatic family, he went to military school, then later founded L'Arche, lived with people with mental disabilities, and finally it was through the individual relationships he had with people that changed his heart. 

Those words really resonated with me. I feel that my life is going in that same kind of direction. I have been traveling since the first time I stepped on a plane at the age of 2 and hasn't stopped ever since. I jumped at every opportunity of studying, working and volunteering abroad all through high school and university. I don't normally worry too much or ask a lot of "what if's" either - I have always just thrown myself in situations and figured things out along the way. At the same time, despite all these experiences, I felt that something was missing. I wasn't able to talk about why I did what I did in a way that I wanted. I felt that my soul is still constantly searching for who knows what. 

This is how the Beyond Borders program has changed me so far. When we were asked to go to The Working Centre at the beginning of this term, that's when I realized I have always thought about going overseas to be inspired, to understand things on a broader scale, to have bigger impact... etc, but never for a moment have I thought of doing anything in my very own community. It's kind of silly when I think back now - why did I use to think more/bigger/broader is better? I was always moving around since I was either on co-op or exchange, so I never feel extremely integrated. These two months I got to know more people who live in Kitchener-Waterloo outside of campus, and for the first time in 6 years, I feel that I'm part of the community.

Then there's this blog. I have always felt that there is a very clear distinction between a personal journal and a blog. My private feelings remain private in my journal, and that's that. Blogging, on the other hand, is something completely different. I see it as a place to process my thoughts, to examine my life, and to discover my own voice. 

There is something about reading other people's blogs, learning about their lives, and feeling connected to them. There is something about putting thoughts down in words, and feeling like I finally know how I feel and what I'm talking about. There's something about opening up for people to read my thoughts and inviting them for a conversation and exploration about their own reflections, their own moments and their own courage.

Before I go off topic again, all I wanted to say was - I went from going all over the place and always just wanting to do something, to slowing myself down and taking the time to get to know the people around me, to sitting down and sharing my thoughts in words with the world. This journey, so far, has taught me how to listen more closely to my heart. 

Photocredit: cosmicsoda

Developing our own hypothesis

Once in awhile I meet professors who not only are passionate about their research, but also genuinely care about their students' academic career and challenge us intellectually to think beyond textbooks and course notes. They make me feel very lucky and want to stay in school forever to keep learning. They make me forget about the pain of having to memorize textbooks and the dread to finish lab reports in the middle of the night. I'm a nerd like that.

This term I'm taking a course on "Evolutionary Biology" (BIOL 359) with professor Jonathan Witt, and he is one of those professors who really do care. At the beginning of every class, he spends 5 minutes to introduce 2 "words of the day" to us, because he thinks science students don't know enough vocabularies. In almost every other class he in one way or another tells us he thinks evolution is the most fascinating thing and he is convinced that he has one of the best jobs in the world because not only does he gets to study it, he gets to teach it to us. In today's class, he said the following:

"Evolutionary biology is the glue that defies all biology, behavioural sciences and life sciences. So when you're studying biochemistry, or molecular cell biology, try and think about evolutionary consequences of what you're learning about . And try to ask questions. Because when you start asking questions, you might develop really neat hypothesis that you might at some point go out and test, and that's how science proceeds. But not only that, evolution is what I think a much broader and much wider inquire - and that is change. Change is pervasive; change is fundamental to everything on planet. Everything changes and evolves. So if you start thinking about evolution, not only biological of change, but in the whole modern context of change, then you will see that your life will become very interesting.

For example, when I walk into a grocery store, I don't just walk up and down the aisles. I look around and think about change. Our global food distribution system has evolved into a just-in-time system. The result of that is there's no more demand for canned food. Who would buy it when you get fresh food from California, Chile, even China? The consequence of that is our food stock in Ontario today has never been lower than there has been in the past. We are now supremely vulnerable to a shock that could come out of nowhere. Who knows what it'll be, but when you think about change, it's these shocks that bring down our societies."

I really like what he said because I think that can be applied to every course in every discipline. We cannot get away from exams and paper, but what we can do is to keep asking questions. I like how he brings things together and asks us to formulate our own hypothesis. Because if we don't have questions, how much are we really learning? At the same time, we can't always just sit here and expect someone to give us all the answers. Education is about that constant curiosity and inquiry about why things are the way they are, then going out to find answers. Albert Einstein once said, "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious." Now this makes me think, what kind of hypothesis do I 

want to develop for the placement this summer? What kind of things do I want to investigate? What kind of background research do I have to do before I go to prepare me for my "experiments"?

Professor Witt also recommended a book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond, and wished that we would read it over the summer. "It's a book about change," he said.  

Making it personal

As the other Beyond Border students are posting entries about their motivations for enrolling in the program and what they hope to gain from the experience, I am also thinking about what mine are. I keep thinking that, aside from the obvious reasons such as understanding the challenges people face in a less developed country and putting myself in those situations, there should be something more. I mean, those are good reasons - but they are still a bit vague. Going back to what I learned in my Science & Business class, the question to answer now is, "So what?" I would like to have a clearer understanding of what is it that I want to take away from the experience and what that is going to do. "I'm going to learn" isn't a good enough answer for me anymore. I've also realized that I can't advocate unless I am absolutely in tuned with myself. Then I found some answers as I read Me to We, a book written by Craig and Marc Kielburger, the founders of Free the Children .

In one of the sections, it talked about how we tend to do one of the two things when we look upon others' suffering and overwhelmed by our own response to it. The first reaction is avoidance - we want to remove ourselves from the situation so that we relieve our pain (ie. when we see images of poverty on TV, we want to quickly change the channel). The second one is defending ourselves by dehumanizing those people (ie. telling ourselves that "they" are different from "us") and blame them for the way they are (ie. lazy, addictions, evil, etc). Sounds familiar? I'm the first to admit I have used those techniques to make myself feel better. (Over time I feel that I sound more and more like the oppressor in Pedagogy! sigh...)

However, it's also our human nature to wish that others experience more happiness and less suffering. "Everyone has the ability to feel empathy, but there is a difference between reading about a large number of people dying from a disease and listening to an interview with one person suffering from that disease and learning about its impact on her life". Ultimately, the empathy we feel has to come from learning about the suffering of an individual, not nameless, faceless statistics. When we are able to humanize statistics, then we feel a natural empathy, follow by feeling angry about the injustice and an urge to respond. When someone we know personally is suffering, we no longer feel comfortable turning a blind eye to the injustice that we see.

That message gave me incredible insight. I often think about the kind of work I want to do through the Beyond Borders program, and I know that sharing stories and encouraging others to care are some of my biggest objectives. One question I always ask myself is how I can put things into perspective for my readers. Then I came to realize what I can do is personalize injustice and suffering. People can't care about numbers, and we can't take in too much all at once. Very often we only have the capacity to care about people that we have relationships with - a friend, a friend's friend, or even a friend's friend's friend. When our beloved friends are in trouble, we go a long way trying to help because we care. It's so much harder to respond when we are distant from the situation. By going oversea this summer and building relationships with people, they become Ruby's friends, with names and faces, and no longer "those poor children in Africa I read about who are infected with HIV and live on less than $1 a day". It becomes personal, and we act in a less selfish way.

This is one of the ways I see the experience this summer is going to invoke changes in myself and those around me. This is also one of the ways I see myself making difference as one person.