The Sum of Our Days

Deadly wave of looting hits Argentina - Americas - Al Jazeera English

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:38:00 -0400

Deadly wave of looting hits Argentina - Americas - Al Jazeera English:

It’s time for Kirchner to go.
Argentina needs a change from old school Peronist governing.Military, more police and surveillance are not the answer.

ebookcollective: Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:24:51 -0400

ebookcollective:

Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War Against the Palestinians

by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé

Download PDF // Read Online

“Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War against the Palestinians is a 2010 collection of interviews and essays from Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé which examine Israel’s Operation Cast Lead and attempts to place it into the context of Israel-Palestine conflict. The book was edited by Frank Barat, who had conducted his first e-mail interview on the subject with Chomsky in 2005, as a result of his joint dialogue with Chomsky and Pappé, previously published as Le Champ du possible (Aden Editions, November 2008), which forms the heart of the work.” (x)

"The problem Gaza presents for Israel is that it won’t go away — though Israel would love it if it..."

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:15:40 -0400

“The problem Gaza presents for Israel is that it won’t go away — though Israel would love it if it would. It is a constant reminder of the depopulation of Palestine in 1948, the folly of the 1967 occupation, and the many massacres which have happened since them. It also places the Israelis in an uncomfortable position because it presents a problem (in the form of projectiles) which cannot be solved by force.”

- Bodies for Ballots - Yousef Munayyer - Jadaliyya.

Israel has tried assassinating Palestinian leaders for decades but the resistance persists. Israel launched a devastating and brutal war on Gaza from 2008 to 2009 killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, but the resistance persists.

Go read this.

(via mehreenkasana)

States & Taxes

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:51:13 -0300

2012 Failed States Index.

Good time to rethink the old-fashioned notion that ” the government that governs least, governs best” (Somali refugee camp being a good example).

The top ten “failed” states include a number of countries with little or no effective governance. I recently read a great anecdote which explains that a good way to think about the positive attributes of states is to look at the relationship between state straights ( Failed States Index shows this) and “size of government” (operationalized as tax burden as a % of GDP- data from the Heritage Foundation). The above graph shows that relationship.

The graph shows that states with smaller tax revenues tend to have higher Failed States Index scores. The data reflects a representative sample of 62 countries. The orange dot represents the US.

What's opinion about this situation in your country?

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:29:02 -0300

Hi there,
In what country, Brazil? And what situation? The educational strike?

Fortaleza, I´m coming for you on Sunday.I´m very excited for...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:26:11 -0300

Fortaleza, I´m coming for you on Sunday.

I´m very excited for this weekend and my upcoming trip to Fortaleza,Brazil. I will be traveling to visit a Mulheres Mil Campus, which started it´s work as one of the original 13 campuses of Mulheres Mil back in 2005.

Brazilian Economy in the News

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:46:00 -0300

The last week saw a number of interesting articles discussing Brazil´s place as the B among the BRIC countries. Here are two:

1.) “In an unusually pleasant slowdown, the unemployment rate is still at a record low, wages have risen, and more than 1 million jobs have been created this year.“
Brazil’s economic slowdown so far leaves many unscathed - latimes.com

2. “Maybe we just focus on the RIC countries. While we’re at it, Russia and India may not be so significant either.“
Brazil´s Influence is Nominal, at Best

BONUS- Brazilian President, Dilma discusses the Brazilian tax system.

3.“It’s unacceptable that Brazil, which has one of the most solid and lucrative financial systems, continues having one of the highest interest rates in the world.“
Rousseff Takes on the Infamous “ Brazil Coast“

A Reflection on Language

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:11:00 -0300

Learning a language whether it´s for survival, work or pleasure is never easy. It takes a lot of commitment, patience and hopefully appreciation of the history and culture of that particular language( although this is not always the case).

I had to learn English out of survival. My family moved to Canada and to go to school and have any success I of course had to learn the primary language. The process of language acquisition comes with a lot of blows to your self-confidence and to your sense of self. Children and adolescents are cruel and will point out your every mistake, commenting on your funny accent or just plain not understanding why you can´t construct a grammatically correct sentence.

People who have never had to move to another country and learn a language for survival will have a difficult time understanding how strenuous this process is, after all there is little choice involved. If English is your first language, you are in a position of privilege and should reflect on what that means when meeting new people, traveling, and entering new cultures weather for a moment or for a longer stay.

One of the cornerstone principles of diversity is that of unearned, unacknowledged privilege – if you are benefiting from the rules you are blissfully unaware that others are disadvantaged by them.

International conferences are great examples of English language privilege and the sad side effects of it. The microphones are disproportionately claimed by native English speakers, as those for whom it is a second—or often third, fourth or fifth—language hang back, embarrassed to reveal their linguistic shortcomings in a group of their peers. This often results in a skewed, Anglo-Saxon view of the world and its challenges, and prevents any real diversity of opinion.

There is an interesting irony in this privilege and discrimination. Think about popular culture, the job market etc, where languages are often exoticism for consumption, currently Arabic, Mandarin and Portuguese ( in terms of work opportunities), while the people that are part of those cultures are treated like performers, despised and even demonized ( ex.post 9/11 depictions of the middle east).

It´s crucial to remember that non-native-English speakers consciously or unconsciously spend a lot of time rejecting their mother tongues to sound more like native English speakers mainly due to racist systematic cultural bullying. Think about what it would feel like to be a visibly Latina teacher in Arizona teaching your native language to a group of students perhaps barely making an effort to learn or use your language while the teacher herself is penalized and suffering from white supremacy for being a Latina and speaking Spanish in Arizona.

This blog post as much as it is a rant about English Language Privilege is also a plea to native English speakers that when learning a new language that you ask yourselves, “New to who?“ and to try to understand what an immigrant who already speaks that language faces and just how intimately language, culture and race are tied together.

“Half the languages of the world are likely to die out in the next 100 years - and if this happens it would be a true intellectual disaster. The world is a mosaic of visions, expressed through language. If even one language is lost, it is awful.”

David Crystal

Mulheres Mil National Coordination

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:17:12 -0300

July flew by, as it always seems to do. Long days become packed with work and the night time seems to quickly slip into the next morning.

July brought about an exciting change for me. I began to spend the majority of my week working for the National Office of Mulheres Mil in the Ministry of Education. Along side two other staff members, one based in Brasilia and one that is perpetually traveling trying to keep this ever growing project running smoothly, I started to outline what a Mulheres Mil portfolio system might look like.

Mulheres Mil which is now a national project has a surprisingly small national coordination team, headed by Stela Rosa. It has been a pleasure working along side such energetic creative people and what I thought would be lengthy bureaucratic processes for the portfolio work have been coming along quite smoothly.

I am realizing working face to face with Brazilians is a world away from working through email. Setting up this project and my work space within the Ministry took months, but once I started working within the same office, quick conversations and check ins took the place of week long waits and email exchanges. I have always valued getting to know my coworkers as people and not simply colleagues and this is something that the Brazilians excel at.

The Ministry of Education is an exciting place to be, Mulheres Mil is of course a quickly growing project with a ton of pressure coming from President Dilma to graduate 100,000 by 2014, additionally the Ministry is pushing forward a billion doller project called The National Access to Technical Education and Employment (PRONATEC). The main goal of this program is to expand and democratize the provision of vocational and technological education courses for the Brazilian population.The hope is that within the next 4 years PRONATEC will provide eight million jobs to Brazilians of different profiles in the next four years.

Lastly, sine May 17th Brazilian Federal University professors have been on strike, now reaching just past three months of on going protests and town hall style events throughout the country. Working at the Ministry for the last month has meant crossing through a line of protesters with flags waving, speaker systems playing chants and pamphlets flying through the air.

This nationwide strike was done in an attempt to push the government into enacting highly sought-after reforms. During the strike, professors will continue their research, but are not holding classes. The decision to initiate this movement was made by professors who are members of a labor federation within Brazilian federal universities,formally known as Sindicato Nacional-Associação Nacional dos Docentes do Ensino Superior (ANDES-SN).

Suffice to say, work has been exciting and I look forward to seeing how my current work with the Mulheres Mil staff unfolds! It also goes without saying that PRONATEC and the recent education strike have provided great gateways to having intense conversations with friends and coworkers about the state of the country and what growth for Brazil has really meant.

“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:50:25 -0300

“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.”

― Nora Ephron

5th UN World Conference on Women

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:03:17 -0300

“We support holding the 5th UN World Conference on Women and call upon our own UN ambassador and those of member states in the General Assembly to pass the 5WCW resolution needed to hold it in 2015. We want 5WCW to address new and emerging issues affecting women and girls since the Beijing Conference in 1995, to build upon and not re-open previous UN documents.”

Growth of Brazil´s Niagara College Team

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:04:05 -0300

The first week of July marked the growth of the Niagara College intern family. Kirsten, a new CIDA intern arrived to kick off her 6 month stay in Brasilia. A few days later Alyssa arrived for her short visit to Brasilia before she heads off for her 6 month placement in beautiful Fortaleza.

I always find it exciting and invigorating to work with young professionals who are hungry to take on new challenges and put themselves out of their comfort zones.

Brazil poses a unique challenge for Niagara College due to the dominance of the Portuguese language. It´s difficult to find Canadian graduates with a fluency in Portuguese. Thus Niagara college searches for graduates with patience, drive, commitment and well, more patience. It takes time to pick up a language and it takes patience and reflection to realize that one is always learning when in a new environment.

Reflection on Salvador de BahiaI was lucky enough to have been...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:52:48 -0300

Reflection on Salvador de Bahia

I was lucky enough to have been able to spend some time visiting a Mulheres Mil site in Salvador de Bahia at the end of June.Not only does the Instituto Federal de Bahia (IFBA) have more expirience in running the MM program, they are also uniquely situatied in the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture and history.

Our first day of work consisted of a meeting with program coordinators, Paula and Regina. It was interesting to find out that currently the two programs they have running are Elderly Care and Early Child Care with 32 and 40 students respectively in each program. Furthermore we discovered that IFBA´s Mulheres Mil program works with the entire city of Salvador where as Taguatinga Campus and the majority of programs in other campuses have specific target communities. This of course speaks to the realities of a city like Salvador which is culturally incredibly rich but despite this has not benefited from the economic success of Brazil over the past decade and continues to be one of the poorest states in the country. Brazil’s social discrepancies are blatantly evident here, albeit countered by strong social grassroots movements, irrigated by hope and inspired by a heart-warming lifestyle.

Something that struck me quite strongly during my time in Salvador was the racial dynamics of the sharing experiences within the MM classes. It was very rare that a Afro-Brazilian women would volunteer to speak about her experiences. Lighter Brazilian women often volunteered to speak and took up quiet a bit of space sharing about their lives and reflections on the program, this is of course necessary but does raise awareness about race issue still plaguing Brazil. Speaking and sharing in public has a lot to do with power and oppression and these dynamics are still being navigated and dealt with in Salvador.

My time in Salvador was truely eye opening. Brazil is the largest country in the Americas and it was quite apperant how much the socioeconomic reality changes from city border to city border.

Brazil-bound students prepare for 'experience of a lifetime'

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:14:02 -0300

When Alyssa Allengame and Kirsten Kennedy leave for Brazil in July, it won’t be for summer vacation.

The two students, who will be graduating from NC’s Human Resources post-graduate certificate program this fall, are preparing for what they anticipate will be an experience of a lifetime.

Read more.

Redemption Through Reading

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:00:00 -0300

Brazil continues to impress me with its dedication to literacy and education for all.

For many years Brazil has struggled with over crowded prisons with few solutions on how to lesson sentences while providing rehabilitation for prisoners. Made famous by movies like Elite Squad, which depict government, special forces and police corruption in Brazil, the Brazilian prison system is famous for gang clashes and deplorable conditions.

The Latin American Herald Tribune cited figures from the Penitentiary Department showing that by last December, Brazil had 473,626 inmates, 44 percent of them awaiting trial.

A new government program sees the solution as a simple one: reading.

Reuters and London´s Daily Telegraph reported that prisoners will have 4 days taken off their sentences for every book they read. The catch: prisoners will have 4 weeks to finish each book and will have to write an essay with proper grammar and legible writing.

Another limitation is a cap of 48 days for each year sentences, which equals 12 books spread over 4 genres, literature,philosophy,sciences and classics.

A special panel will be formed to decide which inmates are eligible to participate in the program.

“A person can leave prison more enlightened and with an enlarged vision of the world,” said Sao Paulo lawyer Andre Kehdi, who heads a book donation project for prisons.

In a few short hours I will be on a plane headed to Salvador de...

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 09:47:00 -0300

In a few short hours I will be on a plane headed to Salvador de Bahia. The first colonial capitol of Brazil and of the oldest cities in the Americas. Salvador is well known for its celebration of Afro-Brazilian culture which is woven in everything from it’s traditional dress, local music and of course food!

I will be spending a week in the capitol of Brazil’s northeast working with a local Mulheres Mil (MM) program and visiting a Global Edge intern from Niagara College. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I also get to visit campus Valenca which has started it’s own MM program.

I am of course excited to see the Brazilian coast and the incredibly rich culture and architecture of Salvador but I am just as excited to visit with the local teachers and coordinators of the MM program. You see, the only MM program I have been able to interact with in person has been in Taguatinga, a small city off of the center of Brasilia. It has rapidly grown with the rise of the Brazilian economy and with it jobs in Brasilia.Cheap rent makes it a popular home to many of Brasilia’s workers who don’t mind the short commute and hectic streets of it’s city center.

Taguatinga has been running it’s MM program for a little over a year where as Salvador was one of the original 13 pilot campuses started in 2006. This in itself is going to be such a great experience, spending time with teachers and coordinators who have over 6 years of experience in MM methodology and program logistics.Furthermore each MM program is tailored to the local setting of the women it serves which means target community needs, course offerings and job preparation will all largely differ from Taguatinga.

I’m excited and ready to dive into Salvador! Now, it is back to packing for me- I will update once I land!

A terrific lecture on the responsibility of the journey one...

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:33:27 -0300

A terrific lecture on the responsibility of the journey one takes when traveling.

“There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor.”
–George Santayana

Let us abandon the word foreign in all languages.

Photo

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:49:00 -0300

Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon which...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:09:42 -0300

Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Everything I pass a bus stop in Brazil I’m reminded of his words. The Brazilian government made a very smart decision to improve city landscapes by incorporating a “take a book-leave a book” library at each stop.

Tip of the hat to you Brazil.

Deciding to go overseas to build your professional skills is a...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:15:00 -0300

Deciding to go overseas to build your professional skills is a big decision. It comes with the realization that once you hit the ground you have to be prepared to hustle, for lack of a better word.

It is up to no one but you what you decide to do with your time in country. It requires endless self-motivation and creativity, as well as patience and perseverance. After all, you are new to the country and it takes time and comfort to build trust and to share projects.

After almost a month of emailing I was able to have a meeting with the Secretariat of Women’s Politics in Brasilia. We had a great conversation on Tuesday where one of the coordinators outlined how the Secretariat was formed, their guiding principals and current priority areas.

I am particularly interested in work to end violence against women as well as creating access points for women for education and the labor market. My interests aligned well with current priorities so I was able to set up a second meeting for this Friday. I will be sitting down with sub-secretariats responsible for the coordination of these three priority areas;
-ending violence against women
-access points for women for education and work
-and the inclusion of women in political life

The Secretariat for Women’s Politics is already working with Mulheres Mil, the project that originally brought me to Brazil and that continues to be my main focus. Having a better understanding of their work will help me form a more holistic perspective of the program .It is important for me to be able to situate Mulheres Mil not just within the recent educational movement in Brazil but also in a rights based movement. A movement of course which has been partly paved by institutions like the Secretariat for Women’s Politics.