Global Citizens in Manitoba

• Rob Pankhust

  

  As a Canada World Youth (CWY) participant in Honduras in 2007, Rob Pankhurst saw first-hand the benefits of fair trade—goods from the developing world that are grown or produced by fairly paid labour and with environmentally sustainable methods.

  His group visited Coaprol, a fair trade coffee cooperative run by about a dozen families. Not only did the cooperative grow coffee, but it roasted, processed and packaged the coffee beans right on site.

  He was struck by the quality of life and standard of living at the cooperative. “Every family had established housing and didn’t seem to be struggling in terms of meeting their needs,” says Rob.

  “The reason I don’t think it’s a romanticized view is that we did see the other side, where you would see young children working and houses that were in very substandard conditions,” he adds.

  Baldemar Garcia, another CWY participant, is part of a coffee-growing family in Honduras. He says the experience opened his eyes to the value of fair trade, including its ecological benefits.

  “In the future, I would like to work on fair trade projects with my family, and also with a cooperative. It would be different than working on a traditional finca (coffee farm) because there aren’t middle-men. To be a member of the cooperative is like being the owner. You get to share your ideas as well,” says Baldemar.

  Both Rob and Baldemar encountered another aspect of fair trade when the exchange group moved to their Canadian segment in Brandon, Manitoba. At the Marquis Project, a locally based international development organization, they worked at a store devoted to fair trade goods.

  “I improved my technical knowledge and started to learn some of the realities,” including customers who would question the higher cost of fair trade items, says Rob. “Having that first-hand experience in Honduras I had learned that those lower prices are at the expense of people’s lifestyle and livelihood.”

  Rob says the whole experience has made him more aware of global issues and a more responsible consumer.

  “I’d really encourage young people to get involved in the international development realm, whether in the local community or overseas. It’s really valuable in terms of changing your perspective.”

• Muriel Smith, O.C.

  

  “Instead of taking our case to those who can do something about it, I realized that I should be one of the people who are doing something about it,” says Muriel Smith, a long-time volunteer and former Manitoba deputy premier and cabinet minister. It’s an approach that motivates her to be an advocate for human rights, and demonstrates the commitment she has brought to so many causes.

  She is a long-time supporter of the international development efforts of the YM-YWCA and MATCH International. She also co-founded and is still involved the Winnipeg chapter of UNIFEM Canada, the Canadian committee of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

  Muriel attended the World Conference on Women on two occasions (1985 and 1995, in Nairobi and Beijing, respectively). She credits the experiences with expanding her knowledge of the impact of global issues on the lives of women. It also encouraged her to make her voice heard at the UN as the president of the United Nations Association in Canada.

  In 1995, Muriel was among the group of Manitoba women, including 40 who attended the Beijing conference, who founded the UN Platform for Action Committee (UNPAC). An organization that believes there is too narrow a view on economics, UNPAC works to get gender analysis in the budget. For instance, women (and less often men) contribute a significant amount of unpaid care-giving work to society—efforts not taken into account in the provincial budget.

  “We’re trying to take international principles and apply them locally,” says Muriel.

  Muriel also volunteers her efforts for Empowering Women of Burma (EWB). The group’s objective is to give support to the people in refugee camps, to provide skills training for women and children in the peripheral areas of Burma, and to further the education of the youth who have been neglected for more than a decade. In 2006-07, the group received a Community Solidarity Fund grant from MCIC for nursery school teacher training, supplies, and nutritious lunches for the children.

  In 2007, Muriel was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, in recognition of her efforts to promote social justice in Canada and around the world.

• Shimby Zegeye-Gebrehiwot

  

  Shimby Zegeye-Gebrehiwot is a grade 12 student at Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg who considers her passion for global justice, human rights, and animal rights a normal human quality.

  “I don’t know how people can not care about these issues,” says Shimby. “These problems are not going away any time soon.”

  Shimby says her family has always been a very focused on human rights. Her parents were both born in Ethiopia, a country that has faced democratic problems and political unrest.

  Being involved with the debate team for seven years has also contributed to her awareness; you have to stay on top of current events to be a good debater.

  Shimby was able to share her passion for global issues as one of many local students who participated in the 2007 Generating Momentum for Our World conference, MCIC’s annual conference for high school students. It was her second year attending, and she plans to go again.

  “Everyone at the conference really seemed to take everything to heart, and that’s really encouraging,” says Shimby. At the 2007 conference students held discussions and created projects on the topic of global concerns over landmines, including the legacy of the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines.

  “It was very informative,” says Shimby, “and I’m amazed with the projects everyone came up with in only a few hours time. Everyone came out of it with more awareness or a different viewpoint.”

  Shimby has gotten involved by participating in many groups at school, including Peace and Social Justice Club, Kiwanis Club, and Peer Helpers, which she says has extended their activities to include the 30-Hour Famine and AIDS awareness, among other global issues.

  After high school, Shimby plans to continue her involvement by pursuing a double major in international development studies and women’s studies.

  “The passion I have for global justice issues was always there for me,” says Shimby. “For others my age who haven’t witnessed injustice first hand, it may not be as innate, but many are still becoming aware.”

• Don and Donna Winstone

  

  When Don and Donna Winstone went to visit their friend in Courtney, British Columbia, in 2001, little did they know that a life-changing experience awaited them.

  A friend took them to the Traveling World Community Film Festival. What they saw was a slew of challenging and thought-provoking films that put a human face on a lot of different issues.

  “And it wasn’t just little clips,” says Don. “You really got to know some of the people in the films, because in a lot of cases the documentaries took years to make.”

  One film that particularly affected them was named Friendship Village about a US war veteran and the devastating effects of the Agent Orange that was dropped on Viet Nam.

  Although the couple, who live in Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba, had kept a moderate awareness of global justice issues through their church, it was films like this one that really opened their eyes. The next year, they decided to attend the festival again. They were so moved by the films that they decided to create a similar festival that same year in Winnipeg.

  The Global Justice Film Festival enters its sixth year in 2008. Supported by MCIC and eleven other organizations, the festival does more than just show films—it allows for reflection, provides a forum for discussion, and prompts participants to action.

  Don and Donna have also held a documentary film festival in Gimli and now show films there on a regular basis.

  “Without these films, we would not know nearly as much about global issues,” says Donna. “And we’ve changed because of them,” adds Don.

  Those changes include owning just one vehicle, eating food with less packaging, and helping refugee families through their church, to name a few. Don has also helped set up the Lake Winnipeg Foundation to help restore the health of the lake and its watershed.

  “We’re doing what we can to help reduce our footprint on earth,” says Don, “and we’re always learning more.”

• College Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau

  

  Each week, up to 35 high school students at Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau in Winnipeg—about 10 percent of the student body—participate in the Social Justice Club.

  “The goal of the club is to inform ourselves about issues and to take action,” says teacher Larry Paetkau, “and I think we’ve achieved that.” The club started in 1991 with the help of teacher Roland Dion.

  The club is a truly dedicated one, and shows it by their many different activities. Each week students make presentations at club meetings. They are helping organize a national UNESCO conference to take place in April 2008 at the University of Winnipeg. In the coming months, the group will take part in a “famine” to help raise money for an ongoing project in Bolivia. As well, 20 students will be participating in a sweat lodge at Sagkeeng First Nation to make contacts and understand better some of the issues facing First Nations peoples.

  Grade 11 student Kirsten Penner-Goeke remembers Urban Plunge where participants went to different missions in Winnipeg’s North End like Siloam Mission, Winnipeg Harvest, and Union Gospel Mission to learn first-hand some of the problems people in the area face.

  “You just don’t see things walking around,” says Kirsten, “and the experience has made these problems all the more real.”

  Samantha Mauws and former student Rachel Hagel also appreciate the awareness the club has given them. They each learned directly about global issues when they travelled to Bolivia through the club. Three years ago and with the help of a grant through MCIC’s Community Solidarity Fund, the Winnipeg group helped start an after-school program in the city of Santa Cruz. Each year, the school raises funds to maintain the program and improve it with laptops, books, and other materials. Samantha and Rachel were able to travel to Bolivia with other classmates and help out directly with the program.

  “It was a really positive experience,” says Samantha. “Everyone who went learned a lot about themselves, and the world as a whole instead of just Canada.”

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