The garment factory fire and building collapse in Bangladesh last week was brutal and shocking. In some ways it feels like worlds away, in a country many of us Westerners know little about. But the reality…

It’s Earth Day. What does that mean to you?

In my world, community development and the environment are so interconnected I can hardly separate them. And the connections are almost endless. But to drive myself a little crazy I am going to think of all…

Last week I was on a whirlwind trip to Costa Rica. I’ve been sending volunteers to Costa Rica for years to work with ASVO- a local charity that supports conservation activities throughout the country. The program always made sense to me. Volunteers work…

I arrived in Uganda yesterday. It has been 3.5 years since I was last here. My “great discovery” on that trip was that the only difference between me and someone in rural Uganda was what I like to describe as “access to knowledge.”

The funny thing is I knew “access to knowledge” was different…

I met up with Carrie-Jane who is the founder of Afri-Pads last week. She lived for a chunk of time in rural Uganda. And her legacy is quite amazing. It is also very simple. Afri-Pads…

Keshet Bachan-Dovrat of Plan International (and fellow kitten lover) did a wonderful talk on girls’ empowerment. Click on this link to go the GirlsReport’s Blog and check it out. I highly recommend it! (Note: you need to click on the blog title above to see the link.)

This Friday I am teaching a workshop on international community development and global citizenship at a local secondary school. I believe that I am part of a process to help shift the mindset of a…

In case you haven’t noticed it is indeed that time of year again. It is time to make that list and check it twice. You know as much as I do that the list you make is mostly what you need to buy. But it is kind of fun too. It is an excuse to…

The other week I met with a founder of Libraries Across Borders. Have you ever heard of them? Doubtful to be totally honest. Not a terribly sexy name, not a terribly sexy way to get involved in community development. But they fall under the British Columbia Library Association- sounds like a good…

Voluntourism has had a bad rap. And I think it deserves it. Why? Because often the people that get involved in voluntourism get involved for the wrong reasons: to make themselves feel good, to get into medical school, because they want an excuse to continue traveling to exotic and interesting places but feel guilty…