The Fair Trade Fair is an annual event that brings together over 30 fair trade vendors and over 1000 members of the public in support of the fair trade movement. Often products that are sold in North America and in other developed countries originate in developing countries, where the producers are paid unfair wages and are subjected to very poor working conditions. Fair Trade certification of products ensures that the people who grow or make the products are paid, treated fairly, and use sustainable methods. Most of the organizations and vendors at this event are local and deal directly with the producers of the goods, so if you are interested in shopping ethically during this holiday season then this event is for you!

There will be a variety of fair trade products for sale, including clothing, crafts and holiday gifts. Hot food will be sold by the International Women’s Catering Co-op and fair trade coffee will be available from Level Ground Trading. There will also be live music and door prizes to be won! The venue is wheelchair accessible and admission is by donation.

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, November 26th
Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Location: First Metropolitan United Church Hall, 932 Balmoral (off Quadra)
Admission: By donation and open to everyone

For more info about this event: (250)-385-2333 or kcadger@videa.ca or www.videa.ca

I hope to see you at the event and as always, VIDEA has an online fair trade shop (located at www.videa.ca) for more fair trade products!

VIDEA currently has 10 internships available, The International Aboriginal Youth Internships (IAYI) initiative provides opportunities for Aboriginal youth to participate in international internships in developing countries. The program aims to:

• Improve the skills of young aboriginal women and men to engage in international development in the field

• Enhance the awareness and understanding of international development issues among young aboriginal women and men

• Increase the capacity of young aboriginal women and men interns to promote international development work in Canada

• Develop the essential skills for employment of young aboriginal women and men

International Aboriginal youth internships consist of a two-month period in Canada and a four-month period spent in a developing country working on issues such as equality between men and women, the environment, health, education, small business development, and agriculture.

In partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Victoria International Development Education Association (VIDEA) will be coordinating 10 International Aboriginal Youth Internships in 2012. Following a training and orientation component spent in Victoria, British Columbia, interns will travel to Uganda and Zambia to work with grassroots development organizations.

Internships will last six months, from January 2012 until June 2012. Interns will receive a modest living allowance including living expenses, food, and accommodation. Applicants must be available for a pre-departure briefing in mid January – mid February in Victoria, BC. The interns’ travel, visa, and vaccination costs will be covered. The program start date is January, 2012.

too learn more about the individual internships available check out the website at http://www.videa.ca/index.php?pageid=155

OSOPET- a HIV Support Society in Kenya works in rural villages in a 50 square mile area around Norak, Kenya.  Osopet focuses on community health, and discovered that more than half the community’s health problems could be eliminated if clean drinking water were available.  Currently women walk an average of 10 km to get murky water from a drying river.  Osopet looked at many options for accessing water and  proposed a water truck because wells are not feasible in this area due to the depth to water table and salinity issues.  A water truck will not only provide a continual source of clean water to the women and their families but also a source of income for Osopet and a big step toward independence.

Each Water Walk 2011 team (up to 10 people)  carried enough water for 1 day for a household in Kenya (10 litres).  They walked 10 km around Elk Beaver Lakes.  It would have taken thirty-five teams to carry enough water for the daily needs of an average INDIVIDUAL living in the Capital Regional District (CRD). Amazingly, the average person in the CRD uses 353 litres of water per day.

Everyone was invited to join the activities near Beaver Lake’s Picnic area from 1 to 4 pm.  And it was not necessary to be a water walker as the event featured a gallery of children’s water art, displays on the importance of water conservation locally, information about global water realities, and entertainment throughout the afternoon.

The goal of the event was to raise not only awareness, but the $16,000 needed to buy a used water truck.  The truck can service seven communities where clean water is not available; and where poverty, drought, and HIV continue to create huge challenges.

 Watch our website – www.positivelyafrica.org for more details.

What does it feel like to be silenced? How about to go hungry? It’s pretty rare that we experience actual hunger, or find ourselves without access to a voice – but its not that rare for people all around the world.

How can you, as an individual, affect change? It’s simple – join our Day of Global Solidarity and start by contributing to the unjust global relationships upon which the West enjoys such privilege.

Gather pledges from friends and family, register on our online platform, and awaken to a new form of FUNdraising that makes collecting funds for community-based projects on girls’ empowerment, education, and food security in sub-Saharan Africa, and social justice education in Canada, a breeze.

Play a part. Be a global citizen. Join the movement.

To donate OR register visit: http://solidarity.videa.ca/

Emily Sikazwe Speaks on Gender and Human Rights in Africa

Emily Sikazwe is the Executive Director of Women for Change, Zambia, a member of the AU NEPAD Gender Task Force,co-Chair of Social Watch International and delegate at the UN Commission Status of Women. Emily Sikazwe is a dedicated and outspoken advocate for gender and human rights, with nearly two decades of experience working to create social and political change to empower women and eradicate poverty in southern Africa. She joins us at Camosun College in Victoria BC to speak on Gender and Human Rights in Africa.

Comment, vote, discuss, challenge!

First prize is a camera care kit, valued at $200 which includes a backpack for your camera, a tripod, a flash diffuser, a cleaning kit, and a 4gb memory card. The follow up 15 contestants are rewarded with a professional print job, framing, and display on the evening of our next Youth Open Mic in Victoria, BC, Canada.

This past November I had the unique opportunity to travel to Uganda as part of a study tour arranged by VIDEA in connection to a project we partner with – the Mpambo Afrikan Multiversity. Traveling alongside Lynn Thornton, Budd Hall, Jo Van Loo, and Wendy Gedney, this was my first trip to Africa.

Uganda kind of grabbed me. I had always wanted to go, for no exact reason, and my mom claimed she was vicariously living out her childhood dream, as back in Ireland, “everyone” went to Uganda to work with “the orphans” after Amin’s time. And I had my own idyllic impressions too, for whatever reason. Uganda turned out to be different than I had expected. More developed; More energized; More green. I arrived after 3 weeks in India however, so that probably influenced my experience. One thing I learned immediately was that the concept of hospitality was starkly different than in India. Uganda is a post-conflict zone and you could see it on people’s faces.

We spent several days visiting shrines and traditional leaders, all in a very ceremonial fashion. It was interesting to see how very “traditional” these places were, almost as if we were seeing a part of the culture that the average Ugandan living in Kampala may have little interaction with. These were stakeholders – it turned out – in the Mpambo dream.

The Mpambo vision is to create a hotbed of activity which seeks to empower, invigorate, and restore recognition to the traditional knowledge base which has been undermined by colonialism in Uganda, and throughout Africa. Mpambo recognizes that there are multiple ways of knowing, and that Afrikan knowledge has been disregarded on the global stage. What they intend to do is to cultivate, safe-keep, and produce this traditional knowledge, through the activities of the Multiversity, which is a collective of various nodes of specialized knowledge. These consist of a women’s node, a crafters’ node, an agriculturalist node, an indigenous priest node, a clan leader’s node, and several other groups. Together they want to expand Mpambo through the completion of a central building called Nantaaba, which will be built in the shape of Africa.

While we were in Uganda, agreements were made to share the burden of raising the funds to finish building Nantaaba, and much discussion was made around the general direction of the project. It was exhilarating to witness development in process, and to see how something involving so many people’s interests – centered on the same cause – can move forward. Needless to say, how this emergent project continues to unfold will be intriguing to follow.

If anyone has interest in volunteering time to help the Multiversity gather funds through several events that VIDEA and the Friends of Mpambo will be hosting, feel free to contact rstritch@videa.ca

Women for Change (WfC) has brought positive change to Gideon Mapani’s life and to his community in Mumbwa.

The gender sensitising programme that WfC embarked on in his community has made an enormous difference. It is amazing, he says, to see a community that believed that men were the sole providers and house heads now sharing responsibilities. Men are helping their wives with work such as drawing water and preparing food for their families, which in the past was considered purely a woman’s role.

He also speaks of how WfC has raised awareness of human rights in his community, and how that too has made a great impact.

“People were not aware of their human rights or even where to report criminal cases,” he admits. “But after sensitisation by WfC, changes are taking place.”

Defilement cases that were rampant in the community are now reported to law enforcement authorities, leading to a reduction of such cases.

“There was a child defilement case in Mapoko area and the offender was dealt with,” he said. “In another incident in Mukanda, Area police were alerted but unfortunately the culprit bolted and is still on the run.”

In terms of economic empowerment, WfC supports communities in Mumbwa in carrying out various projects, such as seed growing, gardening and animal restocking. Youth also have a programme where they are trained in carpentry, fish farming and entrepreneurship.

Gideon is one of the seed growers to whom WfC supplies seed.

“In rural communities, husbands usually do not disclose their earnings from farming to families,” he confesses. “But now after every harvest, we sit down with our spouses and children and make formidable budgets for our wellbeing.”