Showing posts with label About Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About Me. Show all posts

Kaila is coming on board as a writer!


Some of you maybe aware that this blog has not been an individual effort. Kaila (or @AliaK_) has been my partner in crime... the power behind the throne... the puppet master. She has been the orchestrator of blog design and creative planner of content. After a year of getting me organized, she is finally going to step into the limelight herself (well what little limelight we have thus far at LDNeighbours) and be a regular writer as well.

A little background on our friendship- Kaila is my sister-in-law (for all intents and purposes). When I moved back to Toronto in 2011 we became as thick as thieves. In Toronto we spent much of our free time hunting down great places to eat, obsessing over British television and you-tubers, and hatching many a scheme involving social media, blogs, Etsy stores, and ethical fashion companies. We've got the dreaming down pat, but we always seem to fall slightly short when it comes to start-up capital (if anyone wants to step-up in that regard, please let us know!). We were in the middle of one such scheme (involving a lot of t-shirts, bleach and foam letters as I recall), when I landed my placement in Tanzania.
So putting crafting aside, Kaila gave me a crash course in social media and blogging and LDNeighbours was born.
In the back of my mind, I always wanted this blog to go beyond my internship and transition into an ethical living blog. At first we both assumed this would happen when I returned to Toronto, but it quickly came apparent that I was most likely going to be based in London. Since I have moved, we have had many a skype conference and we've finally reached the oh, so logically conclusion that the joy of a blog is that we don't have to be in the same place to do one together.

If fact, we think it will actually be interesting that we are in two different places. We are both facing a similar challenge. We both would like to live ethically but we live in big metropolitan cities we struggle to live in our budgets. This is especially hard when surrounded by the temptation to eat out, go out and shop the latest trends. Can we live our values, not blow our budgets and still enjoy the wonderful, cities we live in?

So you will now get to read about two people doing this! Its like a really great two for one sale. We will give you at least two posts at a time on the same theme but from different city (and different continents for that matter). This is more ethical living content all in one place! (As I'm writing this I'm imagining it said in the salesman style voice... you should too)

I'm really glad that Kaila will be writing with me. Its been kind of lonely doing this all by myself. And I am also excited to get to read how she's managing and how things are working for her. Even though we aren't together to share adventures and photo shoots, it will be like getting to catch-up with one of my best friends every week. Her first post will be coming up on Wednesday so start getting excited!
Long Distance Neighbours has shifted its update and we felt that our new focus required a bit of reorganizing, that naturally led to bigger plans to update our look, and this led to our new layout. So welcome to our new blog layout! (Round of applause for @AliaK_ who did all the actual work!).

I realized that after doing this update I haven't really given a comprehensive overview of the way this blog has shifted. I've gone from a blog about my internship abroad to a lifestyle and ethical living blog in London. So I thought I'd try and lay out for everyone what is going to be happening on my site now.

Ethical Shopping/Living/Fashion
One of the underlying philosophies of Long Distance Neighbour was that we live in a globally connected world and what we do here does impact the lives of people on the other side of the globe. I'm trying to live this value by shopping and living ethically- including fair-trade, eco-friendly and locally made. I'm going to share with you all my great finds and tips, and hopefully make it a bit easier for anyone else looking to do the same.

Things to do in London
I'm going to credit my mother on this one. She really made a point to me about how shopping has become a passtime. 'Don't know what to do today? I'll go wander around shopping." Getting out of the mindless shopping rut, I wanted to find other ways to spend my time. And a lot of great little cultural events are held by not-for-profits and involve local business, so its a double win!

International Development
I'm still working in international development so I would still like to share thoughts, comments and stories about international development. I feel that people who work in international development don't spend enough time trying to explain the intricacies of their work. There is too much of "See this suffering child? Give us money to feed her/him!" Lets just say it doesn't really work like that on the ground. While I'm not 'in the field', I'm going to work at keeping you connected to that world.

So you can navigate through by location to find all the past posts. You now can also search through ethical living to find any of my reviews and tips under different subject. Hope you all enjoy it and leave comments if there are any issues you want me to cover.

Today is my one month anniversary in England. I'm wouldn't say I have the swing of things yet but here are some of my personal truisms. I managed to get 10 in all and I think its only appropriate that 3 of these involve weather.

  1. I always need an umbrella (or rain-jacket) even if its perfectly sunny when I leave my house.
  2. The tube map is not nearly as complicated as the underground pathways between tube lines.
  3. The crazy bureaucracy in Southern Africa? Yeah they learned if from the British.
  4. My co-workers want tea as much as I do (which is always)
  5. I will always find it cold, especially inside
  6. Cross walk lights are really only 'suggested' times its probably safe to cross
  7. I don't have enough battery on my phone to spend an entire day trying to navigate London
  8. I know where my British Grandfather's love of puns come from
  9. The British have perfected the sandwich and the charity shop (which are also good when enjoyed together)
  10. Leather footwear is a must in a rainy climate
Now that I'm settled in London I hope to do some more exploring so stay tuned.


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Long Distance Neighbour has moved from the downtown Dar Es Salaam craziness to the new craziness of the English countryside! I thought I'd give a bit of context to where and what I'm up to.

My internship in Tanzania has officially come to an end and I've started my new position working with Africa Educational Trust (AET) in London. On top of the fact, its my first official "job"in international development (five years of volunteering and internships have paid off!!), I'm also really proud to be working and fundraising for them. As you might have guessed by their name, they provide education (both formal and informal) in Africa. But their focus is specifically on conflict-affected zones, communities that have been written off as too dangerous and too unstable to do development work. Areas like South Sudan, Somalia and Northern Uganda. But because of the level of local community involvement, AET is able to continue providing education despite how unstable the countries can be. No foreigners, no big camps, no big presence. Just local staff, in the communities, getting work done.  
I was able to land straight into my new job and I'm currently camped out with some friends just outside of London while I set up my new UK-based life. In amongst trying to navigate the bureaucracy of establishing myself as a real UK resident, I've also managed to squeeze in a good number of recreational events during my first week including going to an improve comedy night, bar-tending/go-go dancing at a village wedding and surviving a true English pub-night. It has been a whirl-wind of a time!

Moving countries is always a shock to the system. But in many ways moving to England is not so very different from moving to Tanzania, in any new place what you really need is good cultural tour guides. I had a great initial support system in Tanzania and here, I've been able to rely on some good friends and co-workers who are helping me navigate everything from British slang to the tube system to banking. I'm trusting them to more or less point me in the right direction as I go through this the whole "up feels like down" period of cultural adjustment. 
I have been struggling about how to write the post for the end of my stay in Dar es Salaam. But it looks like I've managed to escape this task because I'M COMING BACK IN JANUARY!
Last minute, I've managed to pull together more work for another 3 months, so I will be swinging through London and Canada before heading back to Tanzania in January.

The next few months going to be a bit different because I will be coming back on my own but I'm really excited to be able to continue to working with Equality for Growth. Its going to be an busy three months as we work to get the new strategic plan under way.

So I now have a weekend of “see you later,” instead of “good-bye” though I will still be saying tearful good-byes (and this is a literal prediction) to my fellow interns. Next posting will be from the Northern Hemisphere!
So, getting ready for long trips abroad is always a mix of really exciting and really nerve racking.  Tomorrow will be one month until I board my plane for Tanzania but I'm leaving Toronto to go for training on May 30th (eek so close!).  I'm starting to walk around with that "I'm about to jump off the diving board" feeling in my stomach. It's going to be great but its also going to be a big adjustment.  I previously spent a year in Sub-Saharan Africa but I've never been to Tanzania and this is a different set up from what I did last time. So, to purge some of my nervous energy I thought I'd put together a list of the things that are making my mind spin.

1. My Co-workers 
Starting a new job is always exciting and scary. Now throw in a whole new country and a cross-cultural environment and you've got yourself the same situation times 10. It sounds like our office will be a fairly small, tight-knit group and I think that will provide a really great opportunity to work closely and learn from people who work directly with the community.

2. My Roommates and Fellow Interns
We have chatted over Facebook and a bit on Skype, so we are starting to get to know each other. There will be four of us in total in Dar Es Salaam and we'll all be living together. Though I've done my share of co-habiting, I've had my own place for the past year and I know that communal living will take some adjustments.

3. Housing
We don't know exactly where we will be living yet (Not that I have any sort of detailed knowledge of Dar). We will probably need to do a lot of the furnishing of the place ourselves. I have done this before and its one of those tasks guaranteed to immerse you totally in the culture right from the get go. With all the shops and bargaining, its like being thrown right into the deep end (we seem to have an ongoing swimming pool metaphor going on here... don't know how to explain that but lets just go with it).

4. The To Do List
Packing up and moving my place. Packing up my stuff for my trip. Last minute shopping. And learning Swahili. And placing my phone on hold. And spending time with people before I go. And getting my presentation done... I keep crossing things off my list and then remembering something I haven't put on it.

5. What Will I Do When I Get Back?
I know some people will be going, "Seriously? You are thinking about this now?" Yes, yes I am.  I have had a somewhat changeable existence (This will be the 4th country and 5th city in 6 years).  This is something that I accept and embrace as part of the career I have chosen.  I like to think of myself as having a high level of adaptability. But one of the ways I make it work is by keeping a half an eye on what is on the distant horizon.  This is a six month posting and I know that horizon will come very fast-  so allow me my idiosyncrasies.

Standing on the edge of the board makes me more nervous than finally jumping.
Can't wait to be actually underway!


There are two things really high on my list of priorities when I'm looking at development organizations to work with or to support:
    Women/Gender
    After all, you can't really start changing the world if you are ignoring the problems of half of it. Working on gender issues doesn't have to mean just working with women, but if you aren't addressing these types of deep rooted inequalities, I don't think you are creating lasting solutions to poverty.

    Social Paired With Economic Empowerment
    People who know their rights tend to be better able to improve their economic situation. And people who are economically empowered, feel confident about asserting their rights. One helps you get the other and I think that programs that combine both can help to create a mutually supportive relationship between the social sphere and the economic sphere.

 While these are the areas that I like to focus on when looking to support an NGO, these days it seems that there are endless choices in terms of NGO's you can support. It can be hard to choose which one to support, and how to support them. Here are a few tips to help you determine what kind of support is right for you

Who to Support and Why?
How do you know whether to support an organization or cause through volunteering or through donating? At the end of the day you should pick an organisation that you feel connected to and care about. Here are some of the things I think about when looking at organisations.

Rights-Based Development
I look for organisations that mention protecting and promoting basic rights, human rights, women's rights, and/or children's rights. First of all, this means the NGOs work is not just about giving water or housing or schooling, but also about helping communities understand that they have a right to these services and demand that their governments provide them. While this can take a lot time to achieve, I think it will create real change in the long run.

Working with Local Partners
There are development NGOs that operate offices directly in country and there are those who build partnerships with local NGOs. You might not realize this but there are a lot of local NGO's in developing countries, just like there are wherever you are from. There are people who saw a challenge in their community and came together to try and fix it nearly everywhere. I believe the advantage of working with local partners is that they are often more connected to the problems on the ground and they understand the cultural better. So I tend to support organisations that work to partner and strengthen local partners rather than supporting overseas operations

Should You Worry About Admin Costs?
When I fund-raise I always get asked about administrative costs and the answer is always that the NGO has really low admin costs. This is because in order to have “charity”  status in most countries you have use at least 80% of your budget on programmes. Also, good administrative practice makes your donation more effective, like have good financial controls or having really qualified staff who are good at their job.

Here are some NGOs that I'm a Fan of. You can check out their social media and see what they are working on right now.  I've picked pretty big ones because no matter where you live you can probably find them, but there are also lots of great small and medium NGOs, in every country doing great work so don't feel you need to stick with bigger organisations.

Save the Children
Twitter: @SavetheChildren
Facebook: www.facebook.com/savethechildren

Oxfam
Twitter: @Oxfam

ActionAid
Twitter: @ActionAid

UNICEF
Twitter: @UNICEF

HelpAge
Twitter: @helpage

Street Kids International
Twitter: @streetkidsintl

WarChild
Twitter: @warchild

Womankind
Twitter: @woman_kind

Stephen Lewis Foundation
Twitter: @stephenlewisfdn

Ive also personally worked with Equality for Growth in Tanzania.

This organization is a local Tanzanian movement. They work with women in the informal sector, such as the women who sell various food stuffs or small goods in markets. The organization helps give these women access to tools and education to improve their business and livelihoods. They also work on providing them with access to legal and human rights education and help the women to actively engage in policy and reforms that will improve their welfare and bargaining power.

Go check out their website to hear them tell all about it in their own words www.equalityforgrowth.org

-Your Long Distance Neighbour

P.S. if you are having trouble with the link, please remember the days of dial-up... things don't always go smoothly with the internet

Photos on this post are courtesy of Equality for Growth's website

Our world is more globally connected than ever been before. There's something international about almost everything these days. From politics and fashion, to travel and business, it's led to a lot of talk about globalization and global community. These words are often thrown around, sometimes negatively or sometimes positively depending on the context and who you're talking to. So how are you supposed to find a sense of community in a world this big?

Talking about long distance neighbours is my way of trying to break down the idea of a giant globally interrelated world into a simpler relationship where I can clearly see my interconnection with other people all over the globe.

Traditionally, we think about our neighbourhood as the place where we live, and our neighbours as the people we live near. I think (or hope) that most people believe in giving back to their neighbourhood/community in some way or another since our lives are all tangled and jumbled up with the people who we share spaces with. The ultimate idea is that we have an obligation to help those whose lives are interconnected with ours.

However, in today's world, the person who grew your food, helped make your clothes, or put the battery in your cellphone frequently lives on the other side of the globe. Talk about interconnectedness! These people may not be physically your neighbours but they are just as crucial to the well being of your neighbourhood as those who live around you.

At the end of the day, we are all tangled together with people we don't really get a chance to meet and a lot of us miss out on a sense of connection because of this.

I count myself as one of the lucky people who gets a chance to live and work in this larger community. Starting in June, I will be off on a 6-month internship in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (which will be my second trip to this part of the world) and what sort of neighbour would I be if I didn't offer to share some of my experiences with the rest of you?

So, my goal with this blog will be to give you a chance to meet some of your long distance neighbours and hopefully our crazy global world will feel a bit more like the tight-knit community it should be.

Sincerely,
Your Long Distance Neighbour