While conducting an HIV/AIDS and gender workshop for a group of women in a rural and predominantly Christian Orthodox community in Ethiopia, I encountered what I call a classic clash between traditionalism and modernism within development work.
After a two day workshop on preventative measures to transmitting HIV, I asked the ladies in the workshop what they thought was the best method to preventing HIV, and whether there was a cure. A response from a young woman sitting in the corner of …

Last month I attended Case Camp, a social media “unconference” in Toronto. A meet up of social media professionals who heard talks from internet experts and enthusiasts speaking about the internet today and a bit about tomorrow. I’m bringing this up on Blog Action Day on Climate Change because I had a discussion with Trevor from EarthRangers about this blog and I mentioned that neither Kate or I feel that we are experts on environmental issues and so it hasn’t been a focus in a lot of our blog posts. …

Before travelling to Africa with Belinda Stronach a couple of summers ago, Rick Mercer vowed never to “come back from Africa like one of the arseholes on TV who won’t shut up about Africa”.  After reneging on that promise (which is fine with me!) the two of them started Spread the Net, a charity (obviously) focused on reducing the incidence of malaria through the purchase of bed nets (also obvious).
Mercer was here in Vancouver this week to promote Spread the Net’s Student Challenge, pitting high schools and universities against each …

The Globe and Mail recently ran an article called “Banned Aid” on the new funding approach to international development agencies in Canada. Canada has made recent changes to their funding approach restricting their major funding to 20 key countries essentially abandoning countries like Malawi, Rwanda, Niger among others (they still give some aid but it is a very small percentage of their former funding. When I was in university there was chatter among some of my professors that this was the way the Canadian Government was moving so I can’t …

A recap seems to be the thing to do in the blogosphere, although I’m a few days too late.  I got my inspiration here: Blood and Milk and Global Health Report.  So, here are the top five most popular posts on my blog in its first year - its a surprising mix!

Ethiopian Nativity of Mary: Reporting back from a visit to one of Toronto’s Ethiopian Orthodox Churches after a big celebration.
Toronto Events This Week - Lead up to World Aids Day: It seems like Torontonians really wanted to get involved …

HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly understood as a disease of poverty, inequality and marginalization.  In this conceptualization, some groups and individuals are more at risk for infection than others as a result of their place in an “environment of risk” that affects vulnerability beyond individual behavior.
This study assesses the impact of grassroots microeconomic development projects on reducing the environment of risk for adolescent orphans living in slum areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It looks at a group of HIV-affected adolescents who inhabit multiple vulnerabilities as a result of …

Heading off to Costa Rica for an Environmental Science Field Camp this week, I decided to write a few posts from in the field. I left Toronto for the hot summer weather and ¨la pura vida¨ in Costa Rica on Saturday. Being here in La Fortuna, sitting at the bottom of the 2nd most active volcano in the world, Arenal, I´m amazed at the development of the landscape in the area. The field instructor keeps telling us that when they started coming here in 1992, there were barely any hotels …

World according to the Human Development Index
Sometimes it feels like we only engage with Africa through demoralizing statistics. This many millions suffering from Disease X, this many billions in debt, this many millions living below the poverty line.
I’m sick of statistics, and know they’re hard to engage with, but also know that they are necessary to describe the magnitude of the problems that exist on the Continent. Lately, though, I’ve come across these initiatives that work to present data on Africa (mostly in the area of health …

Last week, the US senate committee on Foreign Relations voted to contribute another $50 billion against HIV/AIDS. PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has channeled funds to treat and care for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS around the world since its inception five years ago. This renewal of commitment has more than tripled the funds available, but whether this increase in funds will quite those who would like to see less restrictions on how the money can be spent remains to be seen.
More might not …

Yesterday I sat down and watched Black Gold, a movie about Ethiopia and the international coffee trade (its easier to procrastinate my thesis if I am doing other ‘productive’ things in the place of writing). I wish I hadn’t. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it forces me again to question my increasingly frequent trips to Starbucks for my favourite bevvy: a grande, non-fat, Americano Misto. The movie does such a good job of illustrating the disparity between the lives of coffee consumers here in the …