backyard•escape

It was on a Wednesday evening, during the early weeks of February where once more, the GRS class were treated to a guest speaker who openly spoke of the current realities of working in development projects with non-governmental organizations. On that night, I took away two refreshing pieces of thought: what are my values, ethics, goals? do they govern how I behave or do I take them as guidelines – flexible to situations? & what am I focusing on? Yes, what am I focusing on? It was suggested that rather…read more

November 05, 2013 Dr. Dharamsi’s lecture was nothing less than a simultaneous mind-opener and a mind-boggler all in one. I don’t think it is every easy to let someone know what they are in the wrong. Dr. Dharamsi was not pointing out that we were in the wrong per se but was presenting a fact that in a bigger picture of things, in the scope of participating in international engagement in whatever form, what we do has an effect: on the world and on us. Thus, before doing anything else,…read more

October 2, 2013 Although called the landscape approach, Dr. Bennett presented that this approach goes beyond defining geographical areas. It encompasses not just land and its resources but also the community; and, it is the participation of the local community which is key to a successful landscape approach. I found this to be a significant time as this was the first time to listen about how the locals are not interested in sustainability initiatives, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At the time, it made sense and yet it did not make sense…read more