The opportunity:
Canadians looking to connect
- Many people in Canada who want to contribute part-time to initiatives, projects, and ideas they care about. They can offer their skills, expertise, or networks for a defined period of time.
- Current opportunities to engage in international solidarity tend to be attempts to work withing the “voluntourism” structure, and tend to over-valorise the contributions of Northerners and undervalue the contributions of Southerners.
Changemakers ready to lead
- There are changemakers around the world who have a complex, nuanced, and relational understanding of local issues/situations. They have ideas, initiatives, and potential projects that could use resources or specific expertise.
- Every year, many Southern changemakers visit Canada – for conferences, as part of organizational exchanges, etc. During their time in Canada, some of these leaders could benefit from the opportunity to build relationships with Canadians ready to be substantially involved.
The Foundation: Principles and Values
The following are assumptions that structure the proposed solutions:
- Solidarity: Taking action “for” or “on behalf of” another person reaffirms and thereby reinforces the inequality and power differential between people. Actions based on solidarity, on the other hand, recognize that whatever I am doing must be done ‘with’ or alongside others.
- Privilege: Those who carry more privilege – as a result of nationality, sex, ability, racialization, etc – are likely to be able to take leadership, initiate change, and move freely across and within national boundaries. All of those involved in this program have aspects of privilege.
- Learning: These experiences are about finding ways for many people to learn. The primary learning experiences will likely be for Canadians, who have an opportunity to learn from the process and outcomes of working alongside a Southern changemaker.
- Awareness of colonialism: As a settler-colonial nation, Canada is founded in assumptions, language, and ways of being that reinforce neo-colonial relationships. It is important to continually engaged in ‘truth-telling’ both on the land now called Canada and in relationship with formerly colonized nation