SPRINGNEWSLETTER 1

SPRINGNEWSLETTER

KEVIN HANSON

Kevin is a Professional Engineer with nine years

experience working in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary.

He has been actively involved with Engineers Without

Borders for the past four years and is currently finishing

up his tenure as Calgary Chapter Co-President. Kevin is an

enthusiastic traveller, certified SCUBA diver, avid art house-

cinema goer and aspiring to become a competent salsa

dancer.

What are looking forward to about being a Professional

Fellow?

I am looking forward to getting firsthand knowledge and

experience on the long term development work that our

organization is doing. I have done a significant amount of

travelling as a backpacker and tourist over the years, but

this placement represents a great opportunity to make

connections with the people in the local community over

a longer term and in a more authentic way. As a result

of thisI hope to get the opportunity to understand the

wchallenges that the people in my host community face, the

causes of them, and then assist in work of addressing these

challenges and bringing that knowledge back home with

me to Canada.

ERIC LIMACHER

Eric currently works for New Energy Corporation Inc.

designing and developing hydrokinetic turbines. Eric loves

sports of all kinds, hiking, camping,motorcycles, reading,

and diving into whatever life throws at him. He loves being

outside and the anticipation of spring and summer.

What are looking forward to about being a Professional

Fellow?

The next three months are going to fly by and it won’t

be long before I’m getting on an airplane. I know it will

be tough to be away from the comforts of home for four

months, but I believe that is a key element of this process.

I want to step out of my comfortablelife in Calgary, to

broaden my perspective and deepenmy understanding of

development, to put myself in others’ shoes and to really

learn what is necessary to make a sustainable positive

impact for others.In the technical circles of which I am a

part, I hear plenty of ideas about how we in Canada can help

to develop Africa. What I don’t hear is talk of sustainable

implementation processes, the development of local

leadership and the involvement of this leadership in

strategic planning. I’m looking forward to approaching

development with an eye towards sustainability.

EWB PROFESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP 2011

The Professional Fellowship Program was created to build a new generation of leaders in the development sector.

It helps fuel EWB chapters to sustain and build their knowledge and passion about human development, providing

them with on-the-ground experience and a direct, personal connection to those whom we are working to benefit.

The participants of this year’s Professional Fellowship (PF) have been selected. We are pleased to announce that Calgary

is sending two volunteers, Eric Limacher and Kevin Hanson. They will be joined from 2 volunteers from Vancouver, 1 from

Edmonton, 1 from Toronto, and 2 from Ottawa.

Kevin and Eric will be working with our African Programs teams from August to December 2011. Prior to their departure they

are participating in numerous training sessions in Canada. When they return to Calgary in January 2012 they will be hosting

sessions to share their work.

SPRINGNEWSLETTER 2

Celebrate! Africa

Despite a furious spring snowstorm, over 100

people joined together on Saturday, April 2nd to

Celebrate!Africa. Celebrate!Africa is one of EWB

Calgary’s key annual fundraising events. This year,

attendees had the chance to join with to test out

their rhythm dancing to the drums of Ibrahim Diallo,

from the Congo.

As part of the fundraising activities, a photo silent auction

and contest was held. Photos were submitted by EWB

members, family and friends, and judged on the basis of

highest auction price. Congratulations to Brett Cedergren

and Karen Hincks whose photos garnered the two highest

auction prices.

We would also like a

knowledge those who

donated prizes or

materials for the event:

Swizzlesticks Salon &

Spa, Higher Ground,

Teaopia, Manana

Gifts and Imports,

Blacks Photography,

One WorldDrum Co.,

Safeway and Calgary

Co-op.

We look forward to

hosting this event

again in Spring 2012,

and will hopefully see

you there.

Calgary as a Fair Trade Town?

The idea of a Fair Trade Town was introduced in the

United Kingdom in 1999. Awareness of Fair Trade was

promoted in Garstang by an Oxfam Group, and quickly

gained formal endorsement by local community,

media and politicians. This grassroots movement has

gained worldwide momentum and there are now

over 500 Fair Trade Towns spanning the globe. The

push to create Fair Trade Towns isactively linking

communities and producers around the world, bringing

about a greater awareness of what it means to be a

conscious consumer.

Wolfville, N.S. acquired

status in 2007 and was

named Canada’s first

Fair Trade Town. Last

year, Vancouver was

the first major Canadian

city to be recognized

as fair trade. Halifax is

currently working

towards Fair Trade Town

certification.

In Calgary, members of EWB are currently laying

the ground work for greater availability of Fair Trade products,

wand ultimately, working towards achieving Fair Trade

Town status.

FairTrade Canada (formerly TransFair Canada) has outlined

6 goals focused on gaining support of local businesses,

political authority and the community at large that

must be attained to become a Fair Trade Town. formal

support from local political authority (city council); ensuring

a fixed proportion (per population) of retail outlets,

restaurants and cafes sell or serve two or more Fair Trade

Certified products; visible support of community groups;

support of the public through active media campaigns and

public events;establishment of a local Fair Trade steering

committee; the presence of additional community initiatives

regarding ethical and sustainable consumption.

Thank you to volunteers

Stacey Cedergren,

Jodi McMullen, Jodi MacMillan, Jennifer Tam,

Meheran Mehta and Nikhil Ramesh

for their time in organizing and running

Celebrate! Africa.

photo by E. Logan

SPRINGNEWSLETTER 3

While we expect this will be a multi-year initiative, with

a lot of work involved, we are excited about the journey.

We hope this campaign will bring together a group of

like-minded Calgarians, committed to increasing social

awareness within our community. If you are interested

in learning more or becoming involved in this campaign,

please contact us at calgary@ewb.ca. Fair Trade is a

trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and

respect, that seeks great equity in international trade.

It contributes to sustainable development by offering

better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of,

marginalized producers and workers. Fair Trade

organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged

actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and

in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of

conventional international trade. - FairTrade Canada

The Run to End Poverty –Running for a Reason

On May 29 2011, compassionate runners are hitting

the streets as part of Calgary’s second annual Run to

End Poverty (R2EP) in support of Engineers Without

Borders (EWB) . In addition to individual runners,

local corporations have also registered as part of the

R2EP’s corporate challenge, providing the chance

for colleagues to team-build while also helping build

opportunities for rural African’s to access programs

The Run to End Poverty was born in 2007, when an EWB

volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, and three EWB chapters in

Montreal created a truly ‘international’ half-marathon event.

Simultaneous runs were held in Montreal, Quebec and

Tamale, Ghana to raise awareness about extreme poverty

in Africa and to promote EWB’s capacity-building efforts in

its partner organizations and communities overseas.

This year R2EP Calgary is running in support of Engineers

Without Borders’ “Agricultural Value Chains” team in Zambia.

The Agricultural Value Chains Team is working to facilitate

stronger links between the private sector and rural farmers.

As the partnership between these two groups grow, rural

farmers have increased access to valuable farming inputs like

seeds and fertilizers, micro credit, and market opportunities,

enabling them to climb out of the cycle of extreme poverty.

By working directly with development organizations in

Zambia, EWB can help them bridge the communications

gap to connect small businesses and farmers, so that both

can better succeed.

Since the first run in Vancouver in 2007, Run to End

Poverty teams across Canada have raised over $105,000

from more than 2,000 donors in support of EWB’s

development efforts in Africa. In 2011, Run to End Poverty

teams will be running in nine cities across Canada, all united

in the fight to end extreme poverty in developing nations.

To join the Run to End Poverty, first register at

www.runtoendpoverty.ca. You will then receive a discount

code to register for the Calgary Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 10K

and 5K walk and run taking place on May 29. While it may

be a little late to decide to run a marathon, we definitely

encourage you to participate in the 5K walk or run.

Registration is open until Tuesday, May 24.

For more information, please contact us at:

calgary@runtoendpoverty.ca

Richard and Juilet are cocoa farmers with the Fair Trade Certified

Farmers Cooperative Kuapa Kokoo, located just outside of Kumasi,

Ghana. Photo taken by former EWB overseas volunteer Elizabeth

Logan on a visit to their farm in 2009.

photo by E. Logan

Did you know that as part of our corporate engagement program, EWB offers workplace Lunch and Learn workshops?

All presentations are designed to fit into a one-hour

lunch break, with some companies choosing to

provide snacks and/or lunch for their employees.

The interactive workshops are a great opportunity

for employees to collaborate and learn from each

other, while broadening their knowledge and

perspectives.

We would like to thank the following companies for inviting

us to facilitate one or more presentations this year:

Shell, NovAtel Inc., Nexen, Stantec, Hatch, MPE, CDL and

APEGGA.

AVAILABLE WORKSHOPS:

Root Causes of Poverty

Our most popular workshop has participants working

together in small groups, analyzing and discussing a case

study, with the goal of determining the fundamental causes

of poverty.

Access to Water in Malawi - Creating Opportunity for

Positive Change - An Interactive Workshop

This workshop divides participants into two groups. Each

group has to defend why their water pumping system will be

most effective. At the end of the case the true facts are ex-

posed and participants are able to reflect on the many factors

influencing the success of a development project.

Water for the World -An Exercise in Trade and Resource

Management

An interactive game-style workshop that has participants

representing different countries, each working to obtain nec-

essary water, oil, technology and monetary resources while

navigating challenging social, economic, political and cultural

barriers. The complexities of world water issues and EWB’s

work within the water and sanitation sector are discussed.

Global Engineering

Canadian engineers have the opportunity to lead the

charge to solve the problems of humanity through human

development. This workshop explores the idea of global

engineering and how we can facilitate design for adaptable,

people focused, social impact solutions to the problems of

the world.

Overseas Case Study

A presentation hosted by one of our returned overseas

volunteers, sharing their recent experiences of living in

Africa and working on an EWB project.

TransCanada and Engineers Without Borders Canada are

partnered together for the next three years (2011-2013) to

support a rural agricultural project in the country of Ghana.

This is the first time a corporation has provided both proj-

ect funding and long-term seconded employees toward

an Engineers Without Borders Canada initiative in Africa.

Altogether, TransCanada will be contributing $300,000 to

fund the project and will be sending six employees over-

seas. Like other EWB volunteers, TransCanada employees

will undergo training in Canada before going to Ghana.

They will receive a small living allowance and will be ex-

pected to integrate into the Ghanaian community they’re

serving.

The program is an experiment for both organizations, but

both have high hopes. Engineers Without Borders sees this

as an opportunity to prove a concept that will be made

available to all of its corporate partners. TransCanada is ex-

cited to provide skill-based leadership opportunities to its

employees, while helping to build sustainable communities

on a global scale.

For more information about TransCanada’s community

investment program visit:

www.transcanada.com/communityinvestment

Engineers Without BordersEngineers Without Borders Canada is a movement

of 50,000 professional engineers, students, overseas

volunteer staff, and supporters across Canada. They believe

that the next generation of rural Africans should have the

same opportunities to improve their lives, that we have

right here at home. To help make this a reality, members

and volunteers apply all the creativity, technical skills and

problem-solving approach for which engineers are known.

The Calgary Professional Chapter is involved in many events,

from corporate workplace outreach programs to member

learning initiatives. Want to get involved? Volunteers

for Engineers Without Borders are not limited to

professional engineers but include all professions with a

foundation of humility, passion, critical thinking, adaptability,

flexibility, awareness of issues and awareness of self.

Please see the Calgary Professional Chapter’s website

at http://www.calgary.ewb.ca/ more information,or e-mail

us at Calgary@ewb.ca to find out how you can get involved.