Insight
You Make a Life by What You Give
“Being involved, improving the lives of others, is a critically important component of our society”
BY ALASTAIR SUMMERLEE
Editor's note: The following is an edited version of a talk given recently to the Empire Club in Toronto by president Alastair Summerlee, who is also chair of the board of World University Service of Canada.
I begin with a quote from Sir Winston Churchill, a previous speaker at the Empire Club: “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” It doesn't matter whether you subscribe to the view from the right of the political spectrum that “service is one of freedom's safeguards — it ensures caring is free from political control” or whether you believe in the maxim of the left that “we're all in this together,” I think we would all agree that being involved, improving the lives of others, is a critically important component of our society.
World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is making a difference in people's lives across the world and educating people at home and abroad about the challenges facing the developing world. Thanks to WUSC, more than one million people in Peru now have running water and sanitation in their homes, and the daily income of many women in rural communities in Sri Lanka has improved. There have also been significant improvements to civil society and governance processes in the Balkans. These three examples and many others illustrate how WUSC is creating sustainable development activities and projects in countries deeply scarred by some of the world's greatest problems: poverty, war and disease. It is these three areas that form the key focus for WUSC activities.
As a key non-profit development agency in Canada, WUSC receives more than 40 per cent of its funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), for which we are very grateful. We have long focused our development efforts in a limited number of countries to ensure there is critical mass to create the appropriate level of change that can be sustained, but we are active in a number of countries and geographic regions across the world on almost every continent.
A considerable part of our mandate and mission is also devoted to education — here at home to broaden understanding among Canadians and in developing countries to make people aware of the challenges they face and to give them the tools to make a difference in their own lives.
In Canada, more than 60 colleges and universities belong to WUSC, with student chapters serving as the cornerstone of the organization. The chapters inform students about the challenges in the developing world and anchor many of WUSC's initiatives, including the remarkable student refugee program, which places refugees from countries ravaged by war, poverty and disease in Canadian colleges and universities to complete a post-secondary education.
Canadian students not only host the refugees but also raise more than $1 million a year to support the program. To date, more than 850 refugees have come to Canada in this way.
The impact on the refugees' lives is remarkable, but in many cases, the people who come to live in Canada give back to the communities they live in. As an example, let me share with you an e-mail I received from a former participant in the refugee program when I was appointed chair of WUSC.
“Congratulations on your appointment as the incoming chair of WUSC. Reading about your appointment brought memories flooding back. I was a child soldier in Uganda. Orphaned at an early age by war and disease, I became caught up in the fighting. Eventually I found myself in a refugee camp.
I will never forget the day I walked to my interview. I remember every detail — every flower, every leaf, the heat, the dust, every truck and bike that passed me. It was the longest journey of my life. But what an impact it had.
I was accepted into the program and sponsored by students to attend the University of Alberta, where I eventually obtained my law degree.
From the ashes of my life in Uganda — a boy with no education and no hope — I became a prosecutor for the Department of Justice in Ottawa.
And now I am giving back in a very positive way. I am working on assignment with the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Arusha, Kenya, where we are trying to deal with the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.
This could not have been possible without the support of Canada and Canadians. I wonder if I will ever be able to repay the debt I owe to many people — many people I do not even know — for their faith in me and many others like me.
I wish you success as the chair of WUSC — it is an amazing organization.”
Every year for more than 50 years, WUSC has run an international seminar program, a study tour where students from Canadian universities visit a developing country and gain first-hand experience of the challenges. For many, the seminar is their first and formative exposure to the developing world, and the experience has a profound impact on participants' lives. We count three former prime ministers of Canada, 11 past and present MPs and senators, two sitting members of the Supreme Court of Canada and many CEOs and eminent members of Canadian society among the alumni of this program. This year, the seminar will be held in Burkina Faso.
So what is the connection between U of G and WUSC? Here at Guelph, our traditions and values are deeply rooted in the activities of our founding colleges: agriculture, veterinary science and domestic science. Emanating from the caring attitude of the pioneering spirit — sometimes jokingly referred to as “the fields, the barns and the kitchen ethos,” the University has developed a formidable reputation for its concern about education and students. We have consistently been ranked the number one comprehensive and mid-size university in the country in terms of spirit and caring and for the quality of our academic programs.
We are also the No. 1 comprehensive university in research, and there's a special sense of connection between our research and the way we live our lives. Many areas of research at Guelph are nuanced by real, practical challenges we face in the world, including the environment, emerging diseases, and energy sources and efficient uses.
Guelph is clearly pre-eminent in teaching and research in ways that link with the aspirations and concerns of WUSC, but there's one other critical way the University and WUSC are linked. In a country where Statistics Canada reports that about 40 per cent of the population engages in meaningful volunteer activities, 70 per cent of students at Guelph volunteer in our community — a community that spans the world.
We have students working with the homeless in Guelph, Toronto and Calgary; involved in HIV/AIDS education in Guelph and sub-Saharan Africa; collecting for food banks in Guelph; building homes in Latin America; and rebuilding lives in Katrina-torn parts of the United States or in areas devastated by the tsunami. It is this spirit of caring about the people around us that brings the University of Guelph close to WUSC. Together we represent a formidable combination.
Members of the U of G community also dig deep financially when it comes to supporting others. In fall 2006, we raised more than $500,000 for various charitable causes, including the United Way, the Masai Project, Meal Exchange and the Guelph Food Bank.
Let me turn now to the new opportunities for global citizenship offered by WUSC. One such initiative is Students Without Borders, which enables students to obtain in-depth learning experiences in developing countries that can be used for credit at their home institution or for co-op experience. Work placements are organized and arranged in a number of countries around the world — usually linked to development work being carried out by WUSC workers. Participants become truly immersed in the culture and society they work in, developing a real and deep appreciation for the people and the problems they face. The program was established a year ago and is remarkably popular among students.
Another WUSC opportunity for global citizenship is Leave for Change, a new venture in English-speaking Canada. In 2005, WUSC joined forces with its French counterpart, CECI (Centre étude et de coopération internationale) to form a collaborative partnership to support and enhance opportunities for volunteerism. They created an international initiative called Uniterra, which mobilizes partners, volunteers and the Canadian public to contribute to the Millennium Development Goal of reducing world poverty by 50 per cent by 2015. CIDA plays a fundamental role in providing financial support for this very important initiative and its programs.
Uniterra fosters partnerships between organizations and networks in Canada and elsewhere to educate at home and abroad, to advocate at home and to volunteer abroad. The Leave for Change program promotes short-term volunteer opportunities in international settings where specific or non-specific skills are needed to complete or work on a meaningful and helpful project. Private and public sectors are asked to participate by making a financial contribution to the project, and employees offer to volunteer their holiday time to work abroad. Uniterra now has volunteer opportunities in 13 countries around the world, and the list is growing.
U of G is the first university and institution in English- speaking Canada to participate in Leave for Change this year, and I hope other universities, publicly funded institutions, municipalities and private companies will want to follow suit. The experiences gained and the values learned through this program are invaluable both at home and abroad.