News Articles
Four to Go Abroad With Leave for Change
First U of G employees selected to participate in international volunteer program are headed for Botswana and Nepal
Most people look to entertain themselves while on holiday from work, but for a dedicated quartet of U of G employees, vacation time this year will involve making a difference abroad.
Frebis Hoffmeyer of the College of Management and Economics, Wayne Johnston of the U of G Library, Michael Levy of the Office of Research and Sean Yo of Computing and Communications Services have been selected to participate in Leave for Change, a program that promotes short-term volunteer opportunities for people to help out with meaningful projects in international settings.
Guelph is the first university in English-speaking Canada this year to participate in Leave for Change, which is run through Uniterra, an international initiative created by World University Service of Canada and Centre d'étude et de coopération internationale.
President Alastair Summerlee says the selection of U of G's first four Leave for Change participants is exciting news and something the entire University should celebrate.
“These four employees have an incredible opportunity to make a difference in communities halfway around the world, and it will undoubtedly be an amazing professional and personal experience,” he says. “While taking part in their respective assignments, they will be gaining valuable new skills and understanding, and they will bring that new knowledge back to Guelph to share with the community so we can all benefit.”
Summerlee adds that he hopes local companies and the municipal government will become interested in joining U of G in offering the Leave for Change program.
“My goal is to create a sense of community in the city of Guelph where we demonstrate our overriding concern for international communities that are less fortunate than we are.”
Here on campus, there was no shortage of employees willing to volunteer their services when they were invited to participate in Leave for Change, says Martha Harley, assistant vice-president (human resources), whose office oversaw the application and selection process led by Uniterra.
“It is typical of the Guelph spirit that there were more applicants than places available,” says Harley, “so candidates actually had to be interviewed for these positions. It was exciting to see that kind of response and made the whole process very rewarding for those of us working behind the scenes.”
Levy's volunteer stint will take him to Shawake, Botswana, to work on a website design assignment. Johnston and Yo are both headed for Nepal, where they'll work with the Nepal Fair Trade Group. Hoffmeyer is also going to Nepal, to help the Federation of Community Forest Users with a database to organize its records.
“My expectation is to train the staff in using a database by teaching them how databases work and involving them in creating one that will give them the reports they need to do their work,” she says. “The federation's goals are forest sus- tainability and community economic sustainability — goals I will be proud to support.”
Hoffmeyer is excited about the trip to Nepal, her first to the region. She says she has a genuine interest in understanding how other cultures perceive the world and their role in it. She'll have the opportunity to do just that — not only by working with the Federation of Community Forest Users but also by living with a Nepalese family.
“It's a perfect way to help them achieve their goals and for me to gain understanding of how our actions in Canada affect other parts of the world and to know how I should make changes to the way I live at home,” she says.
“For anyone who wants to participate in volunteer work in another culture, Leave for Change is a wonderful opportunity because we have the support of both our employer and the local organization we'll be serving. The program is also a great opportunity for U of G to extend its community service efforts to the global community.”