bout de papier, Vol. 27, No. 4 (2013) — Winter 2013–14 // Hiver 2013-2014, pp. 7–13
Editor’s Note: The Canadian Foreign Service, its officers, other staff and family members have a long history of voluntarism spanning the globe. The recent strike offered another opportunity for many to pitch in. Memorably, Team Canada in Gotham and “en grève”, set out to collect garbage in Central Park…and can you imagine — not a glass of champagne or canapé on offer! From children’s theatre in Islamabad to wool toques for Vietnamese children in chilly mountains, our volunteers have been quietly exploding stereotypes, offering our talents and time for the greater good. That may sound a little pious but, judging from the photos, it is also great fun!
Au Canada comme à l’étranger, les membres du service extérieur canadien offrent régulièrement leur temps, souvent accompagnés de leurs conjoints et de leur famille, afin d’appuyer leur communauté et les causes qui leur tiennent à cœur.
En poste, l’engagement bénévole fait partie des moyens qui s’offrent à nous afin de tisser des liens avec notre nouvel environment et de bâtir un réseau social. C’est une façon d’aller à la rencontre de ceux qui deviendront nos concitoyens pour les trois, quatre ou cinq années à venir et de démontrer notre solidarité avec notre pays hôte.
Depuis le début du conflit de travail en mars 2013, les agents FS ont passé plusieurs journées en retrait de service. C’est dans un esprit de solidarité que plusieurs d’entre eux ont décidé de mettre a profit ces journées, en donnant de leur temps a la communauté.
Et comment! D’Ottawa à Pretoria, en passant par Hanoi, Abou Dhabi, Islamabad et New York, voici quelques histoires de dévouement partagées par les membres de l’APASE.
No time wasted: helping support South Africa’s most vulnerable
second day of withdrawal of services, we realized we needed to put to good effect this unprecedented period off of work. Looking for opportunities, PAFSO members on strike decided to volunteer for several days with the Tshwane Place of Safety. The organization includes a network of private homes in Tshwane (Pretoria) that take in orphaned or abandoned children. Part of the Tshwane Place of Safety network is the Tshwane Haven, which takes in children with significant medical conditions (e.g. disabilities or major illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS). The FS chose to spend some time at the Haven, which is in dire need of assistance, especially on week-end mornings when there is often only one or two employees to care for about 15 children.
PAFSO members snuggled and played with the babies and toddlers, and read stories to the older children. Their time with the children freed the workers to attend to a mountain of other to include other colleagues of the High Commission, as well as their spouses, children, and other relatives who were keen to spend time with the babies. The mission organized volunteer days with the Place of Safety, both at the Haven and at a different Tshwane Place of Safety home. This was especially significant for our volunteers because we got to share this beautiful experience with colleagues, while demonstrating that no time was wasted even if services had been withdrawn.
C.J Scott, a PAFSO member volunteer at the orphanage, said that “the courage and perseverance of the Place of Safety organizers is humbling and inspiring. We are proud to have been a part, even in a small way, of helping to support some of South Africa’s most vulnerable.” The Place of Safety will be a beneficiary of the mission’s holiday fundraising campaign.
Ottawa Humane Society run
Le 18 septembre dernier, pendant la grève, une équipe de coureurs composée de six agents du service extérieur et d’une ancienne stagiaire du ministère s’est inscrite à la course de la société protectrice des animaux d’Ottawa afin de ramasser des fonds pour l’organisation: belle course, bonne cause!
“Rice scholarships” and toques in mountainous Vietnam
Guided by one of our locally engaged colleagues, Huong Nguyen, many Canadian diplomats have contributed to the success of the Rice Scholarship Program in Vietnam. Since 2005, 17 diplomats posted in Hanoi, many of them Foreign Service officers, have raised funds from family and friends to provide scholarships to disadvantaged children in the mountainous regions of Vietnam. Thanks to donations from Canadians, nearly 900 disadvantaged students, most of them from ethnic minority groups, were provided with “rice scholarships” to help them overcome financial difficulties and improve the children’s nutrition…the essential prerequisite to any good education.
The generosity of one FS family has become legendary in Hanoi, and in many villages across Northern Vietnam. Mrs. Gayle Burley visited Vietnam for the first time in 2007, when her son Robert served at the Embassy. Having witnessed the difficult conditions of children living in the northern mountains, once back home she decided that she would knit wool hats to keep the children warm during winter months. Gayle Burley’s sister, Mrs. Sandy Ternoway, a professional seamstress, also pitched in. They spend long hours knitting small hats of various styles and colours for the children and have contributed more than 700 hats to the Rice Scholarship Program. The kids and their families are always excited to receive these gifts from the two “ba”, their “grandmothers”, from a country far away.
Strikers help adults with learning disabilities in Hong Kong
charitable organization that provides an English speaking educational program for adults with learning disabilities, together with a respite and a residential facility. Their goal is to help the students to achieve independence and develop their own potential and opportunities within the community. It was founded in 1993 by Mr. David Nesbitt, a Canadian originally social services for English speaking adults with learning disabilities in Hong Kong.
The Nesbitt family is well known to the staff of the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong, so PAFSO members seized the opportunity the strike presented to support the Centre’s good work done in the community. Not afraid to get a little dirty, they twice visited the centre to construct a few years’ worth of accumulated supplies. Of course, no visit to the Centre would be complete without some quality time with the students and the FS posted in Hong Kong were happy to make new friends. PAFSO members in Hong Kong plan to maintain their relationship with the Nesbitt Centre well into the future.
Shaving heads for cancer research
Mark Eichhorst and his son Seth have volunteered with St. Baldrick’s Foundation for several years, raising money for cancer research. Head-shaving marks a signature event for the Foundation. “Shavees” ask friends and family to make donations “on their head” and attend one of thousands of volunteer-organized events around the world where heads are shaved in solidarity with kids fighting cancer.
Mark decided to get involved with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation back in 2005 while at the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong. As he recalls, “we got involved when the dad of one of Seth’s classmates at the Hong Kong International School came up to me one day and said, ‘Mark, you have really great hair!’ Then he went on to explain that his son was a cancer survivor, that he had learned about St. Baldrick’s and wanted to try and organize an event in Hong Kong. I volunteered, and the rest is history (or hairstory, we love puns in the family!).” This was the first St. Baldrick’s event in Asia, and it has continued to grow since. Seth joined his father the following year, and they have had their heads shaved every year since. The Eichhorst duo also has participated in three shaving events in Ottawa (including once in the lobby of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada!) and three more in Abu Dhabi. “A Ithough we are thankful that we don’t have any close, personal connections with childhood cancer, we know that so many families around the world have been affected deeply. Shaving our heads in solidarity with these young cancer fighters is a tiny sacrifice compared with what they have to go through,” said Mark.
Cleaning Central Park in New York
and tidied up the grounds. Competition was fierce for greatest amount of trash recovered and most interesting piece of litter! eventually gave them away!
Au Pakistan, les Canadiens font une scène!
Dès leur installation a Islamabad, Denis Chouinard, agent du MAECID et son épouse, Violette Paré, enseignante de langues et traductrice, se sont intégrés dans leur nouvelle communauté de la façon qui leur est habituelle, c’est-à-dire en réalisant et offrant bénévolement des spectacles. Depuis leur arrivée en septembre 2012, ce couple d’anciens professionnels du théâtre a réalisé et produit quatre spectacles de contes canadiens pour enfants et adultes ainsi qu’une pièce de théâtre, sur des scènes d’Islamabad et même de Karachi.
L’aventure des contes a commencé lorsque Kuch Khaas, centre culturel privé d’Islamabad, voué à la cause du changement social par la diffusion culturelle et l’éducation, a publié une invitation aux expatriés à venir lire des contes de leur pays aux jeunes usagers de leur bibliothèque. Pour Violette et Denis, répondre à une telle invitation ne pouvait se faire sans un certain décorum! C’est ainsi qu’a leur tandem s’est ajoutée une petite compagnie de collègues et d’amis canadiens d’Islamabad. Les spectacles ont attiré à Kuch Khaas, un public nombreux et enthousiaste, d’enfants et d’adultes, ce qui a contribué à augmenter les fonds de cet organisme de charité qui soutient également une école pour enfants socialement désavantagés.
Les contes ont été conçus sur des thèmes saisonniers, sauf un. « French Canadian Christmas and New Year Tales » a été offert en décembre 2012; « Canadian Freezing Stories from Robert Munsch », en janvier 2013. « Tales from Gilles Vigneault of Natashquan, Québec » a été joué à Islamabad ainsi qu’à Karachi à l’occasion de la semaine de La Francophonie. Le dernier spectacle, « Canadian Summer Stories » a été joué au début de septembre à l’International School of Islamabad.
Lorsque Denis et Violette ont pris l’initiative de créer un groupe de théâtre amateur, ils ont reçu une réponse enthousiaste et nombreuse de la part de comédiens amateurs de toutes origines! Denis a dirigé sa troupe dans la production d’un montage théâtral de pièces de Murray Schisgal qu’il a intitulé « All You Need Is Luv », une histoire d’amour rafraîchie par des acteurs de tous âges qui se sont découvert des talents inattendus! Cette comédie qui a fait salle comble pendant une semaine, a touché les cœurs, et le public y a répondu avec enthousiasme.
Le théâtre et les contes de Denis Chouinard et Violette Paré font écho à d’autres activités initiées par des bénévoles canadiens, permettant à la communauté canadienne de s’ouvrir et de s’adapter au quotidien, lors du séjour au Pakistan.
In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake: FS skills put to good use
Dès leur installation a Islamabad, Denis Chouinard, agent du MAECID et son épouse, Violette Paré, enseignante de langues et traductrice, se sont intégrés dans leur nouvelle communauté de la façon qui leur est habituelle, c’est-à-dire en réalisant et offrant bénévolement des spectacles. Depuis leur arrivée en septembre 2012, ce couple d’anciens professionnels du théâtre a réalisé et produit quatre spectacles de contes canadiens pour enfants et adultes ainsi qu’une pièce de théâtre, sur des scènes d’Islamabad et même de Karachi.
L’aventure des contes a commencé lorsque Kuch Khaas, centre culturel privé d’Islamabad, voué à la cause du changement social par la diffusion culturelle et l’éducation, a publié une invitation aux expatriés à venir lire des contes de leur pays aux jeunes usagers de leur bibliothèque. Pour Violette et Denis, répondre à
his language ar region, rd, Violette Pare & Marie-Christine Pare s Stephens ay 22 March 2013, 5:00PM 41 ya at iance Française d’Islamaba
= X En haut a gauche : Violette Paré et Marie Christin En haut a droite : Photo de la production théâtrale Denis Chouinard a gauche et Vi En bas : Violette Paré et Denis Chouinard (à droit Christine Climenhage started volunteering while on posting in Santo Domingo after the 2010 earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti. Most people don’t know that in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Dominican Republic (which shares an island with Haiti) sent aid and opened its borders to the injured. Thousands of critically wounded Haitians arrived in Santo
Michelle was less than one year old when she was buried by the earthquake along with her mother. Both she and her mother lost a leg. They have both been furnished with prosthetics and remain in Santo Domingo.
Christine and Johan, a young boy who spent cig! in Port au Prince during the 2010 earthquake. W gained much of his speech and continues to impr Domingo; injuries included amputations, full body casts, and other physical damage requiring months of recuperation. Many victims were children, some of whom were brought to the Dominican Republic without their families. None had a home to go home to.
Christine offered her time at a wonderful children’s home, Hogar Vida y Esperanza,
Father Ruiz, the priest responsible for the Hogar Vida y Esperanza. which opened its doors to those who needed a shelter while recovering. Run by the remarkable Father Manuel Ruiz, the home provided shelter, medical care, and eventually education to more than 200 families. Christine spent time there with the children and their families, trying to identify needs and respond to them. In the beginning, the needs were very basic: medical supplies and food, and some activities for the children. The experience led Christine to volunteer with the International Women’s Club of Santo Domingo, which created an earthquake committee to fundraise and distribute project money. She also travelled to Haiti to visit the projects the organization funded there.
Over next three years, Christine visited the Hogar regularly, making connections and helping where she could. Many children were amputees who needed prosthetics. Working with very talented women from the International Women’s Club, they reached out to an international NGO specializing in making prosthetics and helped make appointments for the kids. One of Christine’s most memorable moments was when she found herself doing three-way interpretation with a French/Creole-speaking mother of a young boy, a Spanish-speaking nurse and English-speaking doctor. Another was the visit of Governor General Michaélle Jean to the home during her March 2010 visit.
Meanwhile, Father Ruiz worked tirelessly to re-unite unaccompanied children with their families back home and ensure that families were able to return to Haiti with livelihoods and skills. He expanded a community school and built a local medical clinic to improve the lives of the Haitian visitors and of the local community. The Canadian Embassy participated in a volunteer day with the visiting HCMS Toronto to help finish the clinic. “I was very proud to be present at the opening of the clinic in July 2012, a few days before I left the Dominican Republic for good,” Christine recalls. “The experience left me a richer person; I had a strong sense of contributing something important during a time of crisis and of making a lasting difference.”
Et à Ottawa…
De gauche à droite : Diana Tan, Karolina Guay, Sean Sunderland, Anita Baidwan, Alexandra Wood, Daniel Whalen, Marcia Burdette, Isabel Mainville, Yasemin Heinbecker, Kevin Gilhooly
Après quelques journées de retrait de service, les membres de l’équipe des conseillers départementaux et des conseillers principaux ont décidé de mettre leur temps hors du bureau à profit. Bien qu’il fut difficile de trouver un endroit qui accepte à la dernière minute une dizaine de bénévoles, après une suggestion d’un membre, une recherche rapide sur Internet et un appel à la coordonnatrice des volontaires de la Banque d’alimentation d’Ottawa, ces membres de l’APASE avaient un rendez-vous pour une période de bénévolat de deux heures. Les tâches confiées consistaient à trier les différentes denrées reçues par la Banque d’alimentation. La Banque d’alimentation vient en appui à 140 programmes alimentaires d’urgence qui nourrissent environ 48 000 personnes par mois dans la région, dont près de 40% d’enfants.
Isabel Mainville conclue: « Ce fut une activité que nous avons grandement appréciée, qui nous a permis de rencontrer d’autres bénévoles, et de voir des résultats tangibles dans notre communauté ».
“Paying forward” in Mongolia
Many Foreign Service parents volunteer at their children’s school while on posting. Maxim Berdichevsky also wanted to contribute to his child’s place of learning. He made an important commitment to his daughter’s school and became its trustee and treasurer, adding a missing skillset to the school’s board. The International School of Ulaanbaatar, which started from humble beginnings, is now going through a period of expansion and needed support to construct a new building to accommodate the students. While Maxim’s daughter, who is five, will probably never attend a class in this new but. ready well after the end Maxim decided it was I it forward” for the kids t
Since March, Maxim age of 10 to 20 hours aw construction contract for to obtain a loan from a financial reporting in sha this work has been done at ends, he used time away » the strike to advance this
Un dernier mot, de Joya
Enfin, il ne faudrait surtout pas oublier de mentionner l’engagement constant et volontaire de plusieurs membres au sein de l’APASE même, que ce soit pour défendre nos intérêts ou dans les autres comités de notre association professionnelle.
Joya Donnelly est un agent du Ministère d’affaires étrangères actuellement œuvrant au Conseil privé. Elle est un membre du Comité éditorial de bout de papier.
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Originally published in / Publié à l’origine dans bout de papier, Vol. 27, No. 4 (2013) — Winter 2013–14 // Hiver 2013-2014, pp. 7–13. Read the rest of this issue / Lire le reste de ce numéro →
