World Accord Board Meeting Reflections
We came together last weekend from various places across Canada and the United States to meet and discuss the various issues facing World Accord. It was my first board meeting as the executive director and I have to admit that I have gained new insight into the role these women and men play and the dedication they have to the cause of World Accord.
From left to right is: Doug MacArthur from Lethbridge, Alberta; myself, Rosilyn Coulson from New Westminster, BC; Steve Capling - our board President - from Williams Lake, BC; and Lew Shepherdson - board Treasurer - from Ottawa, ON. Seated are Carley Cole from Olds, AB, on the left with Mary Jacks-Dynes from Independence, Missouri.
Missing are Diana Hill - soon to be off the board and into the sailing adventure of a lifetime - and Tiona Taylor of Woodbridge, Ontario. Sadly, Tiona wasn't feeling well on the weekend and was unable to attend.
I had been involved to some degree with the people on the board and have done my financial presentations at board meetings since starting with World Accord but this was the first time I got to see the inner workings of the board. Riveting. Well as you may expect that is not entirely true but there is more to board meetings than mere governance of the charity.
We did our share of discussing the challenges faced by World Accord and our partners in the past year but perhaps more importantly we talked about a vision for where World Accord will be in the future. There was a lot of brainstorming and sharing of ideas and concepts that might be used to help propel World Accord into that future place where we can work to help even more people than ever before. I know I was inspired by the way the board was there to enable me and empower me to lead World Accord into the next phase of our organizational evolution.
In short I would like to thank these board members and all World Accord "board-members-past" for their dedication to the cause; laying the foundations that got us here and helping pave the way into tomorrow. If you run across one of these people, feel free to thank them for the role they play in keeping World Accord a vital and relevant organization.
Peace and Blessings
David Barth, Executive Director
PS On another note, we were visited by Betsy Wall, Executive Director of FIDA, who talked to us at length about her understanding and involvement in Haiti. That is the only country they work in and have a long history of successful projects and some lessons learned from less successful ones. Thank you Betsy. We learned a lot and of course developed still more questions we will be investigating in the future.
We have a New Program Officer
Welcome to 2010 everyone. It is going to be an interesting and incredible year. We are starting this year off right with the hiring of Nelson Rosales to be World Accord's new program officer. We are really excited by the possibilities that Nelson will help us to realize over the next year and hopefully, into the years beyond.
Nelson was born and raised in El Salvador and moved to Saskatchewan when he was 10 years old and later moved to Toronto. He is just finishing up his M.A. in Adult Education and Community Development and already holds an Honours Bachelors degree in International Development and Anthropology.
Nelson has worked or volunteered in many countries including, Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador, Vietnam, Columbia, Kenya and the Philippines and is fully fluent in Spanish, English and French. He is passionate about gender equality and working with people in a participatory manner right at the community and village group level. It appears to me an incredible match since we have excellent partners and many incredible community groups for Nelson to assist in their development goals.
I am thankful for this opportunity to work with Nelson to help our partners bring new hope to the program participants.
Welcome to World Accord Nelson.
David.
Help Wanted - Program Officer
Want to make a serious difference? Here is your chance!
World Accord - International Development Agency is a small Canadian charity and NGO based in Waterloo, Ontario, that receives funding from individuals, churches and other groups, businesses and, where possible, government agencies. These funds are then used to support the grass roots development efforts of our partners in several Central American and Asian countries. We are currently seeking an experienced program officer. Reporting directly to the Executive Director, the successful candidate will have:
- a minimum of 2 years experience in the field,
- a post secondary education in International Development or a related field,
- a proven capacity to write successful project or program proposals for CIDA,
- excellent budgeting skills,
- the drive to ensure deadlines are never missed,
- strong communication and presentation skills,
- the ability to produce clear and concise reports,
- solid file organizing and managing skills,
- strong people skills,
- a very high level of personal integrity and
- a clear understanding of environmental sustainability and gender equality issues.
This is a one year contract position that can lead to permanent employment for the successful candidate. There is a requirement for substantial international travel with this position and the ability to work and travel independently is crucial. While the majority of the work will be in English, preference will be given to those with superior Spanish language ability. E-mail applications to waccord@worldaccord.org no later than Nov. 30
We Have A Voice - Let's Use It!!!
What a month it has been. First there was the Community of Christ International Peace Colloquy. The recipient of the International Peace Award this year was Dr. Halima Bashir. She has spoken out against the genocide of her people in Darfur and written her memoirs of survival in her book - "Tears of the Desert".
Before her acceptance speech there was a short film clip entitled "Voices From Darfur".
Check it out here. Voices From Darfur
Dr. Bashir was introduced by our past director, Rod Downing, who has been producing a Peace and Justice letter for several years now and has become very knowledgeable on the Darfur genocide crisis.
We had arranged to bring three very important people to the Colloquy to participate as keynote speakers: Rupa Kumar of the CORDI Women's Shelter, in India; Felipa Xico, the executive Director of Mujeres en Accion (MeA) in Guatemala; and Domitila Curuchich, a past participant and now director of the MeA program.
During Dr. Bashir's keynote address, I remember looking over at Domitila to see her head down with tears falling onto her lap as she listened to Dr. Bashir tell her story. It brought back for her all the memories she had of the civil war and genocide in Guatemala and the disappearance of her father and brother.
After the award ceremony I saw Felipa sitting alone in the back of the temple. She had not expected to hear such a story and it had been incredibly difficult for her.
Find recordings of the Peace Colloquy here: Recordings
The following day Domitila and Felipa did an amazing job on their keynote address but all the talk later was about the address of Rupa Kumar who held nothing back on her plea. Perhaps it would be more accurately described as "her demand" for equality for women around the globe. It was hard hitting and quite appropriate given the focus of this year's Peace Colloquy - "Justice for Women; Dignity for All".
I was so proud to call these incredible women "partners of World Accord"!
I bought Dr. Bashir's book and began gobbling it up immediately. You can buy it by clicking here.
Once we all returned to Canada we began the journey that would see Terry Fielder and myself cross the country with our partners telling our stories to anyone who would listen. There were several radio interviews, newspaper articles and many meetings with both groups and individuals.
By the time we had completed our journey I had finished Tears of the Desert. What an incredible story! It was very heart wrenching and, as at other times in my life, I was astounded by man's ability to do completely inhuman things to other people. At times like this I feel there must be some fundamental flaw in humans that we could do such awful things to each other.
I am ashamed to admit that, at times, an email came across my desk and, too busy, I hit the delete key when it would have only take a moment to add my voice to those who speak out against atrocities. Never again! It may be a small thing but.......From now on I will be careful to ensure I no longer remain silent. Speaking out is a wise use of a moment. It was Haile Selassie who said:
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better;
the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph."
On this, our Remembrance Day, let us not only remember those Canadians who have fallen in wars past and present, but all those people around the world that suffer as a result of human conflict.
Let us use our voices where possible to help end conflict and bring Peace to this World.
Peace and Love
David
ps. Here is a simple thing. Go to the Save Darfur page and download a search toolbar for your browser that will donate funds to the cause whenever you search with it.
8 Days left till "Stand Up"
It is going to be a big event once again this year. More than 116 million people world wide. Go to a "Stand Up" Against Poverty event and be included in the millions that are sending a message to their respective governments to fulfill their promises of help eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. It CAN be done if we all work together. Check out their new video for Stand Up. I will be at the CEM conference in Guelph and all who choose to participate will Stand up for the photo so we can count our number and send it into the Stand Up organizers.
Sometimes small effort and small time commitments CAN have a large payoff if it is done by enough people. Join us - wherever you are in the world. Thanks for reading.
David
World Accord
