|
|
Feb. 23, 2007
Helping out far away
Jewish volunteer agency has global view.
BAILA LAZARUS
About five years ago, Vancouverite Judi Angel was at a fund-raiser
and heard a speech by Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Secretary
General's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. She was so inspired
by his talk, she called her husband, Colin Mallet.
"I said, 'We gotta go to Africa and do something,' " Angel
related. "Colin is a very adventurous person and I'm the least
adventurous. So when I said this, he was all over it."
So they began to look for an organization that would suit the two
of them, both in terms of time availability and skills.
Angel, 58, is originally from England and grew up in Toronto and
Hamilton, moving to Vancouver in 1988. Her work over the past 25
years has been related to fund-raising. Mallet, 63, is also from
England and has lived in various countries throughout his life,
moving to Vancouver in 1994. His experience has been in management
in the pharmaceutical industry.
Angel was flexible with her schedule, being a consultant, but Mallet
was more restricted in his time. After looking around for the proper
volunteer placement, they settled on the American Jewish World Service
(AJWS).
AJWS places Jewish professionals with community-based organizations
around the world in placements lasting three to 12 months. Volunteers
must be Jewish, unless they are in a couple, in which case only
one of the two has to be Jewish. In this case, Angel is Jewish,
but husband Mallet is not.
"It was perfect because they were looking for the skill set
that we had, they were flexible on the dates and they really wanted
volunteers like us," said Angel.
Three years ago, the two did their first four-month placement in
Uganda, and recently completed a second placement in Ghana. In each
case, they were working with different local organizations. In Uganda,
Angel assisted in the fund-raising efforts of a group that worked
in HIV/AIDS prevention and support, while Mallet worked with a local
nongovernmental organization (NGO), the African Medical Research
Fund, that deals with a variety of projects in local communities.
"For us, it works really well to work in different organizations
because we helped each other," said Angel. "And we liked
the support system of having each other there."
In Ghana, the couple was stationed in the capital, Accra. Angel
worked for the Institute of Cultural Affairs, part of a worldwide
network that uses very structured facilitation and training to help
people at a grassroots level make social change. They teach basic
business skills and show people how to use micro-credit.
"They have a much more successful track record of helping people
improve their lives than other NGOs," said Angel, who worked
with them to improve their fund-raising ability. "They were
thrilled to have somebody come to help them learn."
Some of the problems both Angel and Mallet encountered in their
placements came while imparting information to the local NGOs. "People
may intend to take up the lessons that you're trying to teach, but
it's hard for them to change," said Angel. "You hope that
what you intend for them to do will stick, but it's not always the
case."
Mallet worked with an NGO that had set up community centres in very
poor rural areas to work on various projects and help develop self-supporting
grassroots groups, especially with HIV/AIDS support and education
in schools.
"It takes a lot of time to change people's habits," said
Mallet. "They are very receptive and there are a lot of ideas
you can give. But we certainly got the feeling that we are being
helpful."
Prior to her first experience in Uganda, Angel admits that she was
apprehensive about issues of disease, security etc., but was put
at ease by AJWS.
"AJWS does a phenomenal job of preparing you and puts you in
touch with people who have been working in the place you're going,"
said Angel. "For the most part, the adjustment to Uganda was
much quicker than either of us expected."
The bigger adjustment was coming home the first time. "People
just don't get what we've seen," Angel said. "You have
this feeling that you've dealt with all these amazing, gentle, loving,
sweet people, who have nothing, who seem to be content with their
lives. And here, we have so much and people are disgruntled and
unhappy. It was very jarring for me."
Mallet added: "We've probably learned to accept those differences
and accept that we're dealing in two different worlds and you just
operate differently. But you do see the futility of the dissatisfaction
here, the pointlessness of it. It is disappointing.
"Over there, death is a part of life. A mother dies, you deal
with it. The children get divided up with the rest of the family,
and they get on with their lives," Mallet said. "Whereas
here, everything's a great tragedy. It puts your life here in perspective
but you have to live with both sets of values."
Asked if they would do another placement with AJWS, both Angel and
Mallet agreed they were very impressed with how the organization
works with groups on the ground, being well-organized and getting
money to where it's needed.
"It's great to see a Jewish organization take a world view,
and [that] is willing to help around the world, rather than just
with elements related to Jewish needs," said Mallet. "The
approach to helping people based on tikkun olam is a very good one.
It's wonderful to be part of that."
For more information, visit www.ajws.org
or call 1-212-792-2888. To read about Angel's and Mallet's experiences
on their blog, go to http://colinandjudis.blogspot.com.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
^TOP
|
|
