A Thousand Points of Light: Building a Better Relationship Between Canadians and Africans Engineers Without Borders Canada Grand River Professional Chapter

Vision A better relationship between Canadians and Africans driven by a thousand points of light Africans driving change to create a prosperous rural sector Canadians connected to, caring about and contributing to African Prosperity

A better relationship driven by a thousand points of light Africans driving change to create a prosperous rural sector

A better relationship driven by a thousand points of light Paraphrased Text of Paul Kagame Op-Ed in Financial Times, May 7, 2009: We who live in, and lead, the world's poorest nations are convinced that the leaders of the rich world and multilateral institutions have a heart for the poor. But they also need to have a mind for the poor… Aid has not only often failed to meet its objectives; it has also rarely dealt with the underlying issues of poverty and weak societies…. Often, aid has left recipient populations unstable, distracted and more dependent; Do not get me wrong. We appreciate support from the outside, but it should be support for what we intend to achieve ourselves. No one should pretend that they care about our nations more than we do; or assume that they know what is good for us better than we do ourselves. They should, in fact, respect us for wanting to decide our own fate. Government activities should focus on supporting entrepreneurship … because it unlocks people's minds, fosters innovation and enables people to exercise their talents. If people are shielded from the forces of competition, it is like saying they are disabled. Entrepreneurship gives people the feeling that they are valued and have meaning, that they are as capable, as competent and as gifted as anyone else. …we know the road to prosperity is a long one. We will travel it with the help of a new school of development thinkers and entrepreneurs, with those who demonstrate they have not just a heart, but also a mind for the poor.

Grand River Overseas Grand River Volunteer Liz Logan currently in Ghana from working with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to promote agricultural entrepreneurship and empower small scale farmers

A better relationship driven by a thousand points of light Canadians connected to, caring about and contributing to African prosperity

A better relationship driven by a thousand points of light Text of Hilary Clinton’s commencement speech at NYU, May 2009: “Your generation will be up against those challenges: climate change and hunger, extreme poverty, new diseases... But these challenges can no longer be seen just as government-to-government. There is a time and an opportunity, and with the new technologies available, for us to be citizen diplomats, citizen activists, to solve problems one by one, and will then aggregate to the solutions we seek. We need to build new partnerships from the bottom up. But this requires smart people who have opened themselves up to this increasingly complex and interconnected world. My message to you today is this: Be the special envoys of your ideals ; use the communication tools at your disposal to advance the interests of humanity everywhere; be citizen ambassadors using your personal and professional lives to forge global partnerships, build on a common commitment to solving our planet’s common problems. You can help lay the groundwork for the kind of global cooperation that is essential if we wish, in our time, to end hunger and defeat disease, to combat climate change, and to give every child the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential.”

Shining Light - Personal Creating person to person connections between Canadians and Africans to improve our global community

Shining Light - Civic Advocating for Improved Canadian Policies towards Africa

Shining light - Professional Helping the engineering profession serve global society Slide number

A better relationship between Canadians and Africans driven by a thousand points of light Africans driving change to create a prosperous rural sector Canadians connected to, caring about and contributing to African Prosperity Two Continents, One Vision

Be a Light EWB Grand River - Personal Fair Trade: Social Justice or Business-as-Usual KPL - Tuesday June 23, pm EWB Grand River – Civic Obama in Ghana - EWB Grand River – Professional EWB Grand River - Overseas