Awaiting Accra, Ghana

Saturday, September 8th

I’m currently sitting in the Toronto Pearson International Airport awaiting a flight to take me overseas to Amsterdam and on from there to Accra, Ghana. The journey is just about to begin, but I feel as though I’ve been on a journey already over the past week.

I’ve spent the last week in Ottawa learning about the Canadian Co-operative Association, the international co-operative movement and what myself and my colleagues will be doing to help CCA and CIDA improve the international movement.

 

Thirteen young interns met in Ottawa on Monday morning on the front step of The Jail Hostel and walked and talked together on their way to the offices of the Canadian Co-operative Association along with our keeper and team leader, Kati. The thirteen of us were well aware that we came from similar educational and experiential backgrounds and knew that the week would be a great opportunity to meet some interesting peers in the field of international development and co-operative development. But we were unaware of the bonds that would be formed in the process.



"The Jail" Hostel

Between last night and this morning, the thirteen of us interns have departed from Ottawa and have begun our journeys around the world to work on projects in a wide variety of communities. Projects that we are working on range from microcredit development programs, to addressing local gender issues, to tourism development. I will be working on a program involving youth savings in Ghana.



Interns in Ottawa, Canada

It’s only now really hitting me that I will be living in Ghana tomorrow and won’t be seeing Sydney for another six months.

 

-Joel

Meet Joel

 "I’m quite excited to experience a part of the world that I have only read about in bits and pieces" -Joel






"I am highly involved with my community. I am currently the vice-chair of Cape Breton’s Habitat for Humanity project. I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity for the last three years. I have been involved with Caper Radio for the last few years. As a part of that I have been heavily involved with promoting local music and arts including helping Caper Radio revive Gobblefest, an independent music festival in Sydney.

In 2010 I graduated from Cape Breton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. I am currently completing work related to my studies in the Master of Business Administration in Community Economic Development at CBU. Through the MBA program, I have undertaken research involving credit unions and the development of the cooperative sector. Through this research and other research projects, I have presented papers in Montreal and in Halifax.

 

I will be leaving Sydney to go to Ottawa for training with the CCA on September the 2nd. After that I will be leaving for Accra, Ghana on the 8th. I know frighteningly little about Ghana and have only recently stumbled onto this opportunity to spend six months there. I’m quite excited to experience a part of the world that I have only read about in bits and pieces.

 

In Accra, I will be working with the Credit Union Association of Ghana. The CUA operates comparably to Credit Union Central in Atlantic Canada. The CUA coordinates programs to support the development of the community and the economy on various levels.

 

The program that I will be working in is designed to encourage young Ghanaians to get involved with savings programs, get involved in credit unions, and get involved within their communities. I’m very excited to see the development of the cooperative sector by means of working kids who live in a vastly different scenario to that of kids in Cape Breton. The cooperative movement in Ghana is a young movement and it’s highly influenced by organizations like CCA. I’m eager to get involved with the development of this movement."

 

-Joel Inglis, prior to his trip to Ghana.