Rain cheque

We missed out on hearing from Gilad this week. The huge Monday-night storm shut down power at the college for Tuesday, and we unfortunately had to call Gilad to cancel.

I heard from a lot of disappointed folks, but I have good news: Gilad may be back to Sarnia in the fall! I'll keep you up to date on our plans and progress.

More soon...

Jayu: Using Art to Change the World

Please join us tomorrow to hear again from Gilad Cohen, founder and executive director of Jayu.

Jayu is a human-rights organization based in Toronto, founded with the belief that art can encourage conversation and spark change. Gilad's presentation tomorrow will focus on the communication across cultures that art can make possible.

We will meet in P111 from 1-2. We hope to see you there!

Jayu returns...

The word is out: Gilad Cohen will make a return visit to Lambton College on Tuesday, June 23 at 1pm. Stay tuned for details...

Students share their stories of Haiti

Nursing students at Lambton College share pictures and
stories of their experiences in Haiti.

On Monday morning, a crowd of interested faculty and staff gathered to hear two panels of Lambton College students share their experiences of their time in Haiti.

Both groups had travelled to Haiti as part of their college experience: nursing students volunteered to run medical clinics and educational sessions in Haiti, and another group of students travelled as a component of Ruth Geurts' International Community Development course, a general education class that Ruth teaches here.

Kari Roos, an SSW student here at Lambton College, helps with the Haiti art table.
The proceeds of these sales are returned to the Haitian artists.

It was clear that the trip was meaningful and memorable for each of the presenters, and even life-changing for some. The nursing students spoke about seeing the theory they'd learned in the classroom come to life, and the challenges of communicating through the language barrier. Several of these students mentioned that the "cultural compentency" they'd discussed in the classroom had entirely new meaning for them now, as they encountered in their conversations with Haitians entirely different methods of treatment and very different belief systems from their own.

The focus for the general education group is on listening and learning. They don't travel to Haiti to parachute in with solutions: instead, they go there to learn about Haitians and about themselves. Both groups of students emphasized how much the trip revealed to them about themselves and their own preconceptions.

These trips happen in conjunction with Hands up for Haiti, a group of medical professionals that partners with Haitians to build sustainable educational and medical programs in Haiti. Our students also work with Rayjon, a local NGO that's been helping people to learn about Haitians and contribute to Haiti for thirty years now.

Thanks to the students who volunteered to share their stories with all of us.

If you'd like to learn more about Lambton College's connections to Haiti, please contact me. I'll be happy to put you in touch with the right people.

Lambton College students visit Haiti

Every year, Ruth Geurts leads two groups of Lambton College students to Haiti. Nursing students and students enrolled in the International Community Development course visit Haiti for two different purposes--the first to listen and learn, the second to serve. 

If you'd like to learn more about what happens in Haiti--how the students prepare, what they do while they're there, what they take away with them--please consider joining us on Monday, June 8. We'll hear from students about their experiences, and we'll have the chance to ask questions. We will meet in L208 at 10:30 am. 

Feel free to email me (erica.kelly@lambtoncollege.ca) if you'd like to know more!

Dignity for All: Upcoming Anti-Poverty Workshop

This past February, a group called Dignity for All released an anti-poverty plan for Canada. (Our Advisory Committee member Kelly Chappell Finch wrote a helpful blog post about the plan, which you can read here. Kelly’s post also includes a link to the pdf of the full report.)

Now we have a chance to learn more about the report and to discuss its implications for Sarnia. On Thursday, May 28, from 9-11, the local Poverty Reduction Network will be hosting a workshop at Living Hope Christian Reformed Church, located at 1281 Exmouth Street in Sarnia. Anyone who would like to learn more about poverty, both locally and nationally, is invited to attend. Participants in the workshop will become part of the discussion about the causes of poverty and the structural changes necessary to equality for all.

Attendance is free.

You may have read last month’s article in The Observer about the workshop.

If you’d like more information about the workshop, please leave a note in the comments section or email me directly: erica.kelly@lambtoncollege.ca

We're in the news!

Last week, the Sarnia Journal profiled our college's new student-led social justice club, Vocalize.

Kari Roos, Erica Kelly, and Katie Horvath pose for a picture.

You can read the full story here. Thanks to Susan Roberts at the Sarnia Journal for her interest in what we've been up to!