Julie
I'm devoted to promoting the flourishing of all living beings. We live in a beautiful, wonderful, and very troubled world. I hope that increasing empathy and creativity in human beings will help solve some of these problems, and protect the vibrant & unique sphere we all share. I believe the key to our own survival and fulfillment is widening our sphere of moral concern - who we care about - to include all life forms. I have just started my PhD and hope to study what makes humane education programs work (ie, what kind of program really does promote empathy in kids?). I was in Tanzania from Feb to June 2007. In TZ I got hand's on experience with Roots & Shoots, the Jane Goodall Institute's humanitarian & environmental education program. Now I'm back in Guyana, South America, scoping out my future research.metta
Travel Blog Posts
February 6th 2010
just in case you missed my message, i've shifted my blog to http://candle4kindness.wordpress.com enjoy! julie.... read more
January 12th 2010
I'm so spoiled here in Georgetown. Things are slowly coming together for my plans to go into the field, everyone at the Iwokrama Office has been so helpful. There is now a capoeira group in Georgetown, so I got to train today at this lovely breezy spot and the guys have great axe (energy). Then I come home to a feast and a lecture on Guyanese lingo and mangoes!... read more
January 9th 2010
There are times in life when you feel like you have utterly failed. Today there was terrible suffering and I failed to prevent it, failed to alleviate it quickly enough, and failed to do anything decent and respectful afterward. Taking a hard look at yourself and your world can come from anywhere, from a tragedy, from a beautiful experience, from a conversation. For me, the spark has often been: a mouse. I started my PhD in the hopes of studying humane education. The broader way to think of humane education is it is intended to increase empathy and compassion towards all living beings. This view encourages us to see the inextricable links between social justice, animal welfare, and a healthy environment. But I knew the setting where I wanted to do my research and eventually, to ... read more
January 8th 2010
My room rocks. In a friend’s home in Lamaha Gardens, a stone’s throw from my first home on Duncan St. I couldn’t afford this kind of hardwood, high ceilinged, breezy luxury back in Canada. Except there is this stench that comes and goes from one corner that my hostess has declared to be "a miracle". She means after a thorough investigation, they still have no idea where it is coming from. We all hope it corrects itself! Each night there is a symphony of dogs howling & barking competing with the symphony of birds & frogs, but I sleep like a baby. I've finagled a desk at the Iwokrama Office in Georgetown (I wish people wouldn't keep turning on the AC), and will head into the field by the end of next week, back into the ... read more
January 5th 2010
Only one hour sleep and a worried family before a day of travel culminating with a red-eye flight to Guyana would usually not bode well for the enjoyability of the journey. However, sleep deprivation and way too much sitting did not dampen my spirits. I hope for great things in 2010, starting with this reconnaissance (rekkie) to Guyana. I left Ottawa, and my winter coat, at 9am to go to Toronto by train. Hung out in TO with C (just realized I shouldn’t be naming people willy-nilly in my blog without permission…maybe this research ethics stuff has influenced me TOO much!). A disadvantage of Canada in winter is you can’t just hang out in the park. So we ended up walking around this gigantic mall, which shall remain anonymous (sorry, more confidentiality, folks. OK, not really, ... read more
July 1st 2007
I began the day a bit behind the ball due to sleeping in after a truly decadent evening at the B.goods mobile bakery launch party. The sample treats were delicious AND relatively healthy, and the awesome Northern Brazilian music of Forro in the Dark had us almost dancing off all those cookies! So I missed my group (Dende do Recife)’s first roda in the Market (downtown market area of Ottawa). Then I had a bit of a repeat of my unsuccessful Friday evening attempts to find Capoeira. One of the things I was actually looking forward to with my return to Canada was that I thought some things would be so much easier. So it was quite funny to not be able to track down my capoeirista friends due to delayed emails, websites not being ... read more
How to be a glamorous poi superstar
Published: April 11th 2007Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
April 11th 2007
Hi, all. Its been quite a while since my last entry! I’m kind of losing track of time here, but its being brought back into focus because soon I will be starting with Roots & Shoots (R&S). I just moved over to Jane (Goodall)’s house on 4 April. Soon I will have to split my time between R&S work and my usual hanging out at Tanzania House of Talent (THT). Last entry, I really felt I was crouching for the great leap forward (to quote my Mom). Hmmm….still crouching! My computer had a nervous breakdown, so Ruge sicked the Clouds FM technicians on it but unfortunately, in standard TZ fashion, what should have taken a day or less to fix has taken over two weeks. Almost daily I was told it would be ready tomorrow. ... read more
Blessed with Capoiera, chased by fumigators and two-year olds
Published: March 11th 2007Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
March 11th 2007
I’ve been so grateful for how welcoming, kind, & patient everyone has been. The incessant greetings when I walk around are annoying, but harmless. And if I do have to go home late from THT, one of the guys walks me home. Anyway, last week was “the breakthrough”…sort of. I’ve hinted at my main frustration about being here: that much of my time is being wasted on things that either should have been set up before I got here (the most important thing being the internet) or having to try to sort things out on my own that could have been solved easily with the help of the right people here. Sometimes this has been a hot, annoying, & sweaty drag for me. But if I can’t get my work done because I need the ... read more
Beautiful Energy at THT & Humbling Exhaustion
Published: February 23rd 2007Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
February 23rd 2007
Hi, All. Here’s my first 2 weeks in Dar Es Salaam (Dar), Tanzania (TZ)! Until April 1, I live with Seba (Sebastian) and his family: Rose (Rosalind), his wife, a doctor specializing in HIV/AIDS, their two year old, Kasmali, Seba’s younger sister, Nipa, and their “housegirl”, Pendo. As you’ve probably guessed, Seba is relatively well off! He’s pretty famous in TZ because of his radio talk show (which I got to sit in on last Sunday). I have my own nice big room, and once I get some coat-hangers, it will be relatively neat! There’s an AC unit, but I really prefer to just open the windows. Thankfully, the house has very high ceilings to help with the heat, and screened windows above the doors to each room to help move the air around. The ... read more
Flight to Tanzania: sliver-veined Swiss countryside & chasing the sun
Published: February 10th 2007Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
February 10th 2007
Mambo, everyone! Just letting you know I got to Dar es Salaam (hereafter, Dar!) safe & sound. This will be short, Seba & Rose have internet access, but its been slow or not working since I got here, so I’m pouncing on this opportunity to fire this off to you! It 28 degrees Celsius! Yay! Not much to report so far. It took about 24 hrs to get here, flights were pretty fun, I can now say I’ve been to Switzerland, Thierry, but didn’t get outside the airport! The leg from Zurich to Dar was awesome - I had a window seat, no one next to me. We flew over the Alps : WOW! It was cool to see the Swiss countryside - looks very pastoral, a patchwork quilt of neat & tidy farm fields ... read more
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