Blogs

In my concluding blog entry I again interviewed George. Through asking him questions about WARBE, leadership, advocacy, and culture, I gained a window into the incredible learning that he had done through his internship. After interviewing George, I reflected on similar questions.

This is my final Podcast with the Centre for Asia-Pacific Iniatatives, where I offer some thank-yous, some thoughts on my time in Bangladesh, and a few sounds from the street, as it were. 

A wonderful moment in which I sit down with Adam Tran, fellow CAPI intern, and talk about our experiences in South Asia. We talk about readjustment, the things we miss about the people and places there, and some of our feelings about the whole experiences. 

For my last podcast, I put together a bunch of sound clips that I took over my 6 months in India. From recording a parade on the rooftop of the Diocese of Trivandrum to recording a week long protest in front of the Secretariat, I tried to capture some of my diverse and meaningful experiences! 

Thanks CAPI, NDWM / MFI, MFA, SFD, and everyone else who make such incredible opportunities possible. 

-Adam 

I am currently one of the workaholics in the departure area of the Aquino International Airport in Manila, crowding the electric plug-ins and furiously typing away before it's time to board my flight home (holy cow! already?!) Since the last time that I posted, I have accumulated pages and e-pages of notes, concepts, and semi-finished blogs that I was intending on publishing on the CAPI website.

The World Social Forum on Migration 2012 was recently hosted in Manila, Philippines. It was a huge event that drew hundreds of delegates from all over the world. 

I was able to get some footage from the WSFM, including interviews with 5 other interns, "the Canadian delegation", about their experiences as volunteers and participants.

With the World Cup coming to State of Qatar in 2022, it is predicted that approximately one million migrant workers will be moving to the country to take part in multiple infrastructure projects that will be happening in the next 10 years (The Peninsula, 2012). With this in mind, a collaborative effort between all stakeholders is imperative to ensure fundamental human rights are respected for all migrant workers. 

This October, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Doha, Qatar to document the Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) and join an informal dialogue with the missions of several origin countries. The following gives a brief overview of each program.

Most recently, I had the opportunity to work with the Solidarity Center and MFA team on a program in Nepal to develop a national strategy to provide decent work for Nepali domestic workers. The two-day workshop was comprised of multiple sessions aimed at both informing and empowering participants in their work toward ratifying ILO C189. Approximately 50 Nepali domestic workers and local representatives from trade unions, CSOs, and international organizations attended the event.

As with the other CAPI interns, I have been fortunate enough to witness the variety of ways civil society is working toward the global ratification of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189 (C189) on Domestic Workers and the implementation of the provisions in Recommendation 201 (R201).

I will share two 'snapshots' of my life in Manila. The first is from the August flooding. The second is of my participation in a tribute choir. 

Snapshot 1: Manila Floods

In mid August, work stopped for a full week and took about two weeks to resume to its normal routine. Manila was hit by heavy flooding- approximately 50% of the city was flooded!