Erudite Relics of Loc Huu Ho

Alrite so today starts and ends the first day of my second month in. Yesterday I went in for my blood test and to refill up on the drug. I’m starting to get used to this whole moisterizing and sunblock application on a daily basis it’s so not boyish. Besides my face feeling really painfully tight at times, I’m getting used to it…just 3 more months. Anywho…need to sleep haven’t had much sleep this week and it’s outerly tiring…zZzing.

So…spent most of today learning and discussing about the complexities of poverty and how technology can affect such areas. The UofT chapter did an awesome job for having to come across some difficulties last minute. I got to listen to various viewpoints and how certain people view the world (well more sarcastically than anything from a certain individual but the remarks were quite mind opening since the questions were more from a devil’s advocate). I really like the technology and culture workshop portion of the mini-conference because of the addition of the tricky application of how technology has come second nature in our lives. The conference was well worth the time on a Saturday and the 5$ in exchange for meeting and talking to people with simliar minds and interests. Here’s a brief summary of the day:

Development Day is a day-long conference, helping participants explore the intricacies of human development, participatory approaches, and EWB’s methodology. It forms a strong foundation for future discussions and workshops, as well as bringing together like-minded people in a casual, yet intensive setting.

Schedule

9:30 — Registration

Introductions, mingle time, and an ice-breaker.

10:00 – 11:15 — Root Causes of Poverty

Introductory systems analysis of the causes and effects of poverty, with a focus on the differences between proximate and ultimate causation, and what are some ways to think about how to affect change and reduce poverty in these systems. This workshop will be led by Camila Campos Herrera and two of our chapter’s returning overseas junior fellows, Mina Shahid, and Rachel Alexander.

11:30 – 12:30 — Appropriate Technology

This workshop links the way technology implementation has occurred in the West and how these practices might be applied or modified in international development initiatives. Anastassia Pogoutse and Shankar Manoharan will deliver this workshop with the help of Risako Shirane, a Global Health student who worked on a water filter purification project in Cambodia.

12:40 – 1:15 — LUNCH

Food with both vegetarian and vegan options. Fair Trade refreshments will be served throughout the day.

1:20 – 2:30 — Culture and Technology

An exploration of how aspects of technology shape Western culture. This workshop will focus on how we are individually and collectively influenced by the adoption of various kinds of technology. Cherisse Diaram and Michelle Chen will facilitate this workshop with the help of Jiayi Zhou.

2:30 – 3:30 — The Engineers Without Borders Approach

We will be discussing how technology is currently used in the EWB approach to international development. Martin Giroux-Cook (past chapter president, overseas volunteer) and William Li (past chapter president, overseas intern) will share their experiences and expertise.

3:30 – 4:10 — iDevelopment Wrap Up

An interactive conclusion to the conference that will bring it all back to the here and now: what technology, culture, and international development has to do with YOU. Saifu Li will deliver this exciting and reflective conclusion to the day with the assistance of Maria Fauquie.

Ya…it’s been a while since I posted something about this, but so far 2/3 done of the first month…and I’m constantly getting chapped lips now (sometimes very severe) and my face hurts quite a bit from all the tightening and dryness even with the mosterizer on… Haven’t been very depressed lately though I should be soon from seeing my results from my midterms, but there’s still plenty of hope. Going to be in super stress mode soon though. Let’s see how my breakouts hold out while I’m on the drug.

P.T. Barnum had shrewdness, inventiveness, hair-trigger readiness in acting or deciding, an eye for hidden possibilities, an instinct for determining beforehand what would prove popular. All these qualities helped him in his original and extraordinary career. But the quality he valued most highly was the one he called “stick-to-it-iveness.” This completed the others. Without it the great showman could not have succeeded at all. Nor did he think that any man who lacks it will make much headway in life. Read the rest of this entry »

Thinking you would like a square meal will not in itself earn you one. Thinking you would like a strong body will not without effort on your part make you an athlete. Thinking you would like to be kind or successful will not bring you gentleness or achievement if you stop with mere thinking. The arrows of intention must have the bow of strong purpose to impel them.

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