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Nov 11
Original Source: Ben’s Blog
At Engineers Without Borders I have the great privilege of working with the most inspiring and motivated people I know.
EWB overseas volunteer staff member Thulasy Balasubramaniam pores over plans for a rural enterprise with her colleagues in Zambia
 EWB overseas volunteer staff member Thulasy Balasubramaniam pores over plans for a rural enterprise with her colleagues in Zambia So what keeps them going? What keeps them asking the tough questions, and not settling for easy answers? What keeps them up at all hours, working for little or no pay to achieve the millions of little “wins” that will be required for the change we seek?
I don’t always sit back and reflect on those questions, so consider this post a bit of professional development for yours truly as I try to disaggregate what I’ve learned about helping to create this motivating environment at EWB!
I’ve come up with three concepts, each with their own pithy description! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Engineers Without Borders, ewb, George Roter, Motivation, overseas volunteer, team, vision, Volunteer
Oct 01
 Volunteer rates are down, but more people are talking about the importance of volunteering. There’s a disconnect. Here’s why, and what you can do about it.
Outside there’s an audible hum, and it’s increasing in volume by the minute. People are talking about the things that matter, the causes that move them, the communities they love. They are talking about the need to get more active, more involved. Apparently society has decided to give back like never before, and they have decided to do it through volunteering.
Or…..have they?
Non-profit executives and volunteer managers will tell you a different story. From their perspective, fewer people are showing up and fewer still are willing to make the necessary commitments. Not only that, but the volunteers seem more selfish. The question has become, “What am I getting out of the experience of volunteering?” rather than “What am I giving?” And the widespread popularity of Corporate Volunteering programs only multiply these frustrations. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug 09
“It is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer’s high privilege.
The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to calculate it again. He wakes in the night in a cold sweat and puts something on paper that looks silly in the morning. All day he shivers at the thought of the bugs which will inevitably appear to jolt his smooth consummation.
On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort and hope.
No doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other peoples money with which to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness that flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants.”
- Herbert Hoover
The Profession of Engineering (from his memoirs)
Aug 01
Engineers Without Borders – Article of the Week
Are attacks on CIDA under the banner of aid effectiveness really an excuse to further shirk from our responsibilities and will they actually further hamper the effectiveness of our overseas development assistance?
Weigh-in with your comments on this article on www.my.ewb.ca!
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CIDA Under Attack (From its Own Minister)
http://www.themarknews.com/articles/321-cida-under-attack-from-its-own-minister
The Harper government seems to be planning a hatchet job on the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) – and it looks like Bev Oda, the minister in charge of the agency, is wielding the axe.
At first glance, this might sound far-fetched. After all, the Conservatives have been increasing the foreign aid budget steadily since they were elected. Last year, Canada spent more than $5 billion on aid, a record high. Along with the recent doubling of assistance to Africa and a promise to untie aid completely, these achievements and promises signal a firm commitment to helping poor countries. Or do they? Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 15
ORIGINAL SOURCE HERE
26th March 2009
 I was reading a polemic if entrepreneurs should, or not, get an MBA and I would like to put forth my idea about the matter.
We are always learning and will continue until dead. There is always something that could be improved and, to figure out, knowledge will facilitate the process.
I agree that many entrepreneurs develop their business skills with blood, sweat and tears, as I did. I co-founded two high tech start-ups and, after 25 years of “bloody times” and two companies, I decided to get my MBA.
In theory, having a couple decades of experience in running a business, I should already know almost everything about business management and development. But, actually, getting the MBA, I learned, rooted and improved a lot of processes and knowledge that I was already using, and also, I learned a lot of new things (state-of-the-art techniques, theories, new writers, new strategies, new “gurus”, and so on). I learned all that, even being a compulsive reader of everything about management, strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship, and had read hundreds of books about the matter, before deciding to return to school. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: business, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurs, Ideas, knowledge, Management, Mario Luis Tavares Ferreira, MBA
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