​Kathryn Wilkinsn, a member of CFUW Mississauga, is a delegate for the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York City taking place from March 11-22, 2019. The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. 
 
The discussion at this year’s session will primarily focus on:
 
•        Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
•        Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (the agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session);

​

 I am sending a special thank you our members who have already donated the many contributions to the 2018 Shoebox Project.  I am happy to say that we have already collected sufficient Tooth brushes, soap, cosmetic bags and Kleenex purse size packages to fill the 50 shoe boxes target.  Some beautiful scarves and knitted items will star in someone’s box. We have also collected sufficient items to fill  the needs for tooth paste and dental supplies but do  hope to collect more: cough drops, hand lotions, combs and brushes, deodorant containers,  CHOCOLATE (large bars or small boxes), and warm clothing for winter (such as  scarves, hats).  Some fun items such as coloured pencils, markers, jewellery, note books and memory sticks would be welcome.
 
We currently have about 20 shoe boxes and expect about 15-20 more from local shoe stores.  If anyone knows where we can purchase suitable boxes or can supply a few more boxes please let me know.
 
For those of you that were away or forgot.... the final collection for the Shoebox Project will be held November 5 at the General Meeting.  At the November meeting I will also be asking for volunteers to help decorate and fill the boxes.  The boxes will be delivered to the Mississauga ShoeBox Project Team who will deliver the boxes to women and children in shelters for the holidays.
Thank you
 
Carol Hare, CFUW Mississauga

In support of educational opportunities for Tanzanian girls
Shop at our Tanzanian marketplace for colourful, genuine items

Guest Speakers on TEMBO’S work on behalf of girls

Saturday, April 21, 2018
Doors open 11:30 a.m.
Lunch served 12:30 p.m.
Cost $40.00 (Charitable receipt, less costs)
St. Margaret's Anglican Church, New Toronto.
156 Sixth Street, Etobicoke

For tickets, contact Kathryn Wilkinson at wilkinsons@rogers.com(416-985-5792) or
Joan Barrett at maryjoanbarrett@rogers.com (905-403-0169).

An issues meeting took place at the home of Elisabeth Evans on Tuesday, January 23rd.

The first presenter was Ami Gopal, director of Development at WATER FIRST, Canada’s leading NGO dedicated to resolving First Nations water challenges. She spoke about how her organization addresses boil water advisories and environmental water challenges in Indigenous communities through training, education and meaningful collaboration.
Their projects include:

• A 16-month paid internship for Indigenous people on Manitoulin Island, covering the basics of water treatment and water monitoring.
• Environmental Restoration: Collaborative initiatives with First Nations communities to restore the health of watersheds.
• Water Quality Studies where Indigenous youth are trained to take water samples at sites of importance determined by the community.
• Gush Workshops, which are fun-science driven workshops introducing Grade 7 and 8 students in Ontario to the water challenges faced by their Indigenous peers. 

 
The second presenter was Joan Barrett
THE UNESCO BIOSPHERE RESERVE FRONTENAC ARCH (2002) and RIDEAU CANAL UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE (2007)  -   Report from Joan Barrett

Canada has 18 designated UNESCO Biosphere reserves.  The southern border of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve extends along the shore of the St. Lawrence River from Brockville to Gananoque including the Canadian Islands. To the north it reaches through forest, farm land and small villages to the Rideau Canal. In 2007 the Rideau Canal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site which greatly extended the original boundaries of the Reserve.  There are only a handful places in the world with such a double designation. 

Five people made up the volunteer committee preparing the application to UNESCO in 2002.  As chair of the township’s Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee  I wrote  the heritage section. An attempt was made to include the participation of the natives of the St. Lawrence - the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee - but had no success. We acknowledged their presence as First People. The other woman researcher wrote about economic opportunities spending her time encouraging embryonic businesses and farmers to support the Reserve’s concept.  One of the authors was an expert on biodiversity, and the current Parks Canada Superintendent and his predecessor prepared the scientific and environmental aspects of the proposed lands. I did one of the major edits before we forwarded the application to Ottawa.

VISION STATEMENT : 
The FRONTENAC ARCH will be known as  a champion for world-class sustainable community development that celebrates nature, livelihood, wellbeing and culture and forges a better way of living and growing together.

A BLOSSOMING OF INDIGENOUS CUISINE

Indigenous Restaurants and Recipes.
        From coast to coast there are Indigenous restaurants appearing in larger cities.  The Globe and Mail recently published an article about this growing cuisine (Mar. 29.17).  Some of these restaurants add ingredients of contemporary western cooking to their dishes.

• In Toronto, Tea-N-Bannock at 1294 Gerrard Street, serves meals that attract a number of Indigenous city residents with modest means. 
• The Ku-Kum restaurant is located at 581 Mount Pleasant Road, where you may order “pine needle and citrus sorbet.”
• Boralia, at 59 Ossington, provides a historical range of menus—traditional Aboriginal dishes and recipes of early settlers and immigrants of the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Nish Dish, a storefront marketeria and catering business, will open at 690 Bloor Street West on April 28th.  It is owned and operated by Anishnabe  First Nations members
• The Pow Wow Café is situated on Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market.
• Several Montreal soup kitchens and drop in centres are offering seal meat once a month, which for us Canadians living in the south, is now an expensive delicacy.  One of these places is Chez Doris, a drop in day centre for women of whom about 15 per cent are Inuit.  Every Friday she offers aboriginal meat:  caribou, buffalo or venison. 
•  In Iqaluit, The Gallery restaurant offers local cuisine such as Arctic char and caribou.
• Online I found The Fish Depot of Newfoundland, which ships vacuum sealed seal flippers.

 
    If you are curious to learn something about traditional native cooking, you will find the internet a good source of information.  If, for example, you Google, “How do you fry deer meat?” you will, in a second, learn the Indigenous method.    Inuit Country Food Recipes  are an online collection of 28 examples of Inuit cooking.  
    Our interlibrary loan service supplied me with four delightful Indigenous cookbooks.  A most appealing and artistic one is “Nishnabe Delights”, compiled by Mary Lou Fox, and illustrated with black, white and orange native art by Martin Panamick. 

 Here is its recipe for Roast Beaver:   

1 beaver, skinned and cleaned
½ cup vinegar
1 tbsp. salt.
2 tsp. soda
1 medium onion, sliced
4 strips bacon or salt pork
½ tsp. salt
¼ t sp. pepper
Wash beaver thoroughly in salt water and let soak overnight.  Add ½ cup vinegar and 1 tbsp. salt to water.  The next day remove the beaver from the brine and wash.  Place beaver in pot, add two quarts water and two tsp. soda to bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Drain.  Then place beaver in a roasting pan.  Cover with sliced onion and strips of bacon and season with salt and pepper.  Place lid on pan and bake at 375 degrees until tender.  Serve with a tart jelly.  Serves 4.

Andrew George Jr. has written, “Modern Native Feasts”, and, “A Feast for All Seasons”, the latter with Robert Gairns.
Dolly and Annie Watts are the authors of, “Where People Feast”.
These four books are entertaining and interesting.

    International cuisine has become well established in Canada, and now we have the opportunity to learn something of nature’s nutritious and tasty bounty that sustained the first peoples of this land.

A note Pikangikut
    In the March article about the people of this reserve I unfortunately neglected to include the tragedy of the fire a year ago which took the lives of nine people.  Now band chiefs are urgently calling on government to improve fire protection services on reservations.

PIKANGIKUM:  ISOLATION, TRAGEDY AND HOPE

    The First Nation of Pikangikum is a “fly in” reservation of between 2,600 and 3,000 inhabitants about 330 miles north of Thunder Bay.  The nearest town to the south is Red Bay with some 4,000 people, at a distance of about 60 miles. Almost all residents speak Ojibway as their first language.  They have rights of customary land use beyond the reserve, and carry on hunting and fishing. Tragically, the community has become known chiefly for the number of residents, mostly young people, who have taken their own lives. In the past 20 some years close to 90 people have committed suicide. Only in the last few years has the public taken the trouble to look at the underlying causes. 

     Ontario Court Justice David Gibson, in a recent written judgement regarding an arrest and subsequent riot against the reserve police, drew attention to the desperate existence to which the residents of Pikangikum are subjected.  He enumerated the lack of running water or sewage, the curse of gas-sniffing, and the number of people who have taken their lives, which, he wrote, has made the community known as the “suicide capital of the world.”   He stated, “There are many good people here and the conditions they are living in are a national disgrace” (Globe and Mail, Mar. 7, 2017).

    Located beside the river of its name, Pikangikum began as a Hudson Bay trading post.  During the latter half of the twentieth century the population began to increase substantially, and now grows at about three percent annually.  Residents are strongly attached to their community—the forest, lake and river, their language, culture and family.  Only about two percent have left the reserve.  Despite their love of the community, many experience an underlying desperation about their miserable living conditions and feel alienated from the federal government and community police.  

• On several occasions the federal government has failed to live up to its promises for projects and reneged on its promise to inject more money into the community.
• The police in the past have acted arbitrarily.  In 2012, they conducted 3,600 lock-ups and made 5,000 arrests (Maclean’s, March 30, 2012).
• Perhaps 90 percent of dwellings lack running water and sewage treatment, which threatens to contaminate the ground and river.  The population’s electrical power comes from an old diesel engine which has frequent breakdowns.  Lack of power prevents residents from boiling water on the electric stoves. The population has the highest rate of skin and urinary tract infections among the First Nations of northern Ontario and non-indigenous people.
• There are 450 houses, an extreme shortage of homes, and high rate of neglected home repairs.  The federal government finances the building of these, and is responsible for their repair, though arguing that the province has a responsibility in this regard.  Until a few years ago, Indigenous people on reserves could not obtain mortgages, which gave no encouragement to renters to undertake their own maintenance.
• High school and elementary education has suffered from frequent closures when power outages occur, and also at times when mould build up in the teachers’ quarters has forced these to be shut down.  One of the principals, Kurt MacRae, told a visitor from the media that the rate of suicide goes up with the frequency of school closures.  Absenteeism has been another major issue.
• High unemployment of around 75 to 90 percent and family dysfunction go together.  With the forest industry gone, and high population growth, traditional occupations cannot support the population.  The lack of reliable power discourages businesses from moving into the community. Social assistance is the norm.  These are factors that contribute to the high number of young people who have taken their own lives.
• One finds high grocery prices and food scarcity.  The population has to pay more than double the cost of food in southern Ontario and the rates of social assistance are inadequate for a healthy diet.  To relieve the situation, the school operates a free breakfast and lunch program with extra snacks available.  Planes bring in fresh produce twice a week, but people lack reliable refrigeration.  This year residents became eligible for the full northern food cost supplement for many items.  There is a long list of these foods on an online chart.  

Progress and Hope.
 The Band, Indigenous and Northern Affairs and private businesses have for several years been working on several important projects that will improve the residents’ lives.  

• One project that has been much welcomed is the new Enchokay Birchstick School, which opened in October.   It combines all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 in one building, and has an enrollment of 700.  The previous property was destroyed by fire in 2007, and in the intervening years the students worked in portables.  The new building occupies 9,239 square metres, with capacity for 950 students.   Photos show a beautiful, light interior, with lots of open space.  Pupils are sitting at computers.  There is a large teaching staff, most of the teachers having a paraprofessional assistant.  Instruction is in both Ojibway and English.  The list of assistants for the one special education teacher is a long one.  One activity that a student enthusiastically mentioned, was Project Journey, a joint cultural undertaking led by the OPP and residents, that includes canoeing, drumming and hunting.  There is busing of students.  It seems likely that the secondary school serves several communities in the district.
• In the spring of 2016 the local Northern Store, the reserve’s  department store and main supplier of groceries, opened its expanded 16,000 square foot building.   Tim Horton’s has been added to KFC and Pizza Hut and a café-like seating area provided, to which the manager welcomed customers to socialize with friends.  The business offers an enlarged baby department which the opening notice declared had everything an infant needs. The store will also include the sale of local products.  Employment has been given to 13 new staff.
• Of an importance to the community that cannot be overstated is the First Nations led Transmission Project, to bring reliable electricity to Pikangikum.   When the reserve joined the Wataynikaneyap Power Company in August, it became one of 22 equal shareholders.  The transmission lines will extend 1,800 kilometres to the north to connect more communities to the grid at an estimated total cost of 1.35 billion dollars.
• After many years during which the band prohibited further cutting in the  Whitefeather Forest, the community has decided that it is time to develop a forestry  industry in theirarea of customary crown land use.  The announced purposes of the renewed cutting are economic development, renewal and resource stewardship. The Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management  Authority will have an area of operation of 11,749 square kilometres.  One of its strong supporters pointed out that they have forestry technician students who will graduate soon, and experienced foresters on the reserve who will be involved.  
• Residents wish desperately for an end to the grievous suicides and place much hope in the fine new school.  The teaching staff of the school spend a good part of their time involving themselves in the social and emotional needs of the students as part of their mandate.  Dealing with gasoline sniffing on the part of young people is a continuing issue.  A group of residents has recently come together to combat the scourge.  Pikangikum has a considerable staff who deal with the traumas of students and families:  social workers, three or more nurses, and doctors that visit five days a week.

   . Questions for the future

• The residents are very attached to their community and few leave.  Is this partly out of fear of living in a distant, different and complex society?
• Airfares are expensive. Where can young people find the money for transportation?
• Do young people feel that an education in their nearest city is beyond their means?
• Do most Indigenous people still feel that they would find overwhelming prejudice outside?
• When will there be a clean municipal water and waste disposal system  with trained resident technicians?
• When will the federal government invest in decent housing, also with Indigenous training in maintenance?
• Can residents obtain a decent standard of living?

Remember the Honey Bee Resolution? They are back in the news again in a good way.  We'd like to think CFUW support of the resolution helped public awareness.

Honey Nut Cheerios is giving away 100 million wildflower seeds to Canadians in the hopes of encouraging bees in our communities.  You can enter your name online to receive your package in the mail - a list tells you the 16 varieties of wildflowers you receive. What is really nice is that you do not even have to buy a box of Cheerios.


​The buzz word to read the message and how to order is bringbackthebees.ca

POLLUTED WATER SYSTEMS ON FIRST NATIONS 

    From the late 1960s, governments have passed numerous laws to protect the environment, including our waters, yet many First Nations still live in polluted watersheds and with inadequate water facilities. In October, 2016, there were 133 drinking water advisories in 90 First Nations, excluding B.C.  That province has given its oversight of reservations to the First Nations Health Authority, which does not report these figures.  The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has spent a great deal of its budgets on the building and maintenance of water and wastewater systems on First Nations, but the systems continue to break down.

    One in five First Nations families relies on a private well and 57% of households have a septic system.  A second type of water system on the reserves serves a commercial centre. A third one serves the whole community.  There are three types of water advisories.  The first is Boil Water for drinking.  The second is Do Not Consume, when boiling cannot remove all the contaminants.  The most limiting is Do Not Use.  Regarding wastewater systems, Human Rights Watch (2016/06/07) reported that in 2015, 48% of communities were at low risk of contamination, in 2014, 41% of wastewater systems were at medium risk and that 18% were at high risk.  Prime Minister Trudeau has promised that the government will see that boil water advisories are ended by 2021, and Ottawa has budgeted some billions of dollars for safe water on the reserves.

    The Globe and Mail recently published a double page article on the problems of water systems among First Nations communities (2017/02/17).

• The official position of INAC is that it funds and advises the First Nations, but they are responsible for designing, constructing and operating their water infrastructure.
  
• Ottawa, for most of the past two decades, capped annual budget increases of many INAC programs, including capital facilities and maintenance, at 2 per cent.  Whereupon, INAC raided more than $100 million from its infrastructure budget for other purposes.
• Various firms, some employed at INAC, who have had water systems contracts have different explanations for the frequent failure of the water systems.  Critics say that few of INAC’s engineers have specialized training and experience with water issues.  The community has to fight to choose their preferred system.
• There are no standards of service for reserves.  While Ontario’s municipal systems are built to provide 450 litres per resident per day, many First Nations systems in the province were built for a capacity of 180 litres per day for residents.
  
• Much of INAC’S budget for water services goes to maintenance, leaving inadequate funds for new systems.  The Globe comments, “…there is little evidence (that INAC) has devoted much attention to understanding why so much of the infrastructure it paid for fails prematurely.”
• The Globe’s article ends with, “Remedies.”  Russell Anthony recommends that a single contractor carry out a project and be required to operate the system for several years.  Hans Peterson, of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, states that INAC and consulting engineers are reluctant to use unfamiliar technology.  He participated in the invention of the integrated biological and reverse osmosis membrane process which is employed in some communities, notably in Saskatchewan.

        John Millar, of Water First, in a letter to the Globe (2017/02/25), writes, “…there’s one approach that holds much promise:  local training….In Ontario 54 per cent of First Nations under a long term boiling water advisory do not have a certified operator….Local education and training initiatives will be key to any lasting remedies.”

Grassy Narrows and White Dog First Nations    The Toronto Star in January published how two reporters and volunteers from Earthroots dug behind the former Dryden Pulp and Paper mill and found levels of mercury “nearly 80 times the level expected to be found in soil from that region of the province.”  In the spring scientists employed by the Ontario government will at last investigate the mill site for further mercury contamination (Toronto Star, 2017/02/14). 

It is very encouraging to learn how our CFUW members are positively engaged in making a difference in the world!  Our very own Kathryn Wilkinson, VP Education followed her life long passion and took her teaching skills on the road all the way to Tanzania to work with village girls to raise their level of education.  This is a repeat trip for Kathryn to work on an initiative that is dear to her heart.  Her testimonial introduces the reader to a world that seems so remote from Canadian sensibilities, yet we know the world is shrinking and it is possible to participate in reshaping outcomes for women and girls globally.  

Kathryn’s account describes the cultural norms, stressors for women/girls and the initiatives led by a Canadian organization that addresses gap areas in community development.  She links these initiatives to the  Sustainable Development Goals agreed to by the United Nations member states. 

We can all be proud of Kathryn’s active engagement in making a difference in the world. If you have an international project you or your club is involved in supporting, do share your story with me.  Good news warms the heart and lifts the spirit.  By sharing your story with others you’ll increase the consciousness of hope and multiply the practice of giving. 
​
Cheryl Hayles, VP International Relations 

Testimonial by Kathryn Wilkinson, VP Education
“Educating girls is a sure way to raise economic productivity, lower child and maternal mortality, improve nutritional status and health, reduce poverty, and eliminate HIV/AIDS and other diseases.”       UNICEF  

The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 and 20 delegates from CFUW will be in attendance.  Attending CSW is an amazing experience and opportunity to network with other women’s organizations, politicians and policy makers.  In March 2016, the focus of CSW was the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals.  This past October/November, I spent a month in Longido, Tanzania and worked with a program for girls (PASS) who had just finished primary  school and were waiting to hear if they had passed the state examination for admission to secondary school.  It was my third visit to the same community and, reflecting on my trip, it appears to me that the problems faced by the community, and especially by the women and girls, are an example of the importance of the SDGs and, in particular, of the first seven of the seventeen: Poverty, Hunger and food security, Health, Education, Gender equality and women’s empowerment, Water and Sanitation.   It was my privilege to work with a small Canadian Non Government Organization, TEMBO, that has been working in and with the community since 2004. 

Tanzania has a young population with 44.1% of the country’s population aged below 15 years of age and the UN Human Development Index ranks Tanzania at 148 among 169 countries.   Poverty is evident everywhere in the community and particularly in the outlying villages.  Many of the girls arrived at the program with just the clothes on their backs.  Many come from traditional bomas (mud huts) and staying in the hostel for the program was their first experience of a mattress, and a mosquito net.  One day, we teachers noticed one of the girls wearing sandals (flip flops made from old tires) that were way too big.  Her sandals had broken and she was borrowing shoes from the other girls to walk to class.  Some girls arrive with no basic supplies, even underwear (Goal 1.  End poverty in all its forms everywhere).    

October/November is the season of the short rains but there had been a little rain since May.  In the village, there are water taps but the water was rationed.  In the outlying villages, women and girls walk to collect water.  Animals get water first because the cattle are the bank account.  When there is limited or no water, there is nothing with which to cook the basic food such as a thin porridge or ugali that is made from flour and water. It is not unusual to see children with enlarged rear skulls – a sign of water deprivation.  At one of the outlying schools, local officials report that the World Food Program was contributing funds to provide a meal mid-day but they no longer receive this contribution because of perceived greater needs in war torn areas of the world.  Many of the children have stopped attending school because they are too hungry to walk or because the thought of a meal motivated them to attend.  (Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture).    

UN Women in Tanzania reports that “discrimination, abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) is wide-spread and common due to patriarchal and traditional norms”. Longido is in the heart of the traditional Maasai community where men may take as many wives as they want and early and forced marriage is common.  The ‘ideal’ age for a girl to marry is puberty so it is a challenge to protect girls from being forced into marriage, often as the second or third wife of a much older man.  FGM is also widely practiced with all its attendant health issues.  FGM has been illegal in Tanzania since 1998 but Mary, a Community Outreach worker and a Maasai woman, believes it is almost impossible to enforce and can only be changed through educating the community.  A Maasai girl is taught to look forward to her ‘special time’.  It is a celebration and she will receive gifts of clothing, jewelry and goats. Her family will be proud of her and she will be ready for marriage. Mary is the first Maasai woman in the community to hold an ‘alternative’ coming-of-age celebration for her daughter.  She organized a big gathering of friends, neighbours and local officials.  Only when the party was well underway did Mary announce that her daughter had not undergone circumcision and never would.  It was an act of courage and Mary continues to work to persuade members of the local community to abandon FGM.   Boys and girls in Longido are participating in the Sara-Juma Club funded by TEMBO and taught by Mary who has created a curriculum focusing on the needs of local adolescents: puberty, health and hygiene, importance of education, HIV/AIDS and FGM.  Classes are held weekly for Standard 6 and use dance, music and drama.   There is also a FEMA club for students in secondary school where they are taught about their rights for education, safety, sexual health.  Sara-Juma classes are fun to attend but the message is very clear and most importantly it is being shared by boys and girls.  On my first visit to a Sara-Juma Club, I was invited to teach a song in English.  The students then reciprocated in Swahili.  I asked what they were singing  – Do Not Mutilate Me! The hope is that they will take the lessons they have learned back to their homes.  (Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.) 

According to UNESCO (2011), in regards to education, “Poor rural girls face the worst access conditions, and disparities tend to broaden at of the end of primary … Poor rural girls have virtually no opportunities to pursue secondary education.”   According to the UN, in 2013 in Tanzania, primary enrolment was 87.4 females and 86.2 males per 100.  Many boys start school later because they look after the herds but by secondary school the numbers start to change.  30.8 female to 33.7 males attend secondary school and for tertiary education the number is much lower: 2.5 female and 4.9 male.   Education is a major focus of TEMBO.  As of 2016, TEMBO has sponsored more than 230 girls to attend secondary school, outfitted them with their school supplies (all students board at an assigned school) and offered them ongoing support through academic enrichment programs during the school breaks. 

In Tanzania, when students have completed four years of secondary school, some students qualify for vocational or teacher training programs.  Since 2007, TEMBO has sponsored more than 26 young women to attend a two-year training program to become primary school teachers and supported 55 young women for vocational training programs. Many of the TEMBO sponsored students have chosen to study community development and are now working with local community-based organizations.    

Each week, adults in three villages (Kimikouwa, Oldorko and Ranch) gather under a tree close to their traditional Maasai bomas for a Swahili literacy lesson (the Maasai speak Maa) and life skills class.  The majority of participants are women and this is their first exposure to education.  I watched a young mother struggle to hold a pencil while her toddler looked on and then tried to imitate her.  One Wednesday in November, there were seven women in the class and between them they had 30+ children.  Not one woman had attended school and only two of their children were attending.  In a  traditional Masaai community, such as Longido, there is limited value placed on education. Many children may be registered for school, but they do not attend. Where there is a choice, the brightest stay home to herd cattle.  I visited a grade 6 classroom where the ages ranged from 10 – 16.  Children start school at different ages; they drop out when needed by family.   

Happy is well named and she currently works as a house girl in Longido. She passed the national exam at the end of primary school and completed two years of secondary school. The eldest of four children from a village near Kilimanjaro, she had to drop out of school when her father died to help support the family.  When time allowed, she was working independently at the Longido Learning Centre studying to write the form 2 exams.  Her dream was that her younger sisters would have an easier life than the one she was living.   The Longido Learning Centre is a joint project between Longido District and TEMBO and officially opened in February 5, 2016.  It is a centre for informal educational opportunities in Longido and offers resources and programs to all age groups as well as quiet space for independent study, meeting space for community groups and opportunities for Open University students.  (Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all). 

Access to toilet facilities is an issue for many women and especially for those in rural areas.  Leaving home at dusk or dawn to find a ‘toilet facility’ is potentially dangerous.  In Tanzania, for many women, menstruation is a time of “shame” and women seclude themselves in the boma for the duration or risk being shamed for being “dirty”.  In June 2016, TEMBO  introduced women in the remote villages surrounding Longido to a menstrual kit which includes panties, panty shields and washable liners.  Kits were made and donated by volunteers in Canada and distributed through TEMBO.  Sanitation in schools is also an issue.  Tanzania is a poor country and Kimokouwa is an especially needy community.  Last year, the elementary school, was closed for 2-3 months because the toilets were condemned.    When the primary school results were announced in November, only 1 of 42 students in Standard 7 in Kimokouwa had sufficient education to achieve a mark that would get them into secondary school.  In effect, their education was over after year 7.  (Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all)    

And finally, Goal 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.  Collecting firewood is another of the duties of women and girls.  They can be seen walking through the bush weighed down by large bundles of wood.  It is illegal to sell charcoal as deforestation is a major issue in the country but women can be seen with small piles of charcoal they have made for sale.  

​Perhaps the agents of change look like you.  In Longido, there is evidence of the difference a small group of dedicated people can make in the lives of women and girls who need support.  

​We have received a note from Sandy Thompson passing along a letter from Huguette Labelle, Chair, Independent Advisory Board on Senate Appointments.  She is asking for high caliber candidates to serve in the Senate of Canada. There are two vacancies in Ontario to be filled.  Some CFUW clubs did participate and recommended individuals in the first round of Senate appointments.   It would be wonderful to either have a CFUW member or a CFUW recommended individual worthy of the appointment be selected.   Please note the deadline is January 25, 2017.
 
Below are:

• Letter from Huguette Labelle, Chair, Independent Advisory Board on Senate Appointments
• A Summary of the Senate Appointment Process from Heather Foss, CFUW Regional Director, Ontario South​

Beth Elysee-Collen, President CFUW Mississauga

Senate Appointments Process
The Senate of Canada plays a fundamental role in the legislative process, providing sober, second thought complementary to the elected House of Commons. The Senate also plays a key role in the representation of regions and minorities.
Under the Constitution, the Governor General has the power to appoint Senators, and by convention this power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Constitution specifies the requirements for appointment. The constitutional roles, qualifications and fundamental functions of the Senate will be maintained under the new, non-partisan, merit-based appointment process.
The Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments
The Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments (IABSA) has been established to provide the Prime Minister with non-binding recommendations for Senate appointments. It is an independent and non-partisan body, guided by merit-based criteria in evaluating all candidates. More information, including the assessment criteria, is available on the IABSA website (www.canada.ca/senate- appointments). 
Implementation
The new appointments process has been implemented in two phases. To reduce partisanship and increase provincial representation in the Senate in the early stages of the new Parliament, a transitional process was established.  Candidates were nominated for consideration by national, provincial and local organizations.  The IABSA provided advice to the Prime Minister on the selection of candidates for provinces with the most vacancies: Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.  Seven (7) appointments were made to the Senate under this process in the spring of 2016.
For the permanent process, enhancements were made to the transitional process to include an open, online application process that allows Canadians to apply directly for appointment to the Senate. Under the first cycle of the permanent process for Senate appointments, the Prime Minister selected 21 candidates from seven (7) provinces for recommendation to the Governor General in the fall of 2016.  
Permanent Process – Winter 2017 
The current cycle of the permanent Senate appointment process will fill six (6) vacancies – one (1) for New Brunswick, three (3) for Nova Scotia and two (2) for Ontario – which are expected to arise in 2017. 
Applications will be accepted online until Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 23:59 ET. Detailed information on how to apply is provided on the IABSA website. 
Potential applicants should carefully review the assessment criteria and consider how well they meet each of the requirements. Preparing an application will take some time and effort; therefore, applicants are encouraged to start on their applications as early as possible. Applicants must submit an application form, curriculum vitae, three reference letters and a Background Check Consent Form for their application to be complete. 
Individual Canadians and organizations can quickly and easily share information about the Senate appointment process with potential applicants by e-mail or on social media using the “Share” button on the website.
 
Heather Foss, MEd
CFUW Regional Director
Ontario South