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From Afghanistan to the Great Lakes

Written by Richard Taylor

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:16

Next year Canada will begin leaving Afghanistan. This begs the question: Where should we shift our focus and what is the future of Canadian foreign policy, especially in the developing world?

The question was front and centre at the recent Liberal Party thinker’s conference in Montreal, where Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler criticized the lack of vision in Canadian foreign policy, and especially the Conservative government, for transitioning away from Africa toward more prosperous Latin America.

This transition is unfortunate because it happens at a time when bold Canadian leadership in the developing world can help bring long sought peace, stability, and development to millions of people, especially in one of the world’s most forgotten and hard hit regions: Africa’s Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes—and particularly the Eastern Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi—are at Africa’s heart. Its resilient people have been mired in ongoing conflict and extreme poverty for decades. The United Nations largest peacekeeping mission has had little impact. Many Canadians see the region as ungovernable and believe there is a little hope for its future. Investment is limited to a few Canadian companies with mining and energy interests and the dedicated men and women who work with local non profits and relief agencies.

What most Canadians do not recognize is the unique window of opportunity to change this seemingly intractable situation, less by military means than through dedicated leadership development, a focus on reconciliation and restorative justice, heavy investment into quality education, and the development of an active and informed civil society.

We should take heart from extraordinary gains made over the last decade in Rwanda, a country critical to the stability of the region. This April the country commemorates the 16^th anniversary of its brutal genocide, an event equivalent in the number of people killed to three 9/11s every day for one hundred days.

The genocide was largely responsible for the destabilization of the entire Great Lakes region. In its aftermath at least 800,000 people were dead, three million fled the country as refugees, and 300,000 children were orphaned or separated from their parents. Interhamwe militias fled to the Eastern Congo and ever since it has been rife with sectarian violence, leading to millions of deaths.

Few gave Rwanda any chance of recovery. Its entire economy and social infrastructure were destroyed. In 1994 Rwanda was no longer a country. Today its people are being recognized for their commitment to healing and reconciliation and their vision to transform their country from a primarily agrarian society to a service and technology hub for Central Africa by the year 2020.

Rwanda has been lauded for its commitment to restorative justice, gender equality, and environmental sustainability, and its low levels of corruption. Aid money goes where it is intended and trade is growing. Rwanda was recently recognized as the world’s top reformer in 2009 by the Doing Business Index (DBI).

Despite its ongoing challenges, Rwanda shows progress in the Great Lakes is possible and it represents a critical beachhead for peace and sustainable development in the entire region. Its continued stabilization and partnership in building peace are critical to making similar gains in the Eastern Congo and Burundi.

The time to build peace and development in a country and region is not in the midst of an emergency, as it descends into chaos. ‘Never again’ moves from a mere platitude to a reality when we invest where there is a real commitment to lasting progress. Right now Congo and Rwanda have re-established relations and began working together with UN forces to combat armed groups in the Eastern Congo.

As Canadians, we are at our best when we are willing to sacrifice for what we believe in and walk in the messiness of real lives. We can start by providing leadership to the floundering peacekeeping mission in the Congo, returning bilateral aid to Rwanda, establishing a High Commission in Kigali, and investing heavily in business, education and the development of promising local leaders and entrepreneurs. This will go a long way toward forming a foreign policy vision beyond Afghanistan and giving Canada a distinct place of leadership on the world stage.

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What does transformational education look like?

Written by Richard Taylor
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:33
Wellspring often talks about an education that transforms lives but what does this type of education actually look like? I recently sat down in a Wellspring Academy classroom and saw it demonstrated during a lesson on water to a class of grade 3 students. The teacher was David Mugenyi, a man who clearly loved his profession and his students. The purpose of his lesson was to help the students learn about the properties of water, its role in our daily lives, and the importance of water stewardship. The first thing I noticed was how the classroom was arranged. The twenty-five students sat in clusters instead of the stringent rows of a normal classroom. The second thing I noticed was the students. They respected each other. They seemed to enjoy discussion and readily helped with moving each others books or picking up dropped items. The third thing I noticed was David himself. He was a man in motion. He asked a question, then illustrated on the white board, then gave an item for group discussion, then moved about the classroom, speaking with each group, and answering any questions. The students had a sheet illustrating water in its different forms and were asked to work together to identify them and report their findings to the rest of the class. When a child answered incorrectly, David encouraged them to keep on trying, and helped them find the correct answer. David told a story about a boy in a rural area who did not have enough water and asked the students to think about the impact it had on his life. How would it change the boy’s life if he had proper access to water? He then asked the students to talk about why taking care of water was so important. After sharing some ideas, he gave them a homework assignment. They were to write two paragraphs to their local district official talking about why water was so important and sharing ideas on how it could be stewarded better. What is transformational education? It’s eight and nine year olds being asked to think critically about why water is so important and what they can do to take better care of it and help those around them who do not have enough. Write comment (0 Comments) [What does transformational education look like?]

Does it take a Crisis for us to Care?

Written by Richard Taylor

Thursday, 21 January 2010 09:23

The recent outpouring of donations and humanitarian aid to the devastated country of Haiti are a potent example of the resources at the disposal of the international community in response to crisis. The Red Cross has raised over $32 million (and counting) through text message donations alone, from individuals like you and me. Millions of dollars is pouring in from governments, businesses, pro Sports Teams, churches, and humanitarian organizations. This outpouring of goodwill and generosity is something to be celebrated but it also brings me back to a question that has bothered me every time there is a major donor response after a crisis: Does it take a Crisis for us to Care?

What does the magnitude of a catastrophe need to be for us to act? How many lives in an impoverished country are enough to capture the headlines? How many of us actually cared or even knew about Haiti before the earth quake? How many will still care once the headlines go away, the debris is cleared, the dead are buried, and the emergency chasers have moved on to another hard hit country?

I am not questioning the need to respond when crisis hits. We must. I am questioning what we do before the crisis and after it. Time after time I see the international community respond at the point of no return, by sending peace keepers to a country descending into chaos or pouring massive amounts of money into food aid and medical support for the most vulnerable. This is the time when the mismanagement of funds is also the most likely.

How can we work more proactively to avert crisis before it happens? For me, widely accessible quality education based on strong values is critical. I recently watched a fascinating interview with Greg Mortensen (Founder of Central Asian Institute and subject of the book Three Cups of Tea). His organization has built 131 schools in the most volatile areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and his perspective is that education is the most effective long term way to fight terrorism. People with little hope and little education are much more vulnerable to extremist ideology.

Rwanda is a case in point. The largely undereducated masses were strongly manipulated by a few well educated leaders, to commit atrocities beyond imagination. Now that the country has returned some stability it is the right time to make a huge investment directly into its future generation, 40% of whom are under the age of 15. If we are not willing to do so we must be willing to accept the potential risk that all of Rwanda’s gains will be lost in another crisis.

Haiti has been a largely failed state for a long time. This catastrophe magnifies that reality. I find it sad that this huge outpouring of support will likely dry up once Haiti fades from the newspaper headlines and the next crisis hits. This is wrong. It should not take a crisis for us to care.

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There is no Easy Button for Transformation

Written by Richard Taylor
Monday, 23 November 2009 00:00
In a world of overwhelming need, we do not need prescriptive idealists or know it all naysayers, as much as we need people who are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in, and walk in the messiness of real lives, no matter how long it takes." Write comment (0 Comments) [There is no Easy Button for Transformation]
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Is teaching a man to fish really the answer?

Written by Richard Taylor
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 00:00
One of the most popular development catchphrases is "Give a man a fish feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish feed him for a life time." It's a true phrase but it doesn't go far enough. Write comment (1 Comment) [Is teaching a man to fish really the answer?]
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Learning about the Past provides Inspiration for the Future

Written by Richard Taylor
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 00:00
In a country where the average life expectancy is just 50 years old and at least 40% of the population are under age 15, it is a rare occurrence to sit down for lunch with an Octogenarian. Write comment (1 Comment) [Learning about the Past provides Inspiration for the Future]
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Canadian Office:

The Wellspring Foundation for Education

PO Box 32112
Langley BC V1M 2M3

Email the Canadian Office

Telephone: 604 592-5062
(time zone: GMT -8:00)

Rwandan Office:

The Wellspring Foundation for Education

PO Box 7489
Kigali, RWANDA

Email the Rwandan Office

Telephone: 011 250 078 847 5155
(time zone: GMT +2:00)