Jenna

The link presented here (which you should visit, of course) is of my apprentice, Jenna, who completely kicks ass.




She is in Toronto right now, going through pre-departure training with EWB (engineers without borders, Canada) in order to be prepared for a 3.5 month stint in Malawi, Africa. She'll be working with a water and sanitation NGO (non-governmental organization), improving best practices, going to live in an extremely rural community for a week here and there, doing some cultural learning, and see the conditions of how most of the world live in (note: non-judgmental, non-classificatory statement, it's just the facts. We have it good in the west. You have no idea how good we have it, and it's a crying pity that we're making it so bad for the rest of the world because we can't see this).




I remember my pre-departure training this time last year. I remember saying goodbye to my boyfriend who had driven me to Toronto, and who I wouldn't see for four months (I cried. In the past, when I would go on one of my adventures, leaving a boyfriend behind, it was understood that the relationship was 90% likely to be over, and that was fine, the awaiting adventure was far more important, and no hearts were broken... well... mine usually wasn't ;-) This time, though, I would be apart from someone worth coming home to, and we're still together today).







Pre-departure training is an intense experience, and Jenna is well prepared, she's a very impressive young woman. She was the co-president of the Macdonald campus' McGill branch of Engineers Without Borders Canada, and a die-hard change-worker. This past April, Jenna and two other members of our exec shaved their heads to raise the money needed to support a junior fellow overseas for four months. The event was called Engineers Without Hair, and was one hell of a fund-raiser, far surpassing the goal of raising $3000 (I think the final total was close to $5000... not bad for a small campus!)




I find it incredibly inspiring that these three ladies delved into the world of no-hair in order the raise awareness for the work that EWB does overseas. The didn't think it was that bog of a deal... hair grows back, right? I don't know if I would be so willing to trade my long flowing locks for a tactically pleasing fuzzy head... maybe one day! Actually, right before the event began, I jokingly said that I would shave my head if we raised $4000 (we were still at the $2000-ish mark). Then, the student council said they would match our donations, bringing us to $4000-something. Tatjana (striped shirt) then came up to me with the shaver, trying to make me keep my word. I thien had to admit that it was just a ploy to raise more money (I have been trying to grow my hair out for a few years... I'm not ready to let it go just yet!)