Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA): Youth Working with Youth in the Development of Co-operatives
It is hard to imagine compressing six months or a year of living and learning in a brand new environment into a scant 300 words. Yet that is exactly what six young people have done in the items that follow. With remarkable freshness and clarity, they capture some truths about co-operatives and about living outside of one’s comfort zone. In many respects, those are the same qualities that young people bring to co-operatives. Youth see co-operatives with fresh eyes, uncompromised by years of internal institutional politics or economic struggles. They see co-operative values for what they can and should be. They challenge older co-operators to also step out of their comfort zones to embrace the inevitable evolution of the co-operative movement. As one young writer so eloquently states “Culture is not static: it flows and adapts…. Co-operatives are a form of culture.” These young people add yet another element that few older co-operators in Canada have experienced – a view of co-operatives in the context of the developing world. Over the past eight years I have had the pleasure of helping ninety-five young Canadians step outside of their comfort zones in order to take on demanding internships with co-operatives in Asia, Africa and the Americas. I have watched with admiration as members of each successive group launch themselves into the unknown with courage and a remarkable desire to work and to learn. And each year, just as they have on these pages, they have provided me with fresh insight and inspiration. John Julian Director, International Communications and Policy Canadian Co-operative Association
Kristi Zychowka, CCA Intern at Perpetual Help Credit Co-operative, Philippines
For six months I had the opportunity to work as a Youth Coordinator in a credit co-op in Dumaguete – a small, laid back city in the central region of the Philippines. It didn’t take long for me to realize that for the staff, volunteers and members of the co-op, it wasn’t simply a place to conduct one’s banking – it was a community. Dumaguetenos spent countless hours planning for the co-op’s future, recruiting and informing new members, serving the community with programmes such as medical outreach, and of course celebrating and socializing. The co-op was at the centre of the members’ economic and social lives. The activities of the co-op served a special purpose for its youth membership. On weekends, youth aged 15- 24 operated a small canteen business where they sold snacks to the participants of the co-op’s pre-membership seminars. They organized youth workshops on co-operatives and saving, and at Christmas went carolling to raise funds for children at the local orphanage. In a culture where self-reliance, independence and assertiveness aren’t valued as they are in North America, these activities helped young people to develop confidence in addition to such skills as money management, event organisation, leadership, and public speaking. As well, according to the youth themselves, their activities served as a healthy distraction from the lure of drugs, alcohol and other negative influences. In my eyes, their hard work, dedication and hospitality served as an excellent example of the possibilities available when youth organize themselves within a co-operative framework.
Carmen Logie, CCA Intern at Ghana Co-operative Credit Union Association, 2003-2004
After my year developing youth co-operative programmes in Ghana, I find myself sifting through my memories like seashells on the beach, and tales shimmer as I hold them up to the sunlight for closer examination. These are the true stories we used to illuminate the benefits of saving money with the youth savings club programme run by the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association. One glimmering shell that immediately catches my eye is the story of the girl who saved a little pocket money each day throughout secondary school; upon graduation, she used her savings to buy her parents a deep freezer. With the money they made from selling iced water, her parents were able to send her to university. I choose another shiny stone: the case of a girl whose parents travelled, and, when they didn’t come back on time, she withdrew her savings from the school to take care of her brothers and sisters. I see so many others sparkling in the light; the countless students who were able to pay their school fees through saving a little pocket money each day and thereby were not forced to drop out of school. Yes, these are inspirational and exceptional stories. But something nags at me. These stories are all true, all incredible in their own ways, yet somehow the sensational overshadows the everyday co-operation underlying my experiences in Ghana. There is something deeper, and as I sift through the sand I realize that the sand is what contains, holds and shapes all of these beautiful things. The sand is what I must write about. So I close my eyes and wade through more memories. It is a dark night, the cricket melodies fill the air, and there is some light coming from the moon. The young girl attaches the rope to her tin bucket, and gently lowers it into the well. Soon after, she draws it up, unties the rope, places the bucket on her head and walks carefully as she tries to keep her balance in the dark. The next girl in line takes her bucket, ties the rope, and lowers it into the well. And when I stop and look, I see a deep sense of co-operation, patience and acceptance being lifted with the water. At the same time the girls were collecting water for bathing, cooking and toileting, the young men gathered around a generator, taking turns winding it up in an effort to bring the lights back on. Working together to overcome the power failure at our youth savings club conference illuminated co-operation on a deeper level than I had ever experienced. And from the right angle, the water in the buckets shone and sparkled in the moonlight.
Alexis Keilen, CCA Intern in Mongolia, 2003
The power of co-operatives is easily apparent when they are the only entity in a small Mongolian village. I witnessed this with my own eyes when I embarked upon an International Youth Internship with the Canadian Co-operative Association. In the spring of 2003, I became a rural development assistant with the Canadian Co-operative Association in the city of Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. I was 26 years old, and this was my first experience doing international development work overseas. It was an amazing opportunity, and it opened my eyes to the challenges that people face all over the world. People living in rural villages of Mongolia have to deal with harsh weather conditions, no running water or plumbing, no roads, and few modern conveniences. Most people in rural Mongolia survive by herding animals, usually sheep, cattle or horses. They use these animals for meat, milk and wool, and trade these products for any additional goods they may need. Unemployment is a constant problem in these villages, where there are few businesses hiring people to work for them. Mongolian villages are small and remote, with an average population of about 1000. I saw these conditions in the 20 villages that my supervisor, Ingrid Fischer, and I visited as we conducted research on how co-operatives benefit communities in rural Mongolia. The benefits and advantages of co-operative development were immediately apparent. The co-operatives in the villages are a source of income and social security for many people living in these remote areas. Many of the co-operatives we visited pooled their animal products and resources together to gain a source of social security. For example, only one member of the co-op would travel to a nearby city to trade or sell animals, or their by-products. They would sell the products, buy necessary goods, and then re-distribute them among the members of the co-op. The co-ops also created a social safety network for their members. It was amazing to see what a difference can be made when people work together for the common good.
Sara Groot, CCA intern with the Uganda Co-operative Alliance, 2004-2005
Working as a CCA/CIDA intern on the Youth Economic Empowerment Through Co-operative Projects (YEECO) with the Uganda Co-operative Alliance has given me the opportunity to witness first hand how youth are working together, using the co-operative model to try to improve their lives. All across Uganda, groups of youth are coming together to identify and meet their common needs, which range from the need for employment and an income, to other basic needs such as permanent housing and education. Fruit drying is just one example of the creative enterprises that the youth groups are developing to increase their incomes. The members of the Kangulumira Produce and Marketing Co-operative have decided to add value to their individual pineapple crops by building solar driers for the members to use to process their produce into dried fruit. The dried pineapple is sold to a European exporter at a much higher price than fresh pineapples. The role of YEECO is to strengthen these youth groups and to help them build the capacity to succeed. The YEECO training programme has two main goals: to provide knowledge of technical skills (such as solar-dried fruit) and to build leadership and confidence, which will help youth to develop and use their skills to their fullest potential. I have been designing and leading workshops on peer education to encourage youth group members to recognizing the value of the experiences they possess, and to help them share these experiences so they can learn from each other. This internship is allowing me to practice and improve upon participatory training techniques and workshop planning. It has been a challenge to adapt my skills to another culture and setting, but it has given me the opportunity to learn from others and explore different approaches to doing things.
Julia Smith, CCA intern with International Co-operative Alliance Regional Office for Africa, Kenya, 2004-2005
My feet are slowly sliding from beneath me as the mud slips down the hill. Clutching my notepad and trying not to miss a word my host, a co-op coffee farmer in Kenya, is saying, I steady myself on the edge of a terrace. The hills surrounding me are carved into steps, to conserve the little bit of rain that falls on the coffee plants here in the Machakos region, just southeast of Nairobi. It is not the first time I’ve felt I was about to lose my footing, literally and figuratively speaking. Since I arrived in Kenya on a Canadian Co-operative Association internship, I’ve felt the ground shift beneath me many times. In four days of field research in Machakos I learned more than I did in four years of university. I’m in Machakos to conduct a gender analysis of a community development project that was carried out with a co-operative here. As I discuss gender equity with the all male co-op board, or with a group of widows who ignore the issues I bring up and favour discussions on the practicalities of water and chickens, or with the individual coffee farmer in front of me, I find myself continually questioning my assumptions and understandings of gender within the co-operative context. Sometimes I notice the people I’m speaking with are experiencing the same uneasiness, that my presence and words influence their concepts concerning gender a little and attitudes are beginning to change. These moments give me a thrill. As the coffee farmer and I each slip a little in our understanding we are, in a small and clumsy way, co-operating towards change.
Katie Didyk, CCA Intern with the Uganda Co-operative Alliance, 2004-2005
Rule number one: do not arrive and think you are going to single-handedly change the world. It has never happened this way and it never will. I have learned through my internship as the Gender Officer with the Uganda Co-operative Alliance, that strength in numbers, encouraging people with similar values, goals and beliefs, is how to really make changes for the better. Co-operatives capitalize and build on the strengths of communities, especially the will and efforts of people to work together for a greater gain. I am seeing the relationships between women and men re-evaluated and changed through learning and applying their knowledge of gender balance and mainstreaming, and how this can form positive and sustainable practices for the future. The discourse of gender is a hot topic in the co-operative movement. Members are eager to learn, educate and combine modernized practices without entirely removing their own cultural value system. This is what I am taking advantage of through my internship; the level of involvement and support for equality at all levels within the co-operative movement. Working within the gender field in Uganda has provided me with insights into Africa and into the stronghold of culture. It is difficult sometimes for me to separate myself from my culture and upbringing, in order to understand the culture here. There have been moments throughout my internship when I could see the gender disparities so clear but knew that a solution, one that may be ideal in Canada, would not be effective here. I think this has been the frustrating aspect of working in this field; resisting the urge to apply a “top down” approach, so widely known in the development past. Culture is not static; it changes, flows and adapts with the growing need and behaviours of a community. Co-operatives are a form of culture. They represent the people as a whole, and are guided by beliefs and values, some inherent, some external. I feel like I have become a part of something much bigger, something that will continue to be strong, even after I have left, when my “work here is done”. Co-operatives are the means to an end in Africa, the end being an alleviation of poverty for many. In my eyes, this is a bright future.
