1) What does the acronym HELP stand for?
HELP International is the legally acceptable acronym for Health, Education, & Livelihood Project International.
2) When was HELP established and by whom?
HELP International is a federally incorporated charity founded in 1993 by a Saskatchewan farm boy returning to Weyburn after working for eight years in large scale emergency assistance. He worked in war zones and drought-stricken areas in both Arab Africa (Sahara Desert-Sudan) and the Tropics (Mozambique and Kenya) with CARE International, WUSC and the United Nation’s World Food Program.
3) Why was HELP International formed?
Prairie boys and girls are highly recognized for their unique contributions in some of the most difficult conditions in Africa. They are known for their exceptional work ethic, their ability to endure difficult circumstances, and for their creative ability to come up with common sense, low cost solutions to problems. They are likewise known for their ability to relate to farm communities and the rural mentality of agrarian society in Africa. Prairie students exposed to the basic parameters of the problems have the capacity to provide creative perspectives on the problems and their solutions.
HELP marshals the natural strengths and sensitivities of prairie Canada, sharpening those talents with additional training, and providing opportunities for prairie youth to contribute directly to international assistance programs. HELP works with schools to create opportunities for students to become world leaders in international assistance and partnerships. HELP applies prairie expertise to some of the world's most pressing problems in housing, waste management, deforestation and watershed destruction. The problems and their solutions are in fact intimately related.
4) What does HELP do?
HELP currently operates programs in Kenya and Canada. HELP's overseas programs focus on unsolved problems-problems that have defied solution by other NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and governments alike. Problems such as: the unabated growth of human settlement slums; the crisis of waste management and the resulting pollution; deforestation in general and destruction of the watershed in particular. In Canada HELP operates the School Development Education project as well as projects focussed on river margin protection and reforestation.
5) What do the Kenyan programs consist of?
Kenyan projects include:
A) Slum Conversion
A Housing, Environmental and Livelihood Program to convert slums into high-quality, low-cost, secure, and healthy neighbourhoods. The largest focuses are:
• Low-cost housing construction
• School construction and curriculum support
B) Zero Waste Community Management
This program organizes communities into groups of ten homes which become Home Associations. They separate their household and toilet wastes into eleven types and create micro-industries to create new products from the waste materials. The program does away with the need for sewers and municipal waste collection-facilities that are beyond the capacity of many African governments to provide.
C) River Forestation
This project is the first in Kenya to provide free indigenous and tropical fruit tree seedlings to any extended family, women's group, church or school which will plant them on river margins. HELP is training partners to harvest tree seeds and develop nurseries and is co-managing a national free tree project. The project addresses the destruction of the watershed caused by thirty million trees being harvested for cooking fuel each year in Kenya. The project also works with schools to develop more efficient and alternative fuel use.
6) What does HELP do in Canada?
Canadian programs include the school Development Education programs, and two key environmental programs:
• Souris River and Farm Protection Program: the largest river margin forestation project in Canada.
• Phytoremediation: the use of trees to decontaminate sewage lagoons, municipal landfills and other sites polluted by industrial waste.
7) Who supports HELP’s work?
HELP International’s work is supported by:
• A large volunteer corps in Canada and Africa including students, landowners and community volunteers.
• Cash donations from well-wishers.
• Contributions from schools, landowners, urban municipalities and beneficiary groups
• Major donations and sponsorships from other charities and development agencies including: SCIC, CIDA, Saskatchewan environment, SaskPower, PFRA, Shand Green House, Pheasants Forever, Knights of Columbus, TD-Friends of the Environment, SaskEnergy.
• Major material and service donations from private companies including: Peavy Mart, Barber Motors and many others.
8) What is the African Village Immersion Program?
The African Village is the meeting place for HELP’s Development Education programs for schools. The program, ongoing since 1994, is bigger and better than ever. One-, two- and three-day immersion programs are available where students live in a traditional African environment. Program themes that are woven together emphasize our common heritage, identity-building, unleashing your creative force, learning to live in co-existence with the environment, learning to be effective leaders/helpers, empowering youth: you can fix what's broken; you can make a difference NOW!
Each year we add more technologies to the program AND choose a new project focus. This year, all the Zero Waste Activities AND Agriculture Activities are new except for: stabilized soil block-making; vegetable oil pressing, field planting and the quicksand hills tour.
9) Where is the African Village Immersion Program held?
In early 2002, the African Village/International Development Theme Park was moved to its third and permanent home. It is situated on a beautiful ten acre river-frontage one km outside of Weyburn. Lots of deer and horses (for viewing) and good fishing on site.
The African Village boasts four traditional African mud and thatch housing structures, ten thatched patio tables, a Robinson Crusoe-style dining table to sit fifty students, 2,500 sq. feet of indoor pavilion space, an African Art Gallery, a modern guest house and HELP's head office.
10) Who facilitates the program?
This year four high-impact facilitators/educators are coming from Africa in mid-April expressly for this program. All of them work within HELP or a HELP partner in Africa. They include:
• Rodney, a Canadian who has worked across Africa for 12 years;
• Julius, an African engineer/designer/inventor of simple technologies;
• Mumbi, Logistics Head Manager for the exciting Zero Waste Community Management project in Kenya
• Adil, a terrific traditional African cook.
11) What does the African Village Immersion consist of?
Living Traditional Africa (Day One)
The site accommodates up to 50 students plus 10 chaperones on one-, two- and three-day programs. The students sleep in traditional African structures, utilize traditional clay pot and mortar and pestle technology, etc, for food preparation. Other traditional activities include: building a portion of a traditional African house (mud stomping, post hole digging, grass thatching); traditional stone carving; tie-dye fabric design; each student making their own hand drill. Note that the traditional African housing and technologies mirror that of most of our ancestors from Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Hands On Appropriate Technology (Day Two)
Day two has the students divided into two groups: half of the students will choose Zero Waste Micro Enterprise Activities while the other half engage in Zero Waste Agriculture Inventions and Learning.
Zero Waste Micro Enterprise students carry out the following hands-on activities:
• Pressing oil from canola and sunflowers.
• Manufacturing compression bricks-harder than baked bricks without firing (saving forests).
• Utilizing fireless cookers: a cooker that requires no energy source but the heat in the food itself! (If there are a couple really eager students they could manufacture one.)
• Manufacturing hand made paper using newly invented hand driven and bicycle driven paper mill.
• Manufacturing fibre board using paper, discarded clothing.
• Manufacturing nursery webbing using discarded plastic bags.
Zero Waste Agriculture students carry out the following hands-on activities:
• Harvest seeds from discarded market fruit and vegetables; manufacture screens for drying and separating/cleaning; manufacture small seed baggies from larger discarded plastic bags; treat the dry seed against termites with charcoal or wood ash.
• Observe the construction and demo use of a zero waste toilet that safely recycles 100% of wastes.
• Graft a tree: Learning this intriguing skill that has been the domain of only research scientists. Grafting makes a very young tree have the capacity to produce seeds or fruit as young as one year instead of the normal five to ten years.
• Plant trees and grasses (for one hour) on very special 'phytoremediation sites' where the trees and grasses will reverse special problems at landfills, lagoons and high-salinity sites.
• Take a side tour to the nearby intriguing quicksand hills...hills that shake like jelly.
Hands On Appropriate Technology (Day Three Option)
With the three day program all the students can do both the Zero Waste Micro Enterprise activities and the Zero Waste Agriculture Inventions and Learning activities. They also have more free time in which students can go back to their favourite activities, go fishing (for those appropriately licensed), or get tutoring on a one-to-one basis from the instructors in any area including potential follow-on projects the school might want to take on.
Follow on activities for schools who want to make a difference.
Participating school classes are encouraged to assist the African projects by taking problems back to their schools to work on. These activities are completely optional and would be carried out AFTER the immersion program. Schools who request to do follow-on activities may do one of the following:
• Take a simple zero waste technology from the African Village Park to their school to try to improve it. The project has made some ten new inventions this year including hand-driven paper mills, fibre board presses, handheld seed-separator and cleaning screens, etc. Many of these need improvements that any home-economics, science, industrial arts or welding class could assist with.
or
• Carry out simple tropical agriculture experiments relating to problems HELP and its partners are experiencing in Kenya such as: germination testing, nursing seedlings in micro amounts of soil to create less expensive trees and transport of same, etc.
or
• Assist in the sale of zero waste products produced by women-led home associations from slums in Kenya. Items including: handmade paper, fibre board (can be used as bulletin boards), letters, numbers and symbols carved from stone for school use etc.
These represent real problems that are affecting the projects and need real solutions. It is not just a repeat exercise where the results are known, but an opportunity to do new research and valuable problem-solving for the project.
12) What is Zero Waste Management and what part do schools play in it?
Zero Waste Management is the commitment to convert 100% of wastes produced by a household into new usable products using low-cost, simple, home-based technology. It is the belief that 100% recycling is not only possible and profitable, but is a necessary solution to creating sustainable human communities without destroying the natural environment. Zero Waste is the belief that there IS a future for our children and grandchildren; that the solution is not difficult; that youth desire to help make the world a better place, and that all that is really needed are good examples for young people to follow.
13) How do Zero Waste concepts fit into the school program?
The current Zero Waste model is being built for Africa. The idea behind incorporating Zero Waste into the African Village Immersion Program is:
• To introduce Zero Waste concepts to Canada through the schools. (HELP expects to be begin a first zero waste experiment with a Canadian community in the next 2 to 3 years)
• To provide grade-school students the opportunity to learn hands-on, leading-edge research and technology that is not even available to International Development Studies programs in Canadian Universities. This becomes a kind of 'head-start' program for prairie Canada and for Saskatchewan schools in particular.
• To provide students with the opportunity to actually help solve problems in the first ever zero waste project, which happens to be taking place in Kenya.
14) What length of program do most schools choose?
Currently about half the schools are booking two-day immersions with a preliminary one day school in-service and same day parent night. The other half are booking three-day immersion programs with the preliminary one day school in-service and parent night. The program has evolved over the years from:
• A one-day (seven hour) immersion only
• a one-day immersion with a one-day in-service at the school prior to the immersion;
• a two-day immersion with a one-day in-service;
• a two- to three-day immersion with a one-day preparatory in-service followed by a parent night the same day. (Note that we are also prepared to provide a one-half hour to one hour of full school assembly motivational talk at the in-service in addition to the whole-day in-service with the one or two classes participating in the immersion).
15) Why consider doing the three-day immersion?
A two-day immersion has twelve hours of activity in day one and eight hours in day two (assuming after breakfast activities start at 09:00 and the class leaves the site at 5 pm). The three-day immersion provides thirty-two hours of hands-on activity compared to the twenty hours of a two-day immersion.
A three-day immersion allows for the following:
• All students can do ALL the Zero Waste Micro Enterprise activities AND ALL the Zero Waste Agriculture Activities. The students that do Zero Waste Micro Enterprise in day two would do Zero Waste Agriculture in day three and vice versa.
• Two to three sessions of free time become available in which students can i) go back to their favourite activities ii) get tutoring on a one-to-one basis from the instructors in any area including potential follow on projects the school might want to take on. ii) go fishing.
• (Note about fishing: Fishing should be restricted to kids who have or can obtain licenses before coming AND that teachers give a strict pep talk about fishing safety...especially about maintaining at least three metres between people if they are 'casting' so no one gets snagged with a hook.)
Two-day immersions are also very fun and impactful. but allow for much less free time.
16) What facilities are required for the in-service at your school?
Preferably one large room or an auditorium if the acoustics are ok. The room or auditorium should be as near an outside door as possible. If the weather is amenable we will want to carry on a number of hands-on introductory sessions outdoors. This will lessen the amount of clean-up required inside the school (soapstone dust, dust from hand-milling etc.).
The room should be cleared of all desks. Students, teachers and facilitators all sit in one very large circle open to a blackboard area. We would also like about four or five tables of about six foot length for displays outside the circle of chairs.
Other props that would be useful: Sticky Tack; flip charts; lots of felt markers; masking tape. (There should be some activities in small groups where participants will write on flip charts for reporting back); name tags (sticky computer tags are sufficient) for all students, teachers and facilitators....this is to make the event as personal as possible.
17) What takes place at the in-service?
The in-service focuses heavily on the theme of helping. Students are asked to volunteer as artists and as chairpersons (calling out student names of those who wish to speak),
Facilitators (2 to 4) will try to arrive by 08:15. Students are sought to assist in unloading a truck load of props and to set up various displays while other students are assigned to learning (very quickly) traditional skills, games and technologies so that they can facilitate other students during breaks and outdoor activities.
We ask the group to avoid normal recesses if possible and we create our own recesses for outdoor activity. If they agree, then so much more profit is gotten out of the day. It’s hard to tear students away from the outdoor stuff once they get introduced to it, so we even try to find a teacher, volunteer parent if there's one around etc to oversee the outdoor area at lunch time (we try to abide by the normal school lunch period). The program ends at around 3 pm after which we ask student volunteers to assist in the extensive clean up and pack up. If students are required back at their classrooms or for extracurricular activities, don't worry, HELP staff will finish the clean up and packing out.
Two-thirds of the in-service will be relegated to completely interconnected themes. Themes include:
• Identity: Prairie Identity: What makes Saskatchewan people recognized internationally.
• Common Traditional Heritage: We all share a common heritage.
• Perceptions of Africa: what are student's perceptions of Africa ie: from the media.
• Helping: What's broken that needs fixing; how to be an effective helper.
• An Aid Workers Treasure Box: Stories from the front lines.
• Helping as enlightened self interest: It’s only a matter of "How big am I?"
• Zero Waste: Let’s imagine a sustainable world without garbage pits or sewers; Now let’s achieve it.
• The Earth as one Organism.
• Exchanging Views of How we can Assist one Another via the world's first Zero Waste Community Management Program (in Kenya).
• Preparation Talks Relating to the Immersion Program: What to expect, what to bring...and what not to bring, how to prepare. etc.
NOTE: HELP is willing to carry out a 20 to 30 minute full-school assembly power talk on any of the above themes or a combination of all, prior to commencing the in-service for the class(es) involved in the in-service/immersion.
18) Is there some pre-planning that students should do before going out to camp?
If the in-service is booked far in advance of the immersion, you can use concepts presented there to follow up with class discussions. Or, if desired, perhaps some documentation of the Kenyan projects could be provided beforehand so that students could be exposed to the problems the project is encountering and could be prepared to discuss possible solutions by the time we carry out the in-service. Because the immersion program is very hands-on, there is not a lot of time for in-depth discussions at that time; these take place in the one-day in-service.
The one-day in-service and same-day parent night is geared to fully prepare students, teachers and parents for the immersion program.
19) If classes choose the swimming option, when would this take place?
In a two-day immersion, swimming is recommended for 3 pm on day one. In a three-day immersion, swimming is recommended for 2 pm or so on day two. Swimming also allows for a good shower! The additional cost for swimming at the Weyburn Leisure Centre is $1.50 per student. If additional transport is required Barber Motors has been providing sponsored passenger vans if available.
20) What role do teachers and parent chaperones have while at the camp?
If possible, select one parent who has first aid training. We’ve never had a serious incident on site, but we always take a safety first and preparedness approach. We ask that you select teachers and parent chaperones who agree to be full participants. They should just separate themselves evenly by number between the student groups which will be made up on site. Because the program is a lot about empowering youth, we try to give the students a lot of choices right down to how they divide up into groups etc.
Special Skills Parents: IF you have any 'Power Rangers' i.e. Scout Leader types, the park is permanently under construction....always expanding. We try to get participating chaperones to take on one or two small activities of their choosing (fitting their interest and capacity) to improve the African Village/International Development Theme Park. Most of this might have to do with making the park more livable for the students, or making the park function better and fulfill its mission better. The Park is a labour of love you could say. Not one donor dollar paid for building the park: it’s all volunteer labour. So we leave it up to the parents to either participate fully as a normal participant and/or find a special project to do on site that will improve the park. It’s their choice. It wouldn’t hurt though to have one parent or teacher who is an idle overseer who is at a set location for anyone
who is sick or has a problem to come to.
21) What are the night-time activities?
We do a night time campfire with marshmallow roast. This is the time for African legends and folklore. Also the time for African dance and singing.
22) Is it possible to come out and tour the site ahead of time?
Definitely, you can come and tour the site any time. Just call ahead to book an appointment to make sure we're not in the field.
23) What are the costs for the school programs?
The cost is roughly split 50/50 between HELP and its donors, and the school and its donors.
Schools who select the two- and three-day immersion program receive, without additional cost, a full day in-service at the school followed by an evening parent night. This is to prepare students and parents for the immersion at the International Development Theme Park.
Schools pay $500 per day for each day of immersion signed up for at the African Village, plus food costs averaging $3 per meal. The $500 is a flat daily rate that covers roughly half the programming cost. The flat fee is the same whether the student numbers are 25 or 50. Chaperones and teachers also pay the $3/meal. This is based on cost recovery only.
For those who opt for a day-two swimming session at Weyburn Rec Centre, the cost is $1.50 per person.
Each student should bring a plain white cotton T-shirt or towel or bed sheet or socks for the tie-dye. Also, students are asked to bring a packed lunch on the first day. Schools do not have to pay for lunch on the first day therefore.
There may be additional costs for those whose transportation doesn’t remain on site throughout the program. Transportation will be required for excursions to the swimming pool, to the tree-planting areas and to the quicksand tour. We would have to know whether your own transport would be available. If not, additional local transportation can be arranged. We suggest you add $50 to the budget and we’d get Barber Motors to sponsor the rest of the cost for maxi vans.
Fundraising assistance is available. For those schools who request, HELP provides a donation of $100 in African art for each day of immersion programming booked. The art is usually used for raffles, etc. by the schools at the parent night or separately.
24) What dates are available?
The program runs in two sessions: April 25 through July 31 for schools, scouts, guides and adult groups. The August 1 to mid-October session runs with some modifications in the facilitators. From November to March HELP runs stand-alone school in-services with one or two facilitators only. Cost of these winter in-services will be reduced to $350 per day.
