Two more sleeps until I make my way to the Toronto airport for the long flight to London and then an even longer flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. I am very excited when I think of actually experiencing the Sri Lankan culture. And even more exciting is the fact that our group will be visiting credit unions and co-ops. I truly believe in people helping people, which is the basis of CCA’s important international development work. During this Study Tour we will get to see how successful CCA has been in Sri Lanka putting CDF funding to good work. I very much look forward to this trip (although I think Sri Lanka may be even more humid than Ghana if that's possible - I'm sweating just thinking about it!)
My past CCA Coaching Program trips to Ghana in 2008 and 2009 were very rewarding. We worked with credit union managers and were able to see the effects of the programs that CCA offers. Women who had attended the Women’s Mentorship Program were able to come back to their credit unions with new knowledge and skills. And through the Coaching Program we were able to share our Canadian credit union experience with both credit union managers and boards.
Photo: Susan Tustin and fellow CCA volunteer Brian Thorne at Berekum Teachers Credit Union in Berekum, Ghana.
One can only imagine the devastation that occurred in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami in 2004. I am eager to learn more about how CDF funded many relief projects and how CCA worked with long-time partner SANASA to help people slowly rebuild their lives. By being able to see this work first hand, we hope to be able to return to Canada and help raise funds to ensure CDF and CCA can continue to help communities help themselves in Sri Lanka and around the world.
By: Susan Tustin
You too can visit CCA's work in post-Tsunami Sri Lanka by clicking on the links below to see four amazing video stories profiled through CCA's Cinema:
No comments:
Post a Comment