I love hearing about stories from people who travel, something I want to do to a certain degree, but some people are just meant to travel and would likely get more out of it than I would. Raksha had previously spent some time in Bangladesh to work with a Not for Profit Organization who provides microfinance services to underprivileged women.
Here is what she had to say about her current stint in Geneva so far:
Rebonjour everyone!
I hope this email finds you all well! I know it has been a LONG time since my last update but as you’ve probably guessed, the time since my master’s program started in September have been extremely hectic. But they’ve also been amazing - in a way I could not have imagined when I left Calgary. So I’ll try to summarize these last few months as best as I can, and apologize in advance for rambling.
Since basically the moment of my arrival from France (where I spent six weeks to improve my then non-existent level of French), I have fallen in love with Geneva. To name just a few of the things that I love and appreciate here:
- The physical surroundings are breathtaking. The lake in the middle of the city is beautiful – both on sunny summer days and foggy winter ones, especially with the mountains in the backdrop. And since I live on the ‘outskirts’ of the city, I’m so close to the mountains that I literally run into the hills of France when I go for a run. Needless to say, there are few better places for hiking or skiing in the world with the exception of Western Canada perhaps :)
- Diversity. People of every country, religion, culture, language etc. are here in Geneva – it is truly an international city. This makes everything from the daily bus rides to grocery shopping much more exciting. It (along with the three classes in French that I’ve had this semester) has also forced me to improve my French a lot, which is exactly what I’d been hoping for. Dining out here is also a great experience thanks to the variety of cuisine available – so far, Eritrean food has been my favourite discovery!
- Elements that I classify under the general heading of the ‘glory of Western Europe’ – architecture, museums, great performing arts that are accessible to everyone (students and the unemployed get the same discounts), small and well-planned cities, and the ability to travel to dozens of different countries for close to nothing!
- Public transport. Cheap, clean, incredibly efficient, and yes, always on time. I don’t know they do it.
- Chocolate – for less than a dollar, you get a family size bar of high quality chocolate. And there are so many delightful varieties. My personal favourite is a rather simple milk chocolate with a rice krispie layer – WOW!
This last semester (from September to December) has been among the most intense periods of work that I’ve ever performed but the process of learning itself has been joyful. To take off blinders that I’d never realized that I’d been wearing and to discover new ways of looking at society, state, the environment, international and personal relations – even while frightening, was amazing (In case you are wondering, my courses this semester included: Political Sociology of Development, Global Ecology and Sustainable Development, World Anthropologies, Gender and Development, and Development Economics).
However, it hasn’t been all fun – aside from the massive amounts of reading and paper writing, I and many of the other students also spent significant amounts of time feeling uncomfortable and hopeless. Why? All of us were there because we intended to work in development, but the professors spent much of their time (very effectively) destroying our conceptions about development as both an idea and as a practice. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly what we had been expecting or hoping for.
Overall, I think we all came away with many more questions than any answers, and I realize now after some time for reflection that that is the best place to be at this point in the program: we are learning how to be more critical thinkers and question our own assumptions, and of course with that inevitably comes some pain. And I am looking forward to (and a little frightened for) the next semester, which will undoubtedly stir up more questions but hopefully at least start suggesting some solutions. I will also add here that the teaching has surpassed all my expectations – the professors are truly recognized experts in their fields and although they all have different methods and beliefs, their passion for what they do is clear and has had a huge impact on our learning experiences.
I should also say that the institute I am attending is small (300 students) and my program is even smaller (60 people). And these people have had as much of an impact on my ideas about the world as the program. The diversity in astonishing: most are young (I would guess the average age is 24) but their backgrounds range from being the children of diplomats to having lived in refugee camps, and they come from every part of the world. I cannot express how lucky I feel to have met these people and to interact with them on a daily basis - I learn as much from going out for a coffee with them as from several lectures combined. And our class discussions are always the best parts of any lecture. In addition to sharing a lot of fun and a lot of laughter, they’ve all made me realize how much I’ve yet to learn in a variety of realms. But they’ve also given me the best ideas on where to go, on the direction I want my life and career to take, on where I might be able to have the biggest impact. They, along with my “non-school” friends (who work in Geneva) and “residence friends” (who live at the same student residence as I) have made the past few months fantastic.
Now, I’m on a well-deserved break until mid February when school starts again. Unfortunately, I won’t be coming back to Canada during this time – instead, I will use the time to relax, read, spend time with friends, discover more of Geneva and travel Switzerland and Europe, including visits to Spain and Germany in February. I’m also working part-time at a Geneva-based NGO called the Business Humanitarian Forum (http://www.bhforum.org/ for those of you who are interested). The experience has already been eye opening into the world of NGOs and development projects.
All in all, I feel very lucky and happy to be where I am now. However, as great as Switzerland is, I do miss Canada and all of you. If you have the time to send me an update, I would love to know more about what’s happening in your lives as well.
Take care and all the best from the land of neutrality!
- Raksha
No comments:
Post a Comment