Media Release - For Immediate Release
February 18 2010
Documenting the Changing Environment in The Gambia
Erin Garner and her friends will be shooting a lot of video while they are in The Gambia. Yet the fourth-year Saint Mary’s University commerce student has plans for the footage beyond sharing it with family.
“We’re going to make a documentary about our experiences,” said the finance major prior to departing. “We’re hoping it will create awareness about how people live around the world, and encourage viewers to talk about what they can do to have an impact on protecting the environment.”
Garner is one of three Saint Mary's students who have made the journey to the small West African nation. During the three-week trip, they are interviewing people who live in rural areas of the country about climate change and how it has impacted them. From these interviews, they will create their documentary.
“This is an amazing opportunity, and not something I’d be able to do without the support of Saint Mary’s,” said Garner, who has previously travelled to Costa Rica, Europe and Dubai. “It’s great that the University gives students the chance to go abroad and experience other cultures first hand, and not just learn about them in class.”
This is the second year that Saint Mary's students have visited The Gambia. Both trips were made possible through a $100,000 grant from the Canadian International Development Agency’s Public Engagement Fund. The goal of the fund is to increase the awareness, understanding and engagement of Canadians in international development issues and programs. In that spirit, the students chosen to go on the trip had to earn the right by competing in an environmentally themed video contest.
“It seems selfish to say, but my favourite thing is travelling to other countries, and that was a motivator to enter the contest,” said Garner, who encouraged her friends to collaborate on the winning submission.
“Our video, Together By 2015, was focused on the topic of Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, one of United Nation’s Millennial Goals. It was challenging because we really didn’t have much experience in this issue, but it was fun to do.” So much so that, when the time came to decide what their engagement project would be for their trip to The Gambia, Garner and her friends quickly decided they would document their experiences on video.
“I think opportunities like these are enormously important for students,” said Dr. Cathy Conrad, one of two professors accompanying Garner to The Gambia. The geography professor will be conducting similar research that may be incorporated into the documentary. “It’s not just the experience they gain, but also because they return feeling like ambassadors for the people they encounter.”
Though Canadians are inundated with information on climate change and its impact on Africa, Dr. Conrad, who also participated in last year’s trip, said it is mostly scientific in nature. Moreover, it is rarely from the perspective of the people most affected by the phenomenon. “For generations, rainy seasons have been so reliable, Gambians used them to express their age. Now those seasons are out of whack, and the people are concerned about where their food will come from. A documentary like this will give Gambians a voice, an opportunity to express those concerns in their own words. And we can help spread the word.”
Current plans are to submit the completed film to festivals, showcase it on campus, and post it on both YouTube and SMUTube. Whatever impact it has on others, Garner anticipated her experiences in The Gambia will leave their mark on her.
“Personal experiences like this change the way you think and act, so that when you graduate and get a job, you look for ways that you can have a positive impact, locally or internationally. And that’s what I want to do.”
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For More Information:
Steve Proctor
External Affairs
Saint Mary's University
(902) 420.5513
E-mail: steve.proctor@smu.ca
www.smu.ca
This page last modified Monday, 10-Jan-2011 15:35:35 AST