Young people (30 years and younger) don’t have a lot of options for working here in the Cowichan Valley. Forestry has scaled down recently, we don’t have any major industries here, we don’t build cars here, we aren’t a technology centre, movies don’t get made here, tourism is only really a summer thing, so what are young people supposed to do about this?

For starters, you could come to our workshop, Our Jobs! Our Future! We will be talking about Community Economic Development (CED), how you can get started in CED and meet some interesting people who are in similar situations as you. We are trying to change young people’s employment expectations, don’t just work for some company because they pay you, choose something that is aligned with your value system and find an opportunity to do what you want to do, servicing/selling to the people you want to sell to, doing something you really believe in.

Or least that is what I thought before going there.

For the last five months, my position has been funding by a group called CED Net, which stands for Community Economic Development Network of Canada. When if first took the position I didn’t know much about Community Economic Development (CED), or the ideas of social enterprises or co-ops. The last five months have taught me a great deal, inspired me and gave me new skills in areas I never really knew existed. Now that my internships is coming to an end, I thought I would share some of the great experiences and knowledge I received while on this internship through this mini blog series, about Community Economic Development.

The CED Net Create Action program helps youth (30 years old and young) with university degrees gain useful skills working in CED sectors across Canada. With Cowichan Green Community, I was one of the lucky ones to be a part of this program. While on this program I learnt many new skills, met various community members and became familiar with CED. Near the beginning of the Create Action program, all interns were flown to Winnipeg to see the great work that is being done in that city. It is also a great opportunity to meet fellow interns and build a network of similar minded people working in CED. One of my favourite examples of a social enterprise is B.U.I.L.D. (Building Urban Industries for Local Development. This is what build does

 Hard to believe another year has passed. Together, with your support, we’ve accomplished so many great things for our community ... we couldn’t have done it without you. 

CGC is lucky to have two great Canada World Youth (CWY) volunteers helping us out with our activities. After playing a key role in the Canada World Youth fundraising event African Night, Henry wanted to write a blog post about the event.

It really exceeded all our expectations. Everyone had a great time enjoying James playing the mbira and listening to his stories from Zimbabwe. The many different dance performances captivated the audience throughout the evening. As well as our very own CWY/Ajude Marrabenta dance actually turned out great after much practice.

The West African Drumming got everyone in the place moving and Masimba, the marimba band, kept the momentum flowing well into the evening. We'd like to say thanks to all the performers and the businesses who donated auction items. We raised over $2300 between the entrance by donation, auction and food tables. All the proceeds will be split between Christo Rei, a Mozambican AIDS organization, and Cowichan Green Community.

CGC is lucky to have two great Canada World Youth (CWY) volunteers helping us out with our activities. From helping Jay at Warmland house to helping Heather at Farm To School, we have kept the guys busy. This week I asked Henry to write about the experience at CGC so far.

Duil, Henry and Alysa serving food
Farm To School, at Quamichan Middle School I have been working at CGC for about 6 weeks now and have learned a lot from this organization.  Before beginning at CGC I had heard the term “food security” but now I have an understanding of what it really means.  We have been to many different local farms and for  me, I have realized that there are many different techniques used.  I was especially surprised by the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that can be grown on the island. Growing up in Saskatchewan I have seen many large scale operations but have yet to see such a dedicated group small scale farmers dedicated to food security.  It has definitely been an eye opener for an oildfield worker, seeing how many things are different in the valley.

Duil and I have been doing many different jobs around the Cowichan Valley, from picking apples to digging potatoes. We have got to know a lot of Duncan from flyering the town multiple times for CGC events/fundraisers.

Tessa, Duilio and Henry Preparing food for Farm to School CGC is lucky to have two great Canada World Youth (CWY) volunteers helping us out with our activities. From helping Jay at Warmland house to helping Heather at Farm To School, we have kept the guys busy. This week the CWY were helping out with Farm To School. I asked Duilio to write about the experience (he's first language is in Portuguese, there is a translation at the bottom of his writings).

Duilio is a Canada World Youth
volunteer from Mozambique

This is funny.

On Saturday November 6th there was a gathering at Cobble Hill to discuss Agricultural in the Cowichan Valley and on Vancouver Island. The event was put on the Island Farmer's Alliance, they organization behind the rooster booster logo. The event was great, full of great information and dialog. I enjoyed the "Opportunities for Agriculture on Vancouver Island." I found this forum had a lot of great speakers and really ideas of how to maximize the viability of small farms. The Second half of the day started off with the $100 levy that is being proposed by the BC Agriculture Council. As an outsider to the farmer community, this "bull pit" was an interesting exchange of emotion and passion. The last part of the day was an AGM for the Island Farmer's Alliance. All in all, it was a great day, the Cobble Hill Women's Institute put on a great lunch a

There is a well written report on the event, if you interested in reading more about it, please read this article (see page 4). http://www.farmlandstrust.ca/newsletter/FLT%20E-Newsletter_Fall%202010.pdf

Crofton's Dinner from Found Objects Puppetry Troupe on Vimeo.

Video is credited to Tangle Caron of the Found Object Puppetry Collective thefoundobjects [at] gmail [dot] com.

After too many days of grey clouds and random rain, the sky cleared and the sun shone bright as mid-summer, and the people came. They came and they ate mouth-watering local pancakes, fresh off the griddle in Charles Hoey Park. They came and they rejoiced the harvest season by submitting pie after pie to an eager panel of pie judges.