The Power of Opinion

My Mom likes to tell me I'm the most opinionated person she's ever met.  You can thank the University of Saskatchewan for that. The first time I entered those campus gates as a fresh faced 18 year old I had a lot to learn in terms of life experience. I still do actually, but back then I pretty much just believed whatever anyone told me. I entered those gates thinking I would come out a veterinarian and instead came out an engineer.  I'm still not entirely sure how that happened, but I'm glad it did. And in those 5 years of higher education I learned what it meant to form my own opinion. To question and ponder, gather evidence and facts and decide what I thought about something. I learned how to have healthy dialogue with someone who held an entirely different opinion than I did. It was within those walls that I became the deep thinker I am today.

I think the journey was one of many small steps, but one that sticks out in my mind was a particular assignment I had in a philosophy class I took on ethics and technology. We had to write. Apparently someone didn't inform my professor that engineering students only know how to do math and physics. In any case we were asked to write a paper and defend whether or not we thought it was ethical to mass produce headless humans for the purpose of organ harvesting. . . I remember reading that assignment and thinking what the heck, I don't even know what to think about this.  And as if he read my mind my Professor stood up there at the front and told us that even if we didn't know what to think, we had to pick a side and defend it. Because the whole thing sounded a little over the top to me I decided to defend the stance that it was not ethical to mass produce headless humans. I did mediocre on that paper, probably because I was an engineering student and I couldn't write nearly as well as the English majors in my class, but I also got a comment that I was trying to defend a stance that was nearly impossible to defend since "there is no empirical evidence of the existence of a soul, and in order to prove this practice was unethical, a soul must exist." Now that one little comment could open a can of worms that could get us debating in a whole other direction, but that is not my intent here. My intent is that for one of the first times in my life, I was forced to form an opinion on something I didn't even really want to have an opinion on. We had discussions on many topics in that class from things that were as over the top as headless humans, to the creation of an Ebola vaccine, something that none of us knew would be grabbing headlines worldwide a few years down the road. I remember the haunting moment in that lecture hall when we were discussing the effects of war, and one girl raised her hand and said "I would like to give my thoughts on this because I survived the Rwandan Genocide." In each and every discussion I was pleasantly surprised to see classmates with opinions on complete opposite ends of the spectrum respecting each other and having lively but still kindhearted discussions on something they disagreed on.  Having my eyes opened to such possibilities prepared me well for traveling to different parts of the world and realizing that different is not wrong.

I am thankful I was pushed and prodded into forming my own thoughts and ideas on things. By asking me to form my own opinion, the vast majority of my professors communicated to me that what I thought mattered and was valued. I have seen children in various parts of the world who have been told they don't matter, and the result is children who develop into adults who don't believe they have anything to offer and so never speak their mind or voice their ideas, even if those ideas are really really great. I hope that I can encourage the children I work with both here and abroad that they matter enough to have their own voice. To lead by example that asserting one's opinion with arrogance and attitude alienates, but contributing ideas and opinions with grace and respect collectively launches new discoveries and inventions, opens minds wide to ideas that are new and exciting, and makes our world a better place.

Jaimee's Top 12 Book List

Anyone who knows me well, knows I love to read. I always enjoy browsing through must read book lists on blogs and websites, so I decided it was high time I created my own.  I had a hard time narrowing this down to 12 books, I probably could have picked 100, but in the end these are the 12 that I think most changed and challenged me, inspired me into action, broke my heart and made it sing.

 12. Secret Daughter: By Shilpi Somaya Gowda- Having been to India several times, I felt as though I was part of this story. A riveting story of sacrifice and an honest look into Indian culture, international adoption and family identity. I felt Kavita's pain as she surrendered Asha into the hands of others, in order that she may have life. I read this one in record time.

 11. Little Princes: By Conor Grennan- When I read this book I had no idea that I would one day go to Nepal and meet children very much like those in this book. Even so, I had been to several children's homes in various parts of the world and saw myself in many of Conor's experiences from the deep love he has for the children at the orphanage, to the numerous cultural faux pas he makes, and to the deep satisfaction he finds in his work there and also in the frustration at trying to work within and do good work in a government system that is rife with corruption. Part way through his stay at an orphanage in Nepal, Conor finds out that many of these children are not orphans at all, but have been taken out of their mountain villages by trafficker's who have promised them a better life, later abandoning them in Kathmandu where they were taken in by various children's homes. This amazing book follows the journey of bringing the lost children of Nepal home.

10. The Book of Negroes: By Lawrence Hill- To be honest I never had any intentions of reading this book. It was given to me as a gift by my Grandmother who is also an avid reader. After only a few pages I was in, I was so in. A fictional but historically accurate look at the slave trade that makes history personal and close to home. Highly recommended.

9. Six Months in Sudan: By James Maskalyk- Another book in which I saw myself in many of the words and pages. A young doctor spends six months in Sudan with Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctor's Without Border's). An honest look into the uncertain business of doing good, the difficulty of re-entry back into one's home country after being in a place that is hard to explain to friends and family. Dr. Maskalyk so eloquently put into words what I so often struggle to. A must read if you work in the development sector, want to, or love someone who does.

 8. The Uncertain Business of Doing Good: Outsiders in Africa. By Larry Krotz- This was one of the first books that opened my eyes to the fact that perhaps Africa and African's do not need me to go over and rescue them. An honest look at several projects happening in various parts of Africa, all motivated by a desire to "do good" in Africa. This book along with several others such as "When Helping Hurts" "Toxic Charity" "Serving with Eyes Wide Open" and many others have radically changed how I "do good." An honest evaluation of the service work I perform, the charities I donate money to, and how the people at the receiving end are affected and whether or not the projects we support are encouraging empowerment or dependence. Another must read if you work in the development sector.

 7. Redeeming Love: By Francine Rivers- This work of historical fiction forever changed the way I read the book of Hosea. I used to skim through Hosea with disinterest. That is no longer so. This book opened my eyes to a wondrous love story in an entirely new way. It created a vivid picture of just how deep and wide we are loved by God, and created in me a hope that I might one day meet my own Michael Hosea. This is one of the few books that I have read through several times.

6. God in a Brothel: An Undercover Journey into Sex Trafficking and Rescue: By Daniel Walker- I read this book in preparation for the project I was scheduled to go on in Cambodia (which ended up getting cancelled). To say this book broke my heart would be an understatement. How does one put into words the pain and wretchedness that happens inside the walls of a child brothel? Somehow, Daniel Walker, an undercover detective who works to free these children, finds a way. The high personal cost Daniel pays to do this work garners a high level of respect from me. This book disturbed me and created in me a heart for trafficked individuals.

5. Shake Hands with the Devil- The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda: By LGen. Romeo Dallaire- I read this book when I was in University at a time in my life when I had little spare time to do reading of my own choosing. A few minutes on the bus here, a few minutes in the library there, and I was through this book. At the time, I didn't know I would one day walk the streets of Rwanda, or be involved in helping design a counseling centre there, but this book started awakening the heart for Africa that I believe has always existed in me. I came away from this book deeply heartbroken, wondering how humanity could be capable of such an atrocity. The people I met in Rwanda a few years later, many of whom had lived through the genocide inspired me in an entirely new way. I have nothing but the deepest respect for Lt-Gen Dallaire.

 4. Mere Christianity: By C.S. Lewis- C.S. Lewis is perhaps one of the most quoted writers of all time. After reading this book I understood why. As someone who ponders spiritual matters deeply, I was intrigued by C.S. Lewis' conversion from atheism to Christianity. This book wasn't as heavy as I was expecting, but was deep and challenging and has stayed with me in the years since I've read it.

3. Overrated: By Eugene Cho- As someone who claims to love justice, this book went straight for the heart. I was challenged, changed, and inspired to action. I was reminded that loving the idea of changing the world and getting down to the hard, messy, and inconvenient business of loving justice are two very different things. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to climb down off their high horse and evaluate the hard truth of what it means to live justly.

2. One Thousand Gifts: By Ann Voskamp- To say this book changed my life would be an understatement. It changed my entire outlook. I was inspired to live with deep gratitude and to find things to give thanks for in the everyday and ordinary that I didn't even know was possible. My eyes were opened to green grass, leaves swaying in the wind, frosty breath on a winter morning, crisp pages in a book, and so many other small everyday gifts I have to give thanks for. As a lover of words I was drawn in by Ann's poetic writing style. I have gifted this book to many a friend in hopes that they will be changed as much as I was.

1. The Bible- This one here is at the top of my list not because it's my favourite book to read, but because it is the book that has by far most changed and shaped me as a person. This is perhaps one of the hardest to understand books that I own, and after reading a few short chapters I don't feel changed or even necessarily inspired, but over the years of reading these pages, I have been changed in ways I don't even fully understand. Slowly, reading a bit everyday, change has come, in increments so small I scarcely even notice, but over the long term, the changes have been such, that I am no longer the person I once was. And to think the journey has only just begun.