Working Group Year End Report 2010-11

W O R K I N G G R O U P Y E A R E N D 2 0 1 0 -­‐ 2 0 1 1 Prepared for: OPIRG McMaster Board of Directors Prepared by: Randy Kay, Coordinator of Volunteers Date: June 2011

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................3 APPROVED WORKING GROUPS 2010-­‐2011 ...............................................................................................3 STATISTICS AND REVIEW ..........................................................................................................................4 WEB CALENDAR..................................................................................................................................................................................................4 INTER-­‐GROUP PARTICPATION.....................................................................................................................................................................4 RETENTION ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................4 WORKING GROUP YEAR END SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS ...................................................................................5 SATISFACTION .....................................................................................................................................................................................................5 WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION........................................................................................................................................................................5 OPIRG SUPPORTS................................................................................................................................................................................................7 WORKING GROUP REPORTS .....................................................................................................................8 Biodiversity Guild .....................................................................................................................................8 Body Equity ..............................................................................................................................................9 Community Volunteer Action ................................................................................................................. 12 Dominican .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Food For Life........................................................................................................................................... 19 Guatemala.............................................................................................................................................. 22 Hamilton Freeskool ................................................................................................................................ 24 Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective ......................................................................................................... 28 Inter-­‐City Homeless Outreach, McMaster ............................................................................................... 31 JUST STOP .............................................................................................................................................. 38 McMaster First Nations Student Association .......................................................................................... 42 McMaster Students for Social Justice...................................................................................................... 49 Migrant Workers Resource Centre.......................................................................................................... 52 Save More Students................................................................................................................................ 52 ThreadWork ........................................................................................................................................... 57 COMMENTS............................................................................................................................................ 59 Figure 1 Web Calendar Usage .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2 Satisfaction Survey view 1 ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 3 Participation in Consensus Workshops................................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 4 Participation in Anti-Oppression Workshops ........................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 5 Volunteer Fairs September 2010 .......................................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 6 Volunteer Fair........................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Figure 7 Tech Free for Change ........................................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 8 Volunteer-A-Thon, March 2011 ............................................................................................................................................. 16 Figure 9 Breakfast Club....................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 10 Volunteer-A-Thon, March 2011 ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 11 Reading Buddies ................................................................................................................................................................. 17

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Figure 12 Food For Life Tabling in MUSC........................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 13 Harvest Meal poster ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 Figure 14 Our First Ride! April 17, 2011.............................................................................................................................................. 31 Figure 15 ICHO Clothing Drive Poster ................................................................................................................................................ 32 Figure 16 ICHO Bake Sale Poster....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Figure 17 ICHO Fresh Poster.............................................................................................................................................................. 33 Figure 18 ICHO Tentative Campaign Logo ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Figure 19 Original member Shahed Al-Farai (2nd from L) with three students ................................................................................... 55

INTRODUCTION A very successful and engaged year for OPIRG Working Groups! We started in the fall with 14 groups, adding one in the January term to make 15. Every group contributed by holding meetings, events, and participating in the OPIRG Community, and creating space for students and community members to become engaged.

The range of issues being covered by working groups reflects the diverse interests that students and members of the community bring to OPIRGʼs board of directors each year. The Board, after reviewing working group applications, interviews new and returning groups before coming to a consensus decision on which groups to approve.

Once approved, working groups have access to OPIRG support, funding, and are encouraged to involve their volunteer members in the mandatory Anti-Oppression and Consensus Decision Making workshops offered each term. Working Groups also self-support each other with networking meetings each term.

Working groups are guided by the OPIRG McMaster working group policy (available online at opirg.ca) and interact with the PIRG staff, primarily through the Coordinator of Volunteers.

Each group decides its own route to educate and take action on their chosen areas of interest. The volunteers can choose to pull off one or two big events a year, or regular small events and meetings throughout the year, but the constant is that the groups create a space for personal and group agency on real issues. Turning research into action is, after all, OPIRGʼs motto!

APPROVED WORKING GROUPS 2010-­‐2011 1. Biodiversity Guild 2. Body Equity 3. Community Volunteer Action 4. Dominican 5. Food For Life 6. Guatemala 7. Hamilton Freeskool 8. Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective 9. Inter-City Homeless Outreach, McMaster 10. JUST STOP 11. McMaster First Nations Student Association 12. McMaster Students for Social Justice 13. Migrant Workers Resource Centre 14. Save More Students 15. ThreadWork

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2 groups that applied were not approved by the board (January 2011) – 1 group denied on policy issue (outside group) and another failed to show up for the board interview.

STATISTICS AND REVIEW 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

ThreadWork

Justice Migrant Workers Resource Centre Save More Students

March Outreach, McMaster JUST STOP McMaster First Nations Student Association McMaster Students for Social

Biodiversity Guild Body Equity Community Volunteer Action Dominican Food For Life Guatemala Hamilton Freeskool Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective Inter-­‐City Homeless

April February January December November October September

Figure 1 Web Calendar Usage

WEB CALENDAR This easy to access tool is not well utilized by majority of groups. The web calendar is the basis for content in our weekly events listing sent out over e-mail. Groups are encouraged to post all their meeting dates, and event info here. Lack of use by working groups means the full extent of OPIRGʼs activities are not shared publically with our membership, which in turn may lead to loss of opportunity for volunteers to join existing working groups.

INTER-­‐GROUP PARTICPATION • • • •

9/15 working groups attended the Mandatory Orientation sessions 11/15 working groups attended PIRGTOPIA 11/15 attended at least one of the two working group networking meetings 9/15 attended the AGM to make reports to board/membership

RETENTION •

13/15 re-applied for working group status in 2011-2012

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WORKING GROUP YEAR END SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS SATISFACTION Clearly working groups are generally falling into the satisfied half of the scales, especially “bringing attention to issues”, “contributing new research” and “meeting stated goals”, with the most dissatisfaction coming in the “attracting volunteers” category. This is generally an area of difficulty each year for groups, as attracting new volunteers takes time, energy, and, in a very busy schoolyear, this on top of getting to work on group objectives. Yet, despite these realities, we have seen numerous groups start small but grow in time until they are reaching a larger community of peers and community.

OPIRGʼs Board and staff are looking at ways to raise OPIRG McMasterʼs profile on campus, which will benefit all working groups with attracting volunteers and reinforcing other aspects of their work.

Figure 2 Satisfaction Survey view 1

25 20

15 10 5 0

Contributing to new research Bringing Attention to Issues Attracting Volunteers Meeting Stated Goals

WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION The feedback indicates a strong sense of satisfaction from a diverse range of groups., with room to improve.

Part of what differentiates OPIRG Working Groups from other campus groups is OPIRGʼs interest in ensuring access to Anti-Oppression and Consensus Decision Making workshops. These two workshops offered each term are considered Core Workshops for OPIRG volunteers, board

5

members, and working groups. Facilitators deliver two and three hour workshops which are made available for free to full-time undergrads at McMaster and our community members.

Figure 3 Participation in Consensus Workshops

Working Groups have not been well represented at these Core Workshops during the 2010-2011 year, which can be explained on grounds of schedule conflicts or illness, but low representation is also a reflection of the number of groups with years of OPIRG service: i.e. their volunteers have taken the workshops during a previous year. Increasing participation is essential though, since working group members need to be attuned to the subject matter, and apply these core values in their volunteer work with OPIRG McMaster.

OPIRG is investigating supplementing these core value workshops with an interactive “game” learning component for the web site to enhance the experience of our volunteers.

OPIRG McMaster also awards a Certificate of Completion in these core values for volunteers who complete the two workshops over the course of their time at McMaster, useful beyond the subject matter, for instance, on resumes.

Figure 4 Participation in Anti-Oppression Workshops

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OPIRG SUPPORTS OPIRG McMaster supports our working groups in a variety of ways, and we asked the groups to rank the supports in terms of “usefulness to your group” – 10 supports were listed, and the top ranked support was Working Group Money (6 ranked it number 1), then moderate support for the OPIRG Web Page, and OPIRG E-Mail Event Listing (3 top ranks each) #

Answer

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Responses

6

Working Group Money ($250)

6

2

1

3

0

0

1

1

1

0

15

10

OPIRG Web Page

3

4

0

3

1

0

0

2

0

2

15

9

OPIRG-Email event listing

3

0

3

0

4

2

1

1

1

0

15

1

Working Group Network Meetings

1

3

2

3

2

1

1

1

1

0

15

2

Button-Maker

1

1

1

3

0

0

2

0

3

4

15

4

Anti-Oppression Workshop

1

0

1

1

2

5

0

3

2

0

15

3

Consensus Decision Making Workshops

0

2

1

1

4

2

4

0

0

1

15

5

Working Group Special Project Fund

0

1

4

0

0

1

1

2

3

3

15

7

PIRGSPECTIVES newsletter

0

1

0

1

2

1

1

5

2

2

15

8

PIRGTOPIA display

0

1

2

0

0

3

4

0

2

3

15

Total

15

15

15

15

15

15

15

15

15

15

-

Table 1 Priority ranking hierarchy (using top ranked column 1)

If we add the top five (1-5) responses from all the groups the numbers reveal a rating with Working Group Money (12), OPIRG Web Page (11), Networking (11), Email Events Listing (10) as the top four, followed by Consensus (8) then Button Maker (6), Special Project Funding (5), AntiOppression (5), Newsletter (4) and PIRGTOPIA (3).

The top four make some sense since they are useful for the day-to-day needs of working groups to carry out their work, to advertise themselves and to mutually support each-other. The lack of priority for the remaining supports, which includes the core value workshops for Consensus and Anti-Oppression, may be explained by previous exposure to the workshops in previous years, and the less direct day-to-day nature of things like submitting articles to the newsletter, staffing a table at PIRGTOPIA (a mini-clubs fest for OPIRG working groups held in the MUSC atrium), and using the button maker. Yet for the minority of groups who use the button maker or the special project fund, these supports are highly valued. Perhaps if more working groups made use of the “less valued” supports, the ranking would be higher. The results may also be forced by the nature of the

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ranking in the survey, where supports equally valued must be ranked one above the other. But this does give some indication of where working groups place their priorities, and as such is useful for planning purposes.

WORKING GROUP REPORTS The following includes comprehensive year end reporting from our 15 working groups, arranged alphabetically by group name.

Biodiversity Guild In the past academic year, the Biodiversity Guild attempted, by means of educational events and fundraisers, to raise student and public awareness about issues facing biodiversity and conservation. The following chart outlines the events planned and executed by the Biodiversity Guild from Fall 2010 through Winter 2011.

Activity and Date Jute bag and poster sales (September – December)

Local and Organic Barbeque and Potluck

Creek Clean-up (October)

Film Screening (November)

Guiding Goals

Brief Summary

Raise funds for donation to Georgian Bay Land Trust, Hamilton Naturalist Club Additionally, contribute to increased student knowledge of local biodiversity Meet and recruit new members Start conversations about the local and organic food movements, food choices

In the past year, the Guild sold reusable, biodegradable jute bags, as well as pins to raise funds for the Hamilton Naturalist Club and WWF.

Provide opportunity for Guild members to recognize issuing facing local biodiversity (e.g. trash and litter) Direct action to protect local ecosystems Raise awareness about corporate/capitalist model in regards to food systems, specifically fisheries

In September, the Guild organized a barbeque and potluck, and invited all members of the Guild mailing list. We had approximately 15 people attend, and enjoyed an evening of local food and conversation.

Facilitated by BARC, 8 members of the Biodiversity Guild assisted in removing trash and recycling from Coldstone Creek, by the McMaster auxiliary parking lots off Cootes Drive.

As a follow-up to last yearʼs screening of Food, Inc., we decided to screen End of the Line, to increase awareness about fishery practices and sources of fish and marine food products. Following the film, the

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Pub Night (January)

Recruit new members Provide opportunities for networking

No Impact Week (April)

To look at the effects of collective small-lifestyle changes on the environmental movement, as well as how these changes can contribute to greater personal happiness and health

Cootes Cleanup

Provide opportunity for McMaster community to recognize issuing facing local biodiversity (e.g. trash and litter) Direct action to protect local ecosystems

attendees contributed to an informal discussion and brainstorming session. The screening was attended by approximately 10 participants.

The Biodiversity Guild organized a night out at the Phoenix, to provide opportunity for students interested in Biodiversity to receive more information and to stimulate student networking opportunities.

We organized a one-week carbon cleanse to see what differences no-impact living can have on quality of life. Each day was focused on a different topic, including Trash and Consumption, Water Use, Transportation, Facilitated by the McMaster Outdoor Club, the Guild assisted in removing trash and recycling from Cootes Paradise, a large marsh system behind McMaster.

Body Equity

Part I: Overview of action completed by the Body Equity Working Group This was a great year for Body Equity for many reasons. During the budget year, the Body Equity Working Group initiative grew both literally and figuratively. We refined our Anti-Oppression and Self-Esteem workshops for students in grades 7-12; we created new brochures for the students participating in our workshops; and, we got our creative juices flowing to create one-of-akind “BE U” buttons. Also, one of the things that we were particularly proud of was the expansion

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of the number of group members in Body Equity. Last year, there were only two solid members of Body Equity and one of our group goals for this year was to expand and it happened. We were very excited to get two more members in Body Equity, which was a great addition. We were encouraged by their new perspectives that could appeal to the male participants in our workshops.

Each of the group members offered new ideas and feedback towards enhancing our group initiatives. We demonstrated strong group work and collaboration throughout the year at our weekly meetings. The discussions we had were both thought-provoking and interesting and, as we learned more about each other, we all enhanced our understanding in promoting body image and self-esteem.

These strong group dynamics helped us to work on one of the most important components of Body Equity, the Anti-Oppression and Self-Esteem Workshop. We all worked for several months refining and editing the Workshop, so that it would be more enjoyable and (potentially) beneficial for students in grades 7 to 12. We went to two Hamilton schools in Term 2 which was an enlightening and enjoyable experience. We tried to improve the workshop each time by having a de-briefing session followed by a formal reflection about each personʼs feedback for three questions: what did you enjoy the most/least; what do you think worked well; and, what can be improved. These questions were very helpful because we saw the differences in the responses from the students for subsequent workshops.

A major focus for the year was to improve and update supplementary materials to reinforce the message of each workshop. Specifically, efforts were made on brochures, buttons and even the club logo.

The brochure was revamped to be more professional in terms of both appearance and content. The goal was simple - make the brochure attractive enough for kids to engage with the material. Age appropriate, photo-edited graphics were used in lieu of Clipart images. Clean formatting with effective use of white space made for easy reading. The vocabulary level was reflective of our target audience and attempts were made to stay “current”. To further increase the likelihood of brochure retention, a fun word search puzzle with Body Equity themed words was incorporated.

The idea of handcrafting unique buttons emerged to further remind students of the Body Equity message even after the workshop. A simple “BE U” logo was used as the base of the button to emphasize the importance of acceptance and tolerance of differences. Multi-coloured yarn pieces were layered over the base in fun albeit random patterns to reinforce the message of uniqueness. True to the clubʼs mission, each button was unique as its future owner. The kids loved them!

The club logo was created to artistically represent the clubʼs mission. “BE U” was chosen to play homage to Body Equityʼs namesake and emphasizes our message to “be yourself”. A bubble blower wand and a bubble were chosen to complement the lettering for several reasons. Bubbles capture the essence of childhood and thus will create an instance connection with kids. The bubble purposely plays with shadow effects to create the image of a “globe” with interconnecting countries and continents. Incidentally, the bubble is also a component of the workshop as the “force field” of self-esteem. Overall, the logo is a great symbol of the club and creates an immediate connection with the audience.

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Part II: Contact persons in the Working Group Name Elyse Watkins Nathaniel Loranger

E-mail ek_watkins@hotmail.com n.loranger@hotmail.com

Part III: Self-evaluation of the Group's work Body Equityʼs goals for this year was to advocate for tolerance and anti-oppression in the Hamilton and McMaster community; promote positive body image and self esteem within the Hamilton and McMaster community; and, foster critical analysis of the social construction of body norms through workshops with local Hamilton schools. We were able to achieve these goals through our groupʼs strengths. First, one of our strengths was our ability to openly discuss ideas and thoughts about Body Equity. We were able to critically analyze any changes we wanted to make to the workshop, the brochure, and the buttons and to address anything that we saw as a hindrance in our process. This not only made us grow as fellow Body Equity members, but as friends taking action to promote positive self-esteem and anti-oppression. Also, our open discussions demonstrated our good use of communication which helped us to create a welldeveloped Anti-Oppression and Self-Esteem Workshop that everyone was proud of. Secondly, another group strength was our interest and passion regarding body image, self-esteem, and antioppression. In several meetings we shared personal anecdotes with one another about why we joined Body Equity and how our personal experiences have motivated us to raise awareness of Body Equity values through our workshops for teenagers and young adults. We also discussed issues relevant to Body Equity topics which made us gain new perspectives on important subjects making us more prepared for the questions that the students asked during the workshops. Lastly, another one of our strengths was our commitment and dedication to the group. Each group member was very reliable, responsible and took initiative in all aspects of Body Equity Events. This helped us to be successful in Body Equityʼs goals for the year.

Our groupʼs weaknesses are areas that can be improved to help us better achieve our goals. One of our weaknesses was our size. Although I enjoyed having small-group discussions about various topics within Body Equity, it may have been helpful to have the input from more individuals as well as to have more ʻman powerʼ overall. This will be better addressed in the following budget year by looking into more effective ways to reach out to students at McMaster who are interested in Body Equity. Another area of improvement is our ability to contact local Hamilton Schools. We would like to increase participation in our workshops by working with more schools in the Hamilton community. This can be improved by brainstorming with the group tactics for gaining interest from schools. For instance, it would be helpful to have group members start contacting schools on a more regular basis.

Part IV: Vision for Body Equity Working Group's future, In the future, Body Equity will maintain its core values as well as expand to increase awareness and action on positive self-esteem and anti-oppression. Body Equity will continue to present workshops, but on a larger scale by reaching out to more students in the Hamilton community. We have spoken to the Free Skool Working Group about collaboration, which will be

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an endeavour to look forward to in the future. We will also encourage group members to share their ideas about recruiting more schools. Also, Elyse Watkins will be completing a program evaluation on the Body Equity Workshops for her fourth year Health Sciences thesis project. This project will investigate the efficacy of the program using qualitative research in order to ensure the optimal success of the workshops. We are also looking forward to having more events at McMaster to start the conversation about body image, self-esteem, and anti-oppression. Overall, Body Equity will continue work towards recruiting more members to enhance and sustain our research and action by spreading the message to “BE U”…one button at a time .

Community Volunteer Action

New Working Group Contacts:

Name

Email Address

Marissa Cunnington

cva@mcmaster.ca

Dhanisha Patel Shankari Sivarajasingam

Position in CVA

Volunteer Coordinator pateld38@mcmaster.ca Facilitator shankari_8@hotmail.com Facilitator

Student or Community Member Community Member Student Student

List of Meetings: • 6 Bi-Weekly Meetings for Facilitator Development each term (CRAFT-Creative Reflection and Facilitation Team) • Offered 3 sessions per week for facilitators to attend (36 options throughout the year) • Attendance rate of 84% of attending one session bi-weekly • Approximately 50 student facilitators throughout the year participated • Event Planning Meetings throughout the term with all the different events Weekly Groups: • 27 Weekly Groups at 11 different agencies • Over 300 students volunteering weekly Aaa – New groups/ expanded days for CVA Placement **Adventures in Art

Description Mentor Gr 6-9 students as they explore and create with a wide variety of art forms

Size 10

Day/Time Thurs. 6-8:30pm

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**Afterschool program (Eva Rothwell Community Centre)

Help out where needed with new community center: tutor and play games with ages 8-13, clothing exchange program help, etc.

8

Mon. 4-6:15pm

8

Tues. 4-6:15pm

8

Wed. 4-6:15pm

8

Thurs.4-6:15pm

8 **Benetto Public School **Dr. Davey Breakfast Program (Beasley Community Centre)

Help teacher in classroom, working 1-1 or in groups. May also choose to help with class prep and admin Engage children in positive conversation during breakfast, teaching respect, playing games, helping with cooking and clean up

6-8

Tues. 9:00am-12:15

10-15

Tues. 8:00 – 10:30am

10-15 10-15 10-15 4-6

Wed. 8:00 – 10:30am Thurs. 8:00 – 10:30am Fri..8:00 – 10:30am Thurs. 2-4:15pm

**Conway Opportunity Homes ** Reading BuddiesGaming and Literacy – Frontier College Inasmuch Womenʼs Shelter

Interact with people living with developmental disabilities

7

Tues. 3:30-­5:30pm

4-6

Mon. 6-8:15pm

4-6

Fri 6:00-8:15pm

15 15 15 15

Mon: Gr. 1-4 Tues: Gr. 5-8 Wed: Gr. 1-4 Thurs: Gr. 5-8

15 4-5

Friday: Gr 1-8 Mon. 1:30-4:45pm

10 10 10 10-15

Mon. 3:30-6:15pm Tues. 3:30-6:15pm Wed. 3:30-6:15pm Tues. 5:00-8:15pm

Assist adults with physical disabilities (using augmentative and alternative communication devices), learn skills as a communication facilitator Play games, engage in crafts or sports, provide movie and snacks for the whole family

4-5

Thurs. 1:30-4:45pm

8

Mon. 6:15-9:30pm

Help work in a soup kitchen to prepare lunch, as well staff the employment office.

6

Thurs, 10:00-1:30pm

Read with high risk children and youth , one with one and in groups, and incorporate literacy video games into the activities.

Facilitate crafts, games, and movies for infants and children

**LAF(Learning and Fun) after school program (Welcome Inn) - 4 groups

Work with at risk kids in small groups and one-on-one using creative and fun tools to teach academics Choose from Mon-Thurs (3pm–5:30pm)

**Community Gathering (ON March of Dimes) **Tween Homework Club

Assist adults with physical disabilities in a community gathering group to communicate and interact while providing a support setting. Help plan activities.

Help new immigrant youth with homework

**Pathways to Education (North HamiltonCommunity HC) **Peer Support Program (ON March of Dimes) Family Night (Eva Rothwell Community Centre) Soup & Staff at Wesley

Provide academic tutoring/role-modeling to Gr. 9 students in a group environment where learning (through homework, projects, and other avenues) is preserved and appreciated.

Events: • CVA Agency Scavenger Hunt-Part of Opirgʼs Alternative Welcome Week (September) o 1 attended

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Three CVA Volunteer Fairs (Two in September and one in January) o 400 people attended in total • MUSC Volunteer Part-Organized by Social Scienceʼs Experimental Education department (September) o Numerous people stopped by in Marketplace • Volunteer Orientation (September) o 30 people attended • Co-Coordinated Tech Free for Change, which became Tech Free Tuesdays/Wednesdays occurring weekly (October, then weekly) o 100 people attend event, and about 20-30 people attend weekly • Definitions of Success-Run with part of Tech Free Tuesdays (November) o 15 people attended • Help supervise Exam Study (December & April) o 50 students attended periodically throughout week • Pirgtopia (January) o Numerous people stopped by in Marketplace • Volunteer A Thon (March) o 15 people attended • Volunteer Appreciation (April) o Occurring earlier in day Successes (Evaluation of CVA): • Had some new facilitators attend both Consensus Decision Making and Anti-Oppression workshops (4 people) • Had event planning committees look over a Consensus Decision Making handout before beginning to plan. We have always tried to use Consensus Decision Making as much as possible without naming it, but now, we have the event planning teams look over the handouts, and give awareness to Consensus Decision Making in our group.

• Over 300 students volunteering weekly, which is approximately the same as what we had last year. CVA is still working on finding new ways to advertise for the groups, which has always been our weakness. In the Hamilton community, there are hundreds of groups which would love a weekly group of volunteers, but we are still working on perfecting our advertising methods to try to attract more students to join a group.

• Began working with Frontier College to continue to support the recent immigrant youth with their homework after the collapse of SISO over the holiday break. This connection began, as the youth from SISO contacts their former tutors asking for help, which really speaks to the relationships that were built between CVA and the recent immigrant youth.

• Many of the agencies we are currently working with want us to expand to more days, potential to expand more then 10 new groups for September 2011. Each and every agency has been amazed with the commitment and engagement of the volunteers CVA recruits.

•

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CVA has now completed the second year of using Group Scrapbooks to represent the individual success of the groups, each facilitator is responsible for adding to their scrapbook over the year.

Goals for Next Year: • Expand our group types to include volunteer groups with seniors • Work with the organization which is taking over the youth homework club for recent immigrant youth • Expand our advertising measures to attract more volunteers • Have approximately 10 facilitators attend the Opirg endorsed workshop on Consensus Decision Making and Anti-Oppression • Strengthen our relationship with Opirg throughout CVA, encourage volunteers to go to Opirg events, and really encourage facilitators to promote the Opirg name within their groups.

• Work with different working groups from Opirg to highlight their group at the Tech Free Weekly Zone each week •

Photos:

Figure 5 Volunteer Fairs September 2010

15

Figure 7 Tech Free for Change

Figure 9 Breakfast Club

Figure 8 Volunteer-A-Thon, March 2011

16

Figure 10 Volunteer-A-Thon, March 2011

Figure 11 Reading Buddies

Â

17 Â

Dominican The Dominican Republic Self-Help Working Group, for the last four years, has been dedicated to gathering support from the McMaster community to raise awareness about the social injustices that exist for those facing oppression and extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic. Through social justice based approaches, our group, in correlation with another local group-The Dominican Republic Faith Experience Group (DRFE), which began over 20 years ago, and continues today to run as a group that works to teach and discuss injustices facing those in the Dominican, and enabling members to witness such injustices in the Dominican, have worked together on various projects for the last four years, as a means of establishing greater support for the sustainability projects being created by our friends in the Dominican.

These Sustainability Projects, or Self-Help projects, have been created by community leaders and members of various Dominican communities, and have been supported by both groups. For the last twenty years, the DRFE has supported a variety of projects developed in Dominican communities including the support of La Esperanza Fair Trade coffee, and sewing projects.

The most recent and ongoing project we have supported, are the Garden Projects, created by a community leader and facilitator of the DRFE, Juan Rivas. The focus of the projects have been developed in sugar cane bateye communities, where Dominicans and Haitians live and work with their families under immensely oppressive, and extremely impoverished conditions as sugarcane cutters. There are over 500 of these bateyes that exist in the Dominican. The Garden Projects work to assist and provide tools to those sugar-cane cutters and their families living in the Arroyo Indio, and Palamara bateyes, to acquire gardening skills, to produce food for their families and communities. The project has been established as a means of creating employment opportunities, produce basic organic foods necessities; plantain, beans, peas, eggs, milk, meats, etc, and to teach planting techniques and the raising of livestock.

Through our OPIRG working group, and through the support of the DRFE, we have been able to raise awareness and gain support for such projects, through the events we have been apart of this past year.

In May 2010, our Annual DRFE Dinner was held, whereby the focus of the evening was on the development of Juanʼs Garden Projects. A number of photos, testimonies, and stories were shared by groups who have had the chance to visit and observe the development and progress of Juanʼs projects, and the gardens created. Such events allow our group to gain support from the Hamilton community for such projects to take place, and allow for a greater support to enable such projects to take place.

Leading up to August 2010, our group held a variety of meetings to prepare the new participants of our group that travels to the Dominican every summer to witness and learn about the detrimental conditions faced in the Dominican, and how the methods of social justice action can work to create change. A number of participants last August had the chance to visit the bateyes Juan and communities has worked to establish garden projects in.

In January 2011, the Dominican Republic Self-Help Working Group, had the chance for a second time to participate in OPIRGʼS PIRGtopia. Our group has found this event to be a particularly valuable experience to our group, as it enables us to connect with other members and groups of OPIRG, to raise awareness about the focus of our group, and to enable members of the McMaster and Hamilton communities to have the chance to get involved with a number of

18

OPIRGʼS groups and projects. Both years, our group has found that PIRGtopia, is a great way to get others involved in our groups initiatives.

Other ongoing projects our group has been working on over the last year include creating a website for the DRFE, that will enable participants of our group to share stories, learn about ongoing projects, and become involved in projects, and planning a DRFE reunion for the participants that have taken part in our group in the last 20 years.

Food For Life Food for Life Activity Community Cooking Event #1 (Saturday January 8th, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

Major goals To teach students how to prepare ratatouille and paprika chicken

Community Cooking Event #2 (Sunday January 16th, 2:00 PM -4:00 PM)

To teach students how to prepare handmade noodles and Taiwanese Braised Beef Soup.

Community Cooking Event #3 (Saturday January 29th, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

To teach students how to prepare sweet and sour pork and satay beef.

Community Cooking Event #4 (Sunday February 6th, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM)

To teach students how to make meat and vegetarian lasagna.

Community Cooking Event #5 (Saturday April 2nd, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM)

To teach students how to make pork schnitzel.

Brief Summary This first event was open to only Farmstand volunteers as a test event. Individuals learned basic knife and food preparation skills.

10 individuals attended this event.

This second event was open to the community and had 7 people in total attending. They learned basic kneading and broth making skills.

The third event was open to the community and had 10 people attending. They learned frying techniques and safety and quick stir-fry methods.

The fourth event was open to the community and had 10 people attending. They learned to use the pasta roller machine and the anatomy of lasagna.

Discussed idea of a fee with the members.

This final event had a total of 5 people attending. They learned breading techniques and how to tenderize meat using a mallet.

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Also, we collected donations for the Church at this final class.

Meeting Preliminary Logistics Meeting (December)

Attendance 4

Community Cooking Event #1 Preparation (Thursday January 6th, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) Community Cooking Event #2 Preparation (Thursday January 13th, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) Community Cooking Event #3 Preparation (Thursday January 27th, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) Community Cooking Event #4 Preparation (Thursday February 3rd, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) Community Cooking Event #5 Preparation (Thursday March 31st, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) Follow-Up Meeting (Wednesday April 20th)

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Brief Summary Discussed location, fees, and events for the semester. Decided that we would attempt to run a free cooking class to attract attention at St. Paulʼs Church in Westdale. Events were undetermined, but we would do as many as we could handle.

Tested recipes and ways to allocate tasks and space for the specific recipe.

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Tested recipes and ways to allocate tasks and space for the specific recipe.

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Tested recipes and ways to allocate tasks and space for the specific recipe.

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Tested recipes and ways to allocate tasks and space for the specific recipe.

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Tested recipes and ways to allocate tasks and space for the specific recipe.

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Discussed future plans for Food for Life. Determined that we would require a fee and possible expansion to other kitchens.

Food for Life is a working group oriented show the community the benefits of cooking by providing knowledge, space, and equipment. An integral part of our goal is to promote consumer awareness, which includes information about organic, local, and other produce that one may consume. Is organic truly better? Is local the way to go? What is a quick and healthy dish I can

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make? Our goal is to answer these questions while also providing a fun and interactive event for the community.

During our first year as a working group, we were quite successful in teaching the community basic cooking techniques using fresh ingredients. Unfortunately, we did not have access to fresh, local, and organic produce due to our groupʼs formation during winter. We attempted to incorporate nutritional facts within each class although we could have more aptly demonstrated this using the fresher ingredients from local farms. Regarding our goal for multiculturalism, we were limited by time but were able to teach dishes from the following cultures: Chinese, Taiwanese, Italian, French, American, and German. The dishes also included a brief explanation of the dishʼs origin to provide context and generate interest.

Our main weakness was creating a long-term system for the classes. We wanted to provide the classes at no cost in order to entice more people from the community to come. However, we soon realized this was not possible and began to charge strictly for covering the costs of ingredients. This fee was introduced during Community Cooking Event #5, which had a drastic reduction in attendees from the usual 10 to 5. However, one cannot attribute this entirely to the newly introduced fee, as we had discussed the fee with the members in the class before (Community Cooking Event #4) and they had agreed it would be fine if it is for the long-term success of the group. Instead, the reduced attendance may be due to the exam period beginning and a substitution of cooking leisure for studying time.

For our future plans, we intend to partner with the McMaster Farmstand to provide easy and affordable access to local produce for our cooking events. Additionally, one of our observations is that many of our members are quite skilled and have aspirations of their own to teach classes.

Noting the demand from some of our members, we intend to make the space and equipment open to members. This will allow them to organize their very own cooking events while removing the limitations of space and equipment that usually prevent individuals from attempting cooking. Of course, we are aware of the fact that a large amount of trust must be placed on these individuals in organizing their own events, as they must purchase the ingredients, collect fees, and keep the space and equipment clean and operational. As such, we will prepare a plan to monitor their activities by asking them to send reports before and after classes. The initial report will indicate purpose, recipe, costs, and expected number of attendees. The follow up report will have the receipt from the grocery store, fees collected, and a self-assessment of their class. The executive team will prepare either a form or report Figure 12 Food For Life Tabling in MUSC template for these member-held classes to increase accountability and accuracy in these reports. Initial classes will be monitored by an executive to ensure the class is operated according to our standards. Our support will include a check-list of equipment provided, duties to complete before and after class, and our own advice and attendance if requested.

Operating Food for Life was a great experience for us. It was challenging to organize the events and teach the classes, but at the same time we realized that they became less like classes and more like community gatherings. We hope that in the future, we are able to focus on our goal

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of explaining the differences between organic, local, supermarket, and processed foods. Overall, it was a fun and interesting experience for us and weʼd like to thank both the community and OPIRG for being great caretakers and supporters of our group.

Sincerely, Food for Life.

Main Contacts: Andrew Chong (Co-President) – Andrew.chris.chong@gmail.com Howard Chang (Co-President) – hchang1030@gmail.com Jonathan Tam (Promotions) – john.t22@gmail.com Shin Ying Tan (Logistics and Finance) – viencey_gurl@hotmail.com General Email: opirgfood@gmail.com

Guatemala All our events are accompanied with up to date research, planning and information on the specific issues, as well as follow up actions.

Harvest Meal: An All for Guatemala campaign fundraiser (poster attached) - Oct. 2010 @ Sheny's house. Attendance: 25 people - Our group along with some volunteers cooked and served a "harvest meal". Donations were collected and sent to the Campesino Committee of the Highlands in their relief and rebuilding efforts following the devastating "Storm Agatha". This was a Canada-wide campaign. The report from funds raised throughout Canada is attached, including our portion.

Fairtrade fest (GWG sold Mayan weaving made by Asociacion Maya, with explanations about the Coop) Ken McGuffin of Toronto represents Asociacion Maya (a women's weaving cooperative) of Guatemala. He supports CCDA's Cafe Justicia and used them as an example of fair trade initiatives in his presentation. The GWG promoted his event throughout campus/community.

We continue to maintain close contact with Ken and his work. He's been on campus several times over the years of our groups existence. In previous years we've held events to sell the coop's weaving and meet with women from Asociacion Maya on tour.

HIJOS (Children for Identity, Justice and against Forgetting and Silence) presentation, with guest speaker Filiberto Celada Feb. 10, 2011. MUSC. Potluck supper, presentation and discussion.

-Attendance: approx. 25 (approx half were students, then professors and community) -Organized in conjunction with the Chaplaincy Centre, Social Justice Group and OLAS (Latin American Students Association) HIJOS, born in 1999, is comprised of children of the disappeared and murdered, along with students, workers and professionals in Guatemala. They engage in public events, protests, political art/murals to preserve historical memory, combat impunity, human rights abuses, and other issues threatening Guatemalans today.

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-Filiberto returned to McMaster for a CFMU interview as a means of out-reach.

Dos Erres campaign launched: Petitions were circulated at the above HIJOS event regarding the trial of former Guatemalan elite solider for his alleged role in the 1982 massacre of over 200 villagers of Dos Erres, Guatemala.

He's currently being held in Alberta. The campaign pressures Canadian not to send him back to the US (where he resides), where he'd be tried only for fraud charges rather than mass murder.

The GWG took part in the campaign and provided regular updates to those who attended the event and community at large.

Resource for students -We have often met one-on-one with interested students doing research on Guatemala.

-We have done our best to reached out to professors/students to present in classes.

Cafe Justicia -Cafe Justicia, the CCDAs fairtrade coffee, has been an important aspect of our work for many years. We sell it from OPIRG office and out of our homes.

Upcoming: -The GWG is working on having Filberto return to campus/community (pending dates) to present on Civil Disobedience within the context of Guatemala and the social, political and human rights environment. In particular is their work with political art, reclaiming public spaces for political expression. Details are being discussed. . .

Figure 13 Harvest Meal poster

-Campesino Committee of the Highlands upcoming 2011 Fall Tour.

-Film night on gold mining in Guatemala and resistance to it.

Our links with other groups: -Ken McGuffin of U of T and Asociacion Maya -Amicus Foundation (Bill Howson) who organized tours and also works closely with the CCDA and Nuestra Voz of Guatemala.

-Campesino Committee of the Highlands: promoting their Cafe Justicia as a economic base for their larger political movement towards social justice in the rural indigenous areas of Guatemala.

-Rights Action (Central American rights organization) -Development and Peace.

Â

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Thanks to OPIRG for the support over this and previous years. En solidaridad, in Solidarity -the Guatemalan Working Group.

Hamilton Freeskool May 2010-May 2011 1. A comprehensive overview of all work (research and/or action) completed by the Working Group throughout the budget year: 1a) This year, Hamilton Freeskool was driven towards our goal of “liberating knowledge in our community.” We maintained and/or expanded our actions and connections, including the following work.

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Obtained media coverage:

o Womenʼs Press - a womenʼs only editorial newsletter with local news features Hamilton Freeskool, focusing on our Screenprinting Workshop o Mayday Magazine- a forum for progressive thought, features listings of Hamilton Freeskool classes •

Converted our Website to Wordpress and updated it consistently over the term

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Built local partnerships, including with:

o St.Peterʼs Church – a new and growing community centre welcomes Freeskool into its space for classes o Immigrant Womenʼs Centre – invites Freeskool to use is space o Womynʼs Bike Cooperative – cohosting events and cross-pollinating promotion o Knowing The Land is Resistance – working together to encourage reconnection o Indigenous Freeskool – email correspondence offering support and solidarity • Maintained partnerships with: o Skydragon Community Development Cooperative o Jamesville Community Centre o Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace o o o o o

• Promoted Freeskool/ Freeskoolclasses: Class talks with Randy from OPIRG Posters for each new semester and for individual classes Regular e-mail updates Attended neighbourhood meetings (i.e. Strathcona, Fruitland, etc.)

Tabled at Pirgtopia, RevolutionWear, Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair MayDay 2010, and on McMaster campus.

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o New Hamilton Freeskool promotional material •

Sought out new facilitators, found them space to hold their class and supported them throughout their class

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Sought out and trained new organisers for the upcoming year

1b) Hamilton Freeskoolʼs classes this year included the following: Summer Semester (May 2010-August 2010) Qigong for healing Vegan Potluck Flow Circus – poi and hula-hooping skill-share; hula-hooping building Go Club Arts and Creativity Tour de Freeskool- Biking Trail Tours

Fall Semester (September 2010- December 2011) Qigong for healing Quilting Spanish French Conversation Circle Vegan Potluck TED The class: Collaborative Learning and Documentary Discussion Flow Circus – poi and hula-hooping skill-share and hula-hooping building Art! Arabic Bike Polo Winter/Spring Semester (January 2011-April 2011) Qigong for healing SEW Cool (+ Screenprinting Workshop) Vegan Potluck History of Revolution Flow Circus – poi and hula-hooping skill-share and hula-hooping building Radical Practical Solidarity (+Truth and Reconciliation Rally) Yoga Art! Special Events Skydragonʼs Mayday Event- May 2010 Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair- June 2011 Alternative Welcome Week- September 2011 Open Streets Hamilton- September 26, 2010 SEW Cool Screenprinting Workshop

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2. An up to date list of key contact persons in the Working Group, including the two reliable contact persons named in the Working Group application: Tom Dusome tomdusome@gmail.com Julia Riddell riddeljk@mcmaster.ca or julia.k.riddell@gmail.com 3. A self-evaluation of the Group's work, including a fair assessment of the Group's ability to complete its goals as outlined in its Application, and identification of areas of strength and weakness.

Our main goals were to sustain courses from previous terms, create new classes and bring new participants to our courses. We feel that we were successful in all of these goals, as we had a substantial number of classes carry over from one term to the next (see the class listing in Section 1 above). Each term we had between 5 and 10 classes, all of which had excellent attendance. We will continue to promote Freeskool and the individual classes to expand the number of participants and the number of classes offered.

Another goal of Hamilton Freeskool was to encourage dialogue in the community and bring people from diverse backgrounds together to learn in an egalitarian way. We feel that we accomplished this goal by offering a diversity of classes in different areas of Hamilton. Our classes were attended by people of different age groups, ethnicities and perspectives, and we will continue to value this diversity.

We considered it essential to maintain good relationships with our community partners, including OPIRG, The Immigrant Womenʼs Centre, Jamesville Community Centre and the Skydragon. We succeeded in being responsive to their needs and maintaining open communication. Our relationship with OPIRG was especially imported to us, which is why we designated one organizer as our OPIRG liaison. We participated in class talks with Randy to inform McMaster students about our current classes, and we tabled at McMaster during April. One area where we fell short is posting our events on the OPIRG calendar. This is a weakness that we are committing to improving upon next year.

Our main weakness was pushing our limits of sustainability. We put most of our energy into finding new facilitators, promoting classes, and starting up new classes, and we can be at risk of losing sight of details needed to maintain classes. Part of this is due to our organizational structure, which involves rotating organizers at least once a year. During these change-over periods, it can be difficult for facilitators to have a consistent contact person and get their needs met as reliably as they could be. Also, some organizers that continued at times when others left ended up taking on the vast majority of organizational duties. This may contribute to organizer burn-out and threaten consistency.

This weakness is one of our top priorities for the upcoming year. We intend to make sustainability our focus by dividing our work equally among organizers. Part of this division involves each

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organizer being the contact person for a specific set of class facilitators, and making sure this set is passed on to a new organizer when the old organizer leaves.

4. A vision for the Working Group's future, including any plans to re-Apply as a Working Group in future budget years, any proposed future work, and any new opportunities for OPIRG McMaster to support the Working Group.

We completed our application to continue our status as an OPIRG working group on March 28, 2011.

Our proposed future work includes: • Starter Kits containing poster templates, handbill templates, Freeskool t-shirts and buttons, as well as information on how to update their classʼs page on the Freeskool Website • Updating the organizer manual and ensuring each new organizer receives an orientation • Empowering facilitators to promote their classes while helping them develop their own promotional materials • Adding new organizers • Beginning a new semester beginning May 2011 Our tentative classes for May 2011 include: • Role Playing Games • Awkward Basketball • Hip Hop dance • Emotional Yoga • Flow Circus • Yoga • Practical Solidarity • Vegan Potluck • History of Revolution • Art! • Word Press and Social Media Upcoming Events: • Running a skill-share at the Anarchist Bookfair (June 2011) • Open Streets Hamilton (June 2011) • Knowing the land is resistance: On the Road (June 2011) • Sharing our Perspectives- Cross Generational Dialogue (Date TBD) • Motown Dance Workshop (June 2011) • Urban Gardening Workshop (July 2011) • Looking Up: A retelling of astronomy (August 2011) • Fermentation Workshop (September 2011) There is a lot of excitement going into the Summer Semester. Our goals to improve our sustainability through the four month semester, and to maintain and enhance our various relationships in Hamilton are attainable. Attending OPIRG events and meeting their expectations for working groups is one of our main goals for the coming year. We also intend to have all

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Freeskool organizers attend OPIRG workshops and set aside time to connect with other working groups. We believe these partnerships will exponentially improve our chances to attain our goals and grow. Improving Freeskoolʼs digital presence is also a need right now, and we plan to accomplish this by posting events on the OPIRG events calendar every week, as well as updating our own website frequently. We excited to be working with OPRIG and excited to begin a new semester of Freeskool classes!

Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective ~ a short herstory ~ By late 2009, members of Hamiltonʼs cyclist community had begun engaging in an ongoing dialogue. Spaces for cyclists to participate in accessible bicycle maintenance were few and far between it seemed. Some people were in full support of the existing spaces -- being that many shops provided a good space, lots of tools, and knowledgeable volunteers and staff. Other people voiced concerns that some of the spaces in the city could never possibly be comfortable, accessible, or even safe, for them to fix their bikes.

Word caught on fast. As more people began to talk about their concerns with existing shops, others began to come forward with agreement, complaints, and even stories explaining why they would be unwilling to return to certain bike shops. Many women in particular had lost hope, resorting to walking, spending money on bus passes, fuelling motorized transportation, or buying new bikes without bothering to fix their older ones. People seemed despondent.

People who were wanting to fix their bikes, who had reasons to use bicycles as a form of daily transportation, many female-bodied people, were avoiding doing so as a result of feeling outcast, uncomfortable and unsafe in their attempts to actually maintain their bikes. Clearly a pattern was emerging.

These patterns formed a discouraging message for cyclists throughout Hamilton: “If you donʼt happen to be an able-bodied, white, middle-age man with some spare time after work to hang at our club, or if you donʼt happen to have the money for a new bike, you should probably give up trying.”

In time, several members of the Hamilton cyclist community, people who had been involved in previous OPIRG projects as well as organizers of other successful community ventures, came to identify how harmful this message was becoming. Hamiltonʼs need for alternative transportation, that was fully accessible to a demographic that was alternative to the status quo, had been growing for years. To hinder the communityʼs efforts in working toward accessible, alternative transportation would certainly be a step away from progress.

Observing how precarious accessible cycling maintenance, and cycling culture in general, was for so many individuals and marginalized groups in the Hamilton community not only inspired action, but required it.

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Months later, in the Spring of 2010, this action came to fruition. A group of 12 women formed to work out the details of what we saw to be problematic about the current available models for bike accessibility. We talked mostly, however, about where there was room for improvement, and what our plans were to encourage that: What can we imagine to be possible?? What can we, effectively, do??

After a few discussions, a core group of dedicated women came to some conclusive definitions about what,exactly, accessibility meant: The Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Collective began!

~ who we are ~ The Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Collective is an ambitious, dynamic and powerful new not-for-profit project devoted to actively engaging and transforming our Hamilton community. We focus on skillsharing rather than merely “skill-showing”. Growing from a place of having closely aligned with Hamilton Freeskool, Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Collective also creates a space for the Hamilton community to experience social justice and environmental responsibility, both in action, and through dialogue. The Womynʼs Bike Collective is made up by a group of women-identified people who work to nourish anti-oppressive and feminist values within the community. By creating a space in which community members can work toward a common goal – participating in and maintaining sustainable, accessible transportation – The Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Collective creatively opens up an inspiring opportunity for politically-informed growth and transformation.

~ our values ~ Anti-Oppression -- Basically, the theory that oppressing any individuals or groups by marginalization and/or abuse of privilege is counter-progressive, and can be positively transformed.

Equality -- Putting anti-oppressive values into action -- acting in ways that allow all people equal, consenting say and participation.

Consent -- Genuine, enthusiastic affirmation or approval of a proposed plan or action.

Feminism -- A combination of the above values with a focus on empowering womyn and all oppressed/marginalized groups and individuals.

Fun! -- We ainʼt no stuffed shirts are the office, and we sure the heck arenʼt afraid to get dirty!

~ beginnings ~ In the summer months and throughout the fall of 2010, the newly formed collective gathered together for regular meetings. These meetings were held at one member's home, where there was a collection of bike tools available for use. At first, we took apart our bikes, piece by piece, to better understand and familiarize ourselves with the mechanics of each component. When we came to a problem we weren't sure how to fix, we followed instructions we found in books, and

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online resources, and together we learned by trial and error. Without having a lot of experience with bike repair, these hands-on meetings allowed us the opportunity to learn through experimentation -- an opportunity that was new for most of us.

As winter began, the group began to meet less frequently, due to some busy scheduling conflicts.

At this point, there were four core members of the group. In December, we decided that we would take a break for a while. At the end of February, and in early March, the group members started to talk more about meeting more regularly again. In March, three of the four members got together to have a brainstorming session, where we each shared our big hopes and dreams for the future of the Collective. Not long after that, we started planning (and getting excited) to host our first public event: a bike ride!

Over and over again, the Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Crew has heard from womyn in this city love to ride their bikes. We wanted to honour the importance of bringing together the experiences, inspirations, and inner-power of the awesome WTF (Womyn, Trans, and Femme) identifying folks in Hamilton, and just how empowering the collective result can be. We were inspired to create an event that would bring folks together to enjoy riding and sharing.

We figured that the best way to do this would be to organize a fun bike ride. This event would provide an opportunity to share our groupʼs radical feminist politics and what weʼre all about, and to learn about what the WTF folk in Hamilton were wanting from a bicycling community. In order to clearly communicate our group mandate, Amelia created a zine called “Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective: A Short guide to Understanding What We're All About!” This was a very valuable resource to hand out, and will also be a good primer for folks who donʼt understand why WTF-only spaces are so vital.

In preparation for this event, the Hamilton Womynʼs Bike Crew set up a facebook group page, as well as a page for our event. Erin Stanley, of the Crew, made beautiful posters that were supported by local businesses, such as Copy Dog, Hamilton Farmerʼs Market, the Sky Dragon, Downtown Bike Hounds, and Mixed Media. We used the opportunity of Friday Art Crawl on James Street North to place individual invitations on the handle-bars of bikes parked along the street, encouraging folks to pass it on if they knew someone who would appreciate the invite. We also relied on word-of-mouth to spread the news of our bike ride.

On the day of the event, we encountered some wet weather. However, we rode on in spite of this, and had a wonderful time.

A recap of the first Hamilton WTF Bike Ride is posted to our Blog at http://wtfbikecrew.tumblr.com/post/4699419175/our-first-bike-ride-it-happened-our-first

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Based upon the success of our first ride, we decided to follow up with a rain-day event held on May 1st. During this ride, we were met with wet weather again! For our May Day ride, we headed over to the May Day BBQ at the U.S. Steel picket line to show solidarity for locked out workers.

Figure 14 Our First Ride! April 17, 2011

It is exciting to see the enthusiasm around cycling here in Hamilton, and we look forward to organizing further bike rides and events. We are currently beginning discussions with the organizers of Pride Hamilton to organize a bike ride, and will be present at Open Streets on June 12th, 2011.

Take good care, and thanks for your support, OPIRG!

Inter-­‐City Homeless Outreach, McMaster

Projects

Throughout the year, we executed 2 of 3 projects, one of which was inconvenient for all volunteers and was not worth following through with due to severe weather conditions. In term 2, we started planning a fourth to accompany those two in the upcoming 2011/2012 budget year.

BELOW ZERO Campaign (December 2011 – March 2011)

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MONDAY JANUARY 10 2011 PIRGtopia collections •

Donation inventory: Winter accessories -­‐ scarves (7), mitts(6), gloves (17), earmuffs (3), glomitt (1) Toiletries -­‐ shampoo (13), conditioner(18), body wash (8), soap (7), lotion (4), mouthwash (2), toothpaste (1), medicated corn removers (1), hand sanitizer (1)

Figure 15 ICHO Clothing Drive Poster

Loose change = $3.92 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 11 2011 Bishop Ryan Secondary School (affiliated collection) •

Coordinator: Kathy Zadvorny -­‐ Teacher at Bishop Ryan S.S. and part-time McMaster student -­‐ Initiated clothing drive under the same name, “BELOW ZERO”

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Donation inventory: Outerwear – hooded jackets/coats (8),jackets/coats (8), layered jackets (1), wrap (1), windbreaker (3), vests (4) Clothing – hooded zip-up sweaters (3), zip-up/button sweaters (5), hooded pullovers (4), woollen sweaters (3), long sleeve shirts (2), dress shirts (1), t-shirts (4), sleeveless shirts (2), vests (1), snow pants (3), dress pants (1), athletic pants (1), jeans (1), corduroy pants (1), leggings (1), pyjama pants (2), shorts (1), skirt (1) Winter accessories – toques (13), gloves (13), mitts (2), scarves (5), earmuffs (1) Miscellaneous – purse (1), jersey (1) •

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See Appendix A for thank you letter to Kathy Zadvorny for her efforts

Notes for Below Zero Campaign: Volunteers have suggested bulk retailers for ordering new items in the future 32

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Looking into plastic donation drop-off containers to place all over campus for easier collection -­‐ Also hope to invest in same containers (but smaller) for the CLEAN project Holiday Project (December 2010)

PROJECT CANCELLED This project was cancelled to due to a lack of volunteers, poor timing, and severe weather.

Situation: Students were studying for exams, and not enough posters were up to advertise the candy cane reindeer. Nearly no one was available to man the bake sale table, and many candy canes reindeer were incomplete. The table was booked the day of the snowstorm. Unsure of whether or not alreadybaked goods would become a loss or not, we refrained from baking the night before. It was later announced (between 5am-6am) that classes will continue as usual.

Figure 16 ICHO Bake Sale Poster

Result: All flyers that were printed towards this campaign have been considered a loss. All ingredients that were meant to be used in this project was carried over to the FRESH campaign and charged to our allotted OPIRG budget. Supplies were not charged to the account. The receipt is being held in case the project should re-launch.

Improvements: In case of a re-launch, we must ensure that there are enough volunteers to produce such a labourintensive project, and that there is an adequate number of people willing-to-buy the day of sales.

FRESH Campaign (January 2011 – March 2011)

TUESDAY JANUARY 11 2011 20 colour photocopies @ $0.40 per copy were made at Underground Media & Design. Paid $9.04 in cash, OPIRG account not yet used.

We will submit the receipt for full reimbursement.

4 x 6 flyers to promote its bake sale Figure 17 ICHO Fresh Poster

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 12 2011

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Bake Sale •

Opening inventory: 18 devil's food cupcakes with vanilla frosting (priced at $1 each), 9 carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting (priced at $1.25 each), 12 lemon poppy seed muffins(priced at $1 each), 20 shortbread cookies (priced at 2 for $1)

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Closing inventory: 0 devil's food cupcakes with vanilla frosting, 4 carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting, 0 lemon poppy seed muffins, 8 shortbread cookies

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TOTAL EXPENSES: $18.36 Carrot cake mix = $3 Lemon square mix = $3 Pastel baking cups = $2.69 Large eggs = $2.19 Cream cheese frosting = $1.99 Lemon poppyseed mix = $2.59 Organic brownie mix = $2.49 **plastic bag = $0.05, HST = $0.36 3 + 3 + 2.69 + 2.19 + 1.99 + 2.59 + 2.49 + 0.05 + 0.36 = 18.36

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TOTAL INCOME: $57.96 $5 x 3 = $15.00 $2 x 5 = $10.00 $1 x 26 = $26.00 $0.25 x 20 = $5.00 $0.10 x 14 = $1.4 $0.05 x 9 = $0.45 $0.01 x 11 = $0.11 15 + 10 + 26 + 5 + 1.4 + 0.45 + 0.11 = 57.96

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TOTAL ACTUAL PROFIT: $39.60

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Notes: Late set-up due to weather conditions (for 11am instead of 9am) Total income will be distributed on Saturday, February 19, 2011

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19 2011 Outreach mission #1

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• • •

Only spent $25 on LOTS of fruit for February 19 mission Turns out bananas and oranges are hot items! (Many complaints due to dental issues.)

Purchased from Seasons Food Market in Brampton

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RECEIPT TOTAL: $25.37 Bananas 5.26 lb @ $0.59/lb = $3.10 Red Apples 2.55 lb @ $0.99/lb = $2.52 Green Apples 4.42 lb @ $0.79/lb = $3.49 Gala Apples 4.49 lb @ $0.99/lb = $4.45 California Oranges 6.74 lb @ $0.79/lb = $5.32 Yellow Peaches 3.18 lb @ $1.29/lb = $4.10 D Anjou Pears 2.41 lb @ $0.99/lb = $2.39 Notes: Remainder of the FRESH campaignʼs cash will carry over to March homeless mission.

Early in the budget year, we planned on collaborating with OPIRGʼs Food For Life on this form of health education. We did not manage to do this.

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SATURDAY MARCH 26 2011 Outreach mission #2 • • •

Spent just under $30 on fruit: mainly bananas and oranges Purchased from Oceans Fresh Food Market Receipt caught up in the office move: will submit once settled

CLEAN Project (Fall 2011)

Figure 18 ICHO Tentative Campaign Logo This project is an initiative to include an adequate amount of toiletries for our homeless outreach missions in downtown Toronto. To do this, we are adapting a campaign design of Birthright Brampton.

Background:

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Birthright Brampton supports expectant mothers in need (single, teen, etc.) by providing counselling, supplies, and clothes. Although it is a Christian organization, they do not impose their opinions on abortion, and respect the womanʼs choice to refuse their support at any time. They help young women cope, showing them that pregnancy and child rearing is easier with help from the community.

Original model: Once a year, Birthright Brampton launches their “Baby Bottle Campaign”. They purchased large orders of empty baby bottles from a dollar store and distribute them on Motherʼs Day in the parishes they are involved in. They instruct parishioners to pick up a baby bottle if they want to participate, and over the next month, they drop whatever spare change they have into the bottle.

On Fatherʼs Day, they collect the bottles. When the money is collected, they purchase supplies for expectant mothers and their babies.

Our model: The CLEAN project will adapt this design, replacing the baby bottles with freezer bags. Instead of one mass collection at the end of one month, we hope to have boxes on campus for drop-off, as we gradually collect them. This will enable us to run the campaign much longer: instead of one month, we can run it for 3 months each term.

Research We are limiting ourselves to 2 major research projects for the foreseeable future.

Content analysis of accessible print media in Hamilton We will be conducting a content analysis of accessible print media in Hamilton. The content is The Hamilton Spectator, since it is the most accessible newspaper to Hamilton citizens. It also has no other major competitor (unlike Toronto, where there are at least 4 major newspapers). We are recruiting a volunteer research team which will measure qualitative and quantitative statistical data on all news articles.

• • •

Summary: Evaluate articles published over a period of 1 year (January 2011 – December 2011) -­‐ This was changed from 2010 publication period Measured in terms of length, content, mention of key terms such as housing policy, shelters, charities, homeless, fundraisers, etc.

Consulting with Dr. Bierling from Political Statistics (tentatively) to guide our research. As well as any other interested professor(s) from any department related in our study.

This research project has been postponed until Fall 2011. We require about 10 researchers to be available for each session, at any given time. Unfortunately, we are not reaching that number. We

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have asked our volunteers spread the word about this research project. We have reminded them that this is a time-consuming, labour-intensive, and difficult to execute research project. The more researchers, the better.

Ties to the City of Hamilton Brian Kreps, Molly Elliott at the City have expressed an interest in the media research. They have warned us that additional funding from them is limited or nonexistent, but they are interested in the project. It ties in with their Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. Among their points on adequate housing and employment is community involvement. We are measuring a sense of the public's exposure to urban poverty. This will allow us to infer whether or not an average individual may want to take part in prevention methods. We are in talks to have them advocate this project.

Evaluation of community housing orientation A less labour-intensive research opportunity is in the making, one focused on community housing oriented towards urban poverty. The hypothesis has been made that in the area of relapse prevention, charitable community housing is stronger than publicly funded ones. We are designing a survey/evaluation to test clinical vs. spiritual intervention. Details to come.

On-site critical street research We had difficulty getting this started. September – January, there were no ICHO volunteers in Toronto. However, the future looks promising.

2010/2011 Two core volunteers have volunteered with MPH (Mission to the Poor and Homeless) in February 2011 and March 2011. A third and fourth casual volunteer were slow to reply in March, and were quickly replaced by GTA volunteers. We had difficulty securing seats for McMaster students requesting to go for all the earlier months this budget year.

2011/2012 Thankfully, Inter-City Homeless Outreach has secured seats for 2-4 people to come to the homeless mission in Toronto once a month. In the event that a core member of ICHO cannot attend, we want new volunteers to meet up with the Brampton team and constantly help improve its operation.1 Volunteers will have the opportunity to take notes on the operation, and brainstorm ways to adapt it for the downtown core of Hamilton.

On-site volunteers will have a shift lasting approx. 8 hours, including some preparation (4pm-12am, departure from Brampton at 5-6pm). Other volunteers in Brampton will prepare majority of food/supplies the day before, as well as throughout the morning and afternoon.

1 See Requests, page

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This outreach is the model we want to recreate in Hamilton, and so observing it is the most practical kind of research we can offer.

In early April 2011, we have been told that the director of MPH is facing serious medical problems.

They will need our help reorganizing the mission and delegating responsibilities to our volunteers.

Meetings We had one general meeting on January 24, 2011.. Approximately 10 attended. www.intercityhomeless.tumblr.com The official blog/website of Inter-City Homeless Outreach.

Pictures, history, and updates are posted to this site.

Immediate Conflicts

Another FRESH poster was posted on campus in late March, bearing a remarkably similar image and using the same name as our campaign. We need to talk to someone from MSU about screening posters more thoroughly before approving them.

Requests

After this first year, we have gained a fair amount of experience: learning how to budget time, manage volunteer power, and not to have grand and unrealistic expectations of ourselves. We have learned to refine our goals.

•

GO Transit fares for volunteers once a month

Future Goals 1) Establish homeless mission in Hamilton • Assess needs of homeless locally • Strengthen a volunteer group to see homeless regularly 2) Increase scale of awareness at McMaster University and Mohawk College 3) Help re-structure MPH, as its director is quite ill.

4) Complete the two research projects in their entirety (or the majority of it) 5) Network with academic professionals 6) Network with city officials in Toronto and Hamilton

JUST STOP Working Group Progress from February – April 2011

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GOAL: Just Stop! joined OPIRG in January 2011. Just Stop is a group dedicated to offer students alternatives of simple living so they can “Just Stop” running on the treadmill of excessive consumptions and jump back into a richer and sweeter life of friends and community.

Establishing a dedicated and hard working COMMITTEE is an essential part of any group. Just Stop! had an amazing opportunity to find the perfect team of creative and committed students to take on specific roles as illustrated below: POSITION ROLES TEAM ACCOMPLISHED MEMBERS Advertisement -­‐ Facebook Jennifer Dang Facebook -­‐ Posters Dhruv Patel o Purpose: to advertise events and -­‐ Clubs table create awareness about Just Stop -­‐ Word of mouth! o To reach out to the general public of McMaster University Creative -­‐ Generating ideas Dhruv Patel Just Home -our unique display board Advisor for the event o The committee of Just Stop got -­‐ Communicating together to build a model house to the ideas to the represent goals of Just Stop coordinator to o Just Home is used to represent the start off an event current conditions of the Earth o Consumerist society is taking over the natural essence of Earth. To make people aware of the effect of growing consumerist society Just Home was built to raise some awareness Coordinator -­‐ Event timing, Twishna Patel -­‐ Booking rooms Dhanisha -­‐ Bringing the Patel committees, and necessary materials Treasurer -­‐ Keep track of Shikha money, receipts Sahajpal and file to OPIRG Sindhura Mahendran Minutes Man -­‐ Meeting minutes Madhur -­‐ Agenda Parashar -­‐ File organizing Rupal Hatkar IT -­‐ Keep track of all Talha Qureshi Blog e-mails being Akash Pathak (http://juststop2011.blogspot.com/) sent o Purpose: to have the students freely -­‐ Reply back if generate discussion about issues possible or related to Story of Stuff complete task as o Our amazing IT team created this e-mailed blog so that students can be active

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Researcher

-­‐ Keep track of blog posts -­‐ Research new ideas -­‐ Keep up with Story of Stuff and look up facts/stats to support our group

participants of the blog Talha Qureshi Rupal Hatkar

EVENTS Collaborative Event Date of event: Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 Objective:

Tech-free for Change (CVA) is an event that takes place every Wednesdays where a “tech-free” zone is created in Clubs Space from 1:30-3:30 pm to allow students to reflect on the fact that technology is being abused lately where everyone is always “plugged in”. By allowing students to remain techfree for a few hours, they are left to appreciate the technology they use dayto-day. Just Stop was asked to collaborate with Tech-Free for Change event to lead several activities including the screening of Story of Stuff.

Success:

The video screening (from 12:30-1:30 pm – before the tech-free zone) was very successful as the students were informed about the issues at hand. As soon as the tech-free zone began two activities, The Thoughtful Race (scavenger hunt), and a reflection game were planned which got students actively involved in issue of over-consumption, recycling, as well as government conspiracies. Also, the students were asked to complete an ecological footprint questionnaire on the side which allowed them to reflect on the impact they are having on this planet without even realizing it.

Overall, students were asked to step out of a small community of McMaster University or even Hamilton and generate a bigger picture of the world in their minds and were made more aware of the bigger issues at hand.

Earth Hour Date of event:

March 26th, 2011 from 8:30-9:30 pm

Objective:

As Earth Hour is a global event where everyone is asked to turn off unnecessary lights for the purpose of raising awareness of the climate change taking place, Just Stop thought of using this occasion to generate ideas and ask what Earth Hour meant to each of us.

Success:

This was not really an event that took place in person at a certain time. It was started off by one of our committee members on our Facebook group which resulted in a great deal of responses. One of our members described Earth Hour as the following: “Earth Hour isn't about saving the planet by

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turning power off for an hour, that's obviously not going to accomplish anything...Earth Hour is about making people aware that everyone can afford to use less power on a regular basis…” (Madhur Parashar). With such collaboration and enthusiasm, our group members were left more informed and developed more connection with our newly rising Just Stop.

MEETING MINUTES MEETINGS ATTENDANCE GOALS FOR THE (DATE/TIME) MEETING nd March 2 , 2011 9 -­‐ Create proper media for advertisement including posters, Facebook group, blog, etc -­‐ Create a visual board for Clubs Table advertisements -­‐ Come up with any events -­‐ Start to develop collaborations with other groups around McMaster with similar goals th March 9 , 2011 7 -­‐ Establish a committee -­‐ Explain the roles of each position -­‐ Discuss the logo of Just Stop -­‐ Discuss the visual board for Just Stop th March 25 , 2011 8 -­‐ Elaborate on the idea of making Just Stop visual into a house shape -­‐ Working on using the cardboard as a temple for making the house and pasting shopping receipts on half of the house and tree leaves on the other half FUTURE PROSPECTS: Advertising planned: -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐

FUTURE STEPS -­‐ Buy the supplies needed to start creating posters and visual board -­‐ Divide the roles -­‐ Possibly sign up for Clubs Tables

-­‐ Allow more people to take on administrative roles -­‐ Develop a template for the visual board -­‐ Adding information about Just Stop on Just Home -­‐ Using this house as an advertisement media at the Clubs Table

Clubs Table Hold bake sales Finger painting activity Story of Stuff video screening in MUSC foyer

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Events Planned:

-­‐ Use Electricity Wisely campaign o “24 tips to help lower electricity bill” – save money and help the environment -­‐ Potential guest speaker: Mike Nickerson o Mr. Nickerson has already offered his time to this group and wishes to speak in one of our meetings whenever he is in town

Collaborations planned:

-­‐ Threadworks o As we share similar goals, it would be useful to work together to spread our visions -­‐ Office of Sustainability at McMaster University o Will get help from them to develop more ideas of figuring out how to spread the message of sustainability to the public of McMaster University

FINAL SUMMARY: Just Stop! has come a long way in just one semester with the hard work and dedication of many people. As the year ends, we would simply like to point out some general success Just Stop has experienced. One of the main goals of this working group was to get people more informed about the problems being faced currently. Therefore, this research-based working group has done a tremendous job at enlightening the committee of Just Stop about the global problems such as over-consumption and government conspiracies. With such difficult task completed, a great team was established which is looking forward to the upcoming academic year to bring forth this working group in a positive direction.

McMaster First Nations Student Association Current MFNSA Contacts for 2011-2012 Carrie McMullin (carrielynn.mcmullin@gmail.com) Gasenneeyoh Crawford (gasenneeyoh@gmail.com) Previous MFNSA Contacts for 2010-2011 Gasenneeyoh Crawford (gasenneeyoh@gmail.com) Ally Stoett (astoett@hotmail.com)

WEEKLY MEETINGS MFNSAʼs meetings for both terms this year were on Tuesdays. Approximately 10-15 students attended each weekly meeting. These meetings allow MFNSA members to work together to plan events, discuss issues and have an open dialogue in an inviting atmosphere. Meetings are also a time for members to relax and catch up with each other or get to know other members better. But perhaps the best part of our meetings are the meals prepared by the Indigenous

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Studies Programʼs (ISP) Elder-inResidence, Bertha Skye. Mrs. Skye comes to MFNSAʼs lounge once a week. She is available to students for cultural support, to share stories and laughs, along her keen knowledge and advice. Mrs. Skye is also on hand to teach students how to make beaded earrings, metal/wire jewellery, and medicine pouches, etc. whenever students have free time.

Some of the Powwow Dancers demonstrated and gathered spectators into participating in Haudenosaunee Smoke Dance.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR 20102011 First Year Experience Office's Welcome Day, August 6, 2010; approximately 100 attendees ISP and MFNSA attended and had info/display tables for the First Year Experience Office's Welcome Day. The Information Fair was from 9am - 3pm in the MUSC Marketplace. Because the event was held during the summer and on a work day, only three of our members will able to help ISPʼs Student Counsellor with set up, clean up and to answer questions.

ClubsFest, September 8, 2010; approximately 50 attendees Seven MFNSA members attended this event to help recruit students to MFNSA and/or OPIRG, encourage them to take some ISP courses and to inform them about the services offered by MFNSA, ISP and the Aboriginal Students Health Sciences office (ASHS).

Welcoming Powwow, September 24, 2010; approximately 200 attendees This social gathering was to celebrate and bring awareness of Indigenous Peoples and cultures while on campus. The event was catered and featured Three Sisters Corn Soup, Bannock, Strawberry Juice and Wild Rice. This was also an opportunity to promote MFNSA. The powwow was featured in Six Nationsʼ Turtle Island Newspaperʼs “Aboriginal Education Magazine.”

Indigenous Knowledge Lecture Series, September (L-R): Ally Stoett (Secretary, 2010-2011) and 28, 2010; approximately 50 attendees Crystal St. Jean (Vice President, 2010-2011) ISP organized a forum and discussion panel to checking out MFNSAʼs wares while at Clubsfest. examine why Canada and the US did not support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Speakers included Tonya Gonnella Frichner (North American Regional Representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues), Louise McDonald (Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan Mother), and Dr. Dawn Martin Hill

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(McMaster University). MFNSA helped advertise this event along with some members volunteering for set up and clean up of the lecture room.

Latin American Awareness Day, October 14, 2010; approximately 100 attendees This was the first year that Latin American and Hispanic Awareness Day was recognized at McMaster.

This event was organized to bring awareness about these cultures to the campus community. Held in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace, MFNSA was invited to participate for the day and have a Just some of the toys that were donated to MFNSAʼs Toy Drive 2010 and display table. MFNSAʼs display given to the Native Womenʼs Centre. included information on services provided by MNFSA and ISP along with events in and around the Aboriginal community and issues pertaining to Indigenous peoples in Latin and North America.

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Focus Group, October 29, 2010; 10 attendees

(L-R): Gasenneeyoh Crawford, Luke Jeffries (Treasurer, 20102011), Ally Stoett, Louise MacDonald, Dr Karen Hill and Tonya Gonnella Frichner.

The External Affairs Commissioner of the MSU, Huzaifa Saeed, contacted MFNSA asking if some of our Aboriginal members would be interested in participating in OUSAʼs current project. They were researching four groups of students who generally face barriers entering and/completing their post secondary education (low income, rural, first generation and Aboriginal). Some of our members agreed to participate and their comments were included in the policy document.

Six Nations Traditional Teachings Gala, October 29 2010 (Community

Event) Mohawk Collegeʼs Aboriginal Education office was able to secure a number of seats for this Six Nations Community event. When MFNSA expressed an interest in getting some seats for our

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members, Mohawk gave them to us at no cost and our members were able to share a shuttle that Mohawk provided for their Aboriginal students. The speakers for the night included elders Evelyn Bomberry, Ima Johnson, Hubert Sky and Tom Porter, who discussed various longhouse traditions, ceremonies and medicines.

MFNSAʼs Annual Christmas Toy Drive During mid-October 2010, MFNSA sent an email requesting participants for our toy drive. The Departments of Sociology, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Anthropology, the Organization of Latin American Students, and OPIRG helped contribute to make this yearʼs toy drive another great success! This year, again, we enlisted the help of Compass to collect donations (L-R): Jim Styres (Cayuga Nation), Christine Skye (Mohawk Nation) and Ima Johnson (Mohawk Nation). on behalf of MFNSA. All current MFNSA members helped with the Christmas Toy Drive. Students dropped off boxes at the various departments across campus to collect new and unused toys as well as money. Once collected, the toys were donated to the Native Womenʼs Centre, who distributed them to underprivileged Indigenous families in Hamilton.

Six Nations Recruitment Tour, November 2, 2010; approximately 50 attendees

One of our members, Taylor Gibson, showing off to the high school students.

MFNSA was invited to join the ISP Student Counsellor for a recruitment event at the Six Nations Community Centre. Five of our members were able to come out and volunteer for the day. Unfortunately, there was an issue with the buses and only a handful of high school students were able to attend this event. But we still managed to have a great time, answer some questions and do some networking.

Dulce Navidad November 23rd 2010 (OLAS Event) Although this was not a MFNSA event, our group helped promote event and some of our members attended. OLAS asked that admission be by donation and then they were split between OLAS and MFNSA. However, because MFNSAʼs Toy Drive was extremely successful, our group ended up making a donation to OLAS to help them with their charity work.

Visiting Elder and Trip to Six Nations, November 24, 2010; 5 attendees

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ISP organized a “Visiting Elder” schedule for the fall term 2010. These talks were open to the McMaster community and a large portion of attendees were comprised of MFNSA members. The final event was held at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Five MFNSA members participated and travelled to elder Christine Skyeʼs house to learn how to make cornbread – a traditional Haudenosaunee food. Elders from Six Nations, Ima Johnson and Jim Styres, were also on hand to share their knowledge and answer questions regarding ceremonies and the importance of various foods to the Haudenosaunee People.

Canadian Aboriginal Festival, November 27, 2010; approximately 100 attendees Ten MFNSA members assisted with this recruitment event and ISP sponsored the admission costs. The goal was to recruit new students and promote ISP and MFNSA. It was a great event and many of our members had lots of fun talking about our experiences at university and networking with interested students. While at the powwow, some of our members handed out leaflets regarding Shannenʼs Dream campaign. Shannen was from Attawapiskat and worked to bring awareness of poor facility conditions of schools on reserve. She lobbied to change this until she died in 2009 at 15 years old. MFNSA saw this as a perfect opportunity to reach a large number a people to help Shannenʼs Dream.

HEDAC Focus Group, November 30, 2010; 10 attendees Crystal St. Jean, Vice President of MFNSA for 2010-2011, organized a focus group for the Hamilton Executive Directors' Aboriginal Coalition (HEDAC) regarding Aboriginal youth employment. About 10 of our Aboriginal members attended and gave their insights about the current job market as it relates to Aboriginal youth.

Celebration Party for Rick Monture, December 2nd 2010 In the fall of 2010, Rick Monture successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled, “Teionkwakhashion tsi Niionkwarihoten (we share our matters): A Literary History of Six Nations of the Grand River.” To help him celebrate this great accomplishment, MFNSA and ISP organized and hosted a light dinner party, inviting Rickʼs friends and colleagues – lots of laughs and lots of memories.

Haudenosaunee white corn and crafts made from the cornhusks – a basket and artificial flowers.

Below, cornhusk dolls.

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Against Women, December 6, 2010

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MFNSA helped sponsor this Anti-Violence Network event along with having a display and information table. About 10 of our members attended and two participated in the reading of the names of missing/murdered women. Guest speakers included Mohawk/Irish actor/singer/songwriter Cheri Maracle from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Ojibwe/actor/writer/educator Shandra Spears Bombay. Commemorative Program was also held to remember the 14 women murdered in the 1989 “Montreal Massacre,” the over 500 Aboriginal women who have gone missing or murdered in Canada and all those affected by gendered violence. The event concluded with drumming and song by Valarie King of the Native Women's Centre.

PIRGtopia, January 10, 2011; approximately 30 attendees MFNSA, as an OPIRG working group, had a table for the PIRGtopia event. Five members of MFNSA volunteered for the day to be at the table, talking to passersby and helping to recruit students to the group. MFNSA also hosted a beading workshop with Elder-in-Residence, Bertha Skye, who had two of our members there to assist her and the workshop participants.

ISP & MFNSA Open House, February 1, 2011; approximately 100 attendees ISP and MFNSA hosted an Open House this February. The goal was to introduce students to the staff and faculty, and to welcome our new staff to the office and McMaster University along with promoting offered services. There was an awesome turn out, good food and conversation. It was busy afternoon but everyone who volunteered had a great time.

Mmm, PhD cake – with Dr Montureʼs “thumbs up” of approval.

Film Night – The Gift, Wednesday March 9, 2011; approximately 40 attendees MFNSA, along with OLAS, organized and sponsored this movie night. Our groups screened “The Gift,” which explores the spiritual relationship that continues to exist between people and corn. It starts on traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy then travels to southern Mexico, to the Lacandón Maya. The film explores the intertwined lives of traditional, spiritual, economic and political importance of this sacred plant. Food for the night included pupusas, tamales de elote, corn soup, strawberry juice, cornbread and Johnny cake among other dishes.

Some of members posing for a group photo at Rickʼs celebration bash! (L-R): Gasenneeyoh, Crystal, Luke, Ally. Front: Jessica BonillaDamptey and Natalie Carvajal

Moccasin Workshop, March 18, 2011; 10 attendees

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This was an educational and cultural event to teach our First Nations and non-First Nations members how to make traditional moccasins. We were able to secure Dianne Sault again, an Ojibwe from the New Credit of the Mississaugas First Nation, as the instructor for this workshop.

Lunch with Indigenous Humanities Group, March 23, 2011 The Department of English and Cultural Studies and the Indigenous Studies Program are cosponsored the Indigenous Humanities Group visit to McMaster during the week of March 21, 2011.

Guest speakers included Marie Battiste, Isobel Findlay, Len Findlay, and James (Sákéj) Youngblood Henderson. On Wednesday March 23, 2011, a lunch was held for these esteemed guests with the Indigenous Studies faculty & staff, McMaster First Nations Students Association members, members of Presidentʼs Committee on Indigenous Issues, Aboriginal Students Health Sciences office as part of a mini-welcome for the speakers. This gave our members the opportunity to talk to these academics, something that would ordinarily be unlikely.

Voices from Grassy Narrows, March 25, 2011; approximately 100 attendees The McMaster First Nations Students Association, along with the Students Resisting War and Occupation, hosted Judy da Silva, Roberta Keesick and Barbara Fobister from the Anishinaabe First Nation of Grassy Narrows, who were part of the grassroots resistant against the logging and clear-cutting occurring on their traditional lands.

They asked to show a film and follow with discussion and question/answer period about the blockade – the longest standing blockade in Canadian and Aboriginal history. At this event, we also circulated a petition to the House of Commons to encourage Canadaʼs implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Some of the audience members at the Voice from Grassy Narrows Peoples, and we received over 90 talk organized by MFNSA and SRWO. signatures from the attendees.

Year-End Social, April 5, 2011; approximately 100 attendees This was the last event that MFNSA assisted with for the year. Janice Henry catered it from Six Nations, and the singers were from Gaweniyo/Kawenniio High School. Our guests from Six Nations came to share their knowledge of Haudenosaunee culture to help educate attendees.

This is, by far, one of the best ways to end the year before buckling down and studying for final exams.

SELF-EVALUATION MFNSA over the past couple of years appears to reach proposed goals effectively and efficiently. We have found that collaborating with other groups on campus is a great way to strengthen bonds and to promote our groups and events. In the future, MFNSA could do more of this. One problem we face as a group involves recruiting new members. It is frustrating at times

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when it seems students do not have the commitment or dedication needed to make sure things get done within the group. Discussion surrounding this has come up in the past; however, we are unsure how to remedy this issue. One of the main concerns we have is making sure that there will continue to be an Aboriginal voice within MFNSA. It is hard to find other Aboriginal students on campus at times, much less trying to get them to commit to the group. MFNSA tries to outreach by giving class room talks and attending recruitment events with ISP in the hopes that we can be more visible to current and incoming students.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE Hopefully, MFNSA will continue to work with OPIRG and apply for working group status.

Based on the current members it seems this is a viable outcome. In the future, MFNSA could also work with other working groups with similar goals; some of our members have expressed an interest in this. MFNSA will continue to provide activities and events focused on Indigenous cultures and issues. Our members find that some may be hesitant to go out into the Aboriginal community to find such services and this is a nice alternative for students and faculty/staff, not to mention convenient for those students who live in residence or near campus.

McMaster Students for Social Justice McMaster Students for Social Justice is the reconstructed successor of Campus Choice and it has transpired in the 2010 – 2011 school year. The end of the Coca Cola referendum/project induced the dissolution of Campus Choice. The sole mandate of Campus Choice was to alter and ban the existing exclusive contract with Coca Cola on campus as a result of the companyʼs human and labour rights violations in Colombia, India, Turkey and Guatemala. The results of the referendum indicated that McMaster students did not want an exclusive contract with Coca Cola and the University did not negotiate another exclusive contract with Coca Cola. As a result of these events, the name and mandate of Campus Choice was reconstructed.

McMaster Students for Social Justice became the new name as of the 2010 school year.

McMaster Students for Social Justiceʼs mandate became ʻto revitalize student engagement in political and social issues in severely apathetic timesʼ. The group reached its objectives and fulfilled its mandate by hosting discussion forums and rallies on political and social justice issues in the McMaster and the broader Hamilton community. The content of the discussion forums were regarding labour and political issues. The objectives of the discussion forums were to provide insightful criticism to certain decisions made by the governing federal party such as the G20 summit and the scrapping of the mandatory long forum census.

Overview of events in the 2010 – 2011 School Year: In the 2010 - 2011 school year, McMaster Students for Social Justice held 9 events. These events were discussion forums and rallies.

I.

G20 Discussion Forum: Approximately 50 people attended and this event took place on September 29, 2010. This was the opening event for McMaster Students for Social Justice. It included insightful criticism to the G20 Summit of Toronto 2010.

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II.

Service Worker Rally: This event took place on October 12, 2011. It was a rally in response to the janitorial staff labour dispute. Approximately 100 students attended this rally. Workers and students joined the group on campus to sign petitions that urged the University administration to reconsider their decision. McMaster Students for Social Justice played a major role in the outcome of this labour dispute. The university administration and CUPE negotiated a more favourable contract as a result of student dissent.

III. Census of Canada Discussion Forum: Four people attended this event. The purpose of the event was to shed light on the scrapping of the mandatory long form census and the implications that entail this major decision. This event was held in October, 2010.

IV.

South of the Border Documentary Screening: Approximately 30 people attended this event. Oliver Stone's 'South of the Border' was screened. The film displayed the evolving political landscape of South America and in depth interviews with the leaders of Venezuella, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil.

V.

Discussion on Cubaʼs Evolving Socialism: Guest Speaker Cuban Consulate Jorge Soberon The event gathered a group of 30+ attendees who listened in on a presentation by Jorge Soberon who outlined the sweeping social and economic reforms introduced to by Raul Castro in Sepetember 2010 and its implications for the future of Cubaʼs socialism. A discussion period with questions from the audience was very insightful and shed light into the implications these reforms will have on the labour market and social welfare system in the country.

VI.

The Death of Yugoslavia Discussion Forum A presentation by McMaster students Rados Panic and Sonja Pesko, who discussed the external forces at play in the dissolution of the former state of Yugoslavia, what interests benefited from this outcome and if it could have been prevented. The event generated a group of over 40 in attendance.

VII.

The People vs. US Steel USW Local 1005, students, Hamiltonians, and CUPE met on January 29th, 2011 to protest the atrocities of US Steel. The groups met in front of City Hall and marched through the streets of Hamilton. The purpose of this event was to protest against American owned US Steel who was undermining Canadian workers by increasing operations on the American side and altering workers' pension plans. Several thousands of people attended this rally.

VIII.

Action for Migrant Workers (Screening of ʻEl Contratoʼ and an hour of discussion) A special screening of the film ʻEl Contratoʼ was followed by a panel discussion with speakers Josephine Eric (Migrant Workers Family Resource Centre), Alex Ramirez and Rangel Ramos (DOAM – Dignidad Obrera Agricola Migrante) who presented on the working and living conditions of migrant workers both in the live-in caregiver program and the temporary agricultural sector. The event gathered a group of over 40 in attendance and generated a strong amount of interest and inquiry amongst the crowd in wanting to help out with

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efforts in helping the conditions of these migrant workers.

IX.

George Galloway - Free Palestine, Free Afghanistan, Free Speech: More than 600 people attended this event. Former British Member of Parliment, George Galloway came to McMaster to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue. This event was organized in collaboration with 3 other groups. George Galloway gave a speech on the Canadian government's attempt to ban him from entering Canada as well as the conditions in the Middle East and how Canadian foreign policy affects these conditions in a negative manner.

Strengths and Weaknesses of McMaster Students for Social Justice Overall, McMaster Students for Social Justice was succesfull in the 2010 - 2011 school year.

Despite it being the group's first year, the group was very active and held 9 events with pleasing attendance. McMaster Students for Social Justice was covered on the front page of the Silhouette two times after its first two events. The group attracted great attention from students. Ultimately, the group reached its mandate in its first year.

The strength of McMaster Students for Social Justice in the 2010 - 2011 school year was that the group successfully fulfilled its mandate by engaging and informing students on contemporary political and social issues. McMaster Students for Social Justice achieved this by hosting nine events that had pleasing turnouts. Students engaged themselves in the events and in the discussions that followed.

The weakness of the group was the lack of ability to integrate students in the events. Although attendance was high, the group needs to integrate volunteers into the organizational process of their events. There were students who showed interest in volunteering. In the coming year, McMaster Students for Social Justice needs to better cooperate and communicate with potential volunteers by integrating them in the organization process of events. By doing so, the group can engage students in political and social issues to the fullest.

Plans for the Coming School Year of 2011 - 2012 The group is going to continue to be active in the coming school year. Plans for next year are still under development. The style of events will stay the same. The events will still be in the form of public speaking and rallies as students have been receptive to these types of events. However, the group will work on its weakness by integrating students into the organizational process of events in the coming school year and permanent members will work closely with volunteers. McMaster Students for Social Justice will work on animal rights issues in the future and explore the implications of factory farming on the environment, animals and society as this can be explored through the social justice lens. The group will not remain active for the summer months.

Permanent Members of McMaster Students for Social Justice in the 2011 - 2012 School Year The permanent contacts for 2011 - 2012 school year will remain the same as 2010 - 2011 contact

Â

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persons.

Kerem Engin - mcmastersocialjustice@gmail.com - engin_3401@hotmail.com Alex Ramirez - mcmastersocialjustice@gmail.com By: Alex Ramirez and Kerem Engin

Migrant Workers Resource Centre The working group have been able to assist several migrant workers and their families application for permanent residency and application for labour dispute through the ministry of labour throughout the year.

Have been conducting migrant workers activities to assist newcomers that comes under the temporary foreign work programs through opening of an office at the local 1005 Stelco 350 Kenilworth Ave North. We were able to conduct our annual fundraising event on Nov 2010.

List of contact information: Josephine Eric 905-912-2934 Evelyn Calma 905-547-1417 ext 239 Some of the areas that we had been able to expand this year is the ability to have an office and a telephone to conduct meetings and to assist newcomers through the week.

The weakness of the group involved the inability to have regular weekend activities and the lack of full-time paid administrative personnel. We were not able to create our website, or to create a pamphlet this year.

We are hoping to re-apply to OPIRG as a working group for the summer and upcoming 2011 school year.

Save More Students For the last two years Save More Studentʼs has been a proud OPIRG working group. We represent Ontario Public Interest Research Group. Our group started with only two dedicated students, over the years we have grown in numbers and in spirit. Unaware of what the future had for SMS, we began our working group in hopes to reach students across Hamilton and beyond.

With the amounts of suicides and serious effects that bullying has taken on an extremely large amount of students we knew that we had to make an effort the make a difference. We decided to Save More Students by reaching out to local students through presentations and gatherings in schools, libraries, and youth groups across Hamilton. This being our second year, SMS continued to reach out to schools and students as we are still an up-and-coming human rights, working

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group. In general, our main objective is to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for students while receiving an education. As students who have seen first-hand the consequences of bullying, we want to make a difference. School can be hard enough without the additional stress of a bully, students should not have to feel alone, and SMS wants to create an anonymous haven for students to reach out to, we also provide help and encouragement to students to help them in their journey through school.

(SMS) schools/events visited 2011 o Every Friday of every month at 6 pm to 6:30 pm throughout the year we visited the local youth group at Hamilton Downtown and Hamilton- Mountain Mosque o We had monthly gatherings at Turner Park Library to help at risk bullied youth October: o 15th - visited Helen Detwiler Elementary School informed teachers of SMS o 2 members attended th o 19 – visited Pauline Johnson Elementary School informed teachers of SMS o 2 members attended st o 21 - Met with groups from Mosques and Turner Park Library to arrange future monthly and weekly gatherings o Roughly 8 people th o 27 - Glen Brae Middle School (to arrange future presentations) o 2 members attended November: o 12th - Gathered with a group of grade 9ʼs arranged at Ancaster High School o Roughly 13 people st o 24 - Visited Chedoke Middle School, discussed SMS with teachers and our missions o 3 members attended th o 30 - Met with all SMS members at Locke Branch library o 7 members December: o 2nd - Visited Hill Park Secondary School to arrange follow up meetings o 9 students th o 8 - Presented to class room at Cardinal Heights Middle School o 2 members presented th o 12 - Meeting with a teacher at Ridgemount Junior Public School

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o 3 members attended January: o 21st - Visited Hill Park Secondary School to recruit volunteers o 2 members th o 27 - Presented to an Arab Youth Group (1119 Fennell Ave E) o 4 members February: o 17th - Met at Mills Library McMaster with all SMS members (11:00 AM EST until 12PM) o 12 members attended rd o 23 -Youth Group meeting at 5pm to 5:30pm o 5 people th o 24 - Follow-up member meeting at Central Library ( at 4:00 pm to 4:30pm) o 4 members attended th o 25 - Spoke to students at Westview Middle School o 5 people March: th o 11 - Revisited Arab Youth Group (1119 Fennell Ave E ) o Small group th o 16 - Revisited Hill Park Secondary School to talk to a teacher o 3 people st o 31 - Met up with student youth group at Terry Berry Library o 7 people April: o 9th - Year-end get-together arrangement meeting with all members/volunteers of SMS at Central Library o all members th o 12 - Gathered SMS group members/ volunteers for Year –End get-together o All members th o 13 - Visited the Hamilton Mosque and Hill Park Secondary School to check up on local support for Anti-Bullying Day o All members Public Events th 1) November 12 Gathered with a group of grade 9ʼs arranged at Ancaster High School

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We made an appearance at Ancaster High School, on November 12th,2011.

During our presentation not only did we enjoy talking to the students about bullying, we also sensed that SMS was being recognized by the public for all the work that we have put in.

2) High school Group Presentations

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Figure 19 Original member Shahed Al-Farai (2nd from L) with three students

On February 25th we met up with a group of middle school students and we talked about different ways to prevent bullying and get involved.

3) Middle School Presentation

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On December 8th, 2011 we presented to a middle school class the effects and dangers of bullying. Hopefully we got through to some students. We also showed them clips on how serious bullying is.

4) Pirgtopia

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This year pirgtopia was a great success, we recruited many new members, and got our message across to a large group of McMaster students who stopped by and discussed with us the issues of bullying.

5) Weekly gatherings at the Hamilton Downtown and Hamilton- Mountain Mosque o We discussed all bullying matters with local Muslim youth groups o We formed a trustful relationship with the youth 6) April 13th Anti-Bullying Day -­‐ -­‐

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-­‐

Speak

out

against bullying

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On our website we announced this…The response was great. Students who we have built strong relationships over the past 2 years, who visit our website frequently, sent in some pictures. Here are some of the photos of loyal SMSers 

Uniqueness of Save More Students Our group is an interactive, informative, public interest group. We offer presentation on ways to prevent bullying, and are dedicated to changing the negative atmosphere in current education systems. SMS is different than other working groups, because we focus on interacting with students face-to-face and making them feel comfortable and safe to reach out to us for information and encouragement. We educate students about bullying by presenting slideshows, and informative skits that keep the students engaged and interested in the topic.

SMS can proudly say that we met the goals that we set out with in the beginning of the year.

We are grateful that we were given the opportunity to become an active group in our community through OPIRG. We are looking forward to continue our journey with OPIRG and hopefully our group will expand and develop further in the coming years. If we can Save one More Student, we will feel that our main objective has been achieved.

We would like to thank all members of OPIRG for providing and encouraging us to pursue achieving our aspirations, and hopefully one day they will not simply be dreams, but actual

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achievements. We greatly appreciate the positive attitudes and atmosphere at OPIRG and are looking forward to working with the team in the future. http://savemorestudents.tumblr.com/ www.savemorestudents.webs.com sms.opirg@hotmail.com http://twitter.com/savestudents.

ThreadWork  Threadwork is a new working group with McMaster, started by a small group of six people in an attempt to bring a massive bi-annual clothing swap to McMaster. Numerous logistical obstacles needed to be overcome and the group strived to expand its volunteer base and create a system to put on these clothing swaps in a cost-effective, sustainable, accessible and well-publicized manner.

Meetings: Threadwork members hosted meetings on a semi-regular basis; weekly in the months leading up to the swap and more frequently in the immediately preceding weeks. These meetings were open to all but typically the only attendees were the six founding members. At these meeting tasks were divided and assigned to various members, organizational issues were discussed, and specific timelines for the upcoming swap were determined. Tasks were always split up in a nonhierarchical manner and given out on a volunteer basis. Next year Threadwork is planning a wellpublicized General Meeting with an expected high turnout to further involve our volunteers with the decision-making process. Threadwork expects to publish detailed meeting notes after every meeting for those who could not attend, creating a more inclusive and open environment for ideas and suggestions.

Events The main events for Threadwork were the two clothing swaps, in November and March.

These events were very well received and boasted the participation of around 150 swappers each.

Concerns that the swap would lose momentum after the first event were assuaged when the second swap was as big as ever, if not a little bit bigger. In general, the swappers did not provide many criticisms, and on the day itself the swaps ran quite smoothly. Alternatives for clothing storage in the Student Centre are being looked into for next year in an effort to relieve the strain on those in charge of transporting the clothing during collection weeks and on swap day.

Our goal with this event was to engage people who do not actively seek a sustainable lifestyle in sustainable activities. One method we used to accomplish this was the point system, in which swappers earned points for donated clothing and could spend them at the swap. This helped give the swappers the sensation of shopping in a store and made it more accessible to a larger crowd. In order to attract the attention of these swappers we involved a massive promotions campaign; speaking in classes, advertisements all over campus, and advertisements on computer screens in the library. Our target audience was not one that actively seeks out endeavours such as these, and as such we needed to draw their attention to us. Our participation goal was certainly

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met. We have received massive amounts of encouragement from our participants who eagerly await the swaps next year.

Threadwork also had the 6-items-or-less campaign in an effort to raise awareness about clothing consumption. The challenge was to choose 6 items of clothing to wear for approximately two weeks. Participants were told to post which 6 items they had chosen on a Tumblr blog, and they would be entered into a draw to win unlimited access to the second clothing swap. There were many participants in this campaign and it did receive popular support, but the Tumblr posting ultimately failed with only core Threadwork members posting about their clothes. Participants had thoughts and opinions to share about the campaign but were unwilling to put in the time to write them down. Were Threadwork to attempt a campaign such as this again, the structure would have to be rethought to suit McMaster students better.

Research Threadworkʼs goal of establishing a pamphlet directory of used and/or sustainable clothing stores in the greater Hamilton area was not realized. While participation in our events was large our actual volunteer base was still rather small, and there were not enough people to finish the pamphlet. Next year Threadwork hopes to collaborate with MACgreen to expand our volunteer base, and publish the pamphlet as a collaborative project.

Contact Information: Alexandra Epp, OPIRG correspondent: epp.alexandra@gmail.com Davey Taigen-Hamada, Threadwork member: da_hamada@hotmail.com

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COMMENTS Text Response

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This is more a comment on MFNSA, but I think better communication with other working groups that have similar goals would be beneficial in terms of promoting awareness and recruiting new members. I think this is something that MFNSA will work on for the new year.

I think we should have PIRG-topia in a space that gets even more student traffic, such as right by the Williams in the student center. I thought the working group presence and display boards were amazing but I would have liked to see more students coming by. Maybe we could coordinate with profs to bring their classes (especially peace studies) so more students will be exposed to the working groups. I think the class talks were excellent and would love to see more of them next year. The email events listing is awesome, and by next year Freeskool will actually put their events up (sorry!).

Have more get together among the working groups activities Some sort of retreat for working groups, to establish connections between groups.

Nothing! everything is great!... However, the mailing situation, its harder to get into the google group for us..... even though its easier for everyone, we will work on that!

As discussed at the working group networking meetings, greater communication between working groups would be nice, we feel that there is definitely some overlap and there is room for collaboration that was not taken advantage of this year.

I believe that Opirg should try to work a Pirgtopia into the Welcome week plans in September as well as having one in January, to get more attend to the working groups that have been approved.

More Working Group meetings for support. Comparing notes was really helpful.

- Provide more training to new working groups for administrative, advertising, and funding options Provide services which assist in the promotion of events. keep up the good work!!!

I checked that workshops weren't taken but were in the past years.

Great job! I thought everything was well organized and help was easily accessible. It would be interesting if we could have one board member oversee our project, so as to get a better perspective of our performance. Moreover, it would make sure that we are on track with our goals; perhaps this is asking a bit much of the board members since there are many working groups. thank you very much for the support and making SMS part of OPIRG!..

Hey :) We have really appreciated OPIRG's support this year. Thanks to Randy for being very supportive and inspirational during difficult times. A great big thanks for gifting to us the Public Interest Grant! We're all really stoked to do some great things through the summer and beyond :) The networks and resources available to us were so abundant, we were overwhelmed. It was so inspiring to set up research and undertake projects alongside other passionate students and community members.

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