Queen�s Project on International Development (QPID), which is in its eleventh year of operation, has two main goals as an organization:
(1) To contribute to small-scale, community-led, sustainable, grassroots projects in needy communities abroad and in Canada;
(2) To raise awareness about international development locally, within Queen�s University, the Kingston community, and across Canada.
The first goal is achieved by partnering student volunteers, who often posses skills in a relevant area of study, with local organizations in developing communities. In the past, students have worked in Guyana, Bolivia, Peru, India, and Northern Canada. QPID is an extremely cost-effective organization and the projects in which we have participated over the past eleven years have proven to be successful and sustainable. QPID is the only organization of its kind in Canada and it has won praise from professional international development organizations such as WUSC and CUSO.
This year�s projects in Bolivia will include the following:
-- Income-generation projects aimed at educating communities on marketing and selling traditional crafts, local preserves, and traditional herbal products. This project will be completed in cooperation with Vacaflores & Vacaflores Servicios of Sucre, Bolivia, and it is a continuation of a project begun by last year's QPID volunteers. The communities involved in the project are interested in selling their products commercially in order to create some supplemental income -- they continue to practice thier traditional agriculture.
-- A project with Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios Tecnicos Chuquisaca (C.E.S.A.T.CH) of Sucre, Bolivia, aimed and increasing education about nutrition in rural communities. The project aims to increase knowledge of child nutrition, to diversify diets in rural areas, and to work with relevant local institutions in trying to increase awareness of the problems of child nutrition that many in rural communities face.
We are still communicating with a number of other Bolivian NGOs and hope to find a suitable engineering project for two of the engineers that will be travelling to Bolivia.
QPID lacks stable sources of funding, therefore fundraising plays an extremely important role in helping us to achieve our objectives. Each student selected to participate in a QPID project must raise a minimum of $1,750 to contribute to the projects fund. The remaining funds are raised by QPID through many fundraising events throughout the year. QPID is a registered charity (No. 107 868 705 RR0001) and it is possible to get a tax receipt for any donations if it is specified.
QPID Homepage: http://engsoc.queensu.ca/qpid