Jessica Sunter | Women’s Business Facilitator, Guatemala
Jessica feels very fortunate to be working with CAUSE Canada’s microcredit and business development programs in Guatemala. After travelling to Latin America as a child and being exposed to the difficulties that many people face on a day to day basis, Jessica knew she wanted to dedicate her career to helping those less fortunate than herself. This led her to do a BA in International Development and to complete a post-graduate certificate in International Project Management at Humber College. Jessica is thrilled to be applying what she learned in school to real life situations and hopes to get more field experience in the future.

Faith Lee | Literacy and Leadership Facilitator, Guatemala
Faith has longed to live and work in Latin America since she was sixteen.  Currently, she works with the literacy and leadership programs of the Women´s Integral Empowerment Program.  Gravitating towards programs for children and youth affected by urban poverty, she never imagined that she would be working with Maya women in rural Guatemala.  This place has grown on her though, and the internship has allowed her many opportunities which she otherwise would not have.  While working in this culture is different from what she is used to, she has treasured the warmth of the women and the smiles of their children.  In the future, she hopes to continue working in Latin America in a setting where she can give love and hope to those who are struggling.  When she is not working (and sometimes when she is), she enjoys Mexican music, cumbia, dancing, talking with people affected by poverty, working with kids, spending time with friends and eating.

Jennifer Temmer | Economic Development Facilitator, Honduras
Jennifer is the economic development intern for CAUSE Honduras. For years has been dedicated to helping form sustainable rural communities including local food sovereignty and creating a harmonious balance between society and nature. Her inspiration comes from the rural leaders, farmers and other individuals who selflessly seek to better the lives and conditions of their families and neighbours. Jennifer holds a BA in International Development Studies and Spanish from Dalhousie University and a MSc. in Rural Planning and International Development from the University of Guelph and has spent the past 10 years in and out of Latin America, principally in Argentina, Mexico, Cuba and Honduras. Jen loves the smell of old books and wet earth after a rain, the CBC, warm drinks and spur of the moment adventures to far (and not so far) off places.

Melissa Smith | Literacy and Leadership Facilitator, Sierra Leone
Melissa Smith is one of the CAUSE Canada interns for 2010. She is currently in Sierra Leone with her husband Matthew, where she is working with CAUSE Canada’s Women’s Integral Empowerment Program (WIEP). Through WIEP, Melissa helps to offer literacy and leadership classes for women. She partners with the women and teachers in those classes to promote learning and community development in rural Sierra Leone. She finds the program educational and inspiring... there is never a dull moment with the WIEP participants! Melissa has a degree in International Development and a special interest in Community Health. Through CAUSE Canada’s internship program, she is adding to her education valuable lessons, experiences and friends.

Adam Linnard | Women’s Business Facilitator, Sierra Leone
Adam was born in Canmore, Alberta, and raised in hockey rinks throughout Southern Alberta. He studied International Development at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where his greatest accomplishment was the co-founding and flourishing of the Dalhousie Tea Drinkers’ Society. Adult life has been defined by rotational employment between Banff National Park and CAUSE Canada, for whom he has occasioned predominantly research-and-writing-based positions since 2006. Adam has particular passion for issues of gender, environmentalism, and the great plethora generally adjectived with the noun “local.” He studied and researched the socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Nepal in 2007, and volunteered with CAUSE in Sierra Leone in 2006, before becoming a CIDA intern in the latter country in 2010. Adam possesses a common Rocky Mountain affection for bicycles and grizzly bears and beards, and an uncommon love for his typewriter and marmots and the Menno-fiction of Rudy Wiebe.

Matt Smith | Photography Intern, Sierra Leone
As a fortuitous result of patience, I have arrived in Sierra Leone and have had the wonderful opportunity of working as a photographer for CAUSE Canada in Kabala, the home of CAUSE Canada Sierra Leone Partnerships main operations. My journey to working with CAUSE began a year ago when I married my wife, Melissa, who is working as an intern with the WIEP Program here.

I have the privilege of seeing and trying to capture images of all the work that is going on in Kabala and the surrounding villages. Although I have worked with all the components here in Kabala I work primarily with the CAUSE Kids Program. I hope to be able to pass on some understanding of photography to the staff here who every day are pouring time and effort to build up their country, and through my photos pass on to you the beauty of the people, their lives, and the land.