How working abroad helps support your community at home

(NC) Most of us are used to hearing that “charity begins at home,” but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t also end at home. When people take real action to make a difference to others’ lives, that impact ripples out through their community, and spreads positive change far out from the initial point.

Here are just a couple of examples of Canadian expertise making a positive impact on the global scene through the support of Global Affairs Canada:

Supporting sustainable mining. An environmental engineer went to work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines. She’s helping to guide mining practices there, especially in climate-vulnerable areas. With her help, the mining sector there is putting measures in place to protect vulnerable communities in the zones where extraction is happening.

Building climate diplomacy. Experts in environmental and climate diplomacy, and capacity development went from Canada to build a curriculum for training negotiators in the Maldives. This small island nation in the Indian Ocean is made up of over 1,000 low-lying coral islands—most rising no more than a metre or two above sea level—making it one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. The Maldives needs skilled diplomats and negotiators to have a voice on the world stage and advocate for its very existence.

Helping others helps Canadians, too. When Canadians share their skills and expertise abroad, the benefits return here. By supporting sustainability efforts around the globe, local leaders are also making Canada more climate secure. The partnerships that these experts are helping to build lead to greater opportunities for everyone involved to learn, cooperate and work together to make the world a better place.

Learn more about the local leaders making a global impact from a new podcast called Canadian Changemakers at tap-pat.ca/canadian-changemakers.