“As with all good ideas… it starts with one. If it’s fostered, it will grow.” This is the message that greets you on the website for Helping Haiti’s, and speaks to the execution of aid that Helping Haiti administers.

Over the week we have received some criticism about the 5 Days for Homelessness campaign and I wanted to take some time to address some issues so that we can continue to move forward in a positive way!

5 Days has officially started at Queen’s University! 10 volunteers gathered at 5:30 pm to kick off a week of raising awareness of the housing crisis in Canada and of youth homelessness. Yesterday we revealed some pretty exciting news when we announced our guest sleeper – Bo the golden retriever! Bo was a hit, and lots of people came over to give him cuddles before donating!

If this is not your first March spent on campus, chances are you’ve seen (or at least heard) about the orange-clad students sitting and sleeping outside of Joseph S. Stauffer Library for a week (and there’s a good probability you have at some point asked yourself the above question).

Why you shouldn’t reach for the soap and wash your mouth out every time you say the word “voluntourism.”

One of the most important pillars of development is without doubt the assurance that a community is equipped with the knowledge and resources to sustain their healthcare. From the implementation of health education programs to the ensuring that the entire community has access to medical facilities. Queen’s Health Outreach (QHO) is a Queen’s student-run initiative that works both locally and internationally to promote health through peer education.

Sigmund Freud has this theory that every human action has a rationale behind it. We all have personal laws that we have chosen to behave by, and they dictate every single action we make. Here I must insert the preemptive that, despite what your weird hemp-farming Uncle from California may tell you, most of Freud’s theories are—at best—contestable.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were established by the United Nations in September 2015. This new set of goals builds off of the Millennium Development Goals (created in 2000) that were meant to be accomplished by 2015.

A couple of summers ago, I went to Jamaica for a month to volunteer with an organization that ran a literacy camp in one of the local schools in Negril. During this trip was the first time I heard the phrase, “service learning.”

Let’s face it: many of us love to shop for clothes, shoes, cosmetics, etc. Nothing feels better than snagging a great deal at a sale or on Boxing Day, where clothes are sold dirt cheap to order clear inventory and prepare for new incoming products. With the constant flow of fashion trends, big name brands compete to put out products that are up-to-date with the most popular styles at prices that are widely affordable, and the fast fashion industry is continuously adapting itself to produce more quickly. Unfortunately, not all garments are made equally–it is often at the expense of workers in the Global South that we have clothes on our back.

Picture this: you are at a resort, lying on a beautiful beach, crystal clear water lapping at the shore. There is a piña colada in your hand, an umbrella over your head, and not a cloud in the sky. Sounds perfect, right? But how often do we realize that our stay at a resort can make a significant difference in the development going on in the community outside of the walls of the hotel?

Almost 5 months ago, I boarded a plane heading 12528 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean to what I would soon call my home for the summer.

Following the earthquake in Haiti 2010, there seemed to have been a call to action from first world countries all over the world for aid to come in and help the shaken nation. While intentions seemed to be immediate relief for those affected by the disaster, many began to prepare plans for long-term development.

When making decisions as a group, the most important thing is to make sure that the needs of everyone involved are equally represented. One method that is geared at this goal is called Consensus Decision-Making. During last week’s forum, Jacquie explored the way that consensus-based decision making can work positively in a group setting.

What is charity? To kick off QPID’s first forum of the year, members critically discussed the implications of words that get thrown around in our society.