Young Canadians are increasingly active and engaged in global issues. Many are eagerly poised to contribute–in smaller and even larger ways–to international development and the Canadian national politics that, for better or worse, shape the field.

Generation NGO captures some of the first impressions of these young international development professionals before they are relegated to the dusty corners of memory. It provides snapshots of some of their first experiences with inequality and poverty, power and privilege, stereotypes, identity, social location, prejudice, and injustice. It is as much about questions as it is about answers. These essays illustrate the continual negotiation of development workers in positioning and conducting themselves in a morally and ethically charged profession.

A must-read collection for Canadians contemplating development work abroad, this collection will also provide food for thought for more seasoned veterans of NGO forays long after they have returned from the field.

Alisha Nicole Apale coordinates the Aboriginal Health Initiative of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Canada. She has a particular interest in the health issues experienced by vulnerable populations within highly inequitable countries, including in Canada, and the inter-sectoral nature of public health and health systems development.

Alisha Apale's profile page

Valerie Stam has studied income generation among refugees in Ghana, worked on peacebuilding, disarmament and the women's peace movement in Senegal, and explored the intersection of women, politics and conflict in India. She is a Community Developer at a Community Health Centre in Ottawa where she enjoys translating her overseas development experience into local practice.

Valerie Stam's profile page

The strongest essays in this collection tackle both the preconceptions of average Canadians and the ramifications of those preconceptions. Though none of the essays shies away from big issues such as race, class, gender, and privilege, the best of them expand the personal material into an examination of development theory in action.

Quill & Quire