Interview: Nava Dabby, intern with the Sambhavna Trust Clinic

by Apathy is Boring Volunteer Stephen — April 22, 2008

Biography

Born in Montreal and raised in Notre Dame de Grace, Nava Dabby attended Royal West Academy where she became involved with the Social Justice Club. She completed a CEGEP DEC in North South Studies at Dawson College through which she learned Spanish and traveled to Nicaragua. It was during this time in Nicaragua, living and working with a family in a small village near the Honduran border, that Nava fell in love with Latin American culture.

Upon her return to Canada, Nava pursued her university studies at McGill in International Development and Latin American and African history, in addition to continuing  Spanish language courses.  One semester of her third year was spent abroad as an intern with Madres Maestras in Panama City. This NGO works with mothers in peri-urban communities to help them create and implement their own preschool programs. As an intern, Nava was responsible for creating a nutritional handbook for the mothers as well as a powerpoint presentation in Spanish discussing the effects of globalization on changing perceptions of nutrition among youth in Central America. Since January 2008 Nava has been working as an intern at the Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal, India. Her current project focuses on educating community health workers concentrated in slums about both general medical knowledge such as proper hygiene, in additon to herbal and alternative treatments. Nava is also involved with the clinic-sponsored International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

Interview

How did you get involved? Where did you find out about your current posting?

I have been reading about Bhopal since I was in high school and one of my first encounters with the disaster was in 2002 when I saw a play about the issue put on by a Montreal NGO called Open City Productions. This past summer I learned that a friend of mine was an intern at the Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal and I decided it was time to visit. I got in touch with the directors of the clinic and after graduating from McGill in December I arrived in India on January 27th 2008.

What motivated you to seek out your current position? Why take an interest in the international community when it is easier to ignore?

When I was 16 I had the unique opportunity to participate in a Youth Forum on International Racism in South Africa. It was part of a weeklong NGO Summit preceding the United Nations World Conference Against Racism. At this conference I encountered Dalits, Tibetans, Oaxacans, Palestinians and aboriginals from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among others. I listened to many speakers, including Fidel Castro, and engaged in many debates that often turned sour. It was the first time I was surrounded by adversity and it shocked me. The experience changed me in a few keys ways. First, I caught the travel bug, since my love of South Africa only made me more curious about the rest of the world. Second, it solidified my interest in international suffering, and suffering across borders.

Globalization is bringing international economies and industries closer together every day, but it is also bringing international conflict and suffering closer each day. I truly believe that conflicts and disasters around the world are connected and in that sense it is impossible to ignore the international community without first ignoring what is on your own doorstep. From another angle, I do not necessarily think that one has to leave Canada in order to effect change in the international community, especially given the issues in our own country and our ability to get involved through various Canadian based NGOs.

Why do you feel its important for youth to get involved in volunteering, democracy, and voting?

It might sound cliché but really the youth are all we have. Change takes time and we need to follow it through in order to ensure that the world will be a better place for future generations. It seems that humanity has made many mistakes and we have not yet found the right formula, which I believe can only come from new and innovative ideas among youth.

For you, is there a connection between music and democracy? What is it?

While there isn't anything really music related about this particular position, I can say for sure that music is almost everything to me and that I spend quite a bit of time listening to politically influenced music. In many respects I think music is the most powerful tool for mobilization that we have, in both positive and negative ways.

Link:
Bhopal