Integrate Work and Education
Riipen brings real projects from organizations into higher education.
Here at Unique Get Together Society, we see the value in everyone. We want to be a catalyst for positive change, we’ve been driven by the same ideas we initially founded our Non-Profit upon: support, empowerment, and progress. Using the RIIPEN platform, we are a step closer to our goals. Here are some of the projects that have proposed. We are proud and honored to be a part of this journey for the students.
project
DISMANTLING RACISM
PROJECT SCOPE
Racism occurs between individuals, on an interpersonal level, and is embedded in organizations and institutions through their policies, procedures and practices. In general, it may seem easier to recognize individual or interpersonal acts of racism: a slur made, a person ignored in a social or work setting, an act of violence. However, "individual" racism is not created in a vacuum but instead emerges from a society's foundational beliefs and "ways" of seeing/doing things, and is manifested in organizations, institutions, and systems (including education). Below are some useful definitions:
To combat racism today, it is necessary to understand the history of the ideology of "race" in order to challenge whiteness as the foundation of racial categories and racism.
Whiteness is multidimensional, complex, systemic and systematic:
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It is socially and politically constructed, and therefore a learned behavior. It does not just refer to skin colour but its ideology based on beliefs, values behaviors, habits and attitudes, which result in the unequal distribution of power and privilege based on skin colour (Frye, 1983; Kivel, 1996).It represents a position of power where the power holder defines the categories, which means that the power holder decides who is white and who is not (Frye, 1983).It is relational. "White" only exists in relation/opposition to other categories/locations in the racial hierarchy produced by whiteness. In defining "others," whiteness defines itself.Students will create a platform in which to dismantle systemic racism/privilege. This platform will consist of ways to begin the dismantlement of systemic racism in all institutions. It is used in corporations, education system, policing system, banking system etc. as to identify and be called on racism in all systems to create change and equality among all people.
project
INDIGENOUS LAND
BASE PROJECT
PROJECT SCOPE
Curriculum design: The objectives of Tracings are healing First Nations from the effect of colonialism, reconnecting with the cultural heritage and enhancing academic skills. Tracings will encompass participants’ human development trough Global Indigenous Health Perspectives, Educational Approaches to Ancestry Knowledge, and Indigenous Therapeutic Approaches and Processes to Traditional Ceremonial Medicinal Healing. Thus, Development of a holistic curriculum that includes Indigenous knowledge and ways of teaching and learning while taking into perspective the massive health care crisis currently faced by First Nations people.
This will be a land base project.
Community beneficiaries
1) Participants: The reflective analysis of the model to be undertaken is as such: there are certain levels that the community participants are within. That is, given the impact of the residential schools, many participants have lost the knowledge that were of their grandparents. Due to this impact, the benefits are such that participants are aided in their reclamation of the gap in a way that can be therapeutic and empowering to begin to heal
2) Spouses of the participants
3) Families of the participants
4) Communities in which the participants live and work
5) Project staff including project coordinators, local coordinators, local instructors, and external instructors
Results
1) A sense of ownership is created.
2) Capacities are built.
3) Participants are empowered.
4) Lessons are learned and applied.
5) The project is improved.
Institutional beneficiaries
1) Non-governmental organizations that sponsor the participants
2) Academic partner institutions
Students should focus on: Projects that assist an agency with policy, program development, grant writing
project
INDIGENOUS FOOD SECURITY
PROJECT SCOPE
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have had food sovereignty. That is, food that has sustained Indigenous people generations upon generations, since time immemorial. The sustenance and immensity of what was here upon Turtle Island was from one end of Turtle Island to the other in all four directions.
However, sustainability has been eroded to such an extent through many interruptions in how Indigenous peoples cared for the lands and sustained growth of the Indigenous Nations. As a result, many Indigenous peoples have had to endure very unhealthy foods. Not only have these foods been unhealthy, but continue to have a devastating impact on healthy nutrition.
Therefore, we must identify those foods, which are not significantly difficult to do. Once these elements are done, then can Indigenous people become truly self-sustaining in their food sovereignty.
Given these experiences, a food security and long-lasting food stabilization in a new programming context of a sustainability program which must be undertaken to ensure longevity of the Indigenous peoples' who are most acutely suffering from a lack of nutritional traditional foods.
Indigenous peoples have sustained themselves with traditional foods and these endeavors can't be emphasized enough, due to the reality that these foods will continue to fulfill healthier outcomes for various reasons with respect to nutrients, which have given many First Nations sustained growth.
As a result, a new food security program would be immensely changing for those Indigenous people as like the description above.
This program will focus on delivery of food hampers containing fruits, vegetables fish, meat and poultry to reservation in the lower mainland and eventually British Columbia.
The primary focus for the student will be:
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Researching and writing grants for Unique Get Together Food Security Hamper Delivery on Reservation services.
Our goal at the end of this experience is:
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To complete several grant applications for Unique Get Together Society; including federal and private grants.
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Improve the student's grant researching and writing skills.
Other duties the student may complete could include:
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Writing a guest blog for our website.
We will plan to communicate with our virtual intern using these communication tools:
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Emails, text messages, and through Riipen.