Alberta pollster Janet Brown joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss her work with Humanity & Inclusion Canada, including a recent trip to a refugee camp in Kenya.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: Janet, you’re a regular contributor to our Politics Panel – but you’re also a member of the council of governors of Humanity & Inclusion Canada.
What is this organization, and what drew your involvement?
Janet Brown: I was approached by Humanity & Inclusion about a year ago to join their council of governors, and honestly I had never heard of them.
I had to do some homework, and I was just blown away by what I discovered.
They’ve been around for 40 years. They’re serving clientele in 60 conflict zones around the world. They were part of a consortium that won the Nobel Prize for the work that they do in landmines.
I think that was 1997, so this organization has got deep roots in the international development community.
The reason I hadn’t heard of them, and so many of my friends hadn’t heard of them, is they’re based in France. They’re well known in the Francophone world, but not in the English-speaking world.
So when they approached me about trying to help them raise awareness in Canada I was just so impressed. I had to jump in and help.
MH: You visited a refugee camp in Kenya. What did that open your eyes to?
JB: When I decided I was going to join this council of governors, I thought to be effective I really have to see the work firsthand.
They arranged for a field trip to Kakuma, which is a Northwest Kenya. Officially, they say there’s about 240,000 people in the camp - but that’s probably a year-old stat, and the number is closer to 300,000 now. It is the size of a small town, if you can believe it.
People are living in very basic conditions. They have a very basic food ration they get every month. They can send their kids to school. There’s some basic health care, but the main thing is the people there are safe. They have fled some sort of conflict.
There’s many different types of people in the camp from different conflict zones around Africa, but the main thing is: it’s very basic, but they are safe, and their children are safe.
Children are one of the big motivations for why people come to the camp. The single biggest takeaway I had when I got there was how many children there were. I was kind of expecting a camp full of adults, but 60 per cent of the people in the camp are children.
Then there’s this subset of children who are disabled. Humanity & Inclusion is there to serve the needs of those refugees with disabilities.
MH: That assistance that Humanity & Inclusion is providing – what does that extend to?
JB: It’s everything. They’ve got a very broad definition of disability.
When people first arrive at the camp, they go through a reception center where their refugee status is confirmed or not. They find out what needs people have coming to the camp, and H&I is right there identifying people with disabilities so that they can get the services they need.
It could be somebody who’s experienced an injury getting to the camp, they’ve experienced an injury in war, and they need some sort of help with that.
Other people become disabled in the camp - there’s an accident or something that results in a disability.
Then there’s lots of children who are coming to the camp, and there are children who are being born in the camp, and some of them are born with disabilities.
H&I is there to make sure that those people with disabilities don’t fall through the cracks. Because you can imagine - life is it like (this doesn’t make sense.... if not an Otter mistranslation, you can change using (in)) this camp is very complicated. Life is very tough, and it would be so easy for the refugees with disabilities to fall through the cracks.
MH: What funds these H&I Canada initiatives?
JB: H&I Canada is part of an international network. They rely heavily on funding from governments, international aid funds. H&I gets some money from the Canadian government. Of course, private donations are also really important.
One of the ways you secure government funding is to show that civil society is interested in your organization.
So the money we get from private donors is absolutely critical to getting matching funds from government, and having the kind of funds you need to run as many programs as H&I runs.
MH: So you mentioned governments, and we’ve spoken on the politics panel about the new Trump administration flood the zone on a multitude of fronts. That includes massive cuts to the US Agency for International Development.
What degree of impact do you see that potentially having at the ground level?
JB: Well, when I was in Kakuma, I saw the Canadian flag on just about every project that was there. That was really wonderful, to see Canada’s involvement.
But you can’t also help notice the number of American flags that are there - and the USAID symbol at the Food Center, at the hospitals, at the schools.
These cuts to USAID, they’re absolutely devastating. It’s heartbreaking to me to think what could happen in the camp if funding is lowered.
As I said, people get a ration, but it’s very meager. It’s some grains, some pulses, some cooking oil. It’s very meager. If those funds are cut even further, it will really make life in the camp quite difficult.
USAID has said that they’re going to continue with life saving aid, and that’s wonderful - but there are many things that go on in the camp that give people empowerment, give them a sense of safety and security.
If we lose funds for those things, like helping people with disabilities, it will make a very tough situation in the camps even tougher.
MH: If we bring this conversation back full circle, H&I Canada may not be on the radar of the average Albertan.
Given your involvement, how do you change that?
JB: I’m just trying to raise awareness. I’m trying to talk to as many groups as I can.
Our friend Duane Bratt had me come and talk to one of his international relations classes on Monday this week.
I’m just out there trying to spread the word. There’s so much going on right now with tariffs. We’re all so preoccupied. Our heads are spinning.
I just want to remind people that there’s so much else going on in the world, and as stressed out as we are here in Canada with what we’re having to deal with, just remember that all of this uncertainty around the U.S. government is playing itself out around the world.
I just encourage people to think about those who are going to be left behind - and if you can contribute in some way and help us help these refugees, I think that would just be wonderful.
