Kelsey Chegus This is Me

Education

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1. 1. Engineers Without Borders Canada - Staff

   www.ewb.ca/en/whoweare/ourpeop - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/4/2007   Last Visited: 5/4/2007

   Kelsey Chegus Junior Fellow Support Staff kelseychegus@ewb.ca
   ...
   With the growth and development of our Junior Fellowship Program, Kelsey is one of two EWB staff dedicated to supporting and enhancing the program, now in its second year. From January to August 2007 she is coordinating overseas placements for the Fellows, assisting with their pre-departure training and providing support for the group who are volunteering in West Africa.
   
   Kelsey has been involved in EWB for 4 years as a volunteer in Ghana and President of the University of Alberta Chapter. She has also worked for Action for Healthy Communities, a community development ogranisation in Edmonton, and as a youth recreation worker in Metis Settlement in Northern Alberta. Kelsey is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alberta.

2. 2. stalbertgazette.com: Top News - Scene Feature

   www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2 - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/25/2004   Last Visited: 9/27/2004

   Kelsey Chegus left Canada for Ghana four months ago, hoping to use her engineering skills to help people there improve their standard of living.
   
   She came home knowing it's not possible to fix everything in one summer and, equally important, that there are things she can do in the future to help.
   
   Chegus, 19, is a third-year engineering student at the University of Alberta and president of the local chapter of Engineers Without Borders, the organization she volunteered with in Ghana.
   
   The Paul Kane High School grad wants her fellow Canadians to know there's more to Africa than the television-charity image that depicts nothing but starving people.
   
   "Africa is so much more," she said as she pointed to a photo of an intersection in the City of Kumasi. "It's not all poor. There is commerce and a thriving community and people who are working hard to make changes."
   
   Chegus spent the summer working with employees from the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE).
   
   "I didn't make a wage, but the $10 Cdn a day I was given to live off of, made me one of the highest paid members of KITE. I found it hard to call myself a volunteer because the minimum wage in Ghana is just over $1 US."
   
   Along with Ghanaian engineer Charles Agboada, Chegus visited outlying villages and interviewed potential entrepreneurs, who wanted to invest in a machine called a multi-functional platform.
   ...
   "As an energy source it can be adapted for a variety of uses and encourages the development of many income-generating activities," Chegus explained, adding that the Multifunctional Platform Program (MFP) was first developed 10 years ago as a United Nations project in two other African countries.
   ...
   Chegus enjoyed visiting with the women the most and she learned a lot about the cultural differences between Canada and Ghana.
   
   "The women would make an assumption that running the diesel engine was men's work. They didn't think they could get the engine started and none of the men believed they could, either. So I yanked on the cord to prove to them I could start it."
   
   Chegus thought the women would naturally be overjoyed to have a labour-saving device.
   ...
   Chegus became so accustomed to a different pace, where time was not the most important thing, that she experienced a bit of culture shock herself when she returned to classes in the fall and remembered she had to be on time.
   
   "In Ghana, a meeting happens when people gather, not when the time is scheduled."
   
   She also learned about the power of being white in this former British colony.
   
   People assumed she had money and that Canada was a paradise with no hardships. Wherever she went she was given special attention and was often treated with more respect than her black co-workers.
   
   "No matter how I tried to fit in, or how much I believed I had adapted to the culture, I always stuck out. Even the smallest white dot can't blend into a sea of black."
   
   Chegus believes that Ghana's colonial past and its history of dependency on foreign aid has also created a sense of inferiority among its citizens.
   ...
   As Chegus walked through the village markets, she couldn't help but notice the great quantity of "donated" goods for sale and wondered if they were always given with the best of intentions.
   
   "As we develop and progress technologically, we have to think about where all our old junk goes. A lot of it gets donated to developing countries. Things that have been phased out because they are bad for the environment are still being used; we just can't see it any more. We have to be technological leaders and not just pass the problem we create onto someone else."
   
   Foreign countries that invest in Africa are necessary but they must be careful not to pay inflationary wages, Chegus added.
   
   It's too soon to tell what Chegus will do when she graduates from engineering school. She jokingly explained that next summer she will have to get a "real job" to pay for school. But she is serious about international development.

3. 3. Bright Ideas - e-news for EWB-ISF Canada - January 2007

   www.ewb.ca/e-news/en/2007/01/6 - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/1/2007   Last Visited: 4/2/2008

   Kelsey Chegus, one of EWB's new Junior Fellow Support Staff, first became involved in EWB in 2002 by joining the University of Alberta Chapter. "I had just traveled to Guatemala a few weeks before starting university," recalls Kelsey, "and I was really excited about getting involved in international development."
   ...
   Four years later, Kelsey is on temporary leave from the mechanical engineering program at the University of Alberta. She has emerged as a driving force in EWB, serving as a key member (and former Chapter President) of the University of Alberta Chapter and as a highly successful short-term overseas volunteer. Kelsey is also an alumnus of EWB's Junior Fellowship program who worked on the Multifunctional Platform (MFP) project in Ghana during the summer of 2004. She now is now returning to the EWB overseas team as support staff, acting as a mentor to the new group of 2007 volunteers.
   ...
   Kelsey Chegus (known in Ghana as Akua) models Ghanian dress while at home in St. Albert, Alberta. Upon return from Ghana, Kelsey used her experiences to help fellow students make the connection between their work in Canada and EWB's work overseas.
   
   Together, Paul and Kelsey will support the 42 Junior Fellows, members selected from University Chapters who will travel to short-term placements in Africa this summer.
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   Kelsey and Paul are stepping in to provide increased support to the Fellows, helping them deal with cultural integration and development challenges.
   ...
   Paul and Kelsey are looking forward to moving ahead in their new roles.
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   "I feel honoured to be in a role where I will be able to share in many people's experiences," says Kelsey.
   ...
   We are very pleased to welcome Kelsey and Paul as the newest additions to the National Office Overseas Team.
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   Thanks to Kelsey and Paul, the 2007 Junior Fellows will be better prepared to meet the cultural and development challenges overseas, allowing them to have even more impact in their work promoting human development.