Brigitte Robert - Cooperation here at home and overseas

As a little girl, Brigitte Robert was touched by a song her mother used to play at Xmas time: “Hey, little guy, where are you going/ Running that way in your bare feet/ I’m chasing heaven/ because it’s Xmas, or so they say.” From this song sung by Édith Piaf, Brigitte understood in her young head and heart that the world’s material goods are not always fairly shared among its people. From that moment on the desire to contribute, however modestly, to making a better world began to bloom inside her.

At the first opportunity, Brigitte plunged into action. First came a project in Sri Lanka with Canada World Youth. Then, upon graduation, she taught for two years in a Cree community in Quebec. Next, she left for Ecuador to take part in a CECI project for setting up daycare centres in indigenous communities in the Andes.

Initially, the goal of this cooperation project was to train childcare workers on early childhood education. However, once on the ground, Brigitte rapidly understood that what really mattered were the children’s health and nutritional needs—these were the most pressing challenges confronting indigenous childcare workers. So Brigitte sought out all the available information from the experts and government ministries in Ecuador, as well as from other organizations present in the country, which she then relayed to her Quechua women partners. Moreover, according to Brigitte, it’s the capacity to establish a relationship of trust among people, one that is conducive to the sharing of ideas, knowledge and ways of doing, which is the fundamental pre-condition for ensuring a successful cooperation project.

Regarding her stay in Latin America (a major period in her life—seven years in Ecuador and six months in Honduras), Brigitte highlights the creation of several audio-visual tools still in use today in indigenous communities and humanitarian organizations.

Back in Quebec since 2000, Brigitte maintains her commitment to greater social justice. Now a professor of childhood education at the Saint Hyacinth Cegep (junior college), she develops and facilitates cooperation internships with her students, mainly in Central America. In connection with these internships, she organized a local language-exchange system. Future interns help Spanish-speaking newcomers improve their French while the latter in turn assist interns in their efforts to learn Spanish.

In addition, wishing to put her vast experience to good use, Brigitte is participating in setting up a regional project for intercultural exchanges in the hopes of fostering the spirit of solidarity among her fellow citizens. She hopes wholeheartedly that cooperation projects spread throughout the world and contribute towards developing more equitable North-South relations from every point of view.