By Krista Armstrong

Tamara Woisky (BA’06), centre, while working for Right to Play in Thailand.

You never know where or when inspiration will hit.

For International Development Studies grad Tamara Woisky (BA’06), it happened in South Thailand in 2008, while coordinating a project for international NGO Right to Play. The project, which taught sports to undersocialized children as a means to improving social skills, showed great results.

“Could this model be used to help children who are currently in correctional facilities?” Tamara wondered.

Using knowledge she’d gleaned from Dal classes on youth crime, she convinced the organization to let her put together a program: they agreed, provided she worked on this as a volunteer on her own time. Since then, Thailand’s Minister of Justice has approved this model for six young offender centres.

“It’s been very rewarding to see,” she says.

Grateful for the opportunities

This career highlight is just one in a series Tamara has had since graduating from Dalhousie in 2006 with a BA in International Development Studies (IDS) and Minor in Environmental Studies. She says Dal and the IDS department have been integral to her career, one which began while still a student with two internships.

The first, a nine month stint with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), allowed her to contribute important research on oil-spill pollution compliance. This research would later be used by WWF to help pass Bill C-15, which stops operators in the shipping industry from polluting Canadian waters intentionally or through negligence.

The second opportunity, a volunteer position with the Food for Education Program in Afghanistan through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), came in her final semester. She was granted special permission from the IDS department to use this experience to fulfill the credits needed to graduate. Although Tamara says this was unusual, she is very grateful to the people who made it happen. “This was the first step to all of my jobs since – if the university had said no, I might have taken a different path,” she says.

Even her work with Right to Play had roots in the International Development Studies department: she’d learned about the organization from a talk given by an IDS departmental alumnus in a first-year class.

“I don’t know if the department still [invites alumni in to speak] but I highly recommend it – it made a huge impression on me,” she says.

A recent placement with USAID in Kandahar, Afghanistan had her working with provincial and district leaders to develop tools to understand and respond to instability in their communities. As Monitoring and Evaluation Team lead, she says that ensuring accuracy and transparency of activities happening on the ground was key. This work was challenging because of the political climate during the time she was there (July 2012 to April 2014), she says, but also extremely rewarding.

“Working with the people of Afghanistan, or in any country that is so volatile, makes you realize all the opportunities we have in life, and to be grateful for them.” For her outstanding contributions on governance and monitoring of the projects in this region, she was awarded a coin from the United States Agency for International Development at the US Embassy in Kabul.

Tamara has also worked and volunteered for various projects in Health, Education and Governance, World Vision and UNICEF.

Looking back, looking forward

Currently, she is working with the start-up for a small NGO, “Bola PraFrente” in the Southern part of the amazon, doing project photography, fundraising initiatives and promotions. She also volunteered with this group while in Senegal. She says she believes in the organization and is happy to give her time to it. “The small ones make the biggest difference,” she says.

She says the classes she took with IDS profs Dr. David Black (MA’86, PhD’92), Dr. Caesar Apentiik and Dr. Owen Willis (BA’97, MA’99) continue to influence her work and life. “Do not be scared to get to know your professors. The biggest lessons I have learned came from the time spent with them after class.” She also credits her FASS education with teaching her how to write concisely, a skill she uses to write funding proposals.

Tamara loved her time at Dal, and being part of its international student community. “People think I’m crazy when I say I miss being in university, but it’s true!” She says she’s looking forward to returning to Canada for a short break this summer, before heading off in search of new adventures.

We can’t wait to see what she’ll do next!