Joshua Pelland
Posted by Joshua Pelland on December 1st, 2011
My name is Joshua Pelland; I was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. As the oldest child of three in a military family, I have had the opportunity to live in various locations across Canada (Trenton, Montréal, Edmonton, Kingston and Ottawa) and Europe (Germany and the Netherlands). I grew up in a bilingual environment and as a result I am fully able to communicate in English and French, written as well as spoken. I have also learnt Spanish through several years of university courses and recent volunteering experiences in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Since I began my Bachelors in International Development and Globalisation at the University of Ottawa in 2007, I have also been and remain a military reservist for the Canadian Forces. My program of study offers a multidisciplinary approach to understanding international political relations and the challenges of economic, political and social development, with a focus on the conditions in struggling nations. I have conducted extensive research and written numerous papers on topics that relate to security, development, health, economic and environmental sustainability, and historical and political analyses of regional affairs. While studying and working as a reservist, I also partook in the CO-OP program at the University of Ottawa, which provided me with internship opportunities at both Environment Canada (in the Environmental Stewardship Branch) and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (in the Consultations and Liaison Division). As well, this past summer, through the assistance of the international student organisation called AIESEC, I had the opportunity to volunteer with an international NGO in Buenos Aires, Argentina, called Mensajeros de la Paz, as well as assist in teaching English at Jorge Prieto Letellier, a high school in Santiago de Chile.
Through the international placement opportunity that WUSC SWB provides, I seek to explore and learn more about Peru, Latin America, its people and its development challenges. I hope this internship will enhance my life-long learning experience by building on the knowledge, methods and tools I’ve acquired while studying and working in the field of international development. I also believe that this experience will allow me to put into further practice the insights and skills I’ve acquired and arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the current development practices and challenges.
I look forward to putting my experience and education to further use this winter, while also developing new skills that will unquestionably be beneficial to myself and, I also hope, to have a positive impact on those that I seek to assist and learn from.
