NSAC E-Bulletin

Please forward your submissions to the NSAC E-Bulletin to Stephanie Rogers (news@nsac.ca) by Friday at 3:00 p.m. for inclusion in the next week's edition.

Developing Rural Entrepreneurs
....an international development project of NSAC

The Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) has been awarded $2,000,000 from the Canadian International Development Association (CIDA) to help the people of Northern Ghana by fostering an environment that promotes entrepreneurship.

The project, “Developing Rural Entrepreneurs” is aimed at developing entrepreneurship training programs through cooperation between a number of non-governmental and educational institutions in northern Ghana. These programs will address the needs of existing and potential entrepreneurs, promoting economic activity and opportunity for women, men and youth in the region.

NSAC, its implementing partner, CG International, and Ghanaian polytechnic partner institutions, who are all providing substantial in-kind contributions, will work towards creating and enhancing current entrepreneurship curriculum to give their students the skills required to start, maintain and grow successful small and micro enterprises

With three Ghanaian non-governmental organization partners, the project team will work towards the preparation and facilitation of short courses and workshops to help potential and existing entrepreneurs in local and surrounding rural communities improve their skills. Through these skill development streams along with improved support for entrepreneurship networks in northern Ghana, the project aims to facilitate economic development and increased employment rates throughout the northern regions.

There are currently six instructors from three polytechnic institutions in northern Ghana visiting NSAC from June 10th - July 9th ,2005. The primary purpose of their visit is to develop capacity in entrepreneurship teaching, including entrepreneurial skills and mindset, entrepreneurship curriculum development and experiential learning.

A celebration to say farewell to our visitors and to toast the successful first year of this project will be held in Jenkins Hall on Friday, July 8. All are welcome to attend to support and wish the project and its team well.

The project, “Developing Rural Entrepreneurs” is a five-year project scheduled to run from March of 2004 through to January 2009. NSAC Team members include Steve Russell, Cara Kirkpatrick, Natalie Cole, Sam Asiedu, Emmanuel Yiridoe, Mary Breen, Jody Nelson Allan Fraser and Implementing partners - CG International (Halifax)- Chris Curtis and Mike Wyse.

IOIA Inspector Training in New Brunswick

The Independent Organic Inspector Association and Falls Brook Centre will be offering the Basic Organic Farm Inspector Course (4 days) followed by the Basic Organic Process Inspector Course (4 days). Training will take place from October 15-22, 2005 in Knowlesville, New Brunswick and include classroom instruction in both Canadian and US National standards, field trips, mock inspections, and examinations. Registration fee for the training is $2830 CAN plus IOIA manual at $56 (individual course $1415 plus the manual), including all meals and accommodations. For application forms please visit the FBC website www.fallsbrookcentre.ca or IOIA website www.ioia.net. For more information, contact Andrea Berry, Organic Agriculture Program Coordinator at (506) 375-4310 or andrea@fallsbrookcentre.ca.

Gambian Interns write Home

The following letter was sent to NSAC International from our two NSAC interns currently working in Gambia.

Dear NSAC International House,

Saalam Male Kum everyone, greetings and best wishes to you all from The Gambia. Both Clinton and myself feel very comfortable staying here in Brikama working with the faculty and staff of The Gambia College. This is the fourth week of our program so we are both currently on attachments with different agricultural organizations. Clinton’s attachment involves visiting local apiaries with AFET (Association of Farmers, Educators, and Trainers). Meanwhile my attachment is with the Banjulnding Women’s Horticultural Gardens.

Clinton Ronalds hard at work in the Gambia

Apart from our attachments, we have both toured and visited many local poultry producers, the Department of Livestock Services, a variety of community-based cooperatives such as a pasteurization facility organized by a group of Brikama women, and a few non-governmental organizations such as a Methodist Mission. After being here for one month and visiting these locations we already have developed a better sense for the importance of agriculture to rural families and food security in The Gambia in general.

It is not all work around here; our first weekend in The Gambia Clinton, Dr. Bruce Rathgeber, and myself attended the under-17 championship soccer match between The Gambia and Ghana. Thousands of people came out to see the two teams square off. The Gambian Scorpions took the match 1-0, and the President declared a national holiday. People flooded the streets dancing, drumming, and celebrating all night and well into the next day. Also, two weeks ago we visited a friend’s compound and went to the Abuko Nature Reserve where we walked through the forest and saw hyenas, baboons, and fed monkeys peanuts from our hands. Another highlight was our visit to Banjul, The Gambia’s capital city, last Friday with Ebrima Cham (the head of the School of Agriculture at Gambia College).

Overall the time is flying by very fast, in another two weeks we will be leaving The Gambia. Both Clinton and I are thoroughly enjoying our time here, and feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit and work in a country with such a colorful and interesting culture. The people here are incredibly friendly and we will definitely stay in contact with most of them for years to come. To everyone on the Food Security Project Team and NSAC International that made this trip possible Thank-you!! We will see you soon.

Sincerely,

Clinton Ronalds & Erin Ramsey.

Play, Swim and Learn - NSAC Day Camps begin today

Thirty kids a week for the next seven weeks will be enjoying NSAC Summer day camps. Dubbed Kids Discovery Camps, children ages 5 - 12 will be offered the opportunity to play, swim and learn. In conjunction with Scotia Pool, kids will enjoy a different active and fun theme each week including Animal Kingdom, Photography, Summer Splash, Local Hero week, Wild Scientific Adventures, Sports and The Arts. Camps are $90 per week.
For further information on these and other programs please contact NSAC Athletics at (902) 893-7247contact Scotia Pool at

Qing jin !

Yang Guang leads a group in pronouncing a word

If you attended the Chinese classes taught by Gefu Wang-Pruski you know what this phrase means! During May and June, Dr. Wang-Pruski and research associate Yang Guang taught a group of about a dozen Canadians how to pronounce basic phrases in Chinese. The laughter coming from the Cox classroom each Wednesday at noon indicated how much the class enjoyed the hour long session. If you missed these classes or would like further training, we plan on having a short course again this fall. Contact gwang-pruski@nsac.ca or dpatterson@nsac.ca for further information.

Dr. Wang-Pruski explains the difference in the four tones

Cheonan Yonam College Visits NSAC

NSAC hosted a group of enthusiastic students from Cheonan Yonam College, South Korea, on June 29. The visit to NSAC was organized and facilitated by Dr. Hal Ju, of the Department of Plant and Animal Science, with translation provided by Ms. Kelly Ju. The 17 students and Professor Dr. Shim are from the Animal Science Department of CYC and were in Canada to learn more about NSAC and our livestock systems.

The group were welcomed to NSAC and given an overview of our activities by President Hicks. Brian Crouse provided the students with information on registration and scholarships and the group enjoyed touring the Ruminant Animal Centre with Dairy Manager, Clayton Atkinson. Following their visit to NSAC the group visited dairy farms in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Clayton Atkinson explains an NSAC livestock ration to students from Cheonan Yonam College

Grand Opening of NSAC's Centennial Amphitheatre

Nearly 200 guests enjoyed a magical evening of entertainment and reflection during the grand opening of the NSAC Centennial Amphitheatre. Master of Ceremonies, Professor Emeritus Peter Sanger, led the program consisting of musical entertainment by the Truro Novatones, The Cliftones and a rendition of our centennial song by Barry Stagg. The entertainment was followed at dusk by a magical candlelit walk of the mysterious labyrinth with a celebratory glass of champagne. It truly was a beautiful evening.

Seminar Series on Northern Ghana

Monday, July 4th

Obed Obiri-Yeboah: “Cotton Farming in Northern Ghana: Improving Livelihoods Through Contract Agriculture”

Dr. Zephyrinus K. M. Batse:“Environmental Impact of Entrepreneurial Activities”

Tuesday, July 5th
Adiza Sadik: “Gender Issues at Tamale Polytechnic: Is Culture a Factor?”

Alhassan Abdul-Razak: “A Snapshot of Tamale Polytechnic: the Evolution of an Educational Institution in Northern Ghana”

Wednesday, July 6th
Aliata Issahaq Mumuni: “Small Scale Enterprise in Wa (Upper West Region, Ghana): Pito Brewing”

Azigwe John Bosco:“Enhancing Business Opportunities in the Ghanaian Rural Economy”

For more information contact NSAC International.

Admission to Candidacy Exam- Nicole Burkhard

Nitrogen and Weed Management in Organic Highbush Blueberry Production

Friday, July 15, 2005 10:00 a.m. Haley Institute - Room 112

All are Welcome

Local Judo Club holds grading

Pictured is Bonnie Waddell and Mariah Martin Shein practicing a "hold"
during end of session grading, recently held at the Langille Athletic Centre.

An end-of-year grading was held last Tuesday at the Colchester Yawara Judo
Club and six of the club's students were promoted to yellow belt status.

All six students, four males and two females, joined the club last December when
it first opened its doors and so they have been practising the sport for
only about a half year. The grading was conducted by Dr. Philip Hicks,
black-belt instructor and club founder. There are seven colour-belt grades in
judo. In sequence they are white, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown.
It normally takes many years of study and hard practice before one can
achieve black-belt status.

Each student was required to relate to the examiner some aspect of the art
form's roots in Japan, to explain the judo philosophy that consists of
knowing how to yield to a superior force in order to use an opponent's
strength against himself or herself and to demonstrate various physical
techniques such as hold-downs, throws and how to fall safely. The youngest
student to be graded was six, and the eldest was, well, considerably older
than six!

Judo classes are held at NSAC's Langille Athletic Centre two evenings a week
during the academic year and classes resume in September. For more information, contact Kent Loughead at 893-6660 kloughead@nsac.ns.ca, or Philip Hicks at 893-6720 phicks@nsac.ns.ca.

WUSC Student Entering Masters Program

James Francis Wani is pursuing his dream. Having come to NSAC as a WUSC sponsored student seven years ago, he has continually worked hard to take full advantage of his opportunity. After a year at NSAC, he attended Dalhousie in the undergrad program before returning to NSAC to complete his B Sc Agr in Economics.

In his time at NSAC, James participated in many student events, worked for ACS, was President of the International Student Association and mentored several WUSC students that followed him at NSAC.

This fall he will be registering at Dalhousie in the Master of Economic Development Program, with a career aspiration to work with the United Nations as an Economic/Development Policy Advisor. James if presently working for Convergys Canada Inc, as a Customer Service Associate .

James maintains contact with NSAC friends through e-mail jfwani@nsac.ns.ca

Congratulations James!