A young Port Alberni man who claims both Hupacasath and Nisga’a heritage is hard at work preparing for the journey of a lifetime that he hopes will be a springboard to a new career.
Next month, Brendan Hamilton, 19, will travel to Jinja, Uganda on a four-month economic development mission with Working Women First. On Jan. 16, he began an intensive four-week training course in Victoria with the Victoria International Development Education Association.
Ha-shilth-sa caught up with him briefly on Day 3, after he had completed one small milestone he had been dreading.
“I got my three shots [Tuesday] in Victoria. The yellow fever was the one that hurt,” Brendan said. “I was surprised that I was only getting three, because I was told I needed six immunizations to go to Africa. I found out that I had already received the others in town.”
It has been a whirlwind of activity for Brendan, who graduated from Alberni District Secondary School in 2010. For his grad year, Brendan took Social Justice 12 with teacher Kama Money, who has made several working trips to developing countries and encourages her students to do the same.
“She keeps a Facebook page for her Social Justice students and stays in touch,” he said. “She posted an application [for the Uganda program] on Facebook, and she contacted me to recommend that I apply.”
Without that nudge, Brendan said he likely wouldn’t have applied, and he was thrilled to discover he had been selected to be part of the team.
“If it wasn’t for Kama, I wouldn’t be in this position at all. She laid out the beginning of a new journey and a new life for me,” he said.
Brendan’s father, journalist Wawmeesh Hamilton, said his son became energized when first exposed to international/social justice issues in high school, especially after meeting a former Liberian child soldier through one of the programs he took part in.
“It was pretty heady stuff for a 15- or 16-year-old to be aware of it and to want to know more about it,” Wawmeesh said.
Brendan’s uncle, the late Larry Guno, served as an NDP Member of the Legislature for Atlin in northwestern B.C. from 1986 to 1991, and was an early influence, Wawmeesh said.
“His mom, Christie, is Nisga’a from New Aiyansh. She is from the Raven clan, which is ironic because now Brendan has spread his wings to fly,” Wawmeesh said.
Brendan has dedicated his journey to his late grandparents, Jessie Hamilton and Arnold Thomas.
“They were ‘home’ people,” Wawmeesh said. “They never travelled. They were content to stay home. A trip to Chilliwack or Vancouver in the summer was a big thing for them.”
For Brendan, part of the learning experience is integrating with the team he will be working with in Uganda.
“Over the past few days, I’ve gotten to know my new ‘family,’” he said. “We’re living in a home in Sooke. Ten interns, including me, and a project coordinator.”
Working Women First is a non-governmental organization that promotes local economic development by providing business management training and micro-financing for enterprises run by women. The interns will be broken into small units, each working with a project leader at camps throughout the community.
“I will be working with women and children. One of the skills I will be teaching is income-generating activities,” Brendan said.
Jinja is located in southeastern Uganda on the shores of Lake Victoria. Brendan said he is doing as much research as he can on Uganda, but he knows he is in for some major culture shock.
“It’s one thing to learn and teach this stuff in a classroom, but it’s a whole different thing when you get there,” he said, adding that he has been able to call on Kama Money to keep him grounded.
“It’s definitely going to be overwhelming, but this month of orientation will prepare me for what I am going to see and do,” he said.
Brendan and his team will arrive in Uganda in mid-February, which is the rainy season. This is a working visit, but he is hoping to see as much of the country as possible.
“Getting out and exploring a new area is definitely on my agenda,” he said.
Brendan said his one previous international journey was to New York City with his drama class in Grade 9.
“New York was the only time I’ve left Canada. It was a lot of fun and it really broadened my horizons,” he said. “That’s why, while I’m still at a young age, I want to get out and have these experiences.”
The New York trip was for 12 days. Brendan is conscious of the fact that this time he will be in a much more distant and exotic environment, and four months will feel like a long time to be away, but at the same time, not long enough.
“On one hand, I will miss my family and my home and my cat. But on the other hand, this is the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said.
Brendan said he fully intends to attend university in the near future, but he has a few goals to achieve first, and the Uganda trip provides a unique opportunity to showcase his talents.
“I plan to do a lot of writing. I took a journalism class in high school, and I’m also interested in media and video editing,” he said.
Brendan’s plan is to set up a video-log while he is in Uganda to describe his experiences in trying to improve the quality of life for women and families.
“It’s my job to help these people, but it’s also my job to tell the world,” he said.
