Angelo Paredes

BA Criminology, 4th Year

CSL 200, Winter 2025, Dr. Jay Friesen

Who was your community partner, and can you describe the project objectives?

During this term, I worked with the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology and their program in Kigoma, Tanzania called Binti Tucheze (Girls Let's Dance!). This project aims to empower young women in Kigoma through music, dance, and drama as part of an arts-based intervention program. Their main objectives were to encourage artistic expression, build confidence, and create opportunities and support for growth among these young women. My role in this project was to make social media posts to increase fundraising efforts to support Binti Tucheze. 

One of the biggest challenges I found was effectively advocating and sharing the stories of the young women in Kigoma without projecting personal narratives and perspectives onto them and telling their stories ethically. This is especially important when advocating for groups in which we may have cultural, linguistic, or geographical differences. This challenge of ensuring ethical representation through digital spaces and avoiding misrepresentation due to cultural disconnects was significant, especially when sharing stories online.

To tackle this challenge, I created a hypothetical tool called the ""Creating With Care Toolkit"" that can be critical when addressing the challenges of ethical storytelling. These are a set of guidelines and ideas to keep in mind that can prevent volunteers from inadvertently shaping the narrative and ensure that the community in which they are serving remains central to their own stories. These practices can help volunteers show respect and amplify the voices of the communities they serve.

Below is a link to the project, Instagram, website, and GoFundMe! Feel free to check them out:

•  https://linktr.ee/BintiTucheze

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bF97ZGI2Xxtn6yRe4pc9E_C7EmOhQsND/view?usp=sharing 

What was the biggest takeaway from your CSL placement?

One of the biggest takeaways that I got from my CSL placement was the realization and understanding of the challenges that come with amplifying stories of a community. This experience has highlighted the importance of sharing stories through digital spaces in a way that truly represents and respects the perspectives of the community, rather than imposing an outsider's perspective and narrative. This understanding led to the idea of the Creating With Care Toolkit that can serve as a practical guide for future volunteers to engage more thoughtfully and responsibly when engaging in ethical storytelling. 

How can you apply any newly gained knowledge/skills to your future endeavours (courses/employment/volunteering)? 

The skills that I have learned from my CSL placements, particularly in communication with diverse communities, will be very beneficial in my future endeavours. As a graduating BA Criminology student and Judicial Clerk, I have learned and seen how divisive the justice system can be and how it can perpetuate inequality, especially through its treatment of diverse people groups. Applying these skills in my work can help me develop more empathetic and culturally sensitive practices within the courthouse, and allow me to keep in mind the diversity of our community. 

Why should students consider being involved with CSL, and how does it enhance their academic learning?

I think that CSL offers students a valuable opportunity, not only to serve their community, but to also learn from them. Through my CSL classes, I have been able to learn more about the communities we live in, and how to engage with them both ethically, and respectfully.