by Mark McAvoy

Colleen Cameron’s father worked at Coady, which exposed her to people from around the world and got her interested in both nursing and working in Africa.

Cameron has worked in Canada, Africa, and the Middle East. She has participated in emergency famine relief projects, helped communities develop health evaluation tools, conducted gender and health workshops in Rwanda, and co-facilitated the Inaugural Institute for Gender and HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

In her talk with Canada’s History, Cameron explains that educating communities on gender is hugely important for health and development. She explains although typically females have “less status, less opportunities, and less control of resources” than males, gender affects both males and females.

“From a development perspective, if we don’t utilize the talents and the resources of half the population we’re not going to grow and develop.” Cameron currently teaches at St. Francis Xavier University, dividing her time between the Coady and the nursing department.

Visit their website to learn more about Coady International Institute.