Lawyer feels everyone should give of themselves

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This article was published 18/04/2011 (5503 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We all should give, one way or another, at some point in our life.

That’s the belief of Winnipeg commercial lawyer Eleanor Wiebe. Whether you donate financially or as a volunteer, she said it’s important to give when you can in order to make the world a better place. After sending one of her two children off to university a few years ago, she found herself with some extra time and it was then she decided it was time for her to start contributing as a volunteer.

“I think that everybody needs to give and there’s different ways to give,” said Wiebe, a 52-year-old married mother of two. “You can give time, and you can give money and the community is just a better place if everybody gives. I’m just now at a point in time in my life where I’m able to give (my time).”

Wanting to put her skills to use, Wiebe jumped at a volunteer opportunity offered by the Canadian Bar Association. Three times in the past four years she has travelled to Southeast Asia — twice to Laos and once to Cambodia — to teach law. The goal is to help lawyers in those countries develop their skills so they can help their countries to be more independent. While there, Wiebe taught workshops such as contract-drafting and negotiation.

“From the Canadian point of view, if you want the rule of law, if you want people to develop, they need support,” said Wiebe, a partner with the Fillmore Riley law firm, adding Laos is in fact a communist country. “In terms of international trade, the world works, corruption or no corruption, so if you don’t have any skills to develop you can be taken advantage of.”

She adds her group also worked with a focus on teaching lawyers skills that will help them to, in turn, teach other lawyers. She hopes the knowledge can be passed on to future generations of lawyers in those developing countries.

“You were teaching the students but the Canadian Bar (Association) was also supporting Cambodian lawyers to learn how to teach. That’s really important because for them to develop long-term — the plan isn’t to drop Canadians there all the time.”

She said her work in Southeast Asia has given her a lot — including a new perspective on her own life in Canada.

“I have gotten out of doing this a belief that if you’re born or live as a resident or citizen in Canada, you’re incredibly blessed because we have three things that a lot of places in the world don’t have. We have universal health care. We have education. And we have the rule of law. With those three things anybody born in this country has hope. I’m not saying there aren’t millions of challenges and systemic problems and what have you, but there is hope.”

Closer to home, Wiebe is also trying to bring hope to those living here in Winnipeg. She volunteers with the Laura Milner White Committee, a group that works to support schools in Winnipeg’s inner city, and with the Legal Help Centre — a project that aims to provide legal help to those who do not qualify for legal aid.

 

If you know a special volunteer who strives to make their community a better place to live, please contact Erin Madden at erinmadden@shaw.ca