One = one.

Today a group of students introduced the concept of the Time Bank to the class. A Time Bank supposes a time-based currency, whereby the time that people spends providing services that are of value to the community (i.e. visiting with the elderly, teaching new Canadians English/French, mentoring children etc) earns time that one can spend to receive other services. It's similar barter, but without the need for a direct reciprocal exchange between participants. Further, everyone's time is valued equally - no matter if you are a novice or an expert.

Beyond just introducing the idea to the class - these students actually set up a website for the class (which I will place here once they send me the link), and have started getting students talking about how they could provide meaningful (and possibly less ones meaningful) services for one another. I look forward to seeing where this can go - in the class and beyond.

Here is a video of Professor Edgar Cahn (featuring Jon Snow's wonderful tie), founder of Time Banking, clearly explaining the concept:



It seems like a really lovely concept - and one that does not appear to be well represented in Canada. On the TimeBank.org website there are only a few Canadian Time Banks listed - the Lower Mainland, one in London (this appears to be more a community resource centre website), plus the NDG Time Bank, here in Montreal. Apparently the use of these in the US has really sky-rocketed with the recent economic crisis - though I'm hoping for those who experience it, this could result in a permanent shift in the way people view the exchange of meaningful services.