Thinking of you all everyday <3
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Haunted houses, sticky buns and fun!
I'm SO close to being caught up, close enough that I'm even involving some things about this week in this post!
My story starts 2 weekends ago...
On Sunday our house went to the Bay of Fundy National Park!!! It was a wonderful day, that began with a beautiful drive there! Everything I saw reminded me so much of Muskoka, I think that everyone in the car might have been a little annoyed after the 6th time I said "Oh my gosh, that cliff and those trees is exactly the kind of thing you would see in Ontario!!". You know that song Big Yellow Taxi? It is so right to say you don't know what you've got until its gone. I never realized just how incredible my own province is, I just wish I could bring everybody home with me. There are so many things I would show them. First I would take them out for a cookie skillet!!! Then we would drive to Gravenhurst for the beautiful drive, the Saturday Market, and then a cruise on the Segwin. Then we would all go to Wasaga Beach, and we would go to Toronto to the CN tower! Then we would take my Dads boat from Ottawa to Kingston on the Rideau Canal. We would see the Niagara Falls too! I just have so many plans for everyone, I may not have highlighted the best of Ontario, but those sure are the things that I love and miss... Wait, Was I talking about Fundy? I get distracted so easily!! SO, we got to Fundy and after stopping for some sticky buns we spent over an hour walking around the port and along the rocky beach of the bay. It was a really beautiful day, with beautiful people, and we made beautiful memories :)
So I'm still using Kayla's blog to remember everything we did, since I haven't been writing in my journal (don't tell my sister). I forgot the day before we went to Fundy everyone came over to our house for a BBQ! It was great to have everyone together. Quin did AMAZING impressions of everybody that entertained us for at least an hour. Everyone knows how I'm an overly enthusiastic person right? Well now people here do too, it was inevitable I guess, somethings I just cant control! Quin loves to make fun of me for the time I found out that Kayla liked Thai chicken salad like me, and also when I found out Jacob and I were Buff buddies!! I don't go a day without her imitating my infamous excitement freak outs, all in good fun, I cant help but laugh every time, she does me so well!
Now for some serious stuff. I have now received 2 documentations. Like Kayla says, the honeymoon phase of this program is now over. A documentation is a record of behaviour that is not acceptable for the program, and they are kept by our project supervisors. Basically, they're there so that if Jess or BB doesn't see a change in my behaviour, they turn instantly into a warning. 3 warnings and you're out of the program. This program is not just fun, and this program is not easy at all. No one can understand how difficult it is to communicate cross culturally. That was what one documentation was for. While were doing the Canadian phase of the exchange, it is our responsibilities as the Canadians to tell the Ghanaians everything about what is OK in Canada, and what is not, and I mean everything! I have been doing my best, but the problem is, my best isn't good enough. In this program you have to go above and so far beyond. Every day is frustrating, trying to communicate and make everyone happy and comfortable. The thing is, I know its hard for the Ghanaians too. Our culture is so different from theirs. How are they supposed to know what is considered rude to us when their customs are so different? I don't want to give any specific examples, because the goal of this isn't to point the blame. The point is to live, and learn from every experience. And I am learning, everyday and every night. If you think your having a harder time in university my friends, you would be wrong! This program is so much more difficult then I ever could have imagined. Don't get me wrong though, its an incredible experience and I dont regret any minute of it, like I've said before, whats an experience without a few challenges?
Even though there have been some rough times ( and I expect to have more until the day I go home), there is no lack of fun, lets get back to those experiences, you'd rather hear about those wouldn't you? So last weekend was really wonderful! We set up a CWY booth at the Moncton Farmers Market. It was incredible there, my shift at the booth wasn't until 12, but Charles Kayla and I decided to go a little earlier to look around. There we met up with Teressa, Miles, Zoe, Christine, and I cant remember who else, and we spent the morning walking around the market. It was so full of cool stuff, and everywhere I looked I saw things my Mum would love!!! I tell everyone about my mom and her crazy craftiness. Its truly amazing everything she does, whether it be slippers, rugs, quilts, walking sticks or hats, they turn out so beautiful every time! After my shift, before we went home Teressa pulled us over to listen to the last few songs of a particularly sexy busker named Nathan. I hope its OK I say sexy, Dad you can can skip over this part! He was a beautiful guitar player and incredible singer and he played 3 of my favorite songs, including Slide by the GooGoo Dolls. Unfortunately, as found out by Teressa, he was engaged.. darn! (haha just kidding Charles).
I was so excited when Monday finally came! Quite a few of us got the opportunity to participate in a walk in honor of International Day to End Poverty. We gathered at riverfront park downtown Moncton along with about 80 other people to begin with. After a presentation on the facts of poverty and poverty prevention, we walk the streets of downtown with our picket signs and gathered outside of a church. there we chanted and waved our signs. It felt so great :) A skeptic might say that we did nothing to really improve the situation, but i think differently. Raising awareness is an effort, it gives hope, I think that's definitely worth something!
Tuesday comes next !! After work every one went to help out at a haunted house, and MAN was it scary! I cannot handle scary stuff, even when the lights were on they had to pull me through. It was so fun to experience it and help out there with our Ghanaian friends! They don't celebrate Halloween in Ghana so everything was new to them. I don't really think they grasp fully the concept of just how much free candy you get yet though, I cant wait to take Mary and Priscilla out with us next Monday! Every one loved participating in the Haunted house. I was a zombie, and a very scary one at that after Kayla had finished my makeup! Eddie loaded on multiple costume pieces, only to remove them and follow the kids through saying "Giddy Giddy Giddy Giddy". It was so fun !
I had a really great week at work (its been a great week altogether). The children I work with are absolutely adorable. One little boy, Quintin asked for my hand in marriage on Wednesday, it was the cutest thing! He got so sad when I told him I was much too old! He said "Does that mean your already married with children?", hes only 6. I have a huge stack of drawings and colored pages in my room now, all the kids love to draw things for me and I cant bring myself to throw any of them away! They really make me miss my little Ian. Talking to him on the phone yesterday brought a few tears when he said "Jillian, sometimes I wish you hadn't left yet, because the lady down the street invited us to see her alpacas and you would have really loved it". Hes calling me tonight to tell me all about it! I really miss everybody right now. Maybe its with all of these challenges I'm meeting. Whats comforting though, is that even though I don't have my friends and family from home physically by my side, I have all of my new friends, and they have become a second family. I love every last one of them, I'm so lucky to be part of a group as special as mine.
This is everything, everything up to date! Tomorrow Charles and Mary have their E.A.D which means they are in charge of facilitating the whole day based on their chosen (technically stolen) topic : SEX and religion, emphasis on the sex part I think is how the day might go? Who knows, Charles and Mary would make the best partners in crime, you never know what to expect when they're together!
I'm thinking of everyone, I miss you all
Pumpkin Juice and Love!
Jillian xo
My story starts 2 weekends ago...
On Sunday our house went to the Bay of Fundy National Park!!! It was a wonderful day, that began with a beautiful drive there! Everything I saw reminded me so much of Muskoka, I think that everyone in the car might have been a little annoyed after the 6th time I said "Oh my gosh, that cliff and those trees is exactly the kind of thing you would see in Ontario!!". You know that song Big Yellow Taxi? It is so right to say you don't know what you've got until its gone. I never realized just how incredible my own province is, I just wish I could bring everybody home with me. There are so many things I would show them. First I would take them out for a cookie skillet!!! Then we would drive to Gravenhurst for the beautiful drive, the Saturday Market, and then a cruise on the Segwin. Then we would all go to Wasaga Beach, and we would go to Toronto to the CN tower! Then we would take my Dads boat from Ottawa to Kingston on the Rideau Canal. We would see the Niagara Falls too! I just have so many plans for everyone, I may not have highlighted the best of Ontario, but those sure are the things that I love and miss... Wait, Was I talking about Fundy? I get distracted so easily!! SO, we got to Fundy and after stopping for some sticky buns we spent over an hour walking around the port and along the rocky beach of the bay. It was a really beautiful day, with beautiful people, and we made beautiful memories :)
 |
| My family :) ( minus Brian ) |
 |
| Fundy port |
 |
| Says it all :) |
So I'm still using Kayla's blog to remember everything we did, since I haven't been writing in my journal (don't tell my sister). I forgot the day before we went to Fundy everyone came over to our house for a BBQ! It was great to have everyone together. Quin did AMAZING impressions of everybody that entertained us for at least an hour. Everyone knows how I'm an overly enthusiastic person right? Well now people here do too, it was inevitable I guess, somethings I just cant control! Quin loves to make fun of me for the time I found out that Kayla liked Thai chicken salad like me, and also when I found out Jacob and I were Buff buddies!! I don't go a day without her imitating my infamous excitement freak outs, all in good fun, I cant help but laugh every time, she does me so well!
Now for some serious stuff. I have now received 2 documentations. Like Kayla says, the honeymoon phase of this program is now over. A documentation is a record of behaviour that is not acceptable for the program, and they are kept by our project supervisors. Basically, they're there so that if Jess or BB doesn't see a change in my behaviour, they turn instantly into a warning. 3 warnings and you're out of the program. This program is not just fun, and this program is not easy at all. No one can understand how difficult it is to communicate cross culturally. That was what one documentation was for. While were doing the Canadian phase of the exchange, it is our responsibilities as the Canadians to tell the Ghanaians everything about what is OK in Canada, and what is not, and I mean everything! I have been doing my best, but the problem is, my best isn't good enough. In this program you have to go above and so far beyond. Every day is frustrating, trying to communicate and make everyone happy and comfortable. The thing is, I know its hard for the Ghanaians too. Our culture is so different from theirs. How are they supposed to know what is considered rude to us when their customs are so different? I don't want to give any specific examples, because the goal of this isn't to point the blame. The point is to live, and learn from every experience. And I am learning, everyday and every night. If you think your having a harder time in university my friends, you would be wrong! This program is so much more difficult then I ever could have imagined. Don't get me wrong though, its an incredible experience and I dont regret any minute of it, like I've said before, whats an experience without a few challenges?
Even though there have been some rough times ( and I expect to have more until the day I go home), there is no lack of fun, lets get back to those experiences, you'd rather hear about those wouldn't you? So last weekend was really wonderful! We set up a CWY booth at the Moncton Farmers Market. It was incredible there, my shift at the booth wasn't until 12, but Charles Kayla and I decided to go a little earlier to look around. There we met up with Teressa, Miles, Zoe, Christine, and I cant remember who else, and we spent the morning walking around the market. It was so full of cool stuff, and everywhere I looked I saw things my Mum would love!!! I tell everyone about my mom and her crazy craftiness. Its truly amazing everything she does, whether it be slippers, rugs, quilts, walking sticks or hats, they turn out so beautiful every time! After my shift, before we went home Teressa pulled us over to listen to the last few songs of a particularly sexy busker named Nathan. I hope its OK I say sexy, Dad you can can skip over this part! He was a beautiful guitar player and incredible singer and he played 3 of my favorite songs, including Slide by the GooGoo Dolls. Unfortunately, as found out by Teressa, he was engaged.. darn! (haha just kidding Charles).
I was so excited when Monday finally came! Quite a few of us got the opportunity to participate in a walk in honor of International Day to End Poverty. We gathered at riverfront park downtown Moncton along with about 80 other people to begin with. After a presentation on the facts of poverty and poverty prevention, we walk the streets of downtown with our picket signs and gathered outside of a church. there we chanted and waved our signs. It felt so great :) A skeptic might say that we did nothing to really improve the situation, but i think differently. Raising awareness is an effort, it gives hope, I think that's definitely worth something!
 |
| The group of us |
 |
| Jacob in his element |
Tuesday comes next !! After work every one went to help out at a haunted house, and MAN was it scary! I cannot handle scary stuff, even when the lights were on they had to pull me through. It was so fun to experience it and help out there with our Ghanaian friends! They don't celebrate Halloween in Ghana so everything was new to them. I don't really think they grasp fully the concept of just how much free candy you get yet though, I cant wait to take Mary and Priscilla out with us next Monday! Every one loved participating in the Haunted house. I was a zombie, and a very scary one at that after Kayla had finished my makeup! Eddie loaded on multiple costume pieces, only to remove them and follow the kids through saying "Giddy Giddy Giddy Giddy". It was so fun !
 |
| Eddie and I, GIDDY GIDDY |
This is everything, everything up to date! Tomorrow Charles and Mary have their E.A.D which means they are in charge of facilitating the whole day based on their chosen (technically stolen) topic : SEX and religion, emphasis on the sex part I think is how the day might go? Who knows, Charles and Mary would make the best partners in crime, you never know what to expect when they're together!
I'm thinking of everyone, I miss you all
Pumpkin Juice and Love!
Jillian xo
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Times never forgotten
Crazy blog time!! This is going to be my FINAL blog post that is catching up on things, after this one I will be able to post about things as they happen. Charles made fun of me the other day, after reading a post about the first week in September a month after it happened... I think this is getting a bit extreme. I hope I don't forget anything important, the order of events might not be too accurate either... here it goes anyway :)
Every weekend something fun and memorable has happened. A few weekends ago alot of crazy things happened. We went to see a Sloan concert downtown and it was one of the most fun nights even to this day in the program ! People might make fun of me for writing about stuff that happened so long ago, but I really enjoy it ! It gives me a chance to remember and live it all again vicariously through my own thoughts ! That night, Kayla and I decided to dress up nice, seeing as we don't get many opportunities on a program like this!! It was so great, the energy all around was crazy and fun! Kayla and I took a break from the excitement to run as fast as we could through the crowd, sounds crazy but it was so exhilarating! After we met up with the rest of the group that had decided to go to the concert as well, we started our own dance party in the street!! It was so amazing, we got crazy looks, I think I must have looked like a loon! It was just so much fun though, Kayla and I had the BEST dresses on to twirl around in. That night, I didn't have a care in the world, and it was just fun :) The next night Charles and Ben came over and cooked us a Ghanaian meal! They've done that a few times now, I think I'm going to love the food there! A lot of carbs, and cabbage I think? Mary and Ben decided they were going to open a restaurant in Ghana when we get back called MBFC, a.k.a Mary and Ben's Fried Chicken! hahaha so fun :)
One of the many cool aspects of Canada World Youth are our E.A.D's, Educational Activity Days. At the beginning of this phase, we decided the subjects for each day, then Jess and BB ( our project supervisors) decided pairs and assigned each pair to a subject! That pair is then in charge of presenting that subject to the group on their given day! The subjects include transportation (mine), religion, history, environment etc, the aim of these days is to learn as much of the community as possible in order to best improve and understand it. So far we've had an E.A.D on security, education and history. They have all been great and fun, and I'm really learning a lot about Moncton!
Two weekends ago, BB had a party at his house! That was SO much fun :)! Hardly any of the Ghanaians had ever swam before so we got them all in the pool ( even though it was freezing and raining). After piling 3 pool noodles under Mary and Lokita, and helping them get over the initial fear of taking your feet off the bottom, we had them swimming like fish!!! I guess we who swim forget how amazing weightlessness feels because, well you jump in, and you just float! Its natural and effortless and for me anyway, I cant remember a time I didn't know how to swim, we take advantage of little things like that everyday.
The next day (Sunday), Moncton was hosting a CIBC Run for the Cure! Our whole team was asked to attend and volunteer as cheerleaders for the runners, but Kayla and I had a different idea. We decided to participate in the run itself . It was so much fun, a real challenge for me though! I know I couldn't have completed it if it wasn't for Kayla pushing me through and the rest of the team cheering me on along the way. It was something about Eddie thrusting along with screaming GO GO GO that i KNOW got me through the last km.
I'M SO TIRED OF BLOGGING . Ok, what did I say at the beginning of this one? That I would write everything up to date? Who was I kidding.. I'd say I'm almost there! Should only take one more, but for now I need to get back to the movie. I'm watching prom night with Priscilla and Mary! I'm using Mary to hide behind, so scared right now!!
Ill post again ASAP
Hope everything is well with you all <3
Pumpkin Juice and Love !!
Jillian xo
Every weekend something fun and memorable has happened. A few weekends ago alot of crazy things happened. We went to see a Sloan concert downtown and it was one of the most fun nights even to this day in the program ! People might make fun of me for writing about stuff that happened so long ago, but I really enjoy it ! It gives me a chance to remember and live it all again vicariously through my own thoughts ! That night, Kayla and I decided to dress up nice, seeing as we don't get many opportunities on a program like this!! It was so great, the energy all around was crazy and fun! Kayla and I took a break from the excitement to run as fast as we could through the crowd, sounds crazy but it was so exhilarating! After we met up with the rest of the group that had decided to go to the concert as well, we started our own dance party in the street!! It was so amazing, we got crazy looks, I think I must have looked like a loon! It was just so much fun though, Kayla and I had the BEST dresses on to twirl around in. That night, I didn't have a care in the world, and it was just fun :) The next night Charles and Ben came over and cooked us a Ghanaian meal! They've done that a few times now, I think I'm going to love the food there! A lot of carbs, and cabbage I think? Mary and Ben decided they were going to open a restaurant in Ghana when we get back called MBFC, a.k.a Mary and Ben's Fried Chicken! hahaha so fun :)
 |
| Our Ghanaian meal, Jellof rice and chicken :) |
 |
| Dancing in the street !!! |
 |
| Kayla and I with our twirly skirts |
Two weekends ago, BB had a party at his house! That was SO much fun :)! Hardly any of the Ghanaians had ever swam before so we got them all in the pool ( even though it was freezing and raining). After piling 3 pool noodles under Mary and Lokita, and helping them get over the initial fear of taking your feet off the bottom, we had them swimming like fish!!! I guess we who swim forget how amazing weightlessness feels because, well you jump in, and you just float! Its natural and effortless and for me anyway, I cant remember a time I didn't know how to swim, we take advantage of little things like that everyday.
The next day (Sunday), Moncton was hosting a CIBC Run for the Cure! Our whole team was asked to attend and volunteer as cheerleaders for the runners, but Kayla and I had a different idea. We decided to participate in the run itself . It was so much fun, a real challenge for me though! I know I couldn't have completed it if it wasn't for Kayla pushing me through and the rest of the team cheering me on along the way. It was something about Eddie thrusting along with screaming GO GO GO that i KNOW got me through the last km.
I'M SO TIRED OF BLOGGING . Ok, what did I say at the beginning of this one? That I would write everything up to date? Who was I kidding.. I'd say I'm almost there! Should only take one more, but for now I need to get back to the movie. I'm watching prom night with Priscilla and Mary! I'm using Mary to hide behind, so scared right now!!
Ill post again ASAP
Hope everything is well with you all <3
Pumpkin Juice and Love !!
Jillian xo
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Hope :)'
Just thought Id share,
I have been having a really hard time the past few days, not because of anyone else, just personal struggles, so I decided to open Alexia's package. She sent me a box at the beginning of September with a few presents, including a little box that said to save for a day that I needed a little pick me up. I chose today to open it. Written on the outside of the box all neatly she wrote that what was inside it was a metaphor for hope. Inside was my sister bracelet my mom had given me, matching to the ones she gave my older sister's! The one I had thought Id lost forever. Apparently it fell out of her suitcase? However it happened, the point is that I had lost all hope of ever finding it again. Even though it broke my heart to lose something so symbolic and important to me, I accepted that it was gone and i moved on. THEN when I least expected it, my treasured and favorite bracelet came back to me!!! Just goes to show, hope should never be lost.
Anywho, that's all for this post!
Pumpkin Juice and Love
Jillian xo
I have been having a really hard time the past few days, not because of anyone else, just personal struggles, so I decided to open Alexia's package. She sent me a box at the beginning of September with a few presents, including a little box that said to save for a day that I needed a little pick me up. I chose today to open it. Written on the outside of the box all neatly she wrote that what was inside it was a metaphor for hope. Inside was my sister bracelet my mom had given me, matching to the ones she gave my older sister's! The one I had thought Id lost forever. Apparently it fell out of her suitcase? However it happened, the point is that I had lost all hope of ever finding it again. Even though it broke my heart to lose something so symbolic and important to me, I accepted that it was gone and i moved on. THEN when I least expected it, my treasured and favorite bracelet came back to me!!! Just goes to show, hope should never be lost.
Anywho, that's all for this post!
Pumpkin Juice and Love
Jillian xo
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Our secret mission, Raising awareness
Almost up to date, I would say maybe 3 or 4 more posts to go?
Before I begin I would first like to mention Kayla's blog. The link is http://worldcanadakayla.blogspot.com/
Shes much better at keeping the updates going, If you enjoy my blog at all you'll absolutely love hers!! Kayla and I are getting along really well, we have a lot in common. Quin really loves making fun of me for this, but I got so excited when I found out she even likes thai chicken salad from Mcdonalds!!! She also has a canine boyfriend back home so she understands how much I miss mine. The little things are what you miss the most Ive found. Like how Quincy would follow me everywhere and always get so excited when I walked in the door. Or how Maggie could call him and call him to come with no response.... and then I simply say his name and he bounds to me with joy!! (sorry Maggie). Or the best thing, when I was ready to go to sleep, all I had to say was "come on Quincy, lets go" and he'd leap off his bed and follow me down the hall. We would then tuck in for the night, and under the cover of darkness I would let him snuggle on my pillow and Id snuggle on him. Oh how I miss my boy!!! If you could express post a dog life would be swell!
A couple of weeks ago, Jess (one of our project supervisors) emailed Kayla and I to ask us if we would prepare a small presentation for the rest of the group about refugee camps, after which we would go to downtown Moncton where a mock camp was set up by Doctors without borders (holy thats a crazy run on sentence!). We took the project by the horns!! For one we prepared a slideshow of simply photos to bring the seriousness of the presentation together. We also prepared multiple activities such as "if you were woken up in the middle of the night with 5 minutes to leave before rebels burned your home, what would you bring? How would you feel? Horrified? Confused?". We even prepared a typical meal refugees would receive in a single day. Staying up until 1 in the morning, Kayla and I gave it our all, and in the end I feel we truly made an impact on our fellow CWY/SYTO participants!!
Kayla dressed up as Togar (a refugee), and I dressed up in a skirt (for once, I think Eddie was proud of me!) and together we made an impact :) Even if it wasn't a very big one, it still counts!! We could tell throughout the presentation that people were really understanding and thinking about what we were telling them. At the end of the whole thing, it was awesome, the first question was asked by Eddie and he asked, "So, what can we do to help?". It was hard to answer considering we are only volunteers... we have no money to donate to Non Governmental Organisations! Answers I could think of was to raise awareness, run a campaigne? Tell your family, friends, spread the word. Like I said, personally I had absolutely no clue what was going on in refugee camps, how many existed, what the living conditions were etc, they probably dont either! Here is a little bit of the information we presented:
Water:
Standard amount of water given to refugees in a single day is 2 liters. You know what a two liter bottle of pop looks like? Now imagine it filled with water so dirty that you have to let it sit for half of the day to let the dirt settle to the bottom. The average Canadian uses 384 Liters of water a day. 384 LITERS. To wash, to drink, to clean etc. Refugees are given 2. That's 2 liters only, to clean, to bathe, to drink...
Living:
Its impossible to summarize what the living conditions would be like. Often 6 people are given a 5x5 meter living space. The sights, smells, feelings are all inexplicable. Normal sights are child soldiers, carrying guns larger than themselves, human wasted and garbage often flood the roads so you can only imagine the smell that hangs. Sickness clings to any living thing and takes countless lives. The worst conditions imaginable are what refugees live and breathe in, day in, day out.
The flee:
It often happens that a family will have as little as 5 minutes to flee their home before rebel or government forces attack. They then will travel for days or even months to get to the nearest refugee camp. Refugee camps often only open their doors a few times every few months so it happens that people fleeing have to camp outside with no food or water and no knowledge as to when or if they'll be granted entrance.
The largest refugee camp in the world, Dabaab is located in Kenya and is home to over 300 thousand people! Protected by the U.N, refugees are given a number. If their number is called they have as little as five minutes to pack what little things they have, they are then transported from the camp, to a handful of countries, the main one being Canada. They are given a chance to live free from danger, war and poverty. But like I said they are given little to no warning, often spouses, siblings and children are left behind because they are fetching the days water from the other side of the camp. Can you imagine, finally being given a way out; a way to survive; and then forced to leave your son, sister, or father behind? You would come back to the camp, and your family would be gone. You would have no idea what happened to them, where they went, if they would come back? I cant even imagine what it would be like, its impossible to ever imagine such horrors.
Kayla and I were given a task, to research refugee camps and to prepare a presentation. Maybe we didn't get through to anyone, but I like to hope we did. We've made our efforts to make a difference and you can guarantee it wont be our last! This post is another one of my efforts, ISU presentation topic anyone?
Im learning new things here every day!!
I hope you've enjoyed this post :) I've got so many more to come so keep checking in!!
I love and miss you all
Pumpkin Juice and Love!!!
Jillian xo
Before I begin I would first like to mention Kayla's blog. The link is http://worldcanadakayla.blogspot.com/
Shes much better at keeping the updates going, If you enjoy my blog at all you'll absolutely love hers!! Kayla and I are getting along really well, we have a lot in common. Quin really loves making fun of me for this, but I got so excited when I found out she even likes thai chicken salad from Mcdonalds!!! She also has a canine boyfriend back home so she understands how much I miss mine. The little things are what you miss the most Ive found. Like how Quincy would follow me everywhere and always get so excited when I walked in the door. Or how Maggie could call him and call him to come with no response.... and then I simply say his name and he bounds to me with joy!! (sorry Maggie). Or the best thing, when I was ready to go to sleep, all I had to say was "come on Quincy, lets go" and he'd leap off his bed and follow me down the hall. We would then tuck in for the night, and under the cover of darkness I would let him snuggle on my pillow and Id snuggle on him. Oh how I miss my boy!!! If you could express post a dog life would be swell!
Now you might be wondering how this post is relating to its title at all at this point. Its not.... I would actually like to take this opportunity to tell you about the experience I, aswell as the whole group had regarding refugee camps around the world. I had absolutely no idea what they were about and that made me think, I bet a large portion of this worlds population doesn't either.
A couple of weeks ago, Jess (one of our project supervisors) emailed Kayla and I to ask us if we would prepare a small presentation for the rest of the group about refugee camps, after which we would go to downtown Moncton where a mock camp was set up by Doctors without borders (holy thats a crazy run on sentence!). We took the project by the horns!! For one we prepared a slideshow of simply photos to bring the seriousness of the presentation together. We also prepared multiple activities such as "if you were woken up in the middle of the night with 5 minutes to leave before rebels burned your home, what would you bring? How would you feel? Horrified? Confused?". We even prepared a typical meal refugees would receive in a single day. Staying up until 1 in the morning, Kayla and I gave it our all, and in the end I feel we truly made an impact on our fellow CWY/SYTO participants!!
Kayla dressed up as Togar (a refugee), and I dressed up in a skirt (for once, I think Eddie was proud of me!) and together we made an impact :) Even if it wasn't a very big one, it still counts!! We could tell throughout the presentation that people were really understanding and thinking about what we were telling them. At the end of the whole thing, it was awesome, the first question was asked by Eddie and he asked, "So, what can we do to help?". It was hard to answer considering we are only volunteers... we have no money to donate to Non Governmental Organisations! Answers I could think of was to raise awareness, run a campaigne? Tell your family, friends, spread the word. Like I said, personally I had absolutely no clue what was going on in refugee camps, how many existed, what the living conditions were etc, they probably dont either! Here is a little bit of the information we presented:
Water:
Standard amount of water given to refugees in a single day is 2 liters. You know what a two liter bottle of pop looks like? Now imagine it filled with water so dirty that you have to let it sit for half of the day to let the dirt settle to the bottom. The average Canadian uses 384 Liters of water a day. 384 LITERS. To wash, to drink, to clean etc. Refugees are given 2. That's 2 liters only, to clean, to bathe, to drink...
Living:
Its impossible to summarize what the living conditions would be like. Often 6 people are given a 5x5 meter living space. The sights, smells, feelings are all inexplicable. Normal sights are child soldiers, carrying guns larger than themselves, human wasted and garbage often flood the roads so you can only imagine the smell that hangs. Sickness clings to any living thing and takes countless lives. The worst conditions imaginable are what refugees live and breathe in, day in, day out.
The flee:
It often happens that a family will have as little as 5 minutes to flee their home before rebel or government forces attack. They then will travel for days or even months to get to the nearest refugee camp. Refugee camps often only open their doors a few times every few months so it happens that people fleeing have to camp outside with no food or water and no knowledge as to when or if they'll be granted entrance.
The largest refugee camp in the world, Dabaab is located in Kenya and is home to over 300 thousand people! Protected by the U.N, refugees are given a number. If their number is called they have as little as five minutes to pack what little things they have, they are then transported from the camp, to a handful of countries, the main one being Canada. They are given a chance to live free from danger, war and poverty. But like I said they are given little to no warning, often spouses, siblings and children are left behind because they are fetching the days water from the other side of the camp. Can you imagine, finally being given a way out; a way to survive; and then forced to leave your son, sister, or father behind? You would come back to the camp, and your family would be gone. You would have no idea what happened to them, where they went, if they would come back? I cant even imagine what it would be like, its impossible to ever imagine such horrors.
Kayla and I were given a task, to research refugee camps and to prepare a presentation. Maybe we didn't get through to anyone, but I like to hope we did. We've made our efforts to make a difference and you can guarantee it wont be our last! This post is another one of my efforts, ISU presentation topic anyone?
Im learning new things here every day!!
I hope you've enjoyed this post :) I've got so many more to come so keep checking in!!
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| 11 oclock snack break. night before our presentation!! |
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| Typical living space for a refugee family, as shown at the mock camp downtown Moncton!! |
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| Kayla as 'Togar' :) |
I love and miss you all
Pumpkin Juice and Love!!!
Jillian xo
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Living as a Monctonian !
I have quite a few more posts to go before I catch everything up! Its getting easier to find time to do these kind of things though. Now that we've settled into our host families and community, there is a lot less stress, still many challenges.. but all in moderation! As a group we haven't met a single challenge we haven't been able to overcome to be completely honest :)
So my last post was about the fun days I think? I'm too lazy to go check, but if that is correct then I think the next thing on my list to blog about it my work placement! So here ya go :
Part of the CWY program is that for 3 days a week, both in Canada and the host country overseas, each participant is responsible for volunteering in the community. We are all paired up ( more or less), 1 Canadian to 1 or 2 Ghanaians, and then placed at different work placements throughout Moncton. I was paired with Edem, and instead of just one work placement we got placed in two different places! Tuesday and Wednesday we go to the St. Patricks family center, 9am to 5pm. Its really great!! There are 3 different age groups that I get to work with and they're all pretty good kids, like anywhere, there are some troublemakers!!! But for the most part, they all just want someone who will colour with them and play cards!! I really like it there.
On Thursday, we ( Edem and I) go to Habitat Restore. Its a warehouse where people donate and sell items, anywhere from siding for a house, to couches, light fixtures and thermostats. It involves alot of moving things,measuring things, pricing things. Im making it sound boring, I actually really enjoy it ! Theres always plenty to do and I'm no wimp to phyisical labor! Even if I do have to prove my abilities. I'm the only girl working there so everyone tends to want to give me the easy jobs... Last time I tried to move a skid Edem almost pushed me over trying to help me with it. It was a skid... Everyday I go there I have some fun though, the guy in charge, Ron, is a really interesting person. We had a great conversation about how a single person can make a difference, as long as they don't expect to see an instant change.
All in all, I quite enjoy both work placements. Maybe they wernt my first choices, but im understanding more and more what they mean when they say you get out of this program what your willing to put in! Its so easy to go to work, do your job and then go home. To make it worth it, you have to take innitiative and make it worth it for yourself.
Something I forgot to mention:
This happened the very first week we were in Moncton. So there is this homeless man, of Riverview, where I live. He sits on the lawn by the bridge during the day and then he would move to the bench at dark to sleep. Driving by, Barb (my incredible host mom) explained his system and how she occasionally brought him dinner, after that it was dropped as we carried onto other subjects. A few days later, after dinner we saw her making an extra plate, she then turned to us and said "I'm bringing this to our homeless man, would you like to come?". So we all got in the truck and drove to bring it to him. She said something to us that really ended up sticking in my mind, she said what takes 5 minutes out of our lives to do, makes the difference of someone going to bed hungry, or going to bed full. It just made so much sense. It was such an easy solution, after all we had leftovers that we didn't need, we would have eaten of course, but that we didn't need. He is the one that needed them! 5 minutes can make a difference, in a persons life, and in the world. Its so upsetting to hear people say things like "I'm only one person, what difference can I really make?". A difference doesn't need to be big, it doesn't need to be recognized either, or noticed at all. A difference, no matter how little, is an effort and that's all that matters. Simple. As. That.
Shall I leave you with that?
Untill next time (tomorrow night if I am up to it ;) )
Pumpkin Juice and Love to all
Jillian xo
So my last post was about the fun days I think? I'm too lazy to go check, but if that is correct then I think the next thing on my list to blog about it my work placement! So here ya go :
Part of the CWY program is that for 3 days a week, both in Canada and the host country overseas, each participant is responsible for volunteering in the community. We are all paired up ( more or less), 1 Canadian to 1 or 2 Ghanaians, and then placed at different work placements throughout Moncton. I was paired with Edem, and instead of just one work placement we got placed in two different places! Tuesday and Wednesday we go to the St. Patricks family center, 9am to 5pm. Its really great!! There are 3 different age groups that I get to work with and they're all pretty good kids, like anywhere, there are some troublemakers!!! But for the most part, they all just want someone who will colour with them and play cards!! I really like it there.
On Thursday, we ( Edem and I) go to Habitat Restore. Its a warehouse where people donate and sell items, anywhere from siding for a house, to couches, light fixtures and thermostats. It involves alot of moving things,measuring things, pricing things. Im making it sound boring, I actually really enjoy it ! Theres always plenty to do and I'm no wimp to phyisical labor! Even if I do have to prove my abilities. I'm the only girl working there so everyone tends to want to give me the easy jobs... Last time I tried to move a skid Edem almost pushed me over trying to help me with it. It was a skid... Everyday I go there I have some fun though, the guy in charge, Ron, is a really interesting person. We had a great conversation about how a single person can make a difference, as long as they don't expect to see an instant change.
All in all, I quite enjoy both work placements. Maybe they wernt my first choices, but im understanding more and more what they mean when they say you get out of this program what your willing to put in! Its so easy to go to work, do your job and then go home. To make it worth it, you have to take innitiative and make it worth it for yourself.
Something I forgot to mention:
This happened the very first week we were in Moncton. So there is this homeless man, of Riverview, where I live. He sits on the lawn by the bridge during the day and then he would move to the bench at dark to sleep. Driving by, Barb (my incredible host mom) explained his system and how she occasionally brought him dinner, after that it was dropped as we carried onto other subjects. A few days later, after dinner we saw her making an extra plate, she then turned to us and said "I'm bringing this to our homeless man, would you like to come?". So we all got in the truck and drove to bring it to him. She said something to us that really ended up sticking in my mind, she said what takes 5 minutes out of our lives to do, makes the difference of someone going to bed hungry, or going to bed full. It just made so much sense. It was such an easy solution, after all we had leftovers that we didn't need, we would have eaten of course, but that we didn't need. He is the one that needed them! 5 minutes can make a difference, in a persons life, and in the world. Its so upsetting to hear people say things like "I'm only one person, what difference can I really make?". A difference doesn't need to be big, it doesn't need to be recognized either, or noticed at all. A difference, no matter how little, is an effort and that's all that matters. Simple. As. That.
Shall I leave you with that?
Untill next time (tomorrow night if I am up to it ;) )
Pumpkin Juice and Love to all
Jillian xo
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