An Experience Like No Other...

In a few of my prior posts I have talked about how good it is to think ahead and to prepare yourself for all possible situations, especially the good, the bad, and the ugly situations. Well this week as I was putting together my India presentation for the class, I did not, in any way shape or form, anticipate that my USB device would stop working and prevent me from opening up my power point presentation to present to the class. When I saw the big “ERROR” message pop up I was thinking, “This could not be happening; not to me, and not right now.” I only saved my work on my USB stick because A)I grew accustomed to saving all my work on it; I have a very old laptop, and I don’t own a printer, so most of the time I have to transfer my work onto the USB key anyways, and B)I didn't think USB could stop working, whereas a computer (especially one as ancient as mine) could crash at anytime; so I always also thought that it was the safer option. But regardless, I did not save my presentation on the computer, I did not email a back-up attachment file to myself – I did not prepare for the good, bad and ugly. I thought my USB was infallible, when really, it was imperect just like everything else in the world.

So after the first presenter wraps up their wonderful presentation, and Joanne calls my name, the only thing I could say to her was, “My USB doesn’t work and I can’t open my presentation!” Honestly, at that point I was secretly praying to myself that these words would come out of her mouth: “Oh really? Well that’s okay Raquel. Technology can be a pain sometimes, so you don’t have to present ... I’m sure your presentation would have been marvellous. Here, I’ll just give you an A!” Haha. Yeah, right! Only in my perfect fairy-tale dreams. Instead she said something like this: “Okay figure something out NOW... Who’s next?” So as a couple more people presented I was scrounging around looking for pictures, links, videos and all the information I used while putting my presentation together. The show had to go on, and that it did, although not as smoothly as I would have liked.

Every once and a while an event like this takes place in life. Personally, I was angry that it happened, and mad that I didn’t back up my work on my computer, but I didn’t completely freak out or have a melt-down, which I consider to be a really good thing. Some people may have been reduced to tears, which is normal, but not this tough cookie right here! If I can recall correctly, one question in the BB interview was, "What will you do if something goes completely wrong? How will you handle it?" (Or something to that effect) I remember saying that if a situation occurred and everything was spiralling out of control that I would probably need a moment to collect my thoughts, get my head straight – basically have a “mini meltdown” - then I would regroup and figure out some way to handle the situation. While I didn’t have a mini meltdown this time, as it really wasn’t necessary for this particular situation, I did have to be quick, and I had to implement plan B. Let's face it, things always happen unexpectedly, things go wrong all the time, and technology fails, no matter how well you prepare. I think I’ve said this before, but it’s how you handle the situation, and pick yourself up that is most important.

I guess the morale of this story is: Always expect the unexpected (and don’t trust a USB stick!) I hope in India I will be able to handle the unexpected (after my mini-breakdown that is). But I’m glad this happened because it was sort of the reality check I needed to put all this talk about preparation into perspective, instead of just blogging about it!

On another note, please tune in as I will be posting information about India in a separate post. I would love to share some of the unique information I found during my research about Madurai to my readers, and classmates since they didn’t get to see my presentation either!

Take Care,

Namaste.

So this week I had to take some serious action towards my lack of volunteering. Luckily for me, the people at St. John’s Kitchen accept new volunteers with open arms. My partner in crime, Olivia, and I, woke up at the crack of dawn this past Tuesday and Thursday and accumulated half of our hours. But the amount of hours is beside the point; I know that after I've completed the necessary amount for the program, I'll still volunteer until it's time for me to leave to India.
So I guess now it’s fitting to share my experience…

First of all, it was A LOT of work! There's a lot of time and energy that goes into running the kitchen, and let's just say, the work that I had to do would make my mother really proud! I mean, I do chores at home, but even one of the older volunteers I met said that our mothers would be proud of us mopping the floors, bussing the tables, cleaning the showers/bathrooms and stairs and preparing and serving the food! It was sort of like, "Okay Raquel, welcome to the real world!" It was great though! The many chores made the day go by really quickly. It was when I reached home that I felt the aches and lethargy of the day’s activities, and had a nice nap!

But on to the more exciting stuff...

The woman in charge, Gretchen, is one character! She is great with the volunteers and the people and the regulars that come in to eat, and she cracks me up, which always makes the job fun! The great thing I realized as St. John's is that everyone there is like one big family. The sense of community I saw was tremendous, and everyone pitches in to get the jobs done. The people that eat there know the place inside out, so they were there to give some guidance and direction, and they also helped to serve the food and clean up. What made the days really great for me was the gratification we received from the staff and the people who eat at the kitchen; that at the end of each day, there was always someone to say, "Thanks girls, you did a great job today!" That simple thank-you went a long way; and I mean a long way. I’m not going to deny it, I was tired after everything! But to hear that, made it all worth it, because I’m sure they’re all aware of the hard work it takes daily, to make sure everything runs smoothly! I certainly left St. Johns with a smile on my face!

Now this change in plans obviously means that I have not yet volunteered at kidsLINK, which I’m really upset about, because I was really looking forward to working with the children at the different centers. Unfortunately, my police report has taken FOREVER to complete, and I cannot volunteer without it, so I could not wait any longer and had to shift gears. Hopefully I can work something out with the coordinator, and she will accept me at a later date if I return to Waterloo.

That’s it for this week,

Take Care Readers

I just wanted to post this uplifting song because I really like it :) Enjoy!

This past week in school, I had one of those moments where I could actually feel the $20 000+ investment towards my higher education actually teaching me something! I’m just kidding, I feel that way about school all the time :)

Well instead of saying that, I guess I could say that what I learned this past week in school really hit home with Beyond Borders, and our mission and goals for this program. I’m really beginning to take what I’m learning and either apply it, or analyze its deeper meaning, to see how it’s affecting the global community.
So let me waste no more time highlighting with you, the wondrous teachings that I learned:

In my Foreign Policy class, we discussed the more recent notion of Ethics in foreign policy. Not only did I learn that I am completely Liberal when it comes to politics and foreign policy views, I learned about a man by the name of Peter Singer. Upon further investigation, I found out that Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher who specializes and writes about applied ethics, animal rights and liberation, abortion and infanticide, world poverty and famine, and even vegetarianism. The professor presented the class with a scenario by Singer, and so, without further ado, I will present it to you, the readers.

The Scenario:
Suppose you were on your way to an important interview for the job of your dreams; dressed decadently in your brand new suit, your confidence is soaring at an all-time high because you know all there is to know about the company and the position; there’s just no way you cannot get this job! But suppose on your way to the interview you have to walk by a pond. As you’re walking along you see a child, whom you’ve never met, drowning in the pond. In order to help the child you have to get your brand new suit wet and dirty and you will miss your interview. If you can, without endangering yourself, save the child, do you have an obligation to do so? Does your obligation change if the other passersby, who are as equally capable of rescuing the child, are standing around twiddling their thumbs, or simply watching the child drown? Most would agree that none of the above matters, and that rescuing that child should be the only priority irrespective of the dream job or the people taking no action. But then, Singer proposes this: “[W]ould it make any difference if the child were far away, in another country perhaps, but similarly in danger of death, and equally within your means to save, at no great cost – and absolutely no danger – to yourself?” Singer’s students, he says, initially say no, that distance and/or nationality do not change the morality of the situation to help those further away. The reality is, however, that we are living in this situation every day; everyday there is a drowning child or adult, who may not be an arm’s length away, who resides in Ukraine, Uganda, Kenya, Peru, Argentina and India, but is still in need of our help, and whom we can help, without putting ourselves in any extra danger or risk. The only problem is, because of access, we tend to help those who are physically closer to us, and give them greater priority than those living further away.

Singer goes on to say that sacrificing that brand new CD, a new pair of jeans, or Beyoncé concert tickets is what it would cost us to save the lives of people drowning overseas. Donating to organizations like Red Cross or Oxfam, “overcome the problem of acting at a distance.”

After reading “The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle” (click the link to read the article in its entirety, which I strongly recommend you do!), all I could say was, “That’s it!” It hit the nail right on the head! People like to place more value on the lives of people who live closer to them, than those who are in another country - which shouldn’t be the case at all – because of convenience. A lot of people only think within the borders of their country. My mother for example doesn’t understand why I can’t just volunteer here in Canada. Well it’s for that reason alone. There are people drowning in India who need help as well. I’m not purporting at all, that I am the one who’s going to rescue them from the "water", but I am recognizing that they are equally entitled to, and deserving of, the same aid I would give anyone else here in Canada.

In a sense, I do understand the “dilemma”. After all, I was brought up in this environment so I see the mentality towards issues like this. I do understand that helping people closer to us is, physically, so much easier. And that people worry about sending their money to organizations because of all the corruption that takes place, and they don’t know where their money is actually going. For me, and I’m going to be 100% honest here so don’t hate me afterwards, I sometimes use the fact that I am a struggling student, with no income whatsoever, as a reason why I cannot donate to any agencies or NGO’s, because every penny counts for me. Yet, at the same time, I can justify buying a new shirt and skirt at H&M, or spending $5 on a triple-venti-nonfat-dolce-mocha-choc-a-latte drink at Starbucks (yes I know, it’s ridiculous which is why I don’t do it often), but sending a donation seems like – dare I say it – a “waste” of money? :( It’s quite horrible, now that I think about it! And unfortunately, that’s how a lot of us think – that our self-interests are more important. That skirt and that latte are going to bring us instant pleasure, whereas sending our money to an organization that sends packages to hungry children, does not seem as satisfying because we can’t see the fruits of our hard earned dollar. Don’t get me wrong, we obviously we must provide for ourselves first, and I don’t expect everyone to donate 25% of their income to charities like Singer, but what I’m concerned about is the over consumption of EVERYTHING in our “Western” world - buying more of what we already have plenty of, and not acknowledging the detrimental effects it has our global community.

Singer touches on this as well in the article, and again, I could not agree more. He also refers to the “Ideology of the free market” - the fact that our goal in life is to achieve the ultimate success so we can consume, and then we work harder, so we can earn more money, so that we can consume even more. It’s a vicious cycle, and not a very fulfilling one, at that. No wonder environmentalists have strong reason to believe that over consumption is depleting the world’s natural resources.

I don’t want this post to come off the wrong way. In no way am I saying to follow every suggestion Singer has written, and I don’t want to sound like I’m ordering everyone to consume less, and stop buying or indulging in nice things, even deliciously over-priced drinks, and to give all your money away to charities and live in holes for the rest your lives. I certainly know that is not ideal; even for me. But a little awareness may go a long way. The next time you go to purchase something, you may ask yourself, “Do I really need this [insert expensive good here], or can I go another month or so with what I already have?” And try and realize that there is an entire world outside of your own country. There are 6.8 billion people in the world and 195 countries and, in 2005, 32% or the entire world’s wealth was in the hands of the United States, alone (Family Care Foundation: Village of 100 People, 2005). It’s time to become more aware, it’s time to make smarter decisions… and it’s time to start thinking more about the people who are not an arm's length away, but who are still drowning.

Hello again bloggers!

How many times have you caught yourself saying: “I wish I were a kid again!” Too many, right? But what is it about those youthful years that we enjoy so much? Well I can name a few: less responsibilities, for one; less stress, everything was so much easier – the hardest decisions I had to make was deciding if I wanted to play with Barbie or Polly Pocket. It was beautiful! Everyday was rainbows, unicorns and smiles :)

Since my childhood days are long gone, I love being around younger children – I love interacting with younger kids, playing with them, conversing with them, and making them laugh. There's something about a little child's laugh that is so infectious, you can't help but laugh yourself. But really, the beauty behind children, in my opinion, is how genuine they are when they are younger. Kids are just themselves; they don't hold back and they say whatever comes to mind, which is usually the “darndest thing” (haha), because they don't think “if I say this, will I look stupid?”, or they don't have to worry about who's judging them because they don't even know what judgment is! I remember in “Becoming Human”, by Jean Vanier, Vanier said that if you've ever watched young children playing on the playground, you'll notice how easy it is for them to approach one another and instantly become the best of friends. It's because they don't acknowledge things like looks, or race, or how “uncool” the other kid is, unlike older people, who use criteria such as these to screen the people they want to talk to, and don't want to talk to. Kids, on the other hand, just see another person to play with and the bond starts from there.

Younger kids are so innocent, and I love that they aren't filled with all the negativity that we learn growing up. When we get older that's when we are taught that having money is the most important goal in life; that physical things like cars, clothes and jewellery bring us happiness; that you have to compete and make it to the top in order to be successful in life; that you should only associate with people who are more like you because they're on "your level". That means not talking to or getting to meet new people because they don't look a certain way, or they don't wear designer clothes, or because they're homeless, or have a mental disability. As we get older, life changes from rainbows, unicorns and smiles into money, competition and depression.

There's no denying that these innocent children will become exposed to these negative aspects of our Western society. Unfortunately, some will believe in this Western philosophy and they're lives will be directed towards consuming the physical and materialistic items that we have given so much praise and value. Or some, we can hope, will learn with the proper guidance and direction, that that isn't what constitutes a fulfilling life; that healthy relationships, happiness and most importantly, love, are what brings true value to your life.

The reason why I'm going off on this little tangent about children, is because I will finally be starting my volunteering this week at a social services agency called kidsLINK. Yes, I was supposed to be volunteering throughout the term, and yes, I now have to complete 20 hours of volunteering in less than 4 weeks (and during one of the most chaotic school months ever), but remember, I was built to work under pressure! Honestly, this time, my procrastination was not 100% to blame. A few of the earlier placements I looked into fell through, for various reasons, so I had to go back to square one. I could have joined my other members at the St. John's soup kitchen, but I was adamant in volunteering with children, now, before I work with the children at the orphanage in India.

To let you know a little bit more about my volunteer placement, kidsLINK, like I said before, it is a social service agency that works with families who have children with mental health challenges, such as autism, or different social, emotional or behavioural challenges, that the children need help developing. I will be working with children from the ages of 2 – 12, and I will be doing various activities with them, while helping them develop their social skills, recognize their emotions, and how to properly deal with those emotions in different situations. To find out more about kidsLINK and its parent company just click on the link!

I am excited about this placement because as much as I love being around children, I have never been around them in this fashion. I've babysat and I hang out with my little cousins and my friends' nieces and nephews, but that's pretty much the extent of it. I want to see how I interact with them, and if I will actually be able to handle 6-10 screaming children, with different needs and personalities, without losing my own sanity! I've also never worked with people with mental disabilities, so this will also be new for me. I am not worried about it though. If there was one thing I learned from reading “Becoming Human”, it was that mental disabilities do not prevent people from being their truly unique selves – that they are still humans who laugh, cry, and jump for joy. And they can make others around them laugh, cry and jump for joy, if they look past their disability, treat them as another human, and let them into their hearts. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this. There's a lot you can learn about yourself in every situation, and working with these kids, here, and in India, will certainly test me, because you never know what could happen, especially with children.