Hello! It's been a while since my last blog...a week really but that's a long time! The reason is that my computer recently crashed and so I was busy dealing with all that drama and trying frantically to recover EVERYTHING that I had lost on my hard drive. But it looks like all is going to work out fine but we'll keep our fingers crossed until I get my laptop back.

I am pleased to say that I received another $100.00 donation from my Aunt which brings me within inches of $1,000.00 raised! (I'm currently at $950.00 which is really good, I think). I have sent out over a dozen letters to various Tim Horton's and Starbucks, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club of Port Credit and other organizations in the neighbourhood. I'm really hoping that people will be feeling generous and donate. As a Beyond Borders group we have decided to try and host a Pancake Breakfast on the morning of March 8th, right after morning mass. Even though I doubt it will be overly profitable to any one individual I am excited about it as it is a good group bonding activity. As we work through the plans and details, I will post more info. as it comes.

My second time at the Working Centre was this past Wednesday. I was again welcomed in with open arms and am pleased to say that I met some new people who volunteer in the kitchen. They were a diverse group of individuals - a student from Waterloo, a lady who barely spoke any English yet did a fabulous job plating lasagna to take over to the cafe, a two other ladies both who were unique in their own ways. I was also given the esteemed responsibility of making Curried Carrot Soup which let me with a feeling of success and satisfaction, along with orange-yellow stained hands and the smell of curry and onion which stayed with me for 2 days (even with a shower!) But I really enjoy my time there and love seeing and experiencing this side of life. It is truly an eye opener. Whereas I come in and stay for 2-3 hours each week, free to come and go as I please, I realize that there are people who depend on this kitchen, and the Working Centre, for basic life necessities, as well as learning skills that I had the privilege to learn growing up (such as cooking). It makes you appreciate what you have a little more and I always leave with a smile on my face :)

On a closing note I wanted to share a pedagogical experience that I had, in which I was the one doing the learning: I was recently talking to someone at the Working Centre about my placement in Nicaragua. They had asked me why I was volunteering and I told them that it was part of the hands on aspect of our preparation for our placement. When asked where I was going, I said: "Nicaragua". The next question sort of caught me off guard. If it had been one of my friends asking me, I would have looked at them strangely and joked with them about it. But this person was quite serious. They said: "Nicaragua - oh is that in Africa?" While its a legitimate question and I am not trying to sound condemning or judgemental, it just surprised me. I had a naive idea that everyone kind of knew where Nicaragua was. I of course answered: "Oh no, it's in Central America, just south-east of Honduras" and we went on with our conversation. It made me kind of realize, just a little more, the differences in so many aspects that exist in this world. I thought about that conversation all the way back to residence. It was by far the most interesting part of my day.

Later days

:)