Speak your truth, quietly and clearly.
I know I know, it's been a week. However, my life has been ridiculous- very busy. I am just jumbled, or like a mixed tape. I have used "Mixed Tape" often to explain myself. It works well for me. I have really enjoyed my job at the YMCA. The adults who come there make my whole day, they are all so special to me. It's inspiring to know the difference I can make in their life, in just being there with them. We go swimming everyday, and one of the ladies is afraid of water, and I have been pulling her around. She just recently started walking on her own with my hands close ahead. She is so cute, I love that she is getting more confident, and those little simple tasks mean the world to these individuals. Other than that, David started there with me this week, so I finally have a walking buddy. I spend like an hour and a half walking- with there and back combined with time, then add in what ever we do in the evening. SO that's interesting. But David and I joke around, and it helps the time go faster.
Lets take a look at my past week; on Monday we had another collective project planning for the YMCA youth night. That always drags on, my group has a problem with having super long meetings. Our PL is not fond of that- and he prefers straight to the point meetings and fast. However our group is very democratic when it comes to voting, and giving everyone the chance to express themselves, so that takes awhile. Although we planned to do some mixer games, and get a survey going for the following youth night. A few of us were skeptical on the idea of the youth night to be our collective project, and our big impact on the community. After talking to the supervisor, many people changed perspectives because it is a really big deal what we are doing. The youth night gives youth the chance to come to a safe place to hang out, free of anything bad going on in their life. And having us there who are not too much older, gives them role models, and youth to look up to themselves. Lot's of the kids just need someone to talk to, and give influence them in a positive way. Lots of the youth who come in don't have the greatest lives, and they sometimes need that support. Also probation officers are recognizing Youth Night as a reason why some of them can be late for their curfews if they are there. To me that says a lot, and us just being there to offer workshops and interact with them means more to them than what we realize. I am excited to get more planning going with this project.
Tuesday night, our Project Coordinator came for a visit. It was so refreshing for the group to talk to her about things going on in the house with our PL, and for her to clear up some questions we had. We learned we are aloud to have an artificial tree, which we got right away. Also other little concerns we had. We played some activities to get us interacting, and to get some positivity in the room. She was inspiring with how she talked, she was very happy. She gave us all these bracelets which are called "A Complaint Free World" and what you do is, put it on which ever wrist you prefer. And if you complain, you have to switch it to the other wrist to make your self aware that you are complaining as a reminder. The goal is to not move it over for 21 days. I am doing pretty well, because it has been a week and I haven't switched it yet! This was really good for our group, to add more positivity in to the mix!
They also got served a Christmas dinner. I had a lot of fun! Anyway, after that all ended I started youth night. It was cool because they had a DJ workshop. And a few cool DJs came in to show them what they do, and explain what that career is like. The guys were actually legit, and good at it! It was very interesting, and the kids really liked it. After that we did some mixer games with them. They are like low organized games to get some energy going with a group of people. We played HA, where you pass the HA around the circle. They enjoyed it, and a couple of the youth had just arrived to Canada, and they didn't really know English. But they had fun with the game! After youth night I was very exhausted because I had worked over twelve hours, and still had a 45 minute walk home SO that was interesting, although Marina kept it interesting with her christmas caroling!
Friday I had got some flyers done up, for our Katima Food Drive for the YMCA food bank. They are really in need right now, so my competency organized a food drive. We went out around the neighborhood and dropped off these flyers to let everyone know we were going to be coming around on Monday collecting non perishables! And this will all be going down tomorrow night. I am really excited, I am hoping we will be successful!
Saturday was an adventurous day! A few of us set off at around 9:00 AM. To take the bus to downtown. Yay for my first bussing journey here in Moncton. We went to the Moncton Market. OH my goodness, it is wonderful. SO much stuff, and I want it all. There is a lot of local foods, and even food that is prepared to eat already, crafts, I can't even explain it. It is a wonderland for me. It was cool because there is a lady there who makes feather earings, and she also does the feather hair extensions, so I got two dreaded in to my hair! They are wonderful, and they should last a couple of months. After the market we went to a second hand store to buy some more fun stuff, and then we ventured back to the bus stop. It's not all that fun that at this point we only know the route which drops us off at the mall, and we have to walk 25 minutes home still. Oh well though, we are all getting a fair share of exercise. When we arrived home it was like 1:00, and we left the house at 1:30 to go to the Harvest House Shelter dinner I planned for the group!
Before I explain how that event went, I have to share the anticipation story with you. The supper was at a church so our PL drops the first load off and I was in that group. We go to knock on the front door, and this man just pops his head out and goes. HI, in the most friendly voice, then we go on to explain who we are and why we are there. He goes, GEE thats awfully nice of you, but you missed it all we don't need any more help, but come back tomorrow for some coffee and treats. And I am thinking, What? I don't want that, I want the event we are supposed to volunteer at and also how did I screw the date, time, and place up? Because he had no idea what I was talking about. Then he figured out that the Harvest Shelter did have a supper there. Oh my goodness, I was worried. But this guy was quite the character, and I couldn't stop laughing.
After all that confusion, the guy showed up who was actually from the shelter, and let us in. As soon as we got there we started setting up tabled which is our speciality, we are always setting and taking down tables at community events. It was so nice to be helpful for such a meaningful event. This supper was for those who are in the shelter, and some who just needed a hot meal. There was live music too, so it just brought me back home! The harvest home, provides living accommodations and a shelter open to the public for those who need somewhere to stay for a little bit. It was also nice to socialize with these people, when we got our meal I went and sat down with some complete strangers, I love throwing myself in those situations. I also did some recruitment for future Katima Volunteers! Harvest Shelter Is a wonderful organization, and we hope to keep in contact with them to do some more volunteering with them, since they are building another shelter and will need some help!
Now that all brings me to Sunday- Today! It was a really relaxing day since we had it all off other than our KCC meeting which we had this evening. I got to sleep in, ponder and do what ever I wanted! I went for a nice walk, and I also went to Tims, and it wasn't even that busy, so I just sat there and it was nice. I got some letters written, and I got to see a beautiful sunset! Life was good.
Tomorrow David and I don't have to work since we put so much overtime in last week. That will be nice, however I will be calling around places to find some volunteering for us to do on Christmas Day. We also have so much time to fill up next week. I am excited for the food drive tomorrow night, and on Tuesday I get to go volunteer at Toyland with a couple other volunteers here at the house. It is an organization which provides gifts to low income families to help them with gifts for their kidlets. We will be going with families to pick gifts, and help organize them. I am so excited!
Well now that I have written a novel; I will get out of here. I hope everyone is enjoying the christmas season, instead of running around in a frantic worrying about christmas presents. It can sometimes be difficult to really enjoy these occasions, with all the panic it can bring, as the days count down. It has been weird for me to be away for christmas, and many are like WHAT?, when I say that. But I believe it will be a good experience, and it hasn't been too difficult yet! As of now, we have been invited to one of our neighbors houses for Xmas Brunch. That will be nice! And then we will hopefully have something to volunteer at, and we will have christmas supper. Christmas eve, we are going to go to the Cathedral Mass. Apparently it is an old beautiful church, and it has the best Christmas Eve Mass in this city.
All my love,
Amy <3
Lets take a look at my past week; on Monday we had another collective project planning for the YMCA youth night. That always drags on, my group has a problem with having super long meetings. Our PL is not fond of that- and he prefers straight to the point meetings and fast. However our group is very democratic when it comes to voting, and giving everyone the chance to express themselves, so that takes awhile. Although we planned to do some mixer games, and get a survey going for the following youth night. A few of us were skeptical on the idea of the youth night to be our collective project, and our big impact on the community. After talking to the supervisor, many people changed perspectives because it is a really big deal what we are doing. The youth night gives youth the chance to come to a safe place to hang out, free of anything bad going on in their life. And having us there who are not too much older, gives them role models, and youth to look up to themselves. Lot's of the kids just need someone to talk to, and give influence them in a positive way. Lots of the youth who come in don't have the greatest lives, and they sometimes need that support. Also probation officers are recognizing Youth Night as a reason why some of them can be late for their curfews if they are there. To me that says a lot, and us just being there to offer workshops and interact with them means more to them than what we realize. I am excited to get more planning going with this project.
Tuesday night, our Project Coordinator came for a visit. It was so refreshing for the group to talk to her about things going on in the house with our PL, and for her to clear up some questions we had. We learned we are aloud to have an artificial tree, which we got right away. Also other little concerns we had. We played some activities to get us interacting, and to get some positivity in the room. She was inspiring with how she talked, she was very happy. She gave us all these bracelets which are called "A Complaint Free World" and what you do is, put it on which ever wrist you prefer. And if you complain, you have to switch it to the other wrist to make your self aware that you are complaining as a reminder. The goal is to not move it over for 21 days. I am doing pretty well, because it has been a week and I haven't switched it yet! This was really good for our group, to add more positivity in to the mix!
They also got served a Christmas dinner. I had a lot of fun! Anyway, after that all ended I started youth night. It was cool because they had a DJ workshop. And a few cool DJs came in to show them what they do, and explain what that career is like. The guys were actually legit, and good at it! It was very interesting, and the kids really liked it. After that we did some mixer games with them. They are like low organized games to get some energy going with a group of people. We played HA, where you pass the HA around the circle. They enjoyed it, and a couple of the youth had just arrived to Canada, and they didn't really know English. But they had fun with the game! After youth night I was very exhausted because I had worked over twelve hours, and still had a 45 minute walk home SO that was interesting, although Marina kept it interesting with her christmas caroling!
Friday I had got some flyers done up, for our Katima Food Drive for the YMCA food bank. They are really in need right now, so my competency organized a food drive. We went out around the neighborhood and dropped off these flyers to let everyone know we were going to be coming around on Monday collecting non perishables! And this will all be going down tomorrow night. I am really excited, I am hoping we will be successful!
Saturday was an adventurous day! A few of us set off at around 9:00 AM. To take the bus to downtown. Yay for my first bussing journey here in Moncton. We went to the Moncton Market. OH my goodness, it is wonderful. SO much stuff, and I want it all. There is a lot of local foods, and even food that is prepared to eat already, crafts, I can't even explain it. It is a wonderland for me. It was cool because there is a lady there who makes feather earings, and she also does the feather hair extensions, so I got two dreaded in to my hair! They are wonderful, and they should last a couple of months. After the market we went to a second hand store to buy some more fun stuff, and then we ventured back to the bus stop. It's not all that fun that at this point we only know the route which drops us off at the mall, and we have to walk 25 minutes home still. Oh well though, we are all getting a fair share of exercise. When we arrived home it was like 1:00, and we left the house at 1:30 to go to the Harvest House Shelter dinner I planned for the group!
Before I explain how that event went, I have to share the anticipation story with you. The supper was at a church so our PL drops the first load off and I was in that group. We go to knock on the front door, and this man just pops his head out and goes. HI, in the most friendly voice, then we go on to explain who we are and why we are there. He goes, GEE thats awfully nice of you, but you missed it all we don't need any more help, but come back tomorrow for some coffee and treats. And I am thinking, What? I don't want that, I want the event we are supposed to volunteer at and also how did I screw the date, time, and place up? Because he had no idea what I was talking about. Then he figured out that the Harvest Shelter did have a supper there. Oh my goodness, I was worried. But this guy was quite the character, and I couldn't stop laughing.
After all that confusion, the guy showed up who was actually from the shelter, and let us in. As soon as we got there we started setting up tabled which is our speciality, we are always setting and taking down tables at community events. It was so nice to be helpful for such a meaningful event. This supper was for those who are in the shelter, and some who just needed a hot meal. There was live music too, so it just brought me back home! The harvest home, provides living accommodations and a shelter open to the public for those who need somewhere to stay for a little bit. It was also nice to socialize with these people, when we got our meal I went and sat down with some complete strangers, I love throwing myself in those situations. I also did some recruitment for future Katima Volunteers! Harvest Shelter Is a wonderful organization, and we hope to keep in contact with them to do some more volunteering with them, since they are building another shelter and will need some help!
Now that all brings me to Sunday- Today! It was a really relaxing day since we had it all off other than our KCC meeting which we had this evening. I got to sleep in, ponder and do what ever I wanted! I went for a nice walk, and I also went to Tims, and it wasn't even that busy, so I just sat there and it was nice. I got some letters written, and I got to see a beautiful sunset! Life was good.
Tomorrow David and I don't have to work since we put so much overtime in last week. That will be nice, however I will be calling around places to find some volunteering for us to do on Christmas Day. We also have so much time to fill up next week. I am excited for the food drive tomorrow night, and on Tuesday I get to go volunteer at Toyland with a couple other volunteers here at the house. It is an organization which provides gifts to low income families to help them with gifts for their kidlets. We will be going with families to pick gifts, and help organize them. I am so excited!
Well now that I have written a novel; I will get out of here. I hope everyone is enjoying the christmas season, instead of running around in a frantic worrying about christmas presents. It can sometimes be difficult to really enjoy these occasions, with all the panic it can bring, as the days count down. It has been weird for me to be away for christmas, and many are like WHAT?, when I say that. But I believe it will be a good experience, and it hasn't been too difficult yet! As of now, we have been invited to one of our neighbors houses for Xmas Brunch. That will be nice! And then we will hopefully have something to volunteer at, and we will have christmas supper. Christmas eve, we are going to go to the Cathedral Mass. Apparently it is an old beautiful church, and it has the best Christmas Eve Mass in this city.
All my love,
Amy <3
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