B(e) Kind 366: Plans for January

I started off B(e) Kind 366 with an act that I've wanted to complete for some time. My hubs and I completed the paperwork to become a Big Couple with Big Brothers Big Sisters. By the end of the month we should have a "Little" matched with us! The commitment is 3-4 hours a week and my mind is full of ideas of ways to spend time with them.

In addition to my acts of kindness, I am taking on a personal challenge every month. For the month of January I've decided to not drive anywhere. I'm going to have to make a few exceptions, but on a daily basis I'll be walking to and from work, the gym, etc. In the summer this wouldn't be such a a big deal, but January in Manitoba makes this challenge a bit more trying. We've had a really mild winter so far by Manitoba standards so here's hoping it stays mild for the extent of January. In either case, I'm prepared as per the photo to the right!

Another part of B(e) Kind 366 is volunteering with a different organization every month. I already volunteer with quite a few organizations, but because I'm attending World University Service of Canada's International Forum later this month and because January is Student Refugee Program Awareness Month, I'm choosing to dedicate some additional time to WUSC this month.

Of course we can't forget that I am raising funds for three charitable organizations during all of this. Since January is my birthday month I'll be honouring everyone who donates $10+ to my project, by reciprocating the gesture with a small gift. I'd love to send to you a token of appreciation so please consider donating!

A-Z Challenge: W is for World University Service of Canada (WUSC)

Of all my A-Z posts, this one is the most important to me. World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is my life. I've been volunteering with WUSC for eight years and every year since I initially got involved my life has changed substantially for the better.

WUSC works towards a world in which all young people can grow up in safe, secure and supportive environments; have access to high quality education opportunities from early childhood to adulthood; are able to secure fair, decent and fulfilling employment; and can actively participate in all aspects of their society's development.

Every year through WUSC's Student Refugee Program (SRP), Brandon University sponsors a student from a refugee camp in Kenya, Malawi, or Thailand to come and gain a post-secondary education. It is these students that have continually changed my life over the past eight years. Each and every one of them climbs in and finds a comfortable place in my heart to call their own. The cross-cultural awareness that my eyes and mind have been opened up to is unfathomable and indescribable. All I can say over and over and over again is that WUSC and the SRP and these men and women have changed my life, made me a better person, taught me about humility, and renewed my faith in humanity time and time again.

The conditions in refugee camps are atrocious. Think of the worst living conditions you can imagine and multiply that by ten; those are the conditions of a refugee camp. Imagine what the conditions of their original homes must have been to force them to seek asylum in a place as awful as a refugee camp. That is where the students that live in a special corner of my heart come from.

When I meet them for the first time they are quite timid, so very thin, and incredibly thankful. The timidness slowly fades away as time passes and so does the thinness, but they never cease to be thankful for the opportunity to study in Canada, for the opportunity to change their lives, for the opportunity to have a real future. In actuality, though, it is I who am thankful. Thankful to know what it means to be a Muslim in Somalia, thankful to hear stories about witch doctors in South Sudan, thankful to taste real Ethiopian injera, so thankful to have these epitomes of the human spirit in my life.

 

Their success is my success. Their pride is my pride. Their happiness is my happiness. Their lives are my life.

I've been volunteering with WUSC at Brandon University for eight years. I'm leaving for Fredericton and the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in a few short months. As soon as I made up my mind to accept UNB's offer, I immediately contacted the WUSC committee at UNB Fredericton and got put on their mailing list. No matter where this world takes me, WUSC will always be a part of my life.

If you are interested at all in making a monetary contribution to WUSC, please visit my fundraising website. WUSC is strictly not-for-profit and all donations over $10 CAD will receive an official charitable tax receipt. 

Help me help these students; you won't regret it, I promise!

Random Acts of Kindness (Days 51-60)

Ok, I am almost caught up. Today (April 26) is Day 64. I suppose it isn't all that random if it's planned, but I am planning to have one of my acts on Day 70 be to start pulling inspiration quotes from the gift Ang gave me on Day 50 and to start blogging about my Random Act, themed after said quote, everyday.

DAY 51

Friday, April 13 - I planned one volunteer event, executed another volunteer event, delivered an invitation from the university to the home of a colleague to ensure she received it on time & sent a best wishes message to someone I had a falling out with. 

World Fair Trade Day is May 12. I met with the manager of Ten Thousand Villages today to organise a collaborative event between the store and WUSC. We'll have entertainment and a small percentage of the day's sales will be given to WUSC. Today was also, Band-AIDS. WUSC raises funds for the Bike for AIDS (that's the AIDS part) initiative every year by holding a concert (that's the Band part). We held it on campus in SUDS and raised just under $300. I have to thank Shannon for helping organise the whole thing, Eddie from Hudsy for letting us crash his social and performing for us, as well as Misty Street and The Heavy Souls for performing for us. Natasha is the coordinator for the Psychology Nursery at BU and since she only works every Tuesday and Thursday she tends to get missed during important events. The senior administration at the university was holding an Employee Appreciation Breakfast on the 17th so I dropped off the invitation at her apartment so she'd be sure to get her chance to take advantage of the free breaky. As for the friend I had a falling out with, I'll spare the details because they are quite personal, but it was his final performance for his undergrad degree and I figured the least I could do was send a little token of kindness his way despite our differences.

DAY 52
Saturday, April 14 - I attended a high school play & sent a congratulatory email to the play's director.
Urinetown was performed by students from Neelin High School. $1 from every ticket purchase went towards Compassion Canada's efforts to build sanitary latrines in developing countries. The play was fantastic and like I've said before, it's important to me to give credit where credit is due so I emailed the director of the play and let her know how great I thought the play was. I also took the time to highlight some of the more spectacular performances by specific students. I received a very thankful response from her and a request to post the email on their public display board.

DAY 53
Sunday, April 15 - I took my Mom out for a birthday dinner and surprised her with a candle when her dessert came out & wrote a letter of support for a professor's nomination for a teaching award. 
My Mom turned 54 today! I took her out for dinner and made sure that we ordered dessert. When her's came out, I quickly grabbed the candle and lighter I had stashed in my pocket and made her yummy treat just a little more special. As you can see, the look on her face was priceless. I love you, Mom. One of my favorite professors was being nominated for the BU Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award and I was asked to write a letter of support for the nomination. Of course I did it, with the utmost pleasure.

DAY 54
Monday, April 16 - I posted a song to a grieving friend's wall.
The nature of the loss and the person's identity is best kept discrete. What I will tell you though, is that Angels Among Us is a song that has gotten me through a lot of trying times in my life and I thought it was fitting to share.

DAY 55 
Tuesday, April 17 - I helped a friend register for classes & attended a creative writing reading to support my friends. 

'Tis the time of year to register for 2012-13 classes. It's not really the easiest thing to do, so I helped Abraham out. Now he's all set to get his learn on come September. The creative writing reading was really for my own good. Hearing Kirsty, Johnson, and Ryan (among other students) read their fantastic work made me miss writing so very much. These types of events always reiterate to me the abundance of raw talent we have at BU, my friends being some of the best of the bunch!

DAY 56
Wednesday, April 18 - I helped a friend put the finishing touches on a powerpoint presentation & mailed an application for name reservation for a not-for-profit.
Barbara was getting ready to do a presentation at the Senior Colloquium (another display of phenomenal student talent) and she needed help getting some videos onto her slides. Yours truly, to the rescue! Friends for Development is the name of the not-for-profit that Immaculate and I (mostly Immaculate) are working to get recognised so that we can start doing some official work. We've been trying to get it underway for some time know, but hopefully now the name will be officially approved and filed by the Manitoba government and we'll be set.

DAY 57 
Thursday, April 19 - I paid for the friend I mentioned on Day 40 to take the class, attended a potential board members meeting for The Marquis Project & chose WUSC's SRP student for 2012-13.
I'm pretty sure paying for Abraham's class made my day almost as much as it made his. I cannot express the kindness that Abraham embodies and I am happy to be able to help him. A big thanks also has to go to Tina for suggesting we do this. A few weeks ago I was asked if I was interested in sitting on the Board for The Marquis Project. Today was the meeting for potential new members. It looks like I'll be taking a position on the Board, I'm just not sure what that will be quite yet. One more project = exciting! Every year as part of WUSC we go through files of potential students in refugee camps that have qualified for WUSC sponsorship. As part of the selection committee, I read the files (try not to cry) and rank the candidates in terms of who I feel is best fitted to come to BU for a post-secondary education. I wish we could bring them all.

DAY 58
Friday, April 20 - Attended a friend's presentation at the Senior Colloquium & facilitated a session later on. 
Remember Barbara on Day 56? It was her presentation on the exploitation of women in advertising that I attended. There are few things more rewarding than presenting work you've poured your blood, sweat, and tears into. Having friends to support you, is just an added bonus. O, and, of course, Barbara rocked it! Later on, I was the facilitator for a session on cross-cultural education. I was honoured to be asked to facilitate and happier to do it.

DAY 59 
Saturday, April 21 - I held the door open for people at the theater & let a family go ahead of me in the concession line.
American Reunion was the movie and I realised that it was 9:30 p.m. and I still hadn't done a random act. I held the door open for a few people exiting the theater and then as I got to the concession line, allowed a family that arrived at the same time as me to go ahead.

DAY 60
Sunday, April 22 - I spent time with a friend I haven't spoken to in a really long time. 
Every time I saw Tegegn on campus I felt guilty for losing touch with him. We had a tentative 'date' set for today and I almost cancelled because I felt like I should be studying for my exam the following Wednesday. I'm glad I didn't cancel because we spent nearly four hours just talking about life and it was great!

Almost there folks! One more 10-at-a-time post and I'll finally be posting my random act on the actual day that I do it!