do voluntary work

because it’s not all about me – possibly teaching English in west Africa. Or some more Samaritans type work or possibly work with guide dogs – that would be cool.

and I’m signed up now until the 11th December, baby sitting for the Young Mother’s group..

First day done and dusted only three more sesions to go :O)

lol it’s alwyas been my life’s mission to help others. I guess being able to help makes feel better about me and makes me realise that there is hope out there. Africa would be my first step specificly Mozambique

i wna do this coz it wil look real good on my UCAS form, for whn i apply to uni

well I do help in my son’s grade one class each thursday morning 9.00 till 11.30am and then Friday’s 11.30am- 1.15pm, so I do the readers and listen to the darling’s read when they’d much rather chat about who did what and when and where, such social butterflies they are! And then I help them with whatever work they’re doing, I especially like the arty stuff and his teacher knows that and calls on me for those jobs!

Plus I’ve recently signed up for Volunteer work at our Local Communtiy Health Center. I’ve got a regular or semi regular gig starting there next week on Wednesday’s from 10.00am til 12.30pm, not much but I obviously passed the police check and I guess I have my very own ID now woo hooo!! I wanted to work with the elderly, but so far I’ve been given the opposite and that’s ok too, I’ll work my way up!!

I failed. I tried, and I failed. I’ve not given up, I’ve simply changed direction.

This is the story of my failure.

Having finally gotten to bed sometime after four o’clock this morning, I overslept. By the time I came concious, got up, dressed, found something resembling breakfast and drove off towards the voluntary organisation’s office (not breaking many speed limits), I was running late. Seriously late. Ninety minutes or more behind schedule. I fought my way thru road construction, suicidal cyclists and lesson-skipping school kids to get to my fellow volunteers, only to find they’d left already.

Fair enough – even with my legally-questionable driving, I was still over an hour late, and they didn’t know I was coming. No big deal. I knew where they’re working today. It was only a short drive to the other side of town. Ha! Short distance, long time. After a painfully slow journey (last week, I read the average speed in town is 5mph, slower than in the days of horse-drawn coaches) I arrived at the work site.

I knew I was in the right place. There was the huge mound of mulch, gently steaming. Where was everybody else? Where indeed. At this point I was beginning to doubt my time-keeping skills, if not my sanity. Did I have the wrong day? They work Mondays and Thursdays. A quick check of my phone proved today was definitely Thursday. Thursday, June 7th, 2007. Mulching day. Hmm.

I sat and waited. Patience is about the only virtue I possess. I waited. People strolled by, crows pecked at the bark dust, the Earth continued it’s trip round the sun. A police patrol car drove into the parking lot, the cops looked at me, I tried my best not to look shifty and suspicious. They circled my car at what police training taught them was a safe, non-threatening distance, stared at me, stared at the mountain of mulch, looked back at me, calculating the likelihood of me trying to steal forty cubic yards of bark in my station-wagon. Convinced even I didn’t look silly enough to tackle such a feat, they left.

A few minutes later, I too left. It was fairly apparent to me mulching was not gonna happen.

I headed back into town, parked up and hit the stores. More accurately, the goodwill/charity/thrift stores. I visited all I could find, offering my services. A couple weren’t very interested, a few were more keen. They’re gonna contact me shortly. I will do voluntary work somehow, somewhere.

The countdown has started. This time tomorrow I will be up to my elbows in mulch.

I’ve written “Mulch, 06.07.07” in Sharpie across the top of my monitor, to the right of “Carbs are BAD”. Baring parental problems, I’ll be able to mark this as done on Friday morning.

...how I was getting on with my voluntary work. I had to admit I’d skipped the session I had planned last Thursday and gone to the beach instead. She pointed out that “volunteer” looks much better on my resume than “beach bum”.

In recognition of this blindingly obvious disclosure, I’ve revisited the BTCV website, where I found the perfect opportunity to donate my time and energy. Next Thursday, 06.07.07, I’ll be helping them mulch. If I space this off, chicken out, or find some other excuse to not go, I won’t deserve any cheers for at least 24 hours.

I’ll do this Thursday. Nine hours out in the open air, working with a conservation group. It might help me sleep at night.