do more volunteer work

I’ve started volunteering with CASA monitoring parents on Saturdays who can’t be alone with their children. It’s volunteer work but it doesn’t feel like it should. When you volunteer you’re supposed to work hard and feel like you’ve done some good. That’s the most rewarding part, working hard to better someone else’s life. But this didn’t feel like that. I spent the morning depressed and on the verge of tears. Reading through some of the cases made me angry at the justice system. Sure some of these cracked out, abusive parents needed to be monitored (no sympathy there), but some parents didn’t deserve to be in there. They got handed a harsh deal by the system. Looking at the love these parents clearly had for their children, and the love their children had for them was devastating. Two days out of the month for two hours … there’s a fee … and it’s monitored. That’s not good enough. I’d be writing my congressman/woman every damn day. It’s not enough.

i did the bridges program with my moms work a few weeks ago, and it was amazing. the people i met while passing out food in the city were so polite and so happy. They were all so appreciative. I even met a couple of teens who were still in high school and were taking care of a bunch of babies that we’re theirs with the help of one girl who was about my age. I was sitting and talking with them and having so much fun playing with the kids. i can’t wait until my mom’s work does the program again!

Just spent 15 weeks (_{15 hours) working with a 2nd grader helping her to improve her reading skills.}

Next week, I’ll complete 13 weeks (20 hours) of volunteering in a third grade classroom helping out with miscellaneous activities/tasks.

Never heard back from the other place… So I stopped by a charity/food bank on my day off. I got a volunteer application. I need to force me to drop it off so I can begin ASAP. They need lots of help now.

Well, I am officially back in TEACH. Haven’t actually attended any meetings, but I have done three workshops so far and am more or less back in touch with the organization and its new and old participants. I’ve signed up for four workshops in December and will hopefully be attending the non-denominational holiday party next Thursday. If all goes as planned, I will definitely be marking this goal down as completed by the end of next moth.

Also, as I was writing this it occurred to me that I work for a company called TEACH and another called LEARN. Totally unrelated (one does anti-homophobia education, the other translates the Quebec curriculum for English-speaking schools). Coincidence? Probably, but still sort of odd.

I finally called the volunteer coordinator (several months later than i was supposed to). She wasn’t there so I left a message. I’ll call her again next week since I didnt hear back.

Today I served meals to the hungry with my mother’s biker club. And I realized something, I love volunteer work. I never slack off when I’m doing it either. Even if it’s difficult. It’s more than the fact that I’m helping others (although that’s the best part), I also feel better about myself at the end of the day. Maybe it’s because the world is so “I” oriented. Everyone’s looking out for themselves and their own interests. When you take a moment to focus on someone else, their life, their problems, and what you can do to help, it feels fantastic. You may not always know how to help yourself but you can always help others when the solution is simple. And if that’s serving meals, or cleaning up highways, or donating clothes (clothes that I knew didn’t fit when I bought them), then count me in, I’m there. Maybe I finally grasped the true volunteer spirit, no wonder volunteers are always so abnormally cheerful.

i pet bunnies and cats at the humane society last week for the first time in years. i had forgotten how much i like it. it’s nice to have a subtle, positive impact on a living creature.

i went for my volunteer interview at the hospital and i passed tuberculosis test. i still have a few more things to do before i can start..

I was lost after my first year at university. I took a year off to do some self searching. This brought me to Thailand where I worked for 7 months and it was the best time of my life. I taught english, i played silly games with little kids, and hung out with my friends. No really I did volunteer. I worked every day from 8 until 5. I taught 3 classes, two at a vocational school and one preschool class at an orphanage. When I was done teaching i would hang out with the old people, this means take them out to get what they need or to go where they want to go. And with my spare time I either worked on lesson plans or played with the baby orphans. I was the best thing for me and I have not heard of a single person who did not enjoy their experience.