Community Service: Forming Life-Long Friendships

Posted on December 13, 2013 by admin

On November 18, several other students and I went on a life-changing trip with the Mackay Center to Camp Massawippi. On the first day of the trip we started to settle in, helping the kids unpack and making their beds. We went for a small hike around the camp, bonding with both the kids and the teachers who accompanied us. After a short walk, one of the kids, who I think is absolutely hilarious, had a problem with his wheelchair which was going extremely slow. So we turned back and went to the balcony next to the lake. We hung around listening to music and really just having a good time taking “selfies”.

Soon after, we headed inside because it was getting so cold. I immediately crashed. Believe me when I say these kids put you to work. Once I woke up, it was time for all of us to have dinner. Soon after that, the kids had to go to bed, but that wasn’t the end of the night for LCC students. We all started to play one of the most addicting games ever, involving codes, playing cards and teams. Long story short, it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I had never gotten so competitive in my life.

I was hoping the second day would be a bit easier. Thinking that this would be a bit of a getaway from school, I assumed that we would relax, take it easy and maybe wake up a bit late. I was so wrong. After everyone got ready and made their way to the “village” (the building where we did most of our activities) we had breakfast. Soon after that we went on a hike with the kids up a mountain. I would say that pushing the kids up the mountain while they were in wheelchairs was my workout for the year! Once we arrived at the top, we took some pictures and really just hung out for a bit. I thought the hard part was over, but what I had forgotten was that we still had to bring the kids back down to the bottom of the mountain.

Once we finally got back to the village we chopped down Christmas trees for the kids and hung out. A couple of us built a fire while the kids watched a movie. We all went down to the fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. After that, we all hung out playing board games and really just having a good time until sadly the kids had to go to bed. Then some wise guy thought it would be a great idea to bring out the cards again, once again huge mistake. Everyone got super competitive. But all in all everyone had fun.

But waking up the next morning we all came to the realization that this amazing trip was coming to an end. It was going to be our last day there. In an effort to show how thankful we were, all the LCC students contributed to making a giant brunch for both the teachers and the kids. We spent the rest of the morning hanging out and just having fun.

I must say it was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. The friendships formed over the course of these trips are ones I’ll truly cherish for the rest of my life. – Alessandro Dumoulin ’15

Super Grandmothers!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by admin

Grandmothers are very special. Whether it’s their capacity to laugh, support grandchildren, or see them a little more objectively than their parents, grandmas are essentially our students’ very own personal fan clubs. I have seen that special look of joy and pride in grandma’s eyes, at school science fairs, plays, the athletic sidelines and closing ceremonies. Grandma’s presence and her smile can make all the difference for a student.

Why the focus on grandmothers? It turns out that after more than 30 years of fighting the global HIV–AIDS pandemic, grandmothers have become some of the real heroes.

For a quarter century the international community’s attention has been focused each December 1st on World AIDS Day. We commemorate the millions of lives affected by the international AIDS pandemic. More than 25 million lives have been lost, most of them in Africa. Today the vast majority of the 34 million people living with AIDS are also in sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite this reality, there has been some notable progress in fighting the pandemic. In the past decade there has been a near 30% reduction in new HIV infections, and during the same period, global AIDS deaths have also fallen by 30%. At less than $1/day, anti-retroviral medications are now affordable and effective.

But some alarming trends persist. The only age group with a rise in AIDS infections is the youth cohort, the same age as our LCC students: 10-19 years old. Since 2005 there has actually been a 50% rise in youth AIDS-related deaths, usually due to ignorance, denial or cultural stigma. Sixty-three (63%) of the infections are young women who know little or nothing about preventing the disease or its treatment.

For years LCC students have financially supported the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which has done so much to raise awareness, raise funds, and help turn the tide on AIDS, especially in Africa.

In his years of work to stem the tide of AIDS, Lewis has visited many African communities profoundly affected by the disease. In most cases, he noted that the pieces were being picked up by grandmothers; old women who continue today to care for their orphaned grandchildren. Lewis sees African grandmothers as the key agents of change on the frontlines of HIV in Africa. A recent special report calls these old women the “guardians of sub-Saharan Africa.”

So earlier this fall, the Stephen Lewis Foundation brought six African grandmothers to Canada to tour several communities and explain the reality of their lives and the impact of AIDS on orphaned children.

The grandmothers need more support. Specifically, they require better housing, access to health care, food security and access to education in their local communities.

In Canada, 240 grandmother groups have been very busy helping out. Through a host of innovative activities they have raised $17 million for African grandmas. Along with the Stephen Lewis Foundation, they are sounding a clarion call-to-action to the world. They are telling us it is time to break the silence regarding neglect and negligence of grandmas. We should all recognize that these selfless women have been the key to survival of whole communities.

If there is a grandma in your family, ask what she thinks. It should be a unique conversation. —Christopher Shannon, Headmaster

Community Service: An Incredible Opportunity

Posted on December 5, 2013 by admin

Lower Canada College offers incredible opportunities and experiences. Seven other students and I were very lucky to participate in an LCC community service outing at Camp Massawippi. We shared this experience with seven amazing kids who came from the Mackay Center, a school for children with disabilities, located on Decarie Boulevard. We spent three days at the camp on Lake Massawippi, which is in the Eastern Townships.

This was one of the most interesting experiences that I have participated in up until now. When I signed up for this opportunity I sort of new what I was in for, as I have worked with children in similar cases before. Just to get acquainted with the children and what they liked, we visited them twice at the Mackay Center before the trip.

The first day at Camp Massawippi was a time when one quickly forgot about one’s comfort zone with the children and figured out a way to deal with the situations. One learned very quickly how funny and easy going the children were. They did not need our constant surveillance but they did need our affection and reassurance. Although we had to take care of some of their physical needs like feeding, much of our time was spent playing, laughing, watching movies and going on walks.

Although most of the students needed help completing every day tasks such as eating, they all had very strong personalities that were very different from one to the other. One girl in particular would get very excited over the small things she loves in life. From what I observed, all the children have a “joie de vivre.” – Klara Goettke ’15

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Community Service: A Global Perspective

Posted on November 29, 2013 by admin

Throughout my high school experience, I had the opportunity to travel abroad multiple times. These travels included a student exchange to Australia, two Duke of Edinburgh Gold trips to Peru and an International Round Square Conference in South Africa. Each of my experiences gave me a new perspective in terms of community service, the diversity of people in the world and the challenges faced by those in developing countries. Not only have these experiences broadened my global awareness; they have also helped me grow and continue to grow into who I am.

When I arrived in Peru two years ago, it was my first exposure to a developing country. I thought I knew what to expect: barefoot hungry children, worn down houses and desperation. On my first day doing service at a shantytown called Las Palmas outside of the capital city, Lima, I found out my preconception was very wrong. The conditions were worse than I expected: stray dogs roamed all over, dust covered absolutely everything and a rotting stench filled the air. Fortunately, I was also wrong about the state of the people in the community. The children were happy and eager to play with us and each other, and the adults possessed a sense of pride in themselves and their community. The physical labour we performed was not enough. Upon our arrival home, a few friends and I decided we needed to do something more. We started fundraising in hopes of helping improve the community as much as we possibly could.

A few months later, along with other LCC representatives we set off to South Africa for an International Round Square conference. Besides partaking in the conference, we helped out at a daycare and school for kids who grew up in impoverished conditions. We only spent a few hours volunteering: taking care of the kids, painting a roof and playing soccer. I left the service days extremely upset. Between my experiences in Peru and South Africa, I noticed how happy the locals were in spite of their assumed “lack” of materials that we consider necessary for our happiness here in North America such as cell phones, cool shoes and ice cream desserts.

On the plane ride home I began to contemplate – why am I so lucky to have all that I do? What is the point of doing “service” for a few hours when at the end of the day these children’s lives are “unimproved”?

I returned home in a philosophical crisis. I wanted to help, Peru, South Africa, everywhere! I just didn’t know how to do it in a way that would actually help them, and improve their lives.

My friends and I who were already fundraising for the community in Peru decided we could start a micro-loan fund in the community, a lump sum of money that would go to starting businesses for women so they could be self-sufficient and help feed their families. After hours spent discussing how the fund would work with the mayor of Las Palmas, the town, and signing the necessary documents, we handed over the money to the mayor. While the money did end up in the community, we have yet to hear back on the happenings of the fund for the past eight months, so we do not know how it turned out. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope it ended up benefitting the community in some way. This is an example of why even though you may have good intentions, you have to be very careful when it comes to international service and make sure you trust the person dealing with your money.

Fortunately, we were more careful when we fundraised for the daycare we worked at in South Africa. The money was handed over to a woman who we had met and who worked to improve the day care, so she had already successfully dealt with donations like ours.

Ultimately, one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from these experiences is that it’s important to learn about the world, because exposure is the first step to help making it a better place. Although in my life I hope I discover the “best” way for me to do service, there is certainly no right answer. Once you are exposed to an issue, it is very difficult to simply forget about it. Whether it’s in the city of Montreal or some remote village in India, it is important to realize what matters locally and internationally, and to do your best to help. – Sarah Salzman (Pre-U ’14)

Student Exchange: Internationalism Changed My Life

Posted on November 28, 2013 by admin

I am born of Polish parents. I am an American citizen. I live in Canada, but I am a citizen of the world. It’s funny how things happen. Three years ago, I was introduced to the idea of a student exchange. I saw and heard so many things about students traveling abroad, and I made it my goal to experience an exchange on my own. I wanted to go somewhere completely foreign, someplace that no one I knew had gone before, so I chose Thailand.

From the very first moment I stepped onto Thai soil, Thailand became my home. I spent six weeks atThe Regents School in Pattayain boarding and I had the time of my life. I played basketball, did cross country running and played in their school band. I took weekend trips to pristine island resorts with my local friends and did a bicycle trip through the slums of Bangkok. Every weekend, I would get the opportunity to volunteer through different clubs in the school and help out at a local orphanage for handicapped children with my friends. In my boarding house alone, I met more people of diverse backgrounds than I could have imagined. I made friends from Bhutan, Lithuania, Armenia, South Africa and South Korea, just to mention a few. When it came time to leave, I felt like I was a movie character – as I looked out from the back window of the moving car on the way to the airport, all of my friends stood in a line, crying and waving goodbye. I, too, was in tears and didn’t want to leave.

Many people may say that their exchange was wonderful or enlightening, but my exchange experience changed my life. After having discovered a new exotic world and making unbroken friendships, I decided that my travel to Thailand would not stop there. I made it my goal to go back the next summer to see my friends, and on top of that I wanted to try something new and volunteer abroad. That’s when, with the help of my father, I found the Mercy Center and embarked on a four week independent volunteer trip to Bangkok’s biggest slum – Klong Toey, the “Slaughterhouse”.

I was extremely nervous because I was going to live by myself in a major city where crime and corruption was supposed to be very widespread. In the taxicab on the way to Mercy Center I obviously had thoughts racing through my head of, “Oh. Maybe I should turn around now. It’s not too late.” But chickening out was not the answer. I had traveled 26 hours and there was no turning back.

What really made me push forward, though, was the idea that I would be doing something useful and unique. The service I was going to do was not meant for me, but for the people in need. To turn back would be selfish and irresponsible.

Before I knew it, I was at the entrance of the Mercy Center, with a big purple suitcase in hand.The Mercy Centre, established by Father Joe Meier, is an emergency organization that takes care of families that have been exposed to human trafficking, rape, AIDs, sickness and any disaster. Many kids that live at the Mercy Centre are there because they have lost their families or were abandoned.

So I spent my summer working in the “Slaughterhouse”. The struggle started on my first day, when I was told that I would be teaching English to kids of all ages. Now imagine yourself in my position.This wasn’t a “read to your buddy for an hour” situation. I was a 15-year old girl that had to make a lesson plan before the next morning, get familiar with 20 students in my class and teach them. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. None of them spoke a word of English and I had no idea how to speak Thai.

What made everything easier, though, was that all the kids were so sweet and wanted to help me do my best. They were super attentive and worked so hard in class – they really wanted to learn. After my first full day in the classroom, I was ecstatic. I loved my students and could not wait to see them the next day! When it was time for lunch for my pre-school students, I would go to the outdoor basketball court and play soccer on the smooth surface with the older local kids. I was really bad at soccer, but they still always let me play with them and taught me so many tricks.

Over my four weeks, I got the chance to work with kids from the ages of 6 to 18 and even worked on the organization’s farm outside of the city once a week.

There, I truly didn’t feel like I was doing community service, but living a normal life in a city that never sleeps.When I wasn’t working, I was spending time in the small alleyway home where I lived with eight Thai university students. I had only a tiny room with a bed and a fan, so with Thailand’s rainy season and 30+-degree weather, AC was something I had to learn to live without.

As you can imagine, it was truly a parallel world with a completely different culture, language and society rules but I soon blended in with the help of the locals’ open-mindedness and friendliness towards me.

In the end, my whole idea of this volunteer trip being only for the people in need was wrong. By the end of my trip I realized that the students I was teaching, helped me more that I could have imagined. They taught me responsibility, perseverance and acceptance. They accepted me as their teacher and they cared for me from day one.

I never imagined that going on an exchange would have done so much for me. Taking that chance three years ago helped me build a bond with the country and the people that I see myself revisiting for the rest of my life. I am going off to university next year, but I have promised myself that I will take at least six months of my four years in college and go back to the Mercy Center to live and volunteer full time.

The internationalism that I gained from going on exchange and volunteering abroad is immeasurable. Maybe you may never reach a stage in your life where you will visit a slum or go on an exchange, like I did. I feel at home in Thailand, but many people may not feel the same way. But I know that each and very one of you have the potential to do service in an environment that you feel comfortable in and grow to love.

I encourage all of you to step out of your comfort zone and take any opportunity you have to travel and help others while doing so. I can assure you that you won’t regret it, and it may just change your life. – Olga Jablonski (Pre-U ’14)