Just to be quiet with you

The past two weeks have been hectic as hell! We’ve been busily volunteering, working on the elusive Competency 5 and trying to get as much sleep as we can. We don’t get a lot of sleep. 
We volunteered at this thing called the Hamilton Art Crawl. Its this big festival of local artists that display their arts and the galleries stay open later. We joined the Hamilton group with this volunteering and it was really cool getting to know our “cousins”. After a few hours of volunteering we were able to venture around the city and see art crawl at its craziest point. Aimée, Jérémie and I ran around the whole street laughing and carrying on like we’ve been best friends for forever. It was awesome getting all my crazy out. Well, not all of it, but most of it. 
The next day we volunteered at the Halton ECO-fest. There really wasn’t much for us to help out with until we got to taking everything down. But we were able to walk around and learn about our postures, healthy ways to live in a stable environment, and Katimavik has a lot of support coming from everyone that was at that festival. We got home, everyone was so tired that pretty much we went to our rooms and slept the night away. Didn’t even eat dinner.
After a long nights rest we drove to Hamilton to join in on a communication workshop. The workshop didn’t really tech us how to communicate any better within our group. It was good, but I feel like we didn’t learn anything that was specific to our group. So to say the least, we’re still trying to figure out this whole “communicating your needs” thing. 
We finally went to Zumba as a group on the 17th. It was so much fun! The guys even got up on the stage and danced along side the teacher and everyone seemed like they really enjoyed themselves. Which is a big relief because hopefully we’ll be able to do more Zumba classes together now. Weeeoo!!
The other day we went around our neighbourhood and picked up all the garbage that was lying around. We worked for an hour and a half and got 26 bags filled with garbage and 4 half filled with garbage. When we were done it looked so green and tidy and exactly what it should look like. We’re definitely doing it again. We all felt so satisfied with our success.
The past weeks have been so busy here in Brantford and I feel like the next how many weeks, 8 I think, will be just as hectic. On Thursday we’re starting billeting, in two and a half weeks I’m heading down south to Cancun for my brother’s wedding and then I get back and it’ll only be 4 more weeks until I’m home. GAH! Happening too fast!!

HAPPY EASTER!! Hope everyone has enjoyed their day full of chocolate and surprises. In this household chocolate doesn’t last all that long seeing as it is limited when we do have it. It was weird not having Easter with my family. But I have a whole new family right here with me. (Would I like some Wine with that cheese?)
Anyways, this past week has been insane with stuff and some more stuff. We left our first community (Moncton, NB) and have moved onto our new home (Brantford, ON). The house is smaller (one bathroom, tiny kitchen with the washer and drier in it), us girls are no longer sleeping in one room (7 girls, 1 room moved to 2 rooms) and our new PL started off with a strong start. A lot of big changes. But at least my group is still the same 9 people that I left with. 
We’ve done so much with only been here for a little over a week. We’ve volunteered twice, done a scavenger hunt, a lot of group building things, cleaned the house inside and out (It was so dirty to begin with!), had our second batch of french lessons start (I feel better about this teacher than the last one), and went on work placement tours, interviews and started at our new work placements. All-in-all, this week has gone by really fast. 
This evening we celebrated Easter as much as we possibly could. We had a brunch at 11 this morning. Greatest way to start off the day was to sleep in! Then we started planning our excursion to Toronto, and worked on profiles and our application video for 72 hours off. While all that was going on, Easter dinner was cooking. We had Turkey, Tofurkey, Potato Salad, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli and Cauliflower, Stuffing, and of course Apple and Pumpkin Pie. It was so good. I ate until I couldn’t eat anymore (Which now-a-days doesn’t mean much in comparison to others plates). 
So far, Brantford is treating me well. Minus this cold I seem to have gotten. I missed two days of work. Worst thing ever!  

Anyways, I’ll try to post as much as I can about our little adventures here and there and maybe pictures as well. Maybe. No promises guys.

So, as most people have heard, the Conservative government has cut many things with this new budget plan. And in doing so they have cut Katimavik. Being in this program not only brought on a whole new state of mind, but it has also helped me find myself and realize that there’s so much within the communities I live in and around the world that I could do and make a great difference. Most of what the politicians and MP’s are saying is very ill-informed and only states what the  Conservatives are saying. They appear to neglect reading and finding more information on Katimavik for themselves. So here’s what’s actually happening.
In Katimavik, the cost per volunteer since 2011 has been greatly decreased to less than $12 000. Now yes I do understand that it comes from tax-payers money. And yes soon enough I will be one of those people complaining about taxes.
But its not only for travelling. We’re not trying to milk any money off of you guys to fund our little vacations. We volunteer within the communities we go to and we work just as hard as anybody.  Only difference, we get paid $2 a day. We volunteer our time on the weekends to help out at food banks, shelters, festivals and events within our host communities. If we’re not volunteering we’re doing group work or learning more about the communities we live in. So we actually give back to the communities as best we can. In fact, Katimavik groups actually give back more money per day than we take away. 
I feel like this program has been put on the back burner and not enough people have been aware that this other option for them has been there instead of going to school. I know many times I’ve said the name “Katimavik” and people have looked at me funny. Essentially, this program needs to be more known to youth in Canada. And now that the program has been cut, my group and the other groups that are now out there across Canada, we are all the last remaining groups of Katimavik. The July departures have been cut off and are not departing. The people who took the year off just for the program are now stuck wondering what they’re going to do this year. 
Now this is my opinion, it does not reflect the Katimavik program at all. But I really do feel strongly about this. Being on the “field”, I’m not allowed to talk about this or do anything about it other than social media.But that’s pretty much just to raise awareness. Nothing else. I’m not allowed to bash the government because that might just make their minds up that much more. I’m also not saying I will bash on them. But it is frustrating. 
Anyways, Katimavik is a great experience and if we, as a country, can bring it back and keep it going I pretty sure we can make a difference.
It is really important to vote, and be informed about who you vote for. I’m glad I read and found out more and voted. 
SAVE KATIMAVIK!!
I’ve made life-long friends, made great memories, went completely across the country to a new community and worked within it. I saw the Atlantic Ocean, managed to fly to New Brunswick without any help from my family. I’ve also learnt a lot of french being here and it’s only been 3 months almost 4. I’ve learnt social skills and found my self-confidence increase and my depression and anxiety decrease. Katimavik has not only changed my life, but has saved me.