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Published: July 23rd 2009
Marguerites
Daisies around the house in St-LeandreBonjour!
Another week has gone by and I only have 2 months left in Canada.
For the last two days I worked in the woods again with Gérald, and on the second day Sadio came as well. The work is very physical and challenging, and on the second days the bugs were particularly bad. After lunch we worked in the garden and by the end of the day I looked like I had the chicken pox! I have never had such bad bugbites and by the end of the day I was very discouraged. Luckily, Ginette invited me to come swimming with her and we drove to a nearby lake. The water was soo refreshing after being surrounded by a cloud of bugs all day.
Today was our group education day, and we met in the morning at the 'Jardin de Doris', a local public garden started nine years ago by a retired couple. They employ youths who have struggled with drug aduse, depression and bad homelives. The salaries are partially funded by the government and partially come from the profits of the gardins. Sylvain, Doris' husband talked to the group for about an hour and explained how
Beau Jour
This past weekend we finally had some nice weather, no rain! successful the garden has been in providing something a concrete environment for the youths who often go on to other employment opportunities or return to school after having worked at the gardens. He and his wife work 7 days a week, 10 hours a day, and often contribute their money from their own pockets towards mainitaining the garden. There is also a small petting zoo with ducks, goats, emus and a peacock. I even got to feed a lamb with a milk bottle!!!
After lunch we walked into Matane and went to 'La Co. Mode Verte', a newly opened co-op selling new and used products that are environmentally conscious. It was pretty impressive for a town as small as Matane (14000), and was kind of like Salvation Army mixed with Foodsmith's, complete with bulk dispensers of biodegradeable laundry detergent and soap.
Although the events of the day were interesting, I was still feeling very discouraged about my work placement. I couldn't find the link between the work I was doing and community development or agriculture. It is also so similar for me to be here, living in the country, eating food out of the garden and driving 20
JoJo
One of my new friends:) mins into town. BUT I exlpained this to a friend in the group, who helped me figure everything out. Although I could be doing the same thing at home, I can also do it here, and it's a challenge to do it here. As for how this relates to the big picture: this is hard...life is hard. It's good to push yourself sometimes and work really hard. I enjoy my lunch break so much more on the days when I've stacked wood all morning than on the days when I've slept in. And it certainly is a challenge trying to be patient and be content with everyday even when it's not doing something I love.
On another note, things with Sadio have been better over the last few days. She has opened up quite a bit, and we are able to have conversations and even make jokes with each other sometimes. Today I tried to show her how to open an email account on the computer. We didn't have any luck but we'll try again tomorrow. She studies biology at university, and told me that she wants to be a mid wife. She also told me yesterday that when
she was 11 her mom passed away and her dad left. She has lived with her aunt ever since. For her, this is the most complete family she has had in a long time.
I'm serving breakfast tomorrow morning and then making bread from scratch with Ginette, so Kanben for now (Au Revoir in Bambara) and I'll update again soon.
oxoxCelina
ps. Thanks for all the encouraging comments, they really made me smile. I will respond to emails during my next block of time on the computer!
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Ron Powers
non-member comment
La joie de vivre
Bonjour Celina, Allo Celina, Je suis très heureux de voir comment tu es en train de t'adapter à ton nouveau environnement, tes amis, le travail la bas et l'aventure que chaque journée te présente. En regardant tes photos je vois des gens qui sont heureux et qui ont la joie de vivre dans leurs visages et dans leurs esprits. Quelle belle expérience ... prend avantage au maximum. Bonne chance :-) Ron