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Published: August 11th 2009
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EAD
Lunchtime! Some of the group in Matane... Salut!
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather! It has been sunny and warm here for the last couple of weeks, and today Sadio said that it was the same temperature here as in Mali!
A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, but I'm going to try and recount it all...
1. My Work Project: We have been working fulltime in the B&B because Gérald's truck and ATV both brokedown preventing us from working in the woods. They are both up and running now, and I think we are going to start collecting wood again on Thursday. Sadio and I are workking really well together, we can clean the whole B&B in about 3 hours now! Last week my host parents and I had a sit down talk as to how things were working out. They told me that they could tell I didn't enjoy working in the B&B and that if my attitude didn't change they weren't sure if it was going to work out. It was very dramatic, we were all crying and I was trying to explain things in French which just didn't work! But, after having that talk things have
been much more relaxed and I can now appreciate why the B&B is so important to them, and respect what they are trying to do.
2. Host Fam: Well after the talk it's been great! But by the end of last week things were getting pretty tense. Friday was supposed to be our day off but suddenly the B&B was overbooked and Ginette asked us to work. Sadio and I had made plans to see friends and I argued with Ginette and said we could not work. She eventually found other help and things worked out, but we had a pretty bad argument and I was feeling very resentful towards her.
3. Counterpart: It is always very up and down with Sadio, but at the moment things are super! We are spending more time together and starting to get really excited about going to Mali in 5 weeks!!!!!!!!! Yesterday we made my mom's rhubarb cake together and on Thursday she's going to teach me how to make peanut sauce with couscous (a Malian staple). I just finished helping her create an email account, which took a lot of patience as she is just learning how to use a
mouse. Slowly but surely it's is becoming easier to talk to her, and I think that once we get to Mali and she is in her context things will really click!
4. The Group: There was a little drama on the weekend with the group, as two of the guys had invited everyone over to camp Saturday night. BUT on Saturday morning a host parent called our superviser about the camping and we were made the volunteers cancel their plans. He said that the girls and guys could not camp together. Obviously everyone was angry as the group consists of people aged 18-23!
On the weekend Sadio and I had 4 girls over for lunch; Myriam, Fatoumata, Mariam, Sara and I ranted all afternoon. It was so great to know that the other volunteers have EXACTLY the same frustrations as me at this point. We all feel isolated from the group and the community. We all feel trapped with our families who are unable to drive us to see the group. The Malian's said they didn't know what Canada was, that they would return to Mali only knowing a secluded farm in the country. The other girls felt
that their families and our supervisor were uninterested in them and we all expected to meet people in the community and do work that was more rewarding. So, very relieved that the feelings were mutual, we decided to organize our concerns and talk with the rest of the group. In two weeks we have a 3 day group 'mi-project' when we will all be together and reflect on how things are going. We are planning to confront our supervisor then, because really we all worked hard to be here and a lot of us feel like we are being used and have not been given the resources to make this experience something incredible.
I think this will all change when we get to Mali (really soon😊, but in the meantime I feel it's my responsibility to make sure my counterpart really gets to experience Canada, after all this is probably the only chance she will have to be here.
Tomorrow is another EAD (Educational Activity Day) and 3 other girls and I will present the subject. We have been preparing for the last week, and have orgainzed a day focused around the role gendre plays in culture. We
have a really interesting guest speaker, a woman originally from Senegal who works with abused women. She will speak in the afternoon and in the moring we have put together activity and little sketches for the group to perform. I'll tell you how it goes next week!
I've been thinking a lot of home over the last couple weeks, especially after my sister had her baby (A little girl named Alice May). I'm really sad I won't get to meet her for another few months, but I've seen some pictures and she is adorable. I also missed Blueskies which is usually the defining event of my summer. But I got reports on how it went, and Joni even sent me a program! (Thanks!)
Sadio and I looked at the calendar this morning and we leave in 42 days. Only five weeks of work left, which I'm sure will fly by...
That's all for now, I miss everyone at home but really I have the most supportive, thoughful and amazing friends, family and community. Thank you for the letters, emails and workd of encouagement.
xoxoxooxox
Love,
Celina
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Chava
non-member comment
Great Initiative
Hey Celina, I'm so happy that you had a vent fest with some of the other people in the group. Its soo important. Its funny how Katimavik and Canada World Youth are so similar and yet wen it coes to group living they are completely different. But taking the initiative to talk to everyone is impoartant, obviously everyone is at the "why am i here, what does this all mean, how is this helping"stage, Its funny how both programs force a lot of intrespection...if that is even a word. I love your blog, I cant believe i havent read it since the first entry. Your strong and beautiful and I'm so proud of you for remaining dedicated. Also "The Malian's said they didn't know what Canada was, that they would return to Mali only knowing a secluded farm in the country" ouch.