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Published: December 6th 2008
I left Calgary back in early September for my Canada World Youth adventure. It's hard to believe, but three months have now passed in Hamilton, ON, and now I'm off to New Delhi, India tomorrow!
I admit, my initial reaction to living in Hamilton was mainly disappointment. Everything I had heard about this city was that it is very dirty, rough, blue collared, polluted and poor. I guess I would still have to agree with a lot of these things, but perhaps it's not to the same extent that I had been told, and there definitely is a lot more to this city than these negatives. For example, there is the Niagara Escarpment that runs right behind the home that I was staying, so there were some nice 'hiking' trails. I would also have to say that there is some very politically, environmentally and socially aware people living here because there were so many events and programs going on, and also because of the University. Did I mention that Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas were from here too? I guess in the end I have a better appreciation for the city.
I think the Canadian phase for
myself was not so much about where I was, but the people that were involved. The group of 17 other participants, 8 others from across Canada, and the other 9 from India, have given me the opportunity to learn, challenge and most importantly enjoy myself. We were each paired up with a partner from the exchange county; my counterpart's name is Kajal. She's from a town in the outskirts of New Delhi, and this was her first time leaving India. Needless to say, she was quite culture shocked when arriving to Canada, so I tried to help as much as I could, even if I wasn't yet used to having someone around me practically 24/7! We were living in a nice old community in a 3 storey 100 year home with a really welcoming family. They really went out of their way to make sure that we were comfortable in our stay and had us treat their home like it was our own.
As for my weekly daily activities, I had a work placement at Environment Hamilton on Mondays to Wednesdays. During this time I mainly worked on some of their different programs towards climate change, energy saving tips
for individuals and organizations, organizing workshops, article writing, paper pushing, and quite a few other things. They allowed my work counterpart, Sheeba (New Delhi) and I to have quite a bit of flexibility with our placement since we worked from home most of the time. This was definitely out of the ordinary compared to the rest of the group!
Thursdays was our time at the AIDS Network where they mainly explained the different aspects of HIV/AIDS and the operations of a non-profit organization. Having completed my undergrad in Development studies I was already reasonably well versed in this, but one thing that I did realize during this placement was the extent of the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. It is really pretty unbelievable how much misunderstanding still surrounds this issue, even in developed countries like Canada!
Fridays were our day for community education. Groups were formed by the participants to present about certain aspects of the city. I made two presentations with my group Kajal, Sebastien (Luskville, QC), and Maroof (New Delhi) about the environmental situation and also the history of Hamilton. During these presentations we involved guest speakers, and even a hike along the Bruce trail on the
Niagara escarpment.
Some of the highlights of this phase of the trip:
-Flying in my host family's 4 seater plane over Niagara falls & Toronto
-The mid project camp: I got to know a lot more of the group
-the AIDS network walk in September. We helped volunteer with this at different stations along the walk
-Making some escapes out of Hamilton to Toronto (visited some of Kajal's family)
-Diwali celebration
All in all, this phase of the program has allowed me to make some great friends, learn about a new community, get involved in a community, and allowed for some self-reflection. This is definitely a learning experience and one which pushes people to reach outside of their comfort zones. I look forward to my trip to India and promise to take more pictures and update my blog!
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Lyndsey
non-member comment
jerk
soooo....let me make sure i understand this. some of the highlights of being in hamilton were the aids walk, the jesus camp and the plane over the falls. hmmm.....i guess i didn't make the cut. what did that magical day mean to you? nothing!!!??? believe it or not (exclamation mark) that day was very special to me. is hamilton holding you captive? is that why you said those nice things about the city? oh my god! you are being held hostage by the big fog! i am coming to get you! stay where you are!