Book Reading

I would first just like to thank everyone who helped to organize the event: TE Wealth, Dr. James Maskalyk and my mother. Without their help this event would not have been successful. I would also like to thank everyone who came. I really appreciate everyone's support. It was nice to be able to speak with everyone about their experiences and about places to see while I am in Uganda. The event ran pretty smoothly and while I enjoyed hearing Dr. Maskalyk speak, I am sure that I will get even more from watching the speech the second time through. This is the first time that I have ever organized an event like this and I was so worried about making sure that everything ran smoothly and that there were no problems that I was not able to take in everything that was being said. I am looking forward to getting a copy of the tape and watching the event again when I am fully relaxed.
With all of that said I there are two things that I initially took away from the night and that focuses around two different things: tools and focus. James spoke about having the tools to be able to help. Many people in the crowd were concerned about what was going on with Haiti and what would be the best way for them to help. One important theme came up in the answer and that was being able to have the tools to help. It is not enough to just have your heart in the right place, but to also learn what your strengths are and to be able to use those to help people. He gave the example of him being educated in medicine, so he was able to go and help with medical issues that were happening in Sudan. That is one thing that scares me the most; I have trouble finding out what I am good at. When I am in job interviews and they ask that question (“What are some of your strengths?”) I feel a little lost. I am still in school, do I really have any skills? I know what I want to do in life (somewhat), to deal with Human Rights issues or international law or - something along those lines. That type of work would need a lot more education that I have though, wouldn’t it? My biggest fear of being sent to Uganda to volunteer is not being able to help. I am scared that I will just get in the way. I hope this fear will be eased when I know what it is I am going to be doing over there. Until then, I wait with multiple knots in my stomach.
The second thing was focus. Focus when you are volunteering and after volunteering. This is one of the reasons that I admire James and what he is doing. It seems that he has never stopped engaging in what he is passionate about. I hope that this trip does not become “a slide show of pictures I can look back on” but rather the start of something else. I hope that I have enough focus to not lose sight of what it is I want to achieve, of what I want to do. I really want to make sure that this is the start of something bigger. The closer and closer that I get to this trip, the more I get nervous. There is still so much preparation to do and it is all pulling at the small amount of free time that I get. I am so excited that I was able to experience everything I did for the book reading and even more so that Dr. James Maskalyk agreed to come speak. I am getting anxious to watch the tape again.
On another note, the fundraising is starting to go well. There are rumors that there may be another band night this term. There is also a yard sale (note to self call the people for the room booking) which is going to happen. I am starting to slowly get better at being able to plan out what to do when organizing an event. I know that if I were to drop out of the program right now (which I am not planning to at all) I will have at least learned that! Being part of Beyond Borders means that you will start your way onto becoming an excellent event planner! Please stay tuned to learn more about our fundraisers. The next one that is being held is on this coming Thursday in AL (at the University of Waterloo), we will be selling items to raise money. I hope to see everyone out there!
Thank-you for reading. Comments are welcome.