Now I know that some people might come across my blog and wonder what they can do for these kids. Well, Let me tell you. If you go to --> HERE <-- you can support the next generation of Katimavikers! As of this post over half of these volunteers have nothing funded (according to their page, obviously I don't know their personal situation). So skip a coffee, ride your bike instead of taking the bus, every dollar helps.
I don't know, maybe you enjoyed my blog while I was away on my Katimavik journey and want to return the favour to someone else, kinda like a pay it forward situation? Perhaps you can donate to these kids with the knowledge that they will have life-changing journeys
Hey, I can give you something exciting? Yes? Does that work. I ask you to fund these new volunteers so I should give you something in return. How about some more stories? (I went through my groups' photos *obviously not all of them*) These all have some more stories that I will share below
Okay, so this photo is just a classic Katimavik photo. It's our first attempt at making bread! We were pretty successful... considering none of us had ever made bread before. We all worked in pairs, and Sterling and Willie named their bread "Bruce Willis". (Also another plug here, the Katimavik alumni are looking to make a cookbook for the new volunteers! If you have recipes from your time you can email them to alumni.ancient@katimavik.org until May 20th, 2018)
Here are our last fleeting moments in Lethbridge. We presented Erin (our PL) with a card and gifts and such. Willie, Sterling, and Connor wrote her a song, and it was just a super emotional night. I remember just running around like crazy. Just before the bus (the moment that I remember) is that we were all laying on the front lawn with our heads on each other's stomachs and one of us just started laughing and it was a laughter chain. The last few weeks of Lethbridge have to be one of my favourite moments of the program, I felt like I was finally coming into my own and thriving.
We all went to a "fancy" dinner to celebrate our time in Lethbridge. It was at a Chinese Restaurant in downtown (I remember it being across from Galt Gardens). It was weird because we hadn't gone out as a giant group for a while, and it was nice to relax and enjoy each others company for the last few moments.
Here we are in Lake Louise. I am laughing my butt off because Morgan was telling me something about how I was being too serious (I think...doesn't really matter). So he gets down on one knee and starts to pretend to propose to me, keeps pulling my hand/hoodie towards him and I just can't help but laugh and Jills laughing at me. If you notice me red in the face it's because I am awkward in social situations!
This was a fascinating night? Canmore or Medicine Hat (I'm leaning towards Canmore) came to visit so they camped out in our backyard. We all volunteered at the BMX event in Lethbridge that weekend. We had a fire in our fire pit and brought out all these random chairs (can you see our beautiful sofa! We hauled that from the basement!) We made smores, played werewolf (still one of my favourite games), and we just enjoyed being young adults brought together by this weird program.
I picked this one for two reasons. 1) We had races through this giant inflatable maze thing that we were running at the Pumpkin Fest while we waited for the event to actually start. It was so much fun! I liked that we got to actually play with this thing before we had to get down to work. And 2) If you didn't already know, I'm a really white person. So do you see that tan I am rocking? Yes (if not the hints on my hobbit feet where you can see tan lines) well working at Birds of Prey in the sun all summer I wore the same length pants every day. Well...I didn't even think about it at the time and you're probably thinking huh? Well...tan lines are a thing. I had the weirdest tan line on my calf, like a leg farmers tan. It was awful. A year after Katimavik I still had the weird tan line on my leg!
This last one is my absolute favourite! It's blurry like that night. We had a traveling bard type figure named Andre who stayed with us a few nights (I honestly don't fully remember why) and he led us through a workshop. But we all decided to see if we could all fit into one of our bunk beds. Well Helena and I were originally sitting in my bed, and just one by one more people kept coming into the girls' room and before we knew it everyone was packed into my bed! See when kids get bored they come up with weird solutions! So for future reference (take note new volunteers) in those bunk beds, you can fit 11 volunteers, 1 traveling bard, and 1 Project Leader!
I've realized that all of these moments come from our time in Lethbridge...Maybe if I do this again I will focus on Quebec. I have to admit there's a ton of stories that I just didn't have the time or didn't think we're interesting/appropriate.
Donate to the new volunteers!
*Also new volunteers, I am totally 100% willing to answer your questions if you're reading this...I'm a real person that is wanting to help you in any way possible!*
