Thursday, September 25, 2008

La Corde, my new volunteering venture!

La Corde (The Rope)


About a month ago I read an article in the local newspaper about an organization called La Corde funded by World Vision that caught my attention. It caught my attention for two reasons. One, the work they where doing seemed really great. Among many other programs, tutoring and mentoring children after school who needed the extra help. The second reason was location, about two bus rides away- a total traveling distance of around 20 minutes. Now the second reason is deffinetly good for convenience purposes, but I think had it been even further away I would of applied just because I really believe in what they’re doing. So why did the location drive me even more to apply. To see that only 20 minutes away from my house there is poverty. The school im building in Uganda will serve poor children and when people use that phrase "what about the poor here?" What about them? Show me here where children here are turned away from school because they can’t afford a school uniform. Where mothers grieve over their infants death because it was pricked by a mosquito which carried malaria, and they are too poor to afford the $ 4 treatment. Where entire communities are left with nothing after rebels burned it down and kidnaped the innocent. These ignorant people. Poverty in Canada, bah! Show me! I thought I was the one being global and looking "outside the box", helping those who really need it. I guess my box has been shook.

Poverty is...

"being afraid to tell your mom you need new gym shoes"

"pretending that you forgot your lunch"

"hiding your feet so the teacher won’t get angry you don’t have boots"

"not getting to go on school trips"

Those are quotes from grade 4&5 students.



Let me introduce you to the Cloverdale community. (Reminder, 20 minutes from my house. Also some stuff is copy and pasted from the information they sent me. ) Families tend to be large, with 3-6 children. Most if not all people who are working, work for minimum wage. 35% of the Cloverdale residents live below the poverty line with 65% living at the poverty line - with a median income of $12,000(the average median for the city it's located in, Pierrefonds, is around $38,000) It is a majority immigrant population: there are 52-53 different ethnic groups represented, with 40% African, 30% Haitian, 20% Quebecois and 10% Middle Eastern.





People like to analyze all the diffrent types of poverty. The main two are extreme poverty, and poverty. They like to look at annual monetary figures of households, grades children are obtaining, location, and it goes on. When it all boils down shouldn't we help anyone in need of it? If someone/place has more needs than another should we ignore the other place? I know personally it's overwehlming to think of everything that needs to be fixed and helped in this world. Start with one child. Numerouse organization offer child sponsorship programs. You can search for one that you feel the best with. I can personally tell you that it's an amazing thing to do(afterall this blog was named after two of my sponsored children.)Big Brother Big Sister has a great program running in the US&Canada to mentor a child from your community in need. They require a minimum of two hours a week (about the legth of a film) for you to spend with the child.


Articled I read that lead me to volunteer : http://www.thesuburban.com/dialog_printarticle.jsp?sid=11049853422039100598150402904&ctid=1000001&cnid=1016137

I go in for my first day on Wensday!! So excited:)

1 comment:

Nikki said...

Wow- that sounds awesome! I can't wait to hear about it. I am looking for a similar program to volunteer with here. I did the Big Brother Big Sister program for a LONG time (saw my little sister weekly for almost three years) but now that she is getting older I am looking for something new... I think I will have to go do a search :)