We all woke up early to visit the different volunteer placements. We visited five placements, each quite different. There's probably going to be one volunteer per placement, with a couple exceptions. It seems some of these places depend heavily on Katimavik volunteers, seems unfair that it's only one per placement. Naturally, we will be visiting more placements tomorrow. If your like mum, whose been texting me wanting to know everything about the volunteer placements, then check out this link (http://www.katimavik.org/calendar/partners). Selecting 'Montreal-Ville Emard' will display a whole bunch of links for the different volunteer projects. But first I will fill you in about each one.
The first we visited was a bit of a walk from our house, this was L'arche. It's a community of people living with mentally disabled people of all ages and nationalities. The place was great, they were all bilingual, one even speaks Polish, they do crafts cook soup, and they only work 9am-4pm. Of course we were all fighting over this placement like greyhounds fighting over a popsicle.
Then there was Eco-quartier, this was a walk from home aswell. It's an environmental action group aimed at city gardens, reusable energy, and wiping out invasive species. Volunteering with them in the winter seems a little odd but the aim of the project is the same. When you volunteer with them they will lend you a bike!
Then we visited the Yellow Door which was a metro ride into downtown and then a bit of a walk to McGill Universite. Just next to "Canada's Havard" there's an old heritage building with a big story. The Yellow Door is remarkable in the sense that they do a variety of volunteer work, they do visits and computer competency classes with seniors, they provide and "alcohol-free bar scene" showcasing new music, and they free starving people for cheap. These starving people are, of course, the McGill students.
Then we headed over to the YMCA, which was a metro adventure away. Families from all walks of life who need a place to stay during a tough time. Immigrants, people who've had their uninsured house burnt down, and Inuit people down from the territories for medical work. The YMCA provides housing, child care, affordable food, legal services, and language lessons. The volunteering we'd be doing is mostly with the daycare, but it varies.
The last visit of the day was the Habitat for Humanity Restore. We were a half hour early for this one so we went across the street to a coffee shop where Andrew and I played an intense game of checkers. Then we returned to Restore. They collected used of damaged furniture for restoration and the subsequent selling, the funds benefit the building of low income housing.
Each project has had a some sort of a calling to me, I could gladly enjoy everyone on of them. Knowing the people who take care of me I know you all have you ideas on which one I'd like best. I get to make a top three list tomorrow, and from there Etienne will act as the Harry Potter sorting hat.
After all this we came home of chefs training with Pascal, for those who are wondering, were not stupid, there's always more than one lesson. We made pizza, and muffins. So good. I'm growing an appreciation for home cooked food.
Yay for muffins!
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