Day 225 - "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush (Datassette Remix)
Today I was catching up with a friend over Facebook and he had mentioned that he is heading to Tanzania in Africa to hike the six day trek up Mount Kilimanjaro and go on a couple safaries. This brought back amazing memories of when I was in South Africa six years ago going scuba diving, driving around on safaris and of course my favourite part of the trip...I had volunteered on a monkey farm called The Vervet Monkey Foundation. During my stay at the foundation I had the opportunity to interact hands on with the baby monkeys which included feeding them, playing with them, getting to know them and learning about their unique behaviours. Originally when I was planning my trip to South Africa I had been looking for volunteer opportunities in an orphanage but I came across the monkey foundation and thought "when in the world will I have the chance to play with baby monkeys and learn about them?". I loved the experience and highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in monkeys.
Prior to volunteering in Africa I had been a volunteer at Providence Place for many years. Providence Place is a long term care home for geriatrics. I initially volunteered as a candy striper where I visited with the residents and helped serve food and then helped out in the physiotherapy department where my mom works. My mom always instilled upon me that volunteering is a fundamental part of life. If ever I tell my mom that I'm bored or lonely, she reminds me to get out and do some volunteering...to make use of my time and help someone other than myself.
I'm heading back to Calgary on Thursday and I'm slightly nervous because I keep thinking about all of the new free time I will have in my evenings and on the weekends. Usually a person would be excited about this, but not me...I loved (probably too much) to brainstorm and plan fun things for us to do during the week and on the weekend. Even just little adventures together like star gazing at the U of C observatory ("to the observatory!!"). Now I need to redirect my thoughts and volunteering is a healthy and natural way for me to take the focus of my alone self. A few months ago, when Farrah had passed, I was in discussions with her manager at her job at the time about volunteer opportunities. She used to work at CNIB which is a non-profit charity organization for the blind. I was too overwhelmed at that time with work, family, adventures and coping with the loss of Farrah to set aside time to volunteer. Here we go! I finally replied to her manager today to set up a meeting to see what volunteer opportunities are available.
Thank you mom and Farrah for being rocks in my life! A new learning experience is around the corner, very excited to see what fun this brings.
Until tomorrow.
xox
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