One of my colleagues, Manpreet, was a Leave for Change participant a couple years ago – she went to Botswana – and when she returned, she gave a presentation at one of our staff meetings about her experience. That was the first I’d heard of the program, and I remember jotting something down in my notebook, “check out Leave for Change – apply next year?”. I didn’t though. I’d plum forgot all about it, since I rarely go back and read my notes from meetings. (There, I said it.) When I received an email calling for participants again, I remembered Manpreet’s talk and thought, ok, this year, for real. I figured out what I had to do and started working on it. Part of the application asked why I wanted to go, and I really did some self-reflection before I answered.
I was what you might consider an “at-risk youth”. If it wasn’t for some amazing government and other community programs, and for a handful of counselors who saw the good in me and helped me care about my own future, I wouldn’t be where I am today. One of those programs whisked me away to Jamaica, and I was promptly placed outside my comfortable little bubble. I learned a lot about the country, its people, its culture, myself, and the world during that time. It helped shape me into the person I am today, and I happen to really like that person, so for that, I’m forever grateful.
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s time to show some of that gratitude. I’ve been meaning to get off my arse and do some volunteering here in Vancouver – there’s lots of work to be done, that’s for sure – but for some reason, going to a developing country and starting there seems like what I need to do to get that ball rolling. I need to be reminded of what things are like outside my bubble again.
