In the beginning

The journey really begins long before what most people would recognize as the first step. You would think that the roller coaster feeling of taking off in Toronto on August 5th would be the start. In reality, this journey started the before I even knew it. But as to not risk telling my entire life story, I will start with the day I left Vancouver. It almost seemed like leaving a world behind. A torn feeling that, in all honesty, bordered much more on the nervous side than the certain, stable side I would have like to be on. After having lived the first 21 years of my life in Montreal, I knew upon leaving it that it would actually always be there. I had had enough time to love and truly appreciate my family and enough time and good times to create bonds with friends that I know would withstand time and distance. Vancouver was different because my reality there had been much shorter. Everything I had created was still new. As confident as I felt I would have the same feelings upon returning in December, I could not ensure that everyone else I interacted with would feel the same.

All of these feelings made me feel two main things: one that I had built relationships that were meaningful enough to me that I would miss them and two was a question to myself about my worthiness of going on this placement while having such a hard time leaving. Would I be able to be effective if my mindset was not where I wanted it to be? If I can break my thoughts down into layers, what kept me going was that at one of the deepest layers, I knew that going was not only something I wanted to do but also something I appreciated. Something that extended so much further than my small existence in two Canadian cities.

I made the flight to Montreal that afternoon by running to the gate. I procrastinated leaving to the point where I almost missed the plane. I mean I even pulled on a skirt over torn jeans right in front of the check-on agent as I had not come to the airport dressed professionally. Ghana seemed far away at this point.

Friday, July 31st 2009 – Flowrescent Friday EWB fundraiser

With the help and expertise and hard work of my brother, Alex, there was to be a fundraising party that night to promote my departure and purpose in going to Ghana with EWB. It’s interesting how leaving a place, for whatever reason, makes you appreciate what you have. At a local Italian restaurant on Friday night, before the party, I sat with my amazing parents, old best friends from Montreal, comparatively new but very much valued friends from Vancouver and could not help but smile and think of how lucky I was.

The party was fun and successful. Money and awareness were raised around dollar drinks and very danceable music. At this point it would be fair to say that the reality of the next day had not fully sunk in. I was in Africa from Karl Wolf’s interpretation – it was in my mind but I still did not completely own my thoughts.

Saturday, August 1st, 2009 – “See you soon”

After a delicious breakfast and then tearful “see you soons” (because that is really what they were) I was in Toronto with a huge bag and a very vague idea of where I was supposed to be. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was to be there by 7pm. There is only one fact about Toronto that I am sure about. It is the airport code YYZ for Pearson. Oh boy. So, with a paper map in hand, 2.75$ in my pocket and the confidence that I could get there, I boarded my first bus and just looked around. People were staring at my luggage – I almost felt like I should have had a sign stating where I was going. But I guess at this point that sign would have basically had a big question mark. Bus to subway to streetcar to a long, hot, walk…finally I was there! EWB house. OMG it’s real now I thought as the cut-out of the African woman greeted me on the front door. I brought my stuff upstairs and found Liz already set up in a bunk bed. Now would be a good time to introduce the 4 other JFs going on this adventure: Liz, Nadia, Jody and Claire. Instantaneous friends. It’s amazing how well we all clicked but then I guess that perhaps may be one the founding reasons we were all there. Whatever it was that we had in common to get us to that house were the same reasons we really seemed to get along.

Once we were all there, Binnu, our wonderfully enthusiastic program leader, wasted no time in getting down to business. Upon stepping foot in the house, our experience had begun. We had her, Kristy and Genevieve go over the “bottom layer of the pyramid” concerning health, safety and well-being. Where are we going to live? How are we going to communicate? Did we bring enough? These surface questions were the first ones to get out of the way, to make room for the real learning. We ended our incredibly long day by going to a local bar with some former JFs and OVSs….And thanks to Binnu I will do this with every blog entry:

One amazing thing I learnt that night:
From Mina: His host family’s location in the Mongu region of Zambia is, to him, the most beautiful place in the entire world. He just said it with such certainty that I could do nothing but believe him. Oh, I also learnt that Mongu rice has a sweet, vanilla scent….which obviously made me hungry.