Do you know what sucks about the nutritional aspect of healthy living? Eating healthy is not enjoyable. Exercise can be enjoyable. You get to exert yourself, and the act of putting your all into it can give the sense of emotional expression. It can make you feel like you're directly combating your issue. After you're finished, you feel good.
Eating healthy only feels good in a long-term kind of way that your brain never directly associates with the act of eating. Even if you can make healthy food taste as good as unhealthy food, it takes planning, and you're always limited in what you can eat. After eating a healthy meal, you feel bad. Unhealthy food gives short-term benefits that allows your brain to associate with the act of eating. Eating healthy actually makes you feel deprived of these good effects, even if you know they're false.
Jumping around on topics today. The government's killing the penny. There will no longer be any one-cent coins. Honestly, I don't feel as effected by this as I did about Katimavik. Mom's not happy about it, though. She called that this would happen, too. She told me that she was afraid that they were going to cancel the penny, because she hadn't seen any pennies from 2012.
We collect pennies, and Mom tries to get a penny from each year. She's got a calender with pennies taped to various years.
If we cancel the nickel, we're going to end up like Mali. Mali's lowest form of currency was a ten franc coin, but that was worth about two cents. I did the math.
I remember one time, this guy didn't have the right change, so instead of giving me a 25 franc coin, he gave me three ten franc coins. So I made my purchase at five francs off!
Just a few days ago, I found a little baggy of Malian change. I'd gotten one of each of the coins (they turn into bills once you hit 1000 francs) for Mom, since she's into coins. Once I got back to Canada, though, I couldn't find them. I was sure I'd packed them, and I went through my luggage again and again, to no avail.
It was in the pocket of one of my pairs of shorts. I hadn't worn shorts since coming back, because this is Canada in winter, but because of the early spring, I've switched over to shorts again.
We're also changing our bills from paper to plastic. I just saw a new plastic $50 bill today. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. I don't think I care. It's got a transparent bit, that I found sort of tacky, because it feels like it's showcasing it's nature of being plastic. Nobody's going to be all that excited about that in a couple years, so there's no real reason to emphasize the novelty of it on a bill that's going to be with us for many years. I'm also betting that I'll feel nostalgic for paper after I've handled plastic for awhile, but that will just be because of the nostalgia factor, not because paper's better. Plastic's probably more durable and economical or something. It's probably a good overall change, but I don't really care.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Katimavik Died
The government cut Katimavik's funding entirely, and the program has been cancelled. I feel like I'm a whirlwind of destruction, leaving everywhere I go damaged or destroyed. First it was Mali, and now it's Katimavik.
Right now, the program is more important than ever. In this recession, you can't get work unless you have experience, and you can't get experience unless you have work. Poverty is on the rise, and less people can afford post-secondary. Katimavik was an inexpensive way for youth to get job experience, volunteer experience, and education. After Katimavik, I was playing an entirely different game in the working world than I was before I did the program.
This has happened before, and it's come back. I don't know why Katimavik always seems to be the program that's given a hard time. Canada World Youth is more expensive to the government, less well-known, and less excessible to the public, but nobody seems to ever consider cutting it.
Katimavik is a more important credential to impoverished youth trying to get their foot in the door, too. Canada World Youth is a better high-end credential for if you want a job that has to do with international relations, or something. You just can't fill a resume with the stuff you do in CWY like you could with Katimavik.
I'm going to be voting for the first time this year. So far, I've really hit the stereotype of an apathetic youth, and an ignorant blue-collar worker. Two groups that are known for not voting, while being effected by governmental changes more harshly. I knew I was living up to these stereotypes, and I knew it was bad, but I just didn't pay a lot of attention to politics, and didn't feel invested in things like news.
Maybe youth and blue-collar people don't vote because they're so used to getting screwed over, and learning to accept it is a learned skill, so it doesn't really occur to us that we can make a difference, or it doesn't give us the same feeling of empowerment, because we're not used to making successful contributions.
Maybe youths don't vote simply because they haven't lived long enough, and haven't had enough experiences that have deeply effected them. This may be a sign that I'm starting to leave the "youth" category, as I'm going to be voting, and the reason is because of a past experience.
I'll be voting against the fools who cancelled Katimavik, obviously. I wish I could just give them an anti-vote, to detract from their total post count, instead of voting for another party.
We were going into our third Katimavik group in Guelph. We didn't get the full worth of our five year contract!
There goes my goal of becoming a Katimavik Project Leader.
Right now, the program is more important than ever. In this recession, you can't get work unless you have experience, and you can't get experience unless you have work. Poverty is on the rise, and less people can afford post-secondary. Katimavik was an inexpensive way for youth to get job experience, volunteer experience, and education. After Katimavik, I was playing an entirely different game in the working world than I was before I did the program.
This has happened before, and it's come back. I don't know why Katimavik always seems to be the program that's given a hard time. Canada World Youth is more expensive to the government, less well-known, and less excessible to the public, but nobody seems to ever consider cutting it.
Katimavik is a more important credential to impoverished youth trying to get their foot in the door, too. Canada World Youth is a better high-end credential for if you want a job that has to do with international relations, or something. You just can't fill a resume with the stuff you do in CWY like you could with Katimavik.
I'm going to be voting for the first time this year. So far, I've really hit the stereotype of an apathetic youth, and an ignorant blue-collar worker. Two groups that are known for not voting, while being effected by governmental changes more harshly. I knew I was living up to these stereotypes, and I knew it was bad, but I just didn't pay a lot of attention to politics, and didn't feel invested in things like news.
Maybe youth and blue-collar people don't vote because they're so used to getting screwed over, and learning to accept it is a learned skill, so it doesn't really occur to us that we can make a difference, or it doesn't give us the same feeling of empowerment, because we're not used to making successful contributions.
Maybe youths don't vote simply because they haven't lived long enough, and haven't had enough experiences that have deeply effected them. This may be a sign that I'm starting to leave the "youth" category, as I'm going to be voting, and the reason is because of a past experience.
I'll be voting against the fools who cancelled Katimavik, obviously. I wish I could just give them an anti-vote, to detract from their total post count, instead of voting for another party.
We were going into our third Katimavik group in Guelph. We didn't get the full worth of our five year contract!
There goes my goal of becoming a Katimavik Project Leader.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
LGBTTIIQQ2SAAP
I just got an email from Canada World Youth requesting my presence at a focus group for people who are of a non-dominant sexuality or gender identity/expression...
Okay, it went out to Toronto area alumni, and it says "if" I am of a non-dominant sexuality or gender identity/expression, plus I'm not sure I know the lady who forwarded it to me, so it's not like somebody eyeballed me and made a decision about my orientation/identity/expression, but like the job offer, it's not like it was sent out from a mailing list, either...
What the hell is going on? First I get that job offer that would be "more suited for a woman", then a couple days ago, some gay guy hit on me, and now, my presence is being requested to represent people in sexual minorities...
By the way, the strand of letters that used to represent people in sexual minorities was LGBT. It stood for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered. But they kept adding more labels and categories, and the workshop I got invited to was the LGBTTIQQ2SA Workshop. Let's see how many of those I can name:
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Transsexual (don't know) Queer Questioning (don't know) (don't know) Asexual.
That's not bad. Of the ten letters (and one number), I was able to name eight. I didn't know what the "I", the "2", or the "S" stood for.
Oh wait, "S" would be for "Sisgendered". I don't really remember what that means, but I've heard it. I think it means somebody who is mostly heterosexual, but who doesn't mind walking the other side of the fence every once in a while. It can't be a too widely-used term. It's the only word in this post so far that the spell check doesn't know.
Wait, the email's got a list of categories that are spelled out. They are: "lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer, questioning, trans, intersex, genderqueer, and two-spirit"
Okay, yeah, that's 11 terms to fit the 11 letters. I guess the "I" stood for "Intersex" and the "2" stood for "Two-spirit". But they have "Pansexual" and there's no "P" in the list of letters, and there's nothing in the full-word format that starts with "S".
Okay, I'm going to look up some definitions.
Okay, using wordnet....
Pansexual: "A person who participates in (or is open to) sexual activities of many kinds."
Intersex: "One having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made."
Wordnet's not giving me anything for "Sisgender" or "Two-spirit" (And yeah, I tried two-spirit, two spirit, twospirit, 2spirit, 2-spirit, and 2 spirit).
Let's try a generic Google search.
Using Wikipedia...
Two spirit: "Two-Spirit People (also Two Spirit or Twospirit), is an English umbrella term for Indigenous North Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations communities."
Cisgender: "A class of gender identities where an individual's gender identity matches the behavior or role considered appropriate for one's sex."
Okay, so Cisgender turned out to start with a "C" and just means that you fit the definition of what your society thinks is appropriate for your gender. Still don't know what the "S" stands for. Let's do a Google search on the original strand of letters. Maybe there's a list...
Looks like it's a Canada-exclusive list. Here's a list:
“LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, TRANSEXUAL, INTERESTED, QUEER, QUESTIONING, TWO-SPIRITED and ALLIES.”
Okay, so "I" stands for "Interested" instead of "Intersex", and "A" stands for "Ally" instead of "Asexual". Oh yeah, I remember this lesbian woman saying that I could have some kind of association with the gay community because I'm an "Ally".
Well, then why can't I go to this workshop? I'll just be like "Yo, I'm an ally." But they seem to the the "A" stands for asexual, and the "I" stands for intersex, since those were on their list.
And where's the "S"? They have eleven figures, but drop the "S" when they spell them out. Let's try somewhere else.
Ohhhhhhhh... I just checked another list, and it bolds what each one stands for. "Two spirit" is "2S" They get two figures instead of one, and the "S" stands for "Spirit".
Okay, now to judge the accuracy of the CWY list:
-They lumped "Transgendered" and "Transsexual" together under the term "Trans"
-They replaced "Allies" with "Asexual" and "Interested" with "Intersex"
-They added "Pansexual"
My God, if you included the CWY-exclusive terms and added them to the already 11-character term, you could add another three figures (Asexual, Intersex, Pansexual)
So it would be LGBTTIIQQ2SAAP.
Look, I'm all for being inclusive, but if I have to memorize this entire list to prove it, I feel like the assumption is that people are going to be discriminatory, and if you want to be accepting, you have to complete some fucking challenge to be accepted as accepting. That's kind of messed up. If you want people to respect you, why are you making it so inconvenient?
Okay, it went out to Toronto area alumni, and it says "if" I am of a non-dominant sexuality or gender identity/expression, plus I'm not sure I know the lady who forwarded it to me, so it's not like somebody eyeballed me and made a decision about my orientation/identity/expression, but like the job offer, it's not like it was sent out from a mailing list, either...
What the hell is going on? First I get that job offer that would be "more suited for a woman", then a couple days ago, some gay guy hit on me, and now, my presence is being requested to represent people in sexual minorities...
By the way, the strand of letters that used to represent people in sexual minorities was LGBT. It stood for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered. But they kept adding more labels and categories, and the workshop I got invited to was the LGBTTIQQ2SA Workshop. Let's see how many of those I can name:
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Transsexual (don't know) Queer Questioning (don't know) (don't know) Asexual.
That's not bad. Of the ten letters (and one number), I was able to name eight. I didn't know what the "I", the "2", or the "S" stood for.
Oh wait, "S" would be for "Sisgendered". I don't really remember what that means, but I've heard it. I think it means somebody who is mostly heterosexual, but who doesn't mind walking the other side of the fence every once in a while. It can't be a too widely-used term. It's the only word in this post so far that the spell check doesn't know.
Wait, the email's got a list of categories that are spelled out. They are: "lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer, questioning, trans, intersex, genderqueer, and two-spirit"
Okay, yeah, that's 11 terms to fit the 11 letters. I guess the "I" stood for "Intersex" and the "2" stood for "Two-spirit". But they have "Pansexual" and there's no "P" in the list of letters, and there's nothing in the full-word format that starts with "S".
Okay, I'm going to look up some definitions.
Okay, using wordnet....
Pansexual: "A person who participates in (or is open to) sexual activities of many kinds."
Intersex: "One having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made."
Wordnet's not giving me anything for "Sisgender" or "Two-spirit" (And yeah, I tried two-spirit, two spirit, twospirit, 2spirit, 2-spirit, and 2 spirit).
Let's try a generic Google search.
Using Wikipedia...
Two spirit: "Two-Spirit People (also Two Spirit or Twospirit), is an English umbrella term for Indigenous North Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations communities."
Cisgender: "A class of gender identities where an individual's gender identity matches the behavior or role considered appropriate for one's sex."
Okay, so Cisgender turned out to start with a "C" and just means that you fit the definition of what your society thinks is appropriate for your gender. Still don't know what the "S" stands for. Let's do a Google search on the original strand of letters. Maybe there's a list...
Looks like it's a Canada-exclusive list. Here's a list:
“LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, TRANSEXUAL, INTERESTED, QUEER, QUESTIONING, TWO-SPIRITED and ALLIES.”
Okay, so "I" stands for "Interested" instead of "Intersex", and "A" stands for "Ally" instead of "Asexual". Oh yeah, I remember this lesbian woman saying that I could have some kind of association with the gay community because I'm an "Ally".
Well, then why can't I go to this workshop? I'll just be like "Yo, I'm an ally." But they seem to the the "A" stands for asexual, and the "I" stands for intersex, since those were on their list.
And where's the "S"? They have eleven figures, but drop the "S" when they spell them out. Let's try somewhere else.
Ohhhhhhhh... I just checked another list, and it bolds what each one stands for. "Two spirit" is "2S" They get two figures instead of one, and the "S" stands for "Spirit".
Okay, now to judge the accuracy of the CWY list:
-They lumped "Transgendered" and "Transsexual" together under the term "Trans"
-They replaced "Allies" with "Asexual" and "Interested" with "Intersex"
-They added "Pansexual"
My God, if you included the CWY-exclusive terms and added them to the already 11-character term, you could add another three figures (Asexual, Intersex, Pansexual)
So it would be LGBTTIIQQ2SAAP.
Look, I'm all for being inclusive, but if I have to memorize this entire list to prove it, I feel like the assumption is that people are going to be discriminatory, and if you want to be accepting, you have to complete some fucking challenge to be accepted as accepting. That's kind of messed up. If you want people to respect you, why are you making it so inconvenient?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Courage Sharing
Okay, so it looks like the last update was the proper 300th.
Even though I don't have cutaneous leishmaniasis anymore, and haven't for some time, I still have some red markings around my ankle. They have the same quality as the rest of my skin, and they haven't decreased in size for quite some time. I think it actually may be residual scarring from the infection. Oh well, it's a nice souvenir to have brought back from Africa. Kind of cool, actually.
In my rejection letter, the guy said that they still need male volunteers for the next CWY assignment. That's funny, in Katimavik, they also have an over-abundance of female volunteers. They tried to balance out based on gender, but every group had at least one extra female at their starting point.
CWY has female-exclusive groups, in addition to ones with a gender balance. They say that it's to promote awareness of gender issues, but it looks to be more likely a way to deal with the disproportionately large number of female applicants.
In Mali, they believe that if you have enough courage, you can do anything, and they believe that it's the type of thing that can be passed around. If someone got sick, all their friends would visit them to "Give them their courage", which would help the sick person heal. When I was crying when I was about to leave the village, tons of Malians told me that they "Gave me their courage".
Courage-sharing was a nice tradition, that the Canadians picked up.
Even though I don't have cutaneous leishmaniasis anymore, and haven't for some time, I still have some red markings around my ankle. They have the same quality as the rest of my skin, and they haven't decreased in size for quite some time. I think it actually may be residual scarring from the infection. Oh well, it's a nice souvenir to have brought back from Africa. Kind of cool, actually.
In my rejection letter, the guy said that they still need male volunteers for the next CWY assignment. That's funny, in Katimavik, they also have an over-abundance of female volunteers. They tried to balance out based on gender, but every group had at least one extra female at their starting point.
CWY has female-exclusive groups, in addition to ones with a gender balance. They say that it's to promote awareness of gender issues, but it looks to be more likely a way to deal with the disproportionately large number of female applicants.
In Mali, they believe that if you have enough courage, you can do anything, and they believe that it's the type of thing that can be passed around. If someone got sick, all their friends would visit them to "Give them their courage", which would help the sick person heal. When I was crying when I was about to leave the village, tons of Malians told me that they "Gave me their courage".
Courage-sharing was a nice tradition, that the Canadians picked up.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Actual 300th Blog Post
Okay, so now it says that THIS one is the 300th blog post.
I spoke to the woman from the logbook today over Skype. She says that I'm the first participant that she'd spoken with, everyone else having been a supervisor. She said that she is also going to contact the other person who has been most active on the logbook since completing the program, other than me. This is because, of all the CWY groups, apparently, our logbook was the most successful. The logbooks had been a pilot project and she said that the goal was to introduce technology to participants of host communities, as it's become a topic that is continually becoming more associated with North American culture, and something that people in host communities see as something they would like to be exposed to during their time in Canada. She had another goal, but it slips my mind for the moment. Maybe something like enhancing awareness of the host community.
Anyway, I told her that the Malians may not have expressed interest in the logbook, but they had expressed interest in things like Facebook. I said that this is probably because Facebook is a community-based media, whereas the logbook is more individualistic. I said that one thing the Malians grappled with in Canada was something that they called "Canadian individualism", and I told her that it's possible that the success of our logbook may have been a positive result coming out of a negative quality of my group. I told her that the Canadians in my group had difficulty operating as a group, and with the communal quality of Karadie, but that they showed real competence and insight working individually or pairs. I said that the reason our blog may have flourished with the Canadians is because it's an individual-based media, and that's where they shined. Kind of a prelude to the difficulties they'd have adapting to a cultural-based society.
I told her that the Malians were all interested in experiencing different cultures, and that they would be interested in being exposed to other host communities in CWY, so if it could be formatted to better emphasize communication, rather than individual articles, and interlink the different communities, it might be more successful with participants from partner communities.
Technology-wise, I had a few quibbles with their method for publishing photos, and how they do the log-in.
She asked me a bunch of other stuff, like whether or not I thought it could be made a general assumption that there would be at least one Canadian with the technical skills to operate the logbook, and that there would be at least one participant from the partner community interested in learning about technology, but I won't go into detail. All in all, I thought it was a pretty successful little chat.
I caught an old friend from Katimavik on Skype after I finished talking with this CWY person. I spent about 45 minutes talking to her, just like I did with the logbook lady.
Unfortunately, the good feel of the day ends here. I got burned for the CWY job offer. I was mistaken in thinking that the interview was a sure thing. I had thought that because I had been sent the email specifically, as opposed to from a mailing list, and because they had stated the time and place that they would be interviewing, that I basically had my foot in the door, at least up to the interview point, but I was wrong. The person in charge replied to me, and he said that they got my application, but that they were only interviewing a few people. He said that they will have future openings, he encouraged me to continue applying, and said that he will keep me in mind for future openings in the Toronto area. He sent me a link to the CWY alumni network with positions associated to Canada World Youth, so that I can see when positions open up. It was a nice enough letter, but still a rejection.
I spoke to the woman from the logbook today over Skype. She says that I'm the first participant that she'd spoken with, everyone else having been a supervisor. She said that she is also going to contact the other person who has been most active on the logbook since completing the program, other than me. This is because, of all the CWY groups, apparently, our logbook was the most successful. The logbooks had been a pilot project and she said that the goal was to introduce technology to participants of host communities, as it's become a topic that is continually becoming more associated with North American culture, and something that people in host communities see as something they would like to be exposed to during their time in Canada. She had another goal, but it slips my mind for the moment. Maybe something like enhancing awareness of the host community.
Anyway, I told her that the Malians may not have expressed interest in the logbook, but they had expressed interest in things like Facebook. I said that this is probably because Facebook is a community-based media, whereas the logbook is more individualistic. I said that one thing the Malians grappled with in Canada was something that they called "Canadian individualism", and I told her that it's possible that the success of our logbook may have been a positive result coming out of a negative quality of my group. I told her that the Canadians in my group had difficulty operating as a group, and with the communal quality of Karadie, but that they showed real competence and insight working individually or pairs. I said that the reason our blog may have flourished with the Canadians is because it's an individual-based media, and that's where they shined. Kind of a prelude to the difficulties they'd have adapting to a cultural-based society.
I told her that the Malians were all interested in experiencing different cultures, and that they would be interested in being exposed to other host communities in CWY, so if it could be formatted to better emphasize communication, rather than individual articles, and interlink the different communities, it might be more successful with participants from partner communities.
Technology-wise, I had a few quibbles with their method for publishing photos, and how they do the log-in.
She asked me a bunch of other stuff, like whether or not I thought it could be made a general assumption that there would be at least one Canadian with the technical skills to operate the logbook, and that there would be at least one participant from the partner community interested in learning about technology, but I won't go into detail. All in all, I thought it was a pretty successful little chat.
I caught an old friend from Katimavik on Skype after I finished talking with this CWY person. I spent about 45 minutes talking to her, just like I did with the logbook lady.
Unfortunately, the good feel of the day ends here. I got burned for the CWY job offer. I was mistaken in thinking that the interview was a sure thing. I had thought that because I had been sent the email specifically, as opposed to from a mailing list, and because they had stated the time and place that they would be interviewing, that I basically had my foot in the door, at least up to the interview point, but I was wrong. The person in charge replied to me, and he said that they got my application, but that they were only interviewing a few people. He said that they will have future openings, he encouraged me to continue applying, and said that he will keep me in mind for future openings in the Toronto area. He sent me a link to the CWY alumni network with positions associated to Canada World Youth, so that I can see when positions open up. It was a nice enough letter, but still a rejection.
Monday, March 26, 2012
300th Blog Post
Sorry I haven't updated for the past couple days. I know that I'm pretty bad about updating, so that usually doesn't need to be said, but life's gotten more interesting lately, so I thought I might as well say it. I was in Toronto visiting some relatives.
I decided to apply for the internship position. It's only three months long, but it would fit nicely into the space of time before I start college, if I wind up going in September. It's $16 an hour, and 35 hours a week. I did the math, and it's still a raise from Linamar at 40 hours a week. I'm guessing they made it a scratch less than 40 hours to avoid having to give me benefits or something, but that's fine by me, since working through an agency never allowed me to have benefits before, anyway. I've found a place I could stay for a little bit while I found somewhere else, if I do land the position. This would be a good job, because CWY is a non-profit organization, and it's relevant to the social services.
Here's my cover letter. I edited out the names because I don't even know.
"Dear ____,
I am sending this email as a letter of application for the Digital Skills Youth Intern position. I feel that I would be a good fit, as I have successfully completed three youth programs, including Canada World Youth and it's sister program, Katimavik. As such, I am very passionate about the organization to which I am applying, and deeply believe in the benefits that youth programs offer both participants and associates.
I possess all the skills that were stated as desirable on the Job Posting, those being familiarity with computers, good organizational skills, demonstrated ability to work in a team, experience doing research, and intuition for handling problem situations. I also have an interest in reaching out to communities with access barriers, as one of my rotations in Katimavik was a First Nations community, and I have remained in contact with members of the community post-completion of the program. I am able to communicate in both English and French, as my Canada World Youth assignment's official language was French.
I have an interest in learning and look toward this program as an opportunity to acquire new skills and to improve myself in areas of which I am already proficient. Attached is my resume, I have full availability.
Best wishes,
____"
I called my family doctor and asked for the results of my skin sample test. Apparently, it came back negative. There was nothing to imply that anything was ever even a little bit wrong. That's reassuring in a way, but in another way, not really, because I know there was something wrong, and whatever it was, the test failed to pick up on it. Oh well, maybe my body killed whatever it was, since I was on the path of recovery at the time I got tested, and what was left was just the recovering after-effect, while the infection was already gone.
I'm probably going to be Skyping with the logbook authority tomorrow morning. I'm scared!
This is my legitimate 300th blog post. I didn't prepare anything special.
I decided to apply for the internship position. It's only three months long, but it would fit nicely into the space of time before I start college, if I wind up going in September. It's $16 an hour, and 35 hours a week. I did the math, and it's still a raise from Linamar at 40 hours a week. I'm guessing they made it a scratch less than 40 hours to avoid having to give me benefits or something, but that's fine by me, since working through an agency never allowed me to have benefits before, anyway. I've found a place I could stay for a little bit while I found somewhere else, if I do land the position. This would be a good job, because CWY is a non-profit organization, and it's relevant to the social services.
Here's my cover letter. I edited out the names because I don't even know.
"Dear ____,
I am sending this email as a letter of application for the Digital Skills Youth Intern position. I feel that I would be a good fit, as I have successfully completed three youth programs, including Canada World Youth and it's sister program, Katimavik. As such, I am very passionate about the organization to which I am applying, and deeply believe in the benefits that youth programs offer both participants and associates.
I possess all the skills that were stated as desirable on the Job Posting, those being familiarity with computers, good organizational skills, demonstrated ability to work in a team, experience doing research, and intuition for handling problem situations. I also have an interest in reaching out to communities with access barriers, as one of my rotations in Katimavik was a First Nations community, and I have remained in contact with members of the community post-completion of the program. I am able to communicate in both English and French, as my Canada World Youth assignment's official language was French.
I have an interest in learning and look toward this program as an opportunity to acquire new skills and to improve myself in areas of which I am already proficient. Attached is my resume, I have full availability.
Best wishes,
____"
I called my family doctor and asked for the results of my skin sample test. Apparently, it came back negative. There was nothing to imply that anything was ever even a little bit wrong. That's reassuring in a way, but in another way, not really, because I know there was something wrong, and whatever it was, the test failed to pick up on it. Oh well, maybe my body killed whatever it was, since I was on the path of recovery at the time I got tested, and what was left was just the recovering after-effect, while the infection was already gone.
I'm probably going to be Skyping with the logbook authority tomorrow morning. I'm scared!
This is my legitimate 300th blog post. I didn't prepare anything special.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Coup in Mali!
Holy crap! After 20 years of democracy, there has been a coup in Mali! After two months of fighting, soldiers returned from the North of Mali and overthrew the government in Bamako. They complained that the government had not supplied them with proper food or weapons to hold their own against the Tuareg separatists.
After the fall of Gadhafi, Malian Tuareg soldiers that he'd recruited went back home heavily armed. With their newfound military might, it seems they came back with a greater ability to impose the change they'd been angling for before they'd left. They started causing trouble in the North of Mali, and the government in Bamako responded by sending their own force out to counter them.
I used to joke that Mali would lose any war they got into, because, with their relaxed attitude toward work obligations, none of the soldiers would show up.
Yeah, well, it looks like that's more or less what happened. The soldiers weren't prepared for war, and neither was the government. With unrealistic views of what resources were necessary, they supplied soldiers with inferior weapons, and little to no living resources.
The coup happened one month before a democratic election, that would have forced the current president to step down. The soldiers claim that this isn't a coup, just a mutiny, and that they will allow the democratic election to take place and will step down their own influence in favour of the newly elected president.
It sounds to me that the soldiers simply panicked, and they came up with the idea that they couldn't defeat the Tuaregs, but they could defeat the Malian government. They didn't want to spend another month getting slaughtered before the next election.
The coup seems pretty bloodless. The presidential guards didn't even bother to try and guard anyone. There are some descriptions of Bamako civilians boarding themselves in or fleeing their homes. There are descriptions of soldiers patrolling the city, firing their guns into the air. Apparently the soldiers have done some looting in the presidential quarters.
I'm quite skeptical of the accuracy of international news, now that I've seen so much published information that was simply incorrect on the basis of what I saw, but this doesn't sound like something that would just be made up.
One Malian participant from the North of Mali has contacted us through Facebook to decry the soldiers that abandoned Northern Mali. He called them a "Failed generation."
I posted a status update on my concerns regarding the current conflict. I wanted to say so much, but I had to grill my brain just so that I could conjure a sentence that I could be sure said what I meant, and that also made sense.
I said "Pour mes amis au Mali. J'ai vu les nouveaux problèmes au Mali. J'ai vu les médias. Je prie pour la sécurité du Mali et mes amis." which tranlates to "For my friends in Mali. I have seen the new problems in Mali. I have seen the media. I pray for the safety of Mali and my friends."
I should have said "Conflict" instead of "Problems" thinking back on it, since I know the two words, and I wanted to express a concern for the safety of my Malian friends without taking a political standpoint, but I don't think it should be a problem.
My Northern Malian contact must feel sore, because now the Tuaregs have full reign over his land, but the people of Bamako may prioritize the safety of it's citizens, with the inclusion of their soldiers who were being slaughtered out there.
I know at least one person from Northern Mali, and I can think of at least three participants who were native to Bamako. Plus, I had a few friends who I met in Bamako, too. Hell, most of the Canadians in the group got to meet the (former) president of Mali!
Bamako looks stable enough. I don't know if the soldiers will follow up on their claim to hand back control of Mali, and this might cause future problems for the African government, but for the time being, it looks like the worst is over.
Northern Mali looks bad, though. There is nobody out there to protect civilians. Sounds like most of the fleeing, boarding up and bloodshed is happening out there. And the thought that the soldiers preferred to fight their own government to the Tuaregs makes me feel uneasy concerning the future of Mali.
We were forbidden to enter North Mali during our program. We were forbidden to leave the village area, but we were ESPECIALLY forbidden to enter North Mali. The reason being that they are xenophobic and more inclined to violence out there. My North Mali contact confirmed this statement. At the time, it was hard to imagine any Malian acting in a seriously violent manner.
It's funny, because Timbouctou is in North Mali. It's Mali's most touristic place, and more people know Timbouctou than know Mali. During the program, some tourists were kidnapped in Timbouctou, and apparently, they were eventually killed. Mali's got all it's tourists funneling into it's most dangerous, most xenophobic place.
That news had made us nervous, because Timbouctou is far more heavily guarded than our village, and we were pretty visible. If somebody had taken it onto themselves to kidnap us... they probably could have.
I think my friends in the village will be okay. I used to say that, if World War broke out, there'd be no safer place than Karadie. Not much reason to move so far inland in Africa, and not so much reason to move into that region of Mali. The Malians didn't even know that World War 2 had happened. They didn't know who Hitler was. Not much of a World War, if it missed that chunk of the world, if you ask me.
Anyway, somebody countered that we'd probably be raided by roaming soldiers as an afterthought eventually. I countered with this military strategy: "Take the sign down that says 'Karadie' next to the road."
Only thing that concerns me is that they might not know what's going on, since they rely mainly on word of mouth for their information, and therefor, they might not act accordingly to any new danger. I still think they'll be fine.
It's funny, all this controversy over how to spread information to the next CWY group going to Mali. I'm willing to bet they won't send another group out there.
In other news, the CWY office sent me an offer for a job interview, to be a paid intern at their office in Toronto. I didn't apply for this position, they're apparently contacting alumni. I haven't asked if anybody else in the group has gotten this offer. Apparently I'd be working under the guy who put me in the Mali rotation, who I met again in the CWY offices in Montreal, and who hosted the mass, voiced online seminar and program participation interview.
I've been asked to speak over telephone or Skype to give my insight on how to improve the CWY weblog format. I've also been contacted by the ministry of Canadian overseas volunteering to give them feedback on the effectivity of Canada World Youth.
I feel important.
After the fall of Gadhafi, Malian Tuareg soldiers that he'd recruited went back home heavily armed. With their newfound military might, it seems they came back with a greater ability to impose the change they'd been angling for before they'd left. They started causing trouble in the North of Mali, and the government in Bamako responded by sending their own force out to counter them.
I used to joke that Mali would lose any war they got into, because, with their relaxed attitude toward work obligations, none of the soldiers would show up.
Yeah, well, it looks like that's more or less what happened. The soldiers weren't prepared for war, and neither was the government. With unrealistic views of what resources were necessary, they supplied soldiers with inferior weapons, and little to no living resources.
The coup happened one month before a democratic election, that would have forced the current president to step down. The soldiers claim that this isn't a coup, just a mutiny, and that they will allow the democratic election to take place and will step down their own influence in favour of the newly elected president.
It sounds to me that the soldiers simply panicked, and they came up with the idea that they couldn't defeat the Tuaregs, but they could defeat the Malian government. They didn't want to spend another month getting slaughtered before the next election.
The coup seems pretty bloodless. The presidential guards didn't even bother to try and guard anyone. There are some descriptions of Bamako civilians boarding themselves in or fleeing their homes. There are descriptions of soldiers patrolling the city, firing their guns into the air. Apparently the soldiers have done some looting in the presidential quarters.
I'm quite skeptical of the accuracy of international news, now that I've seen so much published information that was simply incorrect on the basis of what I saw, but this doesn't sound like something that would just be made up.
One Malian participant from the North of Mali has contacted us through Facebook to decry the soldiers that abandoned Northern Mali. He called them a "Failed generation."
I posted a status update on my concerns regarding the current conflict. I wanted to say so much, but I had to grill my brain just so that I could conjure a sentence that I could be sure said what I meant, and that also made sense.
I said "Pour mes amis au Mali. J'ai vu les nouveaux problèmes au Mali. J'ai vu les médias. Je prie pour la sécurité du Mali et mes amis." which tranlates to "For my friends in Mali. I have seen the new problems in Mali. I have seen the media. I pray for the safety of Mali and my friends."
I should have said "Conflict" instead of "Problems" thinking back on it, since I know the two words, and I wanted to express a concern for the safety of my Malian friends without taking a political standpoint, but I don't think it should be a problem.
My Northern Malian contact must feel sore, because now the Tuaregs have full reign over his land, but the people of Bamako may prioritize the safety of it's citizens, with the inclusion of their soldiers who were being slaughtered out there.
I know at least one person from Northern Mali, and I can think of at least three participants who were native to Bamako. Plus, I had a few friends who I met in Bamako, too. Hell, most of the Canadians in the group got to meet the (former) president of Mali!
Bamako looks stable enough. I don't know if the soldiers will follow up on their claim to hand back control of Mali, and this might cause future problems for the African government, but for the time being, it looks like the worst is over.
Northern Mali looks bad, though. There is nobody out there to protect civilians. Sounds like most of the fleeing, boarding up and bloodshed is happening out there. And the thought that the soldiers preferred to fight their own government to the Tuaregs makes me feel uneasy concerning the future of Mali.
We were forbidden to enter North Mali during our program. We were forbidden to leave the village area, but we were ESPECIALLY forbidden to enter North Mali. The reason being that they are xenophobic and more inclined to violence out there. My North Mali contact confirmed this statement. At the time, it was hard to imagine any Malian acting in a seriously violent manner.
It's funny, because Timbouctou is in North Mali. It's Mali's most touristic place, and more people know Timbouctou than know Mali. During the program, some tourists were kidnapped in Timbouctou, and apparently, they were eventually killed. Mali's got all it's tourists funneling into it's most dangerous, most xenophobic place.
That news had made us nervous, because Timbouctou is far more heavily guarded than our village, and we were pretty visible. If somebody had taken it onto themselves to kidnap us... they probably could have.
I think my friends in the village will be okay. I used to say that, if World War broke out, there'd be no safer place than Karadie. Not much reason to move so far inland in Africa, and not so much reason to move into that region of Mali. The Malians didn't even know that World War 2 had happened. They didn't know who Hitler was. Not much of a World War, if it missed that chunk of the world, if you ask me.
Anyway, somebody countered that we'd probably be raided by roaming soldiers as an afterthought eventually. I countered with this military strategy: "Take the sign down that says 'Karadie' next to the road."
Only thing that concerns me is that they might not know what's going on, since they rely mainly on word of mouth for their information, and therefor, they might not act accordingly to any new danger. I still think they'll be fine.
It's funny, all this controversy over how to spread information to the next CWY group going to Mali. I'm willing to bet they won't send another group out there.
In other news, the CWY office sent me an offer for a job interview, to be a paid intern at their office in Toronto. I didn't apply for this position, they're apparently contacting alumni. I haven't asked if anybody else in the group has gotten this offer. Apparently I'd be working under the guy who put me in the Mali rotation, who I met again in the CWY offices in Montreal, and who hosted the mass, voiced online seminar and program participation interview.
I've been asked to speak over telephone or Skype to give my insight on how to improve the CWY weblog format. I've also been contacted by the ministry of Canadian overseas volunteering to give them feedback on the effectivity of Canada World Youth.
I feel important.
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