finding home

I love Vancouver. I woke up to a beautiful white snowy view from my window, and now 10 hours later, to beautiful sunshine. Lovely Vancouver. I've been living here for the past six weeks now. After three years and four months of living in the UK, I am back at my mom's place. It's better than I anticipated. A few unhappy moments, but generally it's been one pleasant surprise after the other.

A few days after I arrived, I started volunteering for this project called Finding Home. What initially got my attention with this project was that it involved Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire, a man who I have a lot of respect for. I began volunteering by managing the guest list for the event but a week after I started I knew I had to get into gear and start earning some $$$.

I signed up for a couple of temp agencies. Through one of the agencies, I finally worked my most useless job ever. It was an elaborate production line to stick logo stickers on dummy wireless cards for mobile phone service providers. I had to measure 2.5 mm on each side with a ruler and make sure the label had no bubbles, lines or imperfections. I spent five spiritless days doing this. They had asked me if I was able to extend my stay with them and I gave them an emphatic NO.

Fortunately, some funds were available for me to be hired on contract for Finding Home. I was hired as the Dialogue coordinator, which put me in touch with a range of people in my field of interest in Vancouver. I also got to work on a project I have a lot of interest in. Very pleasant surprise.

Finding Home is a project directed and created by Jessie Sutherland of Worldview Strategies. It is a project that looks at the meaning of home and what it means to create home. Our event launch was a one day dialogue in the Wosk Centre for Dialogue with Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire and Chief Robert Joseph. It is an innovative project bringing together first nations, metis, immigrants, refugees, youth, artists, senios, government reps, academics and other curious individuals. Jessie's background is in conflict resolution too, so a lot of the project resonates with me.

We are looking to launch different community based dialogues in the next few months, which is exciting. However, my involvement from here on is up in the air as I am unsure what my next steps are to be. I'll keep you posted.