Finding Yourself and Giving Back

So what can you do when your 'child' is 18 years old - an adult in every sense except being able to drink alcohol in several provinces - and he decides to move away from home for nine months?

Well, I'm thankful for an excellent nine-month volunteer and personal development program for youth aged 17 to 21 called Katimavik. Participants live with 10 other young people from across Canada for the duration of the program. The group lives in three different communities - one of them French-speaking - and does projects that otherwise wouldn't be done without volunteer labor. This includes manual or administrative work and may involve work with seniors or young people.

When I suggested this program to Jackson he seemed taken by it immediately. He was quite dissatisfied with school and I could tell he wasn't going to be ready for school this fall. He loved the idea of helping others, learning French and living with others in a program that was far from home so he could be on his own.

My son is outgoing, smart, funny and adventurous. He loves to be physically active - jogging, working out, chopping wood at the cottage or while camping, hiking and canoeing. He'll more than likely never be satisfied with a 'desk job', but just exactly what he'll end up doing is unknown...now. He welcomed the opportunity to participate in Katimavik and see if he could figure it out.

Katimavik - "Doing. Learning. Building a nation...one community at a time." What a fantastic concept! I believe the most meaningful work we can ever do is to help others. My son and the 10 other young people who will live together and participate in the Katimavik program with him, are starting their adult lives living from purpose and 'giving back'. I am so proud of my son and all young people who realize there is something they can do to make this world a better place and then actually go out there and DO it.

With all that is broken in our education system, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to encourage ALL Canadian youth to participate in Katimavik after high school? I'm positive that participants learn more about life and themselves in their nine months with Katimavik than in the entire four years of high school!