Kyla King

What’s that you say? Today is our last full day of work? No way. I cannot believe how fast the days are slipping away. But so far, I have no regrets. Every day we are here, we work hard and achieve more. The community centre is looking great, all walls and windows are up, 2 coats of paint have been applied and we are now working on the finishing touches and it feels great. There is no doubt in my mind that one day I will come back and visit the centre as well as the people of Wavuwavu.

Yesterday we were able to go visit a school in the village. We were welcomed with open arms and food. So much food… We were able to walk around and enter classrooms and talk to the students. It is pretty amazing how well their English is. They are taught in Fijian, Hindi, and English which is a lot to comprehend. Every child I asked said that they all enjoyed coming to school which is the opposite of most kids in Canada. Some kids have to walk 5km every morning to get to school, most without shoes, over rugged terrain, in blistering heat. If I was 7 years old, presented with that task, I would think my parents were punishing and probably refuse to go.

One thing I am noticing here is how happy the people are. They live with what I would consider the bare minimum, but are completely content. They have to work hard for all they have, yet no one complains. They don’t need material things, they just need love. And there is no shortage of that. We all could learn a thing or two about appreciation from the people of this village.

Every day that I am here I feel that I am learning more not just about Fiji, but about myself. Being here, I am exposed to things that would never happen in my day to day life. Yesterday, we took a break from working for it was Sunday, as well as a festival, The Festival of Colours. We still came to the village where we were able to choose if we’d like to witness a goat being sacrificed. This made me nervous, if you read my last blog; you know I don’t do well with blood. I learned that this was the highest form gratitude you could receive. I wasn’t able to watch the actual killing because I was overwhelmed with emotion just before the machete was about to decapitate the goat. It made me think hard about life and death, and how quickly it can all come to an end. One minute this goat was walking around breathing with a heartbeat, and the next it was getting skinned. Just before the goat was about to be sacrificed, it seemed as if it knew it was going to die, its legs were trembling, but it didn’t fight. The first thing that came to mind was a friend of mine who passed away a few years ago. I wonder if he knew he was going to die minutes after his accident, and what were his last thoughts before he passed.

After this event, I was emotional unstable. My mind was racing with thoughts difficult to comprehend and emotions I couldn’t understand. I was stuck on the thought of death. We then started out on our hike. We went to a nearby house where we were greeted by villagers who were covered in colour and celebrating the Festival of Colour. I am not exactly sure what is the full meaning behind the festival, but we were told that it was to make us all one colour, all equal. It was amazing to see them include us in a festival that meant so much to them, and nothing to us. But that is the Fijian way. It forced me to change my mood drastically. One minute I was witnessing death, and the next was celebrating life. I guess that is how it goes.

There is this one guy here, Vijay, Deep Singh’s uncle. He is 64 and in better shape than most of us. He is amazing in so many ways. He can climb a tree like a monkey, literally… His English is pretty good and he has been teaching me a lot about everything. But the one thing that he said that I will never forget is that his heart is full, it is full because of us. I need to leave it at that.

Fiji is beautiful, for all those who have never been, add it to your bucket list. It was a very strenuous trip getting here, but it is more than worth it. We spent just as much time waiting in airports as we did in the air. Side note; in LA the police travel by segways! After 3 planes we traveled by bus and arrived in Wavuwavu where we were welcomed by the villagers with traditional dancing, singing and food. There were smiles all around, and a permanent one on my face.
We are building the structure on Deep Singh’s family property and were blown away by the head start that they already got. The frame was all put together with the best craftsman ship that Mr.Matheny said he has ever seen on one of the trips. Today is our first work day, and the jobs are helping the women prep food, painting the structure, digging a 6 by 6 hole (way harder than I ever imagined) gathering rocks from the river and helping the dentist. My job today was to help the dentist. I am very squeamish when it comes to blood and stuff, so I had a lot of doubts about helping them. But I gave it a shot. We did the set up, learned how to prep the anesthetic, and learned what tools where what. Then we had our first patient. He needed his last two front teeth pulled, within seconds I thought I was going to faint. So I didn’t last long and now helping with the manual labour. But I am very glad that I tried.
Something that I learned today that really made me think was the fact that Deep’s father is high ranking in the village because his house is one of the biggest in the village (44x24ft) it has electricity, a flushing toilet and they own a car (one of two in the village) Yet they are just as happy as someone with every luxury in the world. Compared to them, I am the most selfish, materialistic person. I am going to work on changing that. But time to get back to work!
Moce! (Bye)
P.S- I love you Mom, Dad and Dylan

                For the last four years I have been working at a restaurant called Cronos. I was a busser when I was 14 for two months, and then was promoted to a server September going into grade 9. Over the years I’ve been working there, the restaurant changed hands five times. The current owner and I seem to be on a different page, and I am finding it really difficult working with him. Daily, I complain about my work and dread going. Only recently did I realize that I have no right to complain over a boss that simply doesn’t care about me. There are so many people in this world, who don’t even have a job to complain about. They don’t have an opportunity to save money, nor buy everyday necessities. There are people who have been laid-off, evicted, and are now living on the streets because they don’t have a job, not just because they don’t want one, but there is literally nothing there for them. I need to start reminding myself to count my blessing instead of scrutinizing them.

When I was a young child I honestly thought that everyone in the world could understand English, but some people chose respond in a different language. How naïve of me… If I could go back in time I would enroll myself in French immersion in kindergarten. I think that it gives kids a great advantage to learn from such a young age, and being bilingual opens the doors to many careers. I am extremely jealous of people who can speak multiple languages. They have such an advantage while traveling because they can better communicate with the locals and not seem to be a crazy tourist that doesn’t know anything. Every day I hear multiple languages being spoken, whether it is at school, or at work, or even just out and about. It baffles me to think of the vast number of different languages in the world, who came up with all of them! I wonder though, if maybe one day that everyone in the world would all speak English, or if maybe some new universal language would be created.

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

                I am somewhat well traveled for a person my age and I know that what this quote is saying is very important and true. When traveling to a new place, it is essential to have an open mind. You will encounter many things that a so out of your world that you will have no idea what to do about it. I think that going to Fiji will be a huge eye opener to me because I have never done this kind of traveling. I have always done the touristy stuff with my family and never actually get to fully experience different cultures of the world. Traveling can broaden your horizons, but only if you look.

I have always been grateful to live in Canada. It is a beautiful country filled with chances and opportunity. But I never really realized the enormity of things that are based upon where you live. In Canada, our life expectancy in 10 years greater than what it is in Fiji. A decade feels like a life time, and it’s a life time I wouldn’t want to miss out on. As I grow older, I am starting to realize how fast time really flies. Christmas is just around the corner and the in a few quick months, the trip I’ve been waiting for all of high school. So cliché, but I need to start squeezing the marrow out of life.

We also learned that Fiji’s literacy rate was substantially lower than Canada’s. I am hoping with time, maybe our project in Fiji will positively affect the rate.

With every event the global perspectives class does together, I feel like we get closer as a family. I really enjoy spending time with everyone in the class, and I think we bond very well. It is weird how I spent 5 years of high school with majority of the students in the class, and some of them I haven’t talked to until this year. I am really glad when I leave high school I am going to have some of the most amazing memories with great people that I wouldn’t communicate with if it wasn’t for global. Can’t wait for FIJI!

P.S. I think we did really well at today’s event, we all work together so well, stress isn’t even an option! Love you all!

 School. Ask most teenagers and they will say they hate it. Majority of students have skipped at least one class in the years of learning. Some don’t even bother to put in the little effort high school takes and drop out. Kids in well-off countries like Canada need a serious reality check. There are millions upon millions of people in the world who suffer every day because there is no access to any education. They are stuck in the vicious circle of poverty and don’t have any resources to get out.  And here thousands of kids loathe the system and rebel. But against what? A better future, chance at a good paying job? I can admit that at times I do not try my hardest in class, but from now on, I will start viewing my free education as a gift instead of a chore.

 In the last couple of weeks, things have been happening that have tilted my world a bit. My friend is convinced that it’s due to 2012, and that the world has begun to change drastically. I disagreed with her and said unfortunate things happen every second of every day, it just that recently they have been happening around us. My own words haunted me after that.

I know I can’t go around living my life in fear, but it is scary to think that people just like you and me who live safe and ordinary lives have died in freak accidents that happen out of nowhere. This makes me think back to December 2008, when my friend Samuel Daigle died on Whistler in a snowboarding accident. We had a memorial service at Kitsilano beach and one part of one of my friends speeches that has stuck with me was when  he was talking about how it is so easy to take what we have for granted. He said how he was angry with himself that he didn’t bother to let Sam know more often how much he loved and cherished their friendship, this feeling was mutual.

I don’t want to only be reminded of how good I have it when something goes wrong. I am now making it a personal goal for me to show my appreciation to the people in my life who make every day a little better. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.