Stephanie Da Silva

Last night was our UBC Mens Basketball fundraiser where we sell raffle tickets and have a silent auction, and of course, with another event came another lesson. I went to the same fundraiser 2 years ago as a student and I remember the War Memorial Gym being packed and the energy level being over the top. This year it was not; the stands were not even half filled. When I walked into the gym last night, the first thought that crossed my mind was “Oh my gosh there are so few people here, we are not going to be successful.” I caught myself right away and reminded myself that every penny counts as long as we put in our best effort and remember what we are working towards, but you could say that the damage had already been done. Because of that initial thought, it took a little while for me to get my energy up and start approaching people because I had already told myself that it wasn’t going to work.

I think this is an important lesson that I needed to learn. I have talked to so many ex-Global students and they have all told me how amazing and life changing the experience was. But even though it is fine to get excited, it is probably more harmful than helpful to go into it with preconceived notions and expectations. Every country Global Perspectives goes to is completely different and has a new variety of things to offer. If we start comparing Fiji to any other trip, we are running the risk of missing out on some important lesson or idea or concept. I guess to sum it all up, what I learned last night was that when we walked into that gym, it was ourselves that had the potential to make or break the night. The circumstance doesn’t dictate our attitudes, our attitudes transform the circumstance.

-Stephanie

Today in class when Mr. Matheny was talking about culture shock, he told us an (unnecessarily graphic) story about how he saw, in a small village in Guatemala, someone with a sledgehammer killing a pig that they were going to eat later that day. I am a vegetarian by choice, and even though I love the gore of horror movies and I want to be a doctor so I’m perfectly fine with the sight of blood, the thought of slaughtering an animal and then eating it in my next meal just doesn’t sit well with me. The image that the story created in my mind forced me to let out a squeal and cover my ears without really thinking about it.

Then as we continued to discuss culture shock and how to deal with it, I realized that I’m going to have to be a lot less reactive to things that I’m not used to seeing. We are flying across the world to a place that will obviously do things differently than us, and I need to see these things objectively and achieve a new level of open-mindedness. Now I’m not saying that I’m going to go to Fiji, pick up an axe, chop the head off a chicken and then make a curry out of it, but I want to get to a point where I can accept that as their way of living. I know that the people of Fiji will have a lot to teach us, but it’s useless if I’m not willing to learn.

-Stephanie

As I prepare for one of the busiest weekends of my life, I find that my stress level is nowhere near where I would have assumed it would be. I think I owe a lot of this to global. Each class as we talk more about perspective and community and global awareness I continue to realize how much I have to be thankful for. Usually when I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it, I dwell on all the problems and my focus automatically goes toward the negative. I am finding that this is not the case anymore. Today I was asked how my day is going, and I responded with something like “OH-MY-GOODNESS-SO-AMAZINGLY-SUPER-AWESOME!” and naturally the follow up question was “that’s great, why?”. I thought about that one for a while, because nothing really out of the ordinary happened today, but there had to be a reason why my response was so exuberant.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that nothing crazy has to happen for it to be a great day, it’s all about PERSPECTIVE. With that positive outlook you see the little things magnified. And I think this really applies to what we are trying to accomplish with this program. It’s not about throwing extravagant amounts of money and power around to help those in poverty, it’s about becoming aware of the problems and inequality in the world, and doing your part, no matter how small. Because positive change doesn’t have to be a cheque with alot of zeros on it just as much as a good day doesn’t have to involve winning the lottery. With each person making their own little contribution we can turn our world into an OH-MY-GOODNESS-SO-AMAZINGLY-SUPER-AWESOME one.

-Stephanie

This week at school, and in general really, hasn’t been one of the greatest. With interim week and a lot of tests and projects happening all at once everyone has been getting a little down, including myself. I don’t really get upset or angry of frustrated very easily, so this week has been weird to say the least. I found myself snapping at the littlest things and complaining way too often. That’s where global came in. Today, just when I was getting super frustrated and I was about to lose it, I walked into Mr. Matheny’s room for class and we started talking about Fiji and how everything is really coming along and I was reminded of what it is that we are doing. How can I sit in a school full of resources, eating my lunch, wearing warm clothes, knowing that I will be driving home to a family and a home and running hot water and a fridge full of food and so many other blessings and still be complaining so much? It really put everything into perspective, knowing that I have so much I take for granted, and I can get so upset by relatively trivial things. I get a bad mark on a test? That’s okay, it just means I have to work harder. I get splashed by a car driving through a puddle on my way home? That’s okay, I can take a hot shower and change into a fresh set of clothes. I live such a priviledged lifestyle, and I am going to try and remember that every time something doesnt quite go my way.

-Stephanie

I am quite frankly amazed at what we accomplished today, but even more than that, I’m surprised how easily we pulled it off. Everyone had their little jobs, everyone helped out whenever something needed to be done, and everyone pulled together to form one amazing team. Even though it was a really long day and there was so much to set up and prepare for, the way that we worked together made it seem so effortless. It really made me think at the end of the night that if we can organize and carry out such a big event without getting frustrated or overwhelmed, how much more are we capable of doing? I know that in Global Perspectives we always say we are in it because we want to make a difference, and we might even tend to overuse corny phrases like that, but it really struck me tonight just how much we can do as a team and how we really do have the power to make change happen if we set our minds to it and trust in each other. Thank you to every single one of you Fijians for reminding me how dedication, passion and teamwork can do truly astounding things.

-Stephanie

I promise my future blogs won’t be as long, I’m going to try a lot harder to write more often here. After an almost two week break, I have way too much to talk about. School has been crazy for the past week, and this week is going to be no better. In fact, it’s going to be a lot worse. We have a biology project, test and design lab, a french project, a chemistry test, a business test, theory of knowledge essay, and our CAS journals are due. Something tells me our teachers have been plotting (just kidding (kind of)). Anyway, this blog is probably going to keep me sane. I’m one of those people that doesn’t or can’t or won’t vent and talk things out, so it’s nice to have this way of doing so. It’s also really helpful to be able to take this step back and examine how I’m doing, and how I’m feeling because many people would say that I am not nearly in touch with my feelings.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a homeless walk in the downtown east-side. It was a truly humbling experience. We walked around handing out some food, water bottles, warm socks and toques, and just talking with the people to find out how they are doing. Even though they were so thankful for little things that we take for granted on a daily basis, I couldn’t help but feel inadequacy. The food we gave them wouldn’t last very long, the new socks would get old and wet, and there was no way we could provide them with shelter from the rain. I told one of my friends about my concerns, and she replied with an “at least we’re doing something”, and I guess she’s right. However, it makes me even more excited about our project in Fiji. We are going to be building a community centre, a place for the villagers to be united, a place that will protect them from the storms, a place that will last a long time after we’re gone.     

Fundraising has been going really well, I am so pumped up just like everybody else and we are already off to such a great start. From our first collection date, we have already raised about $1800 with the scratchcards. It’s been a bit of a challenge having to get used to rejection on such a large scale, but the people that do take the time to stop, learn about our program, and just give us the time of day even if they don’t have money to donate make it so worthwhile. The people that just walk by and avoid eye-contact frustrate me so much, but I guess it’s just a matter of being gracious either way; after all, getting worked up about it won’t help us reach our goal.

On a more positive note, this weekend I had two of the most encouraging encounters so far while fundraising. The first came from a man who didn’t have money to donate and was obviously down on his luck, yet he still stopped to find out about our cause and he promised to check out our website and learn more. His simple act gave me a new burst of encouragement. Secondly, after a long bout of “no’s” and avoidance, a man that I approached put a $100 bill in my hand, and said that he was born and raised in Fiji and was so glad that the people there were going to be getting our help. Then he promptly walked away after refusing a tax reciept leaving me calling “thank you” after him and trying to keep my jaw off the floor. This man also taught me a thing or two about how quickly I can judge a person without even knowing it. Due to his business suit and general appearance of being in a rush, I almost didn’t approach him because I subconsciously classified him as the “type” of person that wouldn’t care. He sure showed me.

Keep your spirits up everyone, we’re going to destroy our goal!

-Stephanie

“One day our generation is going to rule the population”. So we’re not going to be waiting on the world to change. No, we want to make a difference now.

It has been a crazy experience already and the journey has barely begun. We have gone from the excitement of the Mongolians’ presentation, to the interviews, to the anticipation of that first email from Mr. Matheny as well as the nervousness that came along with opening it, to the amazing realization that we are going to Fiji to build a community centre, and of course to the current adrenaline rush that we have in our desire to fundraise as much as we possibly can. And we have delved into all of this in just two weeks! Honestly, the enormity of everything has yet to fully sink in.

To friends of mine that did not get in to this program, it’s definitely understandable if you’re feeling disappointed, I know I would be, but don’t let this one thing stop you from making the difference that you want to make. I know that all of you have this desire to help those in need, so do it! Each and every one of you are so amazing and you have the ability to change peoples’ live for the better just by sharing yourself with the world. I know that all us Fijians have your support, and I want you to know that you will always have my support in all your endeavours.

To the Mongolians and all other Global Perspectives alumni, thank you for devoting a year of your life to this program and helping to shape it into what it is now. All of you that have been on this journey have become our encouragement, not to mention the people that have set the fundraising bar very very high, but that’s okay, we love a challenge. Thank you especially to the Mongolians who, despite the fact that we are taking over your “baby”, have remained so gracious, welcoming, and supportive. I know that it’s hard to let go of a project that you have dedicated so much time to and invested so much of yourself into, but you should know that your experience and advice are so valuable to us, and we are going to do our best to make you proud.

To all the teachers involved in Global Perspectives, thank you so much for this opportunity. I know that none of this would be possible without your dedication, so your belief in us means a lot. And to Tony, thank you for getting this website up and keeping it running, I know that this blog is going to be such a valuable resource to help us keep track of everything that happens on this journey of a lifetime.           

And to my fellow Fijians, I can’t wait to really get to know all of you better and strengthen our relationships. This is going to be a life changing experience, and I’m so glad I get to share it with all of you. No doubt we are going to share a lot of smiles, laughs, and fond memories, but most importantly we are going to experience change. We are going to change a community, we are going to change the lives of the people in that community, and through it all, we ourselves are going to change. No one ever said that change would be easy, there are definitely going to be good times, tough times, and obstacles to overcome, but the important thing is that we are there for each other. Because that is what family does.

So what am I feeling right now? I think it’s a mix of excitement, excitement, excitement, and a strong need to fundraise.

-Stephanie