April 29th - Support Sport-based Social Development Programming!

Since 1993, Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) has reached more than 1.9 million children in Africa and the Caribbean while training more than 8600 youth leaders to conduct sport-based social development programming. This year, on April 29th, 2012 in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax, you can help Sport for More, a grassroots sport program that includes HIV/AIDS education, stay‐in‐school initiatives and life skills building activities, reach even farther.

This is the first of two running events this year with causes that are close to my heart (the other being the Scotiabank Charity Challenge where I will be supporting the Canadian Liver Foundation). For more information and how to register, go to:  http://www.commonwealthgames.ca/ids/get-involved/game-of-life/index.html
(Team discounts available when groups of 10 or more people register using promo code: GCG12GOL)


For this event I won't be running, but instead will be coordinating the ceremonies. I do encourage you to get out and run/walk, but there are other ways to support the Game of Life and get involved:

1) Volunteer your time @ the race (contact me)

2) Promote the event - Pass along information about the Game of Life to your friends and family and encourage them to get involved by coming out in support of the race if they live in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, or Halifax. This could be as easy as a link on your Facebook wall, an email to your networks, twitter or other ways.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Game-of-Life-Vancouver/311484282233385

3) Donate - Any contribution big or small is always a great help and is yet another way to get involved and support the cause. (you can do so online or ask me for a pledge form)

Click on the article below to get an idea on the impact Sport for More makes!

3 weeks

With roughly three weeks to go, I wonder where my last 10.5 months have gone. It's been, what I feel like the fastest year ever for me ... not just time wise, but for personal growth and professional development as well. I'm a bit anxious about leaving ... not having a job to go back to at this point, leaving some amazing people I have met, and reconnecting with "real life" back home. I'm sure I will have more to say about this once it happens!

So to help me grasp all the thoughts I have running through my head, I decided to make a list of things I will miss and will not miss ... and the things I'm looking forward to back home.

Things I will miss:

• My fantastic SL friends who are some of the most welcoming and loving people I have ever met and have taught me to be more open to love and being loved 
• Quiz nights
• Seeing the direct impact I have with work and the relationships within work. 
• The drive from youth to learn - they take nothing for granted
• Weekend beach getaways, sunshine, and sunsets
• The beautiful scenery of this country 
• The generosity and hospitality of most Sri Lankans
• Daily Skype chats with Seylankanda :) 
• The compactness/density of the city. Just about everything is within walking distance. 

Things I will not miss:

• The madness of Colombo
• Garbage burning 
• The constant assault on my senses from honking, smells, and vehicles whizzing by
• Playing real life "Frogger" when crossing the street 
• The smell of body odor (not on me) 
• Sweating 24/7
• Stray dogs
• Significant gender inequality

Things I'm looking forward to back home: 

• Moving forward in my career 
• Fresh air 
• Cleanliness
• Pedestrian right of way 
• Snow
• Mountains
• Reconnecting with friends and making new connections 
• Decluttering my life 
• The concept of personal space

I'll be spending the next few weeks finding "closure" on this experience and concentrating on opening new doors and keeping doors open in front of me. It's been a struggle to find a job back home and I hope that once I am home it will be a bit easier!

EDIT 13-03-2012: Have been finding it hard at work ... things that I thought would be easy to finish up have not been as I learn the deeper understanding of what I've been trying to teach and show the staff in the last year is not there. We can tell them what to do and how to do it, but as soon as they are left on their own to develop their own "how to", they're lost. I'm mostly referring to the development of plans. It is more than just a list of goals or tasks and needs to include processes on how to reach those goals or complete those tasks. I'm frustrated. I felt the month prior to this had been fantastic ... from successfully bulk uploading part of the team to the London Olympic eAccreditation system to the workshop on Zeus where Richard was here. It felt like we took some huge strides forward and now we've taken a giant leap backwards. Finding it hard to focus on the successes we have had. Finding it hard to just let it go and trust that they will eventually find their own way or that it's okay if they just don't get that far.