Singapore!

If you don't know yet, I took another placement with Commonwealth Games Canada's Capacity Support Program - this time in Singapore for three months. I got here EARLY on Saturday and have had a packed schedule since!

I had a great weekend of exploring and just getting the little things I needed to make life comfy here - some food, toiletries, my own mug, etc. The apartment is soooo luxurious. TV, garbage chute right in the apartment, plus it's serviced. Crazy to me, but pretty standard here, it seems!  Met up with a friend from Vancouver who was here to watch the F1 race (I sadly could not get a ticket to the race, nor could I afford it). I took local transport which is really well marked. The bonus is that it's so clean and it's air-conditioned. Ate some local food which I know I will enjoy immensely while I am here.

My first day at the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) was on Monday. They currently have a temporary office in the building of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). I'm a short, sweaty 10 minute walk from the office. There are murals of national athletes all over the interior walls. I was so inspired when I walked in. The SSC has 150+ staff from marketing to sports medicine; all working together to manage sports in the country. The SNOC has 6 staff who so far have been super helpful and definitely keen to get started on Zeus. The staff go out for lunch everyday - generally at the local hawker centres close by where a lunch can be had for about 3 - 4 CAD and choices range from BBQ pork on rice to curry or laksa!

I was fortunate to have an invite extended to me to attend their London 2012 Athlete Appreciation Dinner last night. What an amazing event. In addition to the team being present, the Deputy Prime Minister who is also the President of the SNOC was the guest of honour, the super personable female Chef de Mission, and past Olympians including their first ever Olympic medallist from the 1960 Games in Rome. Probably better summed up here: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/olympians-feted-ceremony-medallists-get-cash-20120926.

Culturally, I'm a little nervous - only because it seems so familiar at times that I'm afraid I'm overlooking something. I get the humour, many of the traditions, the work ethic, and bits and pieces of the language (aside from English, Mandarin is commonly used). I already feel so much more at ease here than my entire last year which makes me a little cautious. I guess we'll just wait and see! One of the things I do hope to accomplish is that by the end of the three months, when someone asks me what I need in Mandarin, I'll be able to understand them even if I still have to respond on English.

So I hope to get one or two more posts up this week about Hawaii, but if I don't, it's because we're preparing for a week-long Zeus workshop that's happening next week AND it's Mid-Autumn festival this weekend. I'm really excited about both things, but will write about it afterwards!

Zai jian!

Chapter Closed

As I write this en-route to Toronto, leaving debrief and Ottawa behind, I'm in an especially reflective mood. I'm sad that this experience as a Capacity Support Officer is over. I am excited for what is to come and to see where my Capacity Support Program Team 3 colleagues will go. The group we were a year ago and the group that got together this weekend was completely different. We all learned that we are extremely capable in taking on anything that was thrown at us and making opportunities out of everything. We have all grown so much. So proud of everyone involved and so happy to have had all of you influence the change in me this past year.

So what did we all accomplish? I will list some of the legacies we have left behind in our host countries:

• Weekly women's fitness classes where they did not exist before
• Recreational basketball leagues across a host country
• New social media strategies to increase engagement with Commonwealth Games Associations and National Olympic Committees
• New national sport events/competitions ranging from triathlons to youth multi-sport games
• Proposals for funding, facilities development, team development, and long-term athlete development
• Educational programs promoting Olympism and Olympic Values, anti-doping, and fair play
• Sport programs
• Games team management processes
• Staff and volunteers trained in games team management software (Zeus)
• Newly developed or strengthened national sport councils and relationships between national sport bodies and CGAs/NOCs

And this is just the start ... 

I think I can safely say that a lot of us "found" parts of us that we didn't know existed. We definitely had our limits pushed and we all made the best of our situations. My biggest take away - learning how to communicate more effectively both with people in my host country and people back home. I've strengthened some important relationships and have become better at making new ones. 

Thank you Commonwealth Games Canada staff and volunteers for the amazing support you have offered to us to help us grow tremendously over the last year. That support also allowed us to achieve outcomes that I think none of us could have expected given the opportunities that we found and also were presented to us. 

Now I look forward to staying connected with this amazing group of change makers and connecting with others as well. Need a job done in community development, volunteer coordination, event planning, program management, fundraising, or strategizing, especially in the sport sector? I for sure will know someone, or a team, who can help you. ;) 

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!