As a young adult growing up in the small community of St. Albert I have been lucky enough to witness the generous workings of our community members.
As a second-year education student at Grant MacEwan University, I have always taken an interest in helping out those less fortunate and will be able to do so this spring when I travel to Tanzania to volunteer my time in a local school. The school that I will be teaching in is called Silver Primary School and is located just outside of Arusha. The school offers education to underprivileged children that cannot afford to go to private schools and is funded by a local business owned by the director of the school.
During my time there I will be working with the students teaching them English as well as preparing lesson plans and tests, marking tests and assignments and showing the teachers other instructional techniques I have already learned at my time at Grant MacEwan. Over the past few weeks I have been working with a Grade 6 class in Beaumont to develop a pen-pal system and have had the opportunity to spend time with Lori Lamar, a gifted teacher at J.J. Nearing. Both Lamar and Jolanda Nichols have dedicated their time to assist me in preparing for this experience.
Volunteering my time overseas has always been a dream of mine, but the expenses of doing so has been a challenge as I am still in school and only able to work part-time. This trip has been made possible through my generous sponsors: Rudy Kapitaniuk at RW Caps, Alison Lessard, Charlotte Kirchner, and Lori Lamar at Oui 3, Guy Bourgeois at Bourgeois & Company Ltd., as well as Margaret Hutchings, Salwa Tarrabain and many more community members. It is comforting to know that despite today’s world, which is often over run by disasters, pandemics and violence, the community of St. Albert still stands strong to support others. The ripples that these people have embedded in my life will continue to grow and I hope to be able to pass on this compassion to others not only on my trip but throughout my life.
Marlee Hutchings, St. Albert
