How A Summer Off from School Changed My Life

I knew from the date of last December that the summer of 2007 would be different from the stagnant drudgery of summer employment that fills most students summers. I just never dreamed how much it would change my life.

I finished spring session on June 15th 2007 and had four weeks of relaxation until my exciting trip to Australia began. On a whim, I had attended a meeting for the International Student Volunteers program at the U of A during the previous November. I had no real intention of participating in the program, but went to check it out since the presenting New Zealanders had given such a good presentation. In a few short weeks I found myself applying to the program, being accepted and spending a large amount of my hard earned cash to reserve myself a spot. The rest is history!

I left for Australia on July 26, 2007 to participate in a volunteer conservation/adventure tour. I met up with the rest of the adventurers in Los Angeles and quickly became friends with people from around North America that I would be spending day and night with for the next four weeks. A full 24 hours of travel from Edmonton, AB left me two hours away from Brisbane, Australia totally secluded in the mountains to begin my two weeks of volunteer work.

Australia is probably the largest conservationist country in the world, as their diverse lands contain 75% of the world's species. Everyone probably has seen or heard of Steve Irwin, 'The Crocodile Hunter' who has set the world image for the stereotypical Australian. I was surprised at how much his message has seemed to get through to Australians. The organization I was volunteering under is called Wild Mountains and their mission is to educate school children about conservation so they can learn about and pass on important environmental changing actions. As an interesting aside to the issue of Australian conservation, I found it surprising that all Australian toilets, public or private, have a full or half flush option to enable everyone to help conserve water. As the ultimate non-renewable resource, water is scarce in Australia because much of the country is in severe drought for most of the year. I found this to be a huge difference between Australia and Canada, as many Canadians waste water horribly, not even posing a thought to its scarcity in other parts of the world. My eyes were completely opened as I considered how terrible it would be to one day not have enough water to complete everyday tasks. The issue of water scarcity was driven home to me as we had to sleep in a shed with a limited water supply to have showers and wash dishes. The water we were expected to live on and not leave as a depleted supply came from the rain water reserves in a cistern. Once the supply was used up there would be none left for us to use in our daily tasks. It made me wonder what if that fear was on a global scale?

The two weeks of volunteering at Wild Mountains was intense and brought everyone back down to a grassroots level. We slept in sleeping bags on mattresses on the floor in a small loft. There was a wood stove to heat the shed and hot water for dishes or washing up. There was no television or radio as electricity was limited. We were responsible for preparing three meals a day in teams of three or four and cleaning up after everyone. Imagine the scenario: no dishwasher with dishes and pots for meals of around 15 people at every mealtime. The food was vegetarian and wholesome, as no junk food was to be found within miles. We ate together as a group, as no one was allowed to start until everyone had arrived from work. The work consisted of wood splitting, tree planting, weeding, painting, cleaning, and general construction labour. Whatever we could do to assist with getting the educational facility running by the end of August was our duty.

The entire two weeks consisted of basic living, work, and traditional values that have fallen by the wayside in our modern, urban lifestyle. A person might assume this type of experience might not be for the average 19-25 year olds from large, urban areas. Wrong! Every single student out of the nine on the volunteer work project said they loved the traditional values of sitting down for meals together, and playing cards or games in the evenings. The hectic sounds of the city were replaced by the cackling of the Kookaburras in the early morning and the deadlines of school and jobs were traded in for a shovel and a young tree needing to be planted in the hillside. Not one person was ready to go back to the hustle of their daily lives, as the step back in time to the wilderness of the mountains had positive effect on everyone.

As I resume the regular grindstone of my daily rountine, I will take with me many aspects of Wild Mountains. I will turn the faucets off when I am brushing my teeth or washing my face. I will turn all electricity off when it is not in immediate use. I will recycle more products and eliminate as much waste as possible because almost anything can be re-used. I will be aware that we share this planet with flora and fauna that have as much right to be here as we do. Most importantly, I will take the time to stop and appreciate the beauty of nature as the simplest of wonders go by un-noticed as people hustle through their lives. Thank you to the staff of Wild Mountains.