The Allure of Volunteering

In an interesting side note I am a volunteer with Girlguiding UK in my local city.  Guiding is something I did when I was a kid, I was a Rainbow and a Brownie and a Guide too.  I left Guides when I was 11 or 12 because it became distinctly uncool.

Since those days Girlguiding UK has been making efforts to modernise the system and the styles of leadership and achievement.  And since I’ve started Psychology and learnt how important positive influences at that age are on development it’s something I really wanted to get involved in.

It’s something that can fit to most people, from 12 hours a year, to one and a half hours every week of school term.  I do the latter, and I love it.  Through being a Young Leader I am gaining my Leadership Qualification (which used to be called a Warrant) and that means I can run a unit all by myself if I want to.  (A unit is the group of Guides, the equivalent of a Scout troop).

I love getting to know the girls, and seeing them achieve and be proud of themselves for their achievements.  I have seen girls who are older members of the unit go from disruptive and difficult to wonderfully helpful and very good role models to their younger counterparts with some frim but fair direction.  And it feels great to know that they look up to me and I can help them in some way to grow as people.  I feel that in hindsight I really missed that when I was that age, and it’s wonderful to be a positive role model myself to girls who are older and respected by younger Guides, but still young enough to not be sure where they are going in their lives, or their views.

If you have any spare time, it would be really great to volunteer some time to a cause you feel worthwhile, be it volunteering in a hospital or a school or with animals or anything!  It’s a great feeling to know you’re helping someone and making a difference to their life.

Hostess With the Mostess

Today my boyfriend’s mother and his brother came to tea.  They were here for the afternoon and dinner, and have just left (it’s 9.30pm).  But my post isn’t really about their visit.  I think they had a nice time, and that’s good, I feel it’s important for my boyfriend’s family to like me.

And that is essentially what this post is about.  I wonder if it’s just the scourge of those brought up in the middle classes that feel the need to impress; to show are homes at their best.  For instance, I spent 3 hours today cleaning.  It’s important to say, I suppose, that my home isn’t particularly dirty and I do clean regularly, but because family were coming over we went that bit further.  Taps are gleaming, mirrors are shining, carpets hoovered to within an inch of their lives, sheets changed, furniture polished, floors mopped (twice) and selves preened and made pretty.

I wonder where this strange antiquated ritual comes from.  It’s been passed down to me from my mother, who always made the house spotless if visiters were coming.  And I presume it was passed down to her from my grandmother, and to her from my great grandmother.  I suppose it spawns from the era(s) when a woman’s place was in the home and their homes where always expected to be as clean as possible.

So if this tradition prevails to this day, how do women with careers, families and a home manage?  How do they do it all?  Maybe that’s something I’ll find out in the days to come, but it’s something of a daunting thought!

Boey

I love watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on UKTV Style.  If you’re not familiar with the premise of the programme, the idea is that this design team funded by ABC TV studios, are sent applications from families all over the USA.  These are families living in extreme poverty, or in desperate situations or something similar.  The design team go and tear down their house and build them a brand new one that’s got plenty of room and healthy etc.  I watched an episode last night who had a family with 3 children.

Two boys aged 14 and 12, and an 8 year old girl called Boey.  Boey had cancer, and was in remission when they sent the application to ABC.  Their house was in incredibly bad disrepair, and was not a healthy environment for Boey.  ABC picked their family to remake their home, but 2 months before they arrived with the family Boey relapsed and had to start chemotherapy again.  In heart-wrenching interviews, Boey and her parents confessed how when she got the news she just begged and screamed to die, she was desperate not to go through with it again and to have to “survive”.

She was such a special little girl though.  In the hospital she would take her pocket money and buy soft toys for the other children to give to them as presents because she knew how horrible it was and how important it was to make them smile.  When they were shown their brand new home (which was beautiful) the little girl sobbed she was so happy.  Her brand new room was exactly how she wanted it – like a shop so she could play dress up and have mannequins to dress and put her wigs on.

The saddest part was that at the end of the show a message was displayed:

On the 28th of December, 2007

Boey lost her fight with cancer.

This show is dedicated to her

memory.

I cried when I saw that.  That’s a reaction some people may laugh at, but this little girl was so inspirational.  She was just desperate be free of cancer, and for people to find a cure.  She gave all she had to make other children happy.  She was only 8 years old, but in some ways probably far more mature than me.  She lost her childhood to a horrible disease, and eventually, her life.  That little girl inspired me to do better and to be a better person, and so for that reason, this post is dedicated to her too.