Simone's CUSO application

I have always been interested in public service and helping those in need. The seeds of this outlook of caring for our fellow human beings may have been planted in childhood, in Catholic Catechism classes, and the loving kindness of my very religious grandparents, who had a great influence on me.

I studied Psychology in University, because I and others thought my disposition was well suited to counselling those in psychological distress. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology I worked with "at risk" and disadvantaged children in Regina, SK, and Burnaby, BC, for almost ten years. After that, for about a year, I volunteered and worked at WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre in Vancouver on the crisis lines, with women victims of violence.

Still motivated by public service, I went to Journalism school, and wrote stories about social justice that I felt passionate about. Stories about oppression and injustice and human rights especially interested me.

I have volunteered for many organizations over the years including:

• SCEP Centre in Regina, for Autistic and troubled children.
• Woodlands in New Westminster.
• WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, Vancouver.
• Christian Task Force on Central America: I designed and did layout of their newsletter.
• Vancouver Women's Health Collective, briefly.
• Vancouver Status on Women: I wrote a few articles for Kinesis magazine.
• Rogers Cable Television: I did stories on alternative health, heritage housing, and did some line producing, and studio and mobile camera in a community TV setting.
• Vancouver International Film Festival 2009: I volunteered in the information booth.
• Shaw Cable, Vancouver: I interned there recently as a production assistant and camera person.

In fact, I think with all the volunteering I have done over the years with children, youth, women, and other socially conscious organizations, and with my natural inclination towards living a simple lifestyle (ie. economical, resourceful, hearty), I may well be cut out for the kind of work that CUSO does.

So I decided to apply, perhaps being inspired by the present situation in Haiti, which seems so dire right now. I would be honoured to do the kind of work that needs to be done in a situation like this, under the leadership a reputable organizations such as CUSO.