One of the things that has been somewhat of a surprise to me is how long it has taken me to find a “job” that I can jump into and make my own. I had honestly thought it would come clear to me much sooner than it has. I’ve been volunteering and expected that would lead to clarity on a place to plug in. The truth is that a volunteer position is limited and, unless I’m willing to commit to full time, I am still on the outside looking in to some degree. What I’m discovering is a big wide, sometimes bewildering, world that is full of opportunity. I’m also discovering that I am not as willing as I thought I might be to give up the flexibility that has given us the opportunities to travel or just hang out when we want to.
I do, however, want to be connected to something. It is one of the things that I miss most about not going to work. So I continue to seek out connections in different ways.
A few weeks ago I was reminded of an organization called ONE that was started about 10 years ago by Bono from U2. It’s an organization of mostly volunteers whose sole purpose is to advocate for an end to extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Their approach is to use social media and networking to raise awareness, to educate people as to what the issues really are and to keep government leaders accountable for the commitments made on their election platforms.
I like the element of political activity and the challenge of conveying a coherent message to a sound byte society. I like the fact that the message is hopeful. While extreme poverty continues to be a factor for far too many of the worlds people, considerable progress has been made and I feel like I want to make a contribution to that progress. I’ve been asked why I would want to get involved in a problem that is half a world away and doesn’t really affect me. I don’t think it’s true that it doesn’t affect me. I honestly believe that, if we were to solve the problem of extreme poverty, many of the threats that we are now spending trillions of military dollars on would simply disappear. And, again, from whom much is given, much is expected.
So I’ve volunteered as a Parliamentary Riding Leader for ONE. My job is to build a team of volunteers and supporters in my riding of Flamborough – Glanbrook (David Sweets riding). This blog is kind of a coming out I guess. I am going to spend the next few months figuring out how to engage people and will probably be much more active on social media than I have been. Good skills to develop, an opportunity to build relationships, and maybe have a little fun along the way.
Just to be clear, I will never ask you for money. It’s your voice that I’m interested in. That may mean your signature on a petition or a card to your Member of Parliament. If you’re not in my riding, I can hook you up. If you’re interested in getting more involved, feel free to contact me and we can talk about that. Or check out ONE.org to learn more about the latest project.