Natural

Alexander Blum-Walker,
Jennifer Rich, & Cornelius Meier
Contributors

L our Environmental Studies 101
class we were given the task of
forming a group to address a social
or environmental issue that we
could effectively spread awareness
for. Our group decided that there
was a lack of awareness concerning
the different trail systems in the
Prince George area, so we chose to
survey and present to a group of
people to see what kind of results
we could attain.

In order to do this we developed
a survey that included three easy
to follow questions. The questions

Tory Prentice
Contributor

Venter hours can be gained
in many different areas of our
society. As someone who has done
a fair amount of local volunteering,
I thought going abroad would be a
great way to diversify my volunteer
experience.

After a rather rocky start to my
trip, I finally touched down in
Quito, Ecuador. The stress of
delayed flights and lost luggage
didn’t last long once I came to the
realization that I was finally in
South America! All of the planning
and fundraising had finally paid off,
and I had FOUR amazing weeks to
look forward to!

Since I didn’t know anyone else
when I signed up for the trip ,I

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asked the participants how many
years they had lived in Prince
George, whether they used the
trail system in and around Prince
George, and, if they had used them,
they were to state which one of
the trails listed they had used and
give an estimate of how many
times they had used them in total.
We surveyed twenty-five people
while set up in the Winter Garden,
and the results were somewhat
surprising. Of these twenty five
people almost one third had lived
in Prince George for less than one
year. This would account for why
these people had exclusively used
the Forest for the World trails.
Assuming these were all people

an Othe

that live in residence or are in first
year university, it makes sense that
they would have only used the
trails closest to the school.

From there the group of students
that have lived in Prince George
from one to five years had greatly
expanded their trail use among
the city, but still everyone had
used the Forest for the World trails
multiple times. Other trails that
were commonly used by this group
include Fort George Park and the
Cranbrook Hill Greenway trail.
Since these are some of Prince
George’s most popular trails, this
was an understandable result.

The next and final group we got

Global Volunteering

knew I was going to have the
opportunity to meet a great deal of
new people. Never in my wildest
dreams did I expect to meet the
incredible friends that I did. Sure I
knew there were going to be lots of
other people my age with common
interests, but that doesn’t always
equal a recipe for friendship. When
three friendly females came up

to me in the hotel and offered me
clothes (because I still didn’t have
luggage) minutes after meeting
them, I knew the remainder of the
trip was going to be spectacular.
This summer the Help, Learn and
Discover organization gave me

an experience of a lifetime that

I would like to briefly share with
everyone!

Help. Using funds that I and the
rest of the groups had raised, we

were able to build 21 homes for a
number of families in the poverty
ridden community of Camarones.
On 17 August, I was fortunate
enough to witness the houses
being given away. One by one the
families drew numbers from a hat
to determine which of these newly

constructed houses would be theirs.

It became very clear just how much
of a difference our hard work was
going to make in the lives of these
families.

Learn. I was also given the
opportunity to expand some of
my existing knowledge as a 4th
year Biomed student. I was able to
stand in and watch surgeries being
performed right before my eyes! I
was taught how to perform an ECG
and even draw blood!

Discover. Because a lot of my time

rwise Concrete Jungle

Culture 7

Shelley Termuende | OTE

results from were students who
have lived in Prince George for
longer than fifteen years. As
expected, their results included
the use of most, if not all, of the
trails on our survey. The most
popular was still the Forest for the
World trails, but was followed by
LC Gunn Trail and then Fort George
Park. We believe that this survey
gave us some insight into both the
amount of knowledge of the local
trail systems that is present in our
student body, and the important
roles these trails play. For people
who walk their animals or run

for physical activity, these trails
provide a connection with nature in
an otherwise concrete jungle.

in Quito was dedicated to working
in the hospitals, it was great that

I was able to explore more of
what this beautiful country had

to offer once medical rotations
were done. I ventured past the city
to the Amazon jungle and to the
coastal regions of Ecuador . Here I
hiked, swam, surfed, and waterfall
repelled!

Now, I am fortunate enough to
bea leader for this program and
introduce ecuaexperience to

the students of UNBC! For more
information on the program
please check out the website
and/or Facebook page www.
ecuaexperience.com and
https://www.facebook.com/
Ecuaexperience or feel free to email
me at tprenticeecuaexperience@
gmail.com !