Making the hard decisions

As my Ms. QueenB has stated, nothing much has changed at home and being back in Canada, where we will begin our last year of school together, will be like stepping back in time. It will be as though we've never left...eerie! Sure a building or two has changed, your neighbour has a new pet, or that one annoying pothole has become even bigger; but in other ways, things are very much the same.


Chatting with some of the government representatives this week, I've come to realise how very different my expereince of Bergpolder and the neighbourhood centre (where I spent 4 days a week for the majority of this year) could potentially be. Why you ask? Due to the economic crisis and the changing of the guard (that is the members of parliament who might not think programs that set out to better the atmosphere of neighbourhoods and the relationships between neighbours to be so important), there might not be enough money for the programs at the centre or for the services that are currently provided through neighbourhood organisations. Nothing is written in stone and in fact, it's business as usual until otherwise told, but I can't imagine what a different experience I would have had, if it were not for the centre and the connections I made through various neighbourhood activities.

Although I've made it clear in other places, my working with the neighbourhood was not so much a choice but one of my only options when looking to see the daily interaction of individuals who come together in public places. Through the interest groups, the educational activities and the space itself, this centre and other neighbourhood communities have this local community buzzing! These busy bees are doing a great job getting people out of the house and into the streets, starting sustainable projects and generally making bergpolder a rather pleasant place to be.

So what will happen if the funding goes away? Truth be told, I find the activities to be quite luxurious and I was always a bit surprised at the amount of help, both financially and otherwise, that these centres and the projects of different individuals, acquire. I must see if the city of London, Ontario carries a similar approach but something tells me...probably not. Seeing how well it works here however, I can't imagine not having this network of hopping individuals and thriving groups.

I'm certainly glad that those hard decisions are not up to me. I'd probably make the city broke by approving everything that came across my desk! I guess only time, and the wavering Euro, will tell.