touring Archives - Womens Post

I love volunteering. It is a simple and amazing way to give back to your community and to help others, especially those in need.

Volunteering is giving your time and effort towards good causes. It doesn’t have to take all of your day, it could be a few hours in the weekend, and that goes such a long way.

My favourite events that I volunteer to help with, are those held for children. I have always enjoyed working with children and this even led me to become a teacher. I especially love working with children with special needs. While you’re helping others, you’re also learning something new, utilizing your skill-set, talking to people and working as part of a team towards a common goal.

While vacationing in St. Maarten, in March this year, I noticed an organization called SXM DOET advertising a weekend of island wide events to give back to the community and a call for volunteers. Naturally I contacted them and just like that- I had an opportunity to volunteer with senior citizens. The weekend event was packed with fun activities.

On the first day, I accompanied the seniors on an island tour, which allowed me to also learn and experience the island in a way I hadn’t before!

I had a great time in wonderful company, as I listened to their stories about how the island was in their youthful days.

The next day, there was a Fun Day Barbecue at a local picnic spot. I brought my teenage sister with me to help and it was her first time volunteering. My volunteer team set up seating and food service areas, decorated, served food and started games for the seniors and their families to play. It was an amazing day!

After all the dancing and games, I somehow ended up giving foot massages to two of the old ladies and we relaxed together and chatted. I met some amazing people that weekend, and I will make sure to look them up the next time I am on the island.

They really do appreciate this because as people age, their joints can become more stiff and painful, and a simple massage would help ease that discomfort. The simple truth is that many older folks are really in need of some good company and the visits give them something to look forward to.

Volunteering can be great quality time away from work and a busy life, because the focus shifts from you and onto making someone’s life better and more fulfilling, which is even more necessary if they are less fortunate.

It has been my experience that volunteer work also allows you to enhance your own self-development in ways you may never have thought of. You can gain confidence and self esteem by working with your team of volunteers to help others. It gives you a chance to meet new friends, be more outspoken and learn more about your community

Helping others always feels good. You don’t have to give money. Giving your time and energy is usually even more appreciated!

Caitlin Dacey is not only a kick-ass musician, she also helps young girls in Toronto pursue their own dreams of being rock n’ roll queens. Chatting with the quasi punk and rock n’ roll singer/ musician, it becomes clear that she is a relaxed, extremely intelligent, and professional young woman who is a role model younger women in the world of music. “It is weird looking at other bands where women aren’t very active. That is why Girl’s Rock Camp is so important to me. It is hard that there is such a disparity in the numbers of women in bands.”

In her 20’s, Dacey began her first band, Bella Clava, with her bandmate Steve. She wished she had started earlier, but chalks it up to societal stereotypes that influences young women to not get involved in rock n roll. “I got into music from listening to it and enjoying it. I never saw myself in a band. As a woman I didn’t know that was possible,” Dacey says.

Despite Dacey’s later start as a musician, she became the lead singer and guitarist with Bella Clava and toured the country. She later joined punk band Public Animal, playing keyboards and vocals with the local punk icon, Ian Burton. She also plays in an all-girls band called Overnight. Dacey is a natural singer with a smoky powerful voice and the sassy demeanour of a rock n’ roll queen, yet carries herself well with an honest and humble disposition.

Dacey is a high school teacher by day. She teaches biology, French, and most recently, audio production. Playing in three bands and teaching full-time, Dacey is definitely busy, but finds she needs both the kids and music to lead a happy life. “I did take a year off of teaching, but I was doing music full-time. I missed teaching and my students,” Dacey says. “It is how I need to live. I need to have different things on the go. The more active I am, the more productive I am.”

Dacey combines her passion of teaching and music by volunteering at Girl’s Rock camp Toronto, a non-profit organization that runs camps, workshops, and an after-school rock party. The initiative is run by female musicians who teach young girls how to make a band, choose a name and logo, and learn the musical instruments. The teachers help the girls to problem solve and work together and then there is a performance at the end of the camp.

Dacey says she is band camp coach and also helps with guitar. She teaches a group of five or six girls and helps them make a band. “There is a lot of emphasis on conflict resolution and how to navigate differences in opinion. It is teaching me lots of tools to apply in my own band,” Dacey says. “The kids teach you how to be positive. It re-inspires me to play music.” The fact that there are initiatives that exist such as Girl’s Rock Camp reflects that there is increasingly more support for girls who want to be musicians.”

Dacey points out that women are often placed in competition with each other, and it is initiatives like Girls Rock Camp that help to remove these barriers. “I absolutely want to be supportive. Not every interaction with other women is going to be positive. You want especially people who are trying things for the first time to have that positive experience. You want them to see other women as a network and allies. Unfortunately we are taught that we are in competition with one another and that there is only space for one woman,” Dacey says. “Working with my students and rock camp and my own interests, and trying to live my life where I’m in control of what I’m doing makes me feel like I’m doing my part in a small way.”

Dacey is also an avid reader and is working her way through the complex and fascinating, Elegance of a Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. She also likes to go rollerblading while on tour so that she can actually see the towns and cities that her bands visit with a limited time scope. If you get a chance to see Dacey perform or have a daughter who has dreams of being a musician, Dacey is a true music inspiration with the classic grace of a true rock n’ roller.

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