And now Patricia Belliveau is getting ready for a trip of a lifetime she knows will be a life-changing experience.
Belliveau will head to South Africa this November to volunteer at an orphanage in Johannesburg, a journey she says was sparked by a “high school bucket list” she wrote more than four decades ago. That list was brought out during her 40th high school reunion a couple of years ago, with one item on that list really catching her attention – she had written “I want to adopt as many Vietnamese children as I can.”
At 62, Belliveau says she knows that goal just isn’t in the cards for her anymore. But she didn’t want to completely give up on the notion of helping less fortunate children. So she decided to do the next best thing.
“That’s when I thought, ‘I can go to them,” she says of her decision to volunteer.
Belliveau had heard stories of an orphanage near Johannesburg that was always on the lookout for new volunteers. Her friend, travel agent and fellow theatre performer Stephen Puddle has been volunteering himself at the Mpumelelo Day Care Centre for the past 20 years and so she was well aware of the need there.
Belliveau, who recently retired from her job at Canada Post, says this opportunity seemed to present itself to her at such an opportune time that she just couldn’t turn her back on this chance of a lifetime.
“Everything just started to fall in place for me to take this trip,” she says.
Then, when she heard the orphanage was in particular need of someone to help run a sports program there, she knew that was the clincher.
“That’s kind of my forte,” she says. “So that’s when the wheels really started turning. I thought, ‘this is perfect.’ I can give something to this.”
Throughout her life, Belliveau has always been very sports-oriented, having played and coached a variety of sports over the years. From baseball to soccer, from track and field to basketball, Belliveau has pretty much done it all, including serving as an aerobics and aquacise instructor as well a personal trainer. Pickleball is her latest craze – and thanks to the provincial Pickleball association, Belliveau will be bringing some equipment (nets, balls and paddles) with her to Johannesburg to help introduce the youth there to this new and growing sport.
She says she’s excited about being able to go to an orphanage and share her love of sports with the youth there.
“I think I have so much to offer them, with my enthusiasm and my knowledge.”
When Belliveau first began planning her trip, she thought about going for a three-week period. But it soon became apparent to her, particularly with her involvement in the sports program, that three weeks simply wouldn’t be enough time to make an impact.
“That wouldn’t really be long enough for me to introduce the sports and to see the progress,” she said.
So she checked in to the maximum volunteer time she could spend in South Africa and decided to commit to three months instead.
She will be staying at an Airbnb in Johannesburg and will be picked up and dropped off every day at the orphanage where she will work eight-hour days – in the morning, she will tend to the infant to six-year-olds, and in the afternoon she will work with the older students, ages 7 to 16, on various sporting activities.
The day care centre, which operates mostly on volunteer support, was founded in 1998 by Maria Gaba, and is a place where children from the Windmill Park Settlement, east of Johnannesburg, can come to learn and find the love and safety many of them lack in their own living situations.
Belliveau will be there from November to February and is looking forward to spending Christmas there, far away from the excessiveness and extravagance that has become synonomous with the holiday in Western cultures.
“I’m hoping to be with people who have not been polluted with the commercialism of Christmas,” she says. “I want to see that people can live incredible lives without going overboard. I’m really looking forward to that.”
And before she goes, she has a goal of raising $3,000 for the orphanage there, which will help with the centre’s ongoing needs for school equipment and supplies for the more than 150 children and babies who are cared for daily.
“I can’t just bring myself,” she says.
To achieve her goal, she has been planning various fundraising initiatives, including: two pickleball tournaments at the Mount Allison athletic centre, one in May and one during Fall Fair; a Christmas in July event at Ducky’s; two yard sales at her home; and the sale of raffle tickets on a basket. Residents are encouraged to keep their eye out for more information on these upcoming fundraisers.
