Part 1: Preface - Jason Druker’s Voluntouring Journal

I began my Habitat for Humanity journey across Canada almost 1 month ago, and the time has flown by. It is probably best to preface my journal with a little bit of background about who I am and what I am doing in Canada. I was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1987 and lived there all through high school. I went to university in Birmingham, UK for 3 years and double majored in law and business. I then moved to London, UK to go to law school and finished my studies in June this year. Come March 2010 I will return to London to train (similar to articling in Canada) with Addleshaw Goddard LLP, a large corporate law firm. If you are following the story so far, it may have occurred to you that between the end of law school in June and the start of my job next March I have some time to kill. My mother is Canadian but despite many summers spent in her home town of St. Catharines, ON I have never been outside of Ontario, let alone felt minus temperatures of the Canadian winter.So, throwing caution to the chilly wind, I decided to up sticks and come to Canada for 4 months, from October to February, travelling the country and living life to the fullest. But before embarking on my journey I had the opportunity to take part in something very special closer to home. As part of Addleshaw Goddard’s commitment to corporate social responsibility I and forty of my colleagues spent a week in Romania in August building a house for a family in need. The weather was scorching, the terrain unforgiving, and the laughter never-ending. I was infected with a nasty dose of “Habititus”.I decided that I could add a whole new dimension to my trip by committing to build or work for Habitat for Humanity in every province of Canada that I step into. My route across the country is somewhat skewed – Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia – and I will be partaking in cultural and leisure activities all along the way. Someone much smarter than I coined the phrase “voluntouring” to describe my trip, and I think it works quite well. I am by no means in Canada to save the world, but if I can hammer a few nails and spread the message of Habitat for Humanity through my actions and advocacy then all of this will be worthwhile. And if I should happen across a pub or two along the way, so be it! So watch this space. I will do my best to keep updating this page with my travels, adventures, shout-outs, and plea’s for warm clothes. And if you really want the whole JD experience, add me on Facebook quoting Habitat for Humanity Canada and you can keep an eye on my handiwork