Return of the Raven

It’s been two weeks since I boarded a bus with 50 teenagers set out on a journey of discovery in the BC wilderness. As many of you know, I was a volunteer once again this year for the 17th Young Men’s Adventure Weekend (ymaw.com). I’ve also been working on an article about the organization and the people who founded the weekend. It’s a story that doesn’t know when to quit.

I first started on the article over a month ago when I was taking a creative writing class. My goal was to have the article finished in time to have it published before the actual weekend. That never happened. After our adventure a couple of weeks ago I finally realized that this story is developing and growing every day. This work never ends - it is part of us. It’s who we are. So the writing has been difficult, especially finding an ending and with the success of this years adventure, I see a few more pages being added once again.

I’ve been volunteering for YMAW for the last few years and have been fortunate enough to be part of the audio/visual team with Dorian Leslie. We have been documenting the event with photos and video footage, capturing the beauty of the great Canadian outdoors and the joyous mayhem of a hundred or so men working together in a wilderness adventure.

A couple of years ago we began adding interviews of the young men attending YMAW to our films, which opened our minds even more as we listened even closer to their words and their hearts. Words that would continue to educate and inspire us. This year we took it a step further and also interviewed the production team of men who volunteer each summer to produce the adventure.

So as I continue researching and writing for this never-ending story for it’s eventual publication, I wanted to share with you all this year’s audio/visual delights from the Young Men’s Adventure Weekend of 2006. I hope that this may inspire you all to get involved in your communities and work with our youth, our future. Each year everyone involved inspires me and I am rejuvenated with hope for our planet. A hope that is never-ending.

YMAW MOVIE
YMAW PICS
www.ymaw.com

Peace,
chico

p.s. You are now able to leave comments on the blogs without having to register and it is easy. Would love to hear from you all. Thanks.