Written by Djadzia Maria Midvichi
Wonderful Mark has been part of our team since February 2022. Originally studying Criminology at the University of Ottawa, he moved to the University of Guelph to study Psychology and worked in that field for a few years. He then decided to go into Community Economic Development at Concordia University. This led to working in small organisations, especially AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM), and eventually at McGill University.
Mark never imagined he would work in a palliative care hospice. He found it hard to focus on mortality, particularly his own. One of his co-workers at McGill suggested to him the idea of working at Maison St-Raphaël and helped to arrange a visit. It was during that visit that Mark became very aware of the energetic environment and the fine fundamental principles of our organisation. That visit helped to change his view on many things and to see the opportunities for work at Maison St Raphaël.
Now working here, he can be found from Monday to Thursday on his computer, planning events such as the Walk of Dignity and the Golf Tournament. He really enjoys his work at Maison St-Raphaël. He finds that planning events is like solving a puzzle. He likes the unexpected just as much as working with a team of people – volunteers, partners, team members.
When asked about an art work he would suggest, dealing with death, he spoke of ‘Stay by Shakespeare’s Sister’. In that music video, the woman taking care of her dying lover is faced by an angel of death. Having seen this video at the age of 13, it gave him much to ponder over the years about life.
Mark loves spending his free time in nature, hiking and camping. He also loves playing board games and watching tv shows and movies. He is particularly a fan of The Office. Recently he has been reading a lot about Iceland, his next vacation destination – along with learning some of the Icelandic language.
If he had a superpower, Mark would like to time travel and watch how people lived back in the day.
If he could do it with a snap of his fingers, Mark would wish to increase empathy and compassion in everyone. He believes the world would be a better place if this were possible
