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A Kelowna woman recently came home after finishing a 820 kilometre pilgrimage.
Stella Majic is a retired teacher from St. Joseph Elementary School and decided to walk the Camino de Santiago with her friend.
“My brother did it last year and he suggested I do it. He felt I could do it but he said it’s the hardest thing he has ever done. I didn’t go with any illusions that it was going to be easy. I was never nervous and no I never felt that I would not finish, unless I had a bad accident.”
Each hiker carries a bag that is 10 per cent of the person’s body weight. Majic’s pack included socks and underwear, a water bladder, some snacks, a pair of crocs and her treasured lulu lemon pants that she wore throughout the trip.
The 64-year old started her journey on September 20th in the south of France and finished on October 24th at the Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. She said the feelings she had throughout the trip are hard to put into words.
“I felt confident and I felt good being there. It’s hard to describe. You go into an interior place and you have to understand people go on the Camino for a variety of things. A significant number like the adventure, for others it may start as an adventure but it turns into something else, where you look at life different.”
The two women met many people during their pilgrimage including young 20-year-olds who quit their jobs and decided to do the walk all the way to a couple in their 80’s enjoying the pilgrimage together. During the month long hike the friends stayed at hostels along the way.
On top of doing the pilgrimage for herself, Majic also raised funds for the Ozanam Recovery House. The funds will be going to helping men in recovery access private clinical counselling. The Ozanam Rocovery House is a transition home for men that struggle with addictions and mental health issues. It’s a not-for-profit organization run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul with 19 available beds.
The campaign has raised $4000 so far, and the goal is $10,000. To donate to Majic visit her donation page here.
Majic said when she finished the trek she wasn’t happy. She said that after finishing she had to start thinking about how life was before the pilgrimage and what life would be like now after finishing it.
“I am a grateful person. I went grateful, it’s a privilege to be able to go away for two months and have the means and the health. I was grateful for that but it also deepened my gratitude for what I have, like my friends, family, my home, I’m just grateful.”
Majic has the pilgrimage bug now plans to do another hike next fall.
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