Hi, my name is Delainea Anderson and I am 16 years old. I am from a community of 1300 people, called fort Simpson; where the rivers come together.  I’ve been on quite the journey during this program: I have had 3 jobs, 2 different families and 2 placements. I was in Truro Nova Scotia when I first started where I worked at an amazing food bank with amazing people that all had great personalities. I stayed with a wonderful family but I ended up being moved due to not having a host buddy. I was then moved to Chilliwack British Columbia and it is so gorgeous here, with mountains surrounding the area.

I’m with my new host family now and they are so amazing! I feel like their family is going to be my home away from home as they make me and pearl feel so welcomed. I have had 3 work placements, the food bank in Truro Nova Scotia was by far amazing, amazing people. The second was the bookman in Chilliwack British Columbia. It didn’t work out but still a lovely store and finally the Salvation Army in chilliwack, I like this job. Very kind people and so much variety in jobs.

I’ve definitely gone over my own boundaries when it came to this program. I went to a music festival, danced to Latin music in front of a huge group of people. I’m terrified of heights but went rock climbing anyways, which was so much fun! I’ve been traveling a ton and I’ve been loving it! Traveling is something I really love doing. Northern Youth Abroad has been definitely a journey- an amazing journey. During orientation (the first week of NYA) I met some amazing people that I can definitely call my best friends now.

I would highly recommend this program to all youth from NWT and Nunavut. This has been the best summer of my life and I’ll definitely be applying for the Next and/or international program this November.