My name is Marilyn Kochon, I’m from Colville Lake and I’m currently living in Norman wells. I’m looking forward to graduating from high school by the year 2020.

I’m a participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian program. A big thank you to everyone who supports the NYA program, otherwise, without your support my experience would not be possible. This summer my host community is in Glencoe, Ontario. There is a Tim Horton’s which I don’t have in my community.

My work-placement this summer is at a ELM day centre, I walk to work every morning and at the end of the day it takes me around six minutes to reach my work placement. Throughout summer I have been volunteering at a ELM day centre. I work with nine or more toddlers. My duties included doing yard checks, raking the sand, bringing the snacks and lunch upstairs to the toddler room, and tidying up after the toddlers. After they have finished eating I would bring the dishes downstairs. Working here is a great experience, I love kids and they seem to like me and they like to engage in conversations or ask what’s my name. Today I started working with the preschoolers. Some of the kids already know my name but I can’t remember all their names.

I loved the family I stayed with over the summer. My host mom and dad Jennifer and dan, host sister Danielle host brother Michel, and their cat Ray. They’re amazing to be around. They have been so warm and welcoming, which made the stay comfortable.

Some of the fun things I did over the summer going on road trips with my host family to their ranch where they have some ducks their building a fence for their horse. They have a pool outside their house so I went for a swim. We went to Niagara Falls so it was a first for me which was fun.

Being a participant for NYA has been a lot of fun so far. The program has helped me with things like time management, being more open about my feelings, learning how to work as a team, learning more about post secondary schools,

Some things I find different in the south compared to home is the price of food or fruit, back home the prices are high in the south everything is cheap.

Thank you for reading my blog

Sincerely,

Marilyn Kochon

My name is Emily Hardisty-Marcellais and I am from Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. I am a participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad Canadian Program. I’d like to thank everyone who supports NYA, because without it I wouldn’t be able to attend this amazing program. And thank you to the NYA staff for taking care of all us, and making this program fun and educational.

My host community is in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. There are a lot of things to do here, such as going on hikes on trails, going shopping, checking out festivals, and joining a yoga/fitness group on the weekends. I like that there’s a lot of things to do here, while in Fort Simpson activities are limited, so I like the options. Dartmouth has some flaws though, I’m not used to the heat, and I’m not used to travelling so far to get to a store, the nearest store from me is twenty minutes away. Other than that, Dartmouth is great. 

Throughout the summer I have volunteered at Selby’s Bunker. Selby’s Bunker is a café and gift shop; working there was really fun, I got to make drinks, take orders, serve people food, and the staff there were so nice, they made my summer great. At my work place I learned that it’s okay to ask questions, and that it’s okay when you mess up, and being responsible with money and food, being more patient.

I liked the family I stayed with over the summer. My host mom Leticia, host sisters Fatiko and Kayla, and their six cats. They were very welcoming, which I liked. We did have a few challenges, but we sorted it out. I’m happy they opened their home to us and gave me this amazing opportunity. 

Some fun things I did this summer was go shopping, exploring trails, going to the movies, going to festivals, going to carnivals, and checking out the beach and boardwalk. 

Being a participant for NYA has been a lot of fun and a great experience. The program allowed me to see more of Canada, gave me a great opportunity, and a chance to meet other youth from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. This program has helped me with my confidence, asking more questions, learning about post-secondary school, other cultures, and what it’s like to live abroad.

What I’ll be doing with my experience with NYA when I get home is try to encourage other youth to join this program, the youth in Fort Simpson need to see what the world can offer them and the great opportunities they can have. I believe it’s important for the youth in my community to see different parts of Canada/the world, I want them to see that there’s more for them outside of Fort Simpson, like I said so many opportunities for education, jobs, travel, etc. I know every young individual in my community is capable of doing great things, and I think NYA is a great way for them to see that. 

I’d like to thank Kristen Morrison, Jackie Whelly, Val Gendron, and my family and friends, and the rest of my community for supporting me, without you I couldn’t have had this amazing experience.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Sincerely, 

Emily Hardisty-Marcellais

Hi, my name is Holly Norwegian. I live in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories; originally from a small town called Jean Marie River. I am a participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad Canadian Program. Big thanks to all who have supported and helped me with fundraising ; especially my home community, to be apart of this program. 

I was placed in Campbell River, British Columbia. Population of approximately 35,000 people. I am volunteering at the Laichwiltach Family Life Society. I started at their Head Start, and had so much fun working with the staff and children. The Head Start was only a three week long Program, so I was recently moved to the Little Fry daycare, which I also enjoy. 

My host parents’ name is Debbie, Debbie Weir. She’s brought me almost everywhere on Vancouver Island; Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Duncan, Cowichan Bay, And Victoria.

I have been exploring a lot of Campbell River on my own time, and it certainly has some very beautiful sites. My favourite place to go would probably be the pier and shoppers row. The pier has very good ice cream, and shoppers row has lots of stores to browse around. 

I am so glad to have been placed here, the people are very friendly. My host parent is very kind and generous. The people I work with are very kind and easy to get a long with, and the kids have brought so much joy over the month. I am also very very glad that I applied and was selected to be apart of Northern Youth Abroad. This is an experience that I will never forget. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. 

Sincerely, Holly Norwegian

Hi, my name is Marina.

I’m from Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. I am a participant in the NYA Canadian Program 2019. My work placement is at Doukhobor Museum.

I’ve met kind people there they’re so welcoming. I love it when they show me how lovely they are. When I learned about Doukhonor’s it makes me want to keep my culture alive. My host parents are amazing to be around. I had a lot of fun going to other places and go hiking, swimming and many more.

I can’t thank enough to Northern Youth Abroad for giving us this opportunity to experience here in down south with amazing people.

~Marina

Hola, mi nombre es Jeremiah Nakashuk.

I am a participant of the International program and I will be sharing about the markets we have visited here in Costa Rica. The first market we visited was an organic market which is the biggest market that sells the most organic food in the country, they had smoked trout, local coffee, all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

The second supermarket we visited was the central market which I think is the oldest market. It’s indoors and everything was kinda compact, so the halls we walked to different stalls were a bit narrow so it was easy to get lost. We had our lunch in that market, I had Olla De Carne, it’s one of the traditional foods in Costa Rica. It is prepared with beef, potatoes, and other vegetables.

The third market we went to was more of a souvenir market, like I said, it’s more of a souvenir market so they had a lot of things like shirts, stuffed animals, keychains, arts and crafts. The shop keepers that spoke English were kind of intimidating, they were really good at pulling you in and trying to sell you what they have.

The last market we visited was smaller than the rest that we visited. It is near the college where we are staying. Most of the stalls were local farmers with different types of fruits and vegetables. That’s all I have to talk about the markets we visited.

Thanks for reading

Hello. My name is Lutie Kaviok and I’d like to thank my mentor Ryan Bauer and my community for helping me have this opportunity.

I had a blast past these few weeks, I did a lot of stuff that I wanted to do I went to the mall to shop, I went to Canadas wonderland, I finally played video games with fast internet, going to the CN Tower, go to a zoo, and I went to Toronto for the weekend.

My host parent is Cindy Dunning. She has 2 awesome boys, their names are clem and saul they are really fun to hang out with, I went to a escape room with saul, Nathan, Greg, and Cindy and we escaped it. Clem is really easy to get along with, he plays games a lot just like me. We went to the cottage, we went canoeing and swimming. Cindy is really welcoming, she has a lot of love going towards everybody she meets, her cooking is the best and I’ll never get tired of it and finally, she will never get tired of you.
I would like to thank everybody for helping me get to this point. Especially Nathan, Cindy, Jillian, And my Family.

My work placement is in Ottawa, the building is called Nepean creative arts. I did claymation, helped kids paint, and supervised the kids. I am enjoying the work placement because I made new friends and I am getting along with the workers there. There’s also a gym there so I can work out during lunch so I really like my work placement.

I really hope to get into another program like this so I can experience more things just like Northern Youth Abroad.

Thank you for reading my Blog
Sincerely Lutie.

Hi, my name is Betsy Appaqaq and I am from Sanikiluaq, Nu. In 2016, the population was 882 and in 2019 the population is a little bit over 1000 people. I am a Participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian Program. Thank you to everyone who supported NYA. With your support, my experience with NYA would not be possible. 

My host community is in Nova Scotia, Halifax. The population is over 40,000. There are so many things you can do around the city. We don’t have that kind of things in our town, so I’m trying so hard to explore the Halifax before going home. It would take me about half an hour to my work placement through bus, and about an hour to my host mother’s house but I didn’t mind because I got used to it fast.

All summer, I have volunteered at the Discovery Centre. When I getting started, I was trained first before taking it serious. And I get to explore the centre first and see how the staff handle with visitors. On July 9th, I was trained STEAM Facilitor Assistant. I started helping with Ocean Tech Camp on July 22nd. Some of my work placement responsibilities were to support the staff members, following the schedule and help with the materials for activities. At my work placement, I have learned a lot of things like; being more patient and being open-minded.

I liked staying with my host mother Michelle Martin over the summer. She is great, loving, funny person and first of all protecting us. She have been so welcoming towards us, not trying to let us feel homesick so that we can continue our volunteer work.

Some of the fun things I did over the summer was going on a road trip to Prince Edward Island (PEI), Cape Breton and New Brunswick. We got to go Royal NS International Tattoo show, one of my favourite show was when USA Military showed up. It was like half an hour which it was 3-4 hours. We got to go Pride Parade and the weather was so HOT, it was like we could not make it because we were out for like 3 hours. We got to go different beaches and pool’s. One of my favourite activities was going to laser tag and cliff hanger in PEI.

Being a Participant for NYA has been a lot of fun. The program has helped me with things like; being more open to everyone, learning how to work as a team, learning how to speak in public and getting to know more the city of Halifax.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Hi my name is Tonya. I am from Baker Lake. I’m 16. I’m placed in Alma, New Brunswick, known for lobsters. I work at Fundy National Park.

I have gotten to try lots of new things in the south: sushi and octopus. My favourite things so far on NYA have been travelling to new places, meeting new people, going to the park, drinking blueberries smoothies, and going to the bakery for cinnamon sticky buns. I have learned that I’m not a morning person, but I am working on it. I also went horseback riding for the first time. It was fun and kinda scary!

I want to thank the NYA staff, my host family, my mom, my mentor, and my work placement for making this experience possible.

Ma’na for reading. 
Tonya Kenalogak

Hello, my name is David Junior Watsko and I am from Grise Fiord, Nunavut. I am 15 years old and I am a participant of Northern Youth Abroad’s 2019 Canadian program with my buddy, Brandon Iyyiraq. I would like to thank everyone so much for their support, help and time that I came down here. Especially my mentor who helped me so much.

We are placed here in Beamsville, Ontario. I am volunteering at the Lincoln Public Library which is about a 20-30 minute walk depending on how fast you walk. This walk I take everyday from home to work is like walking the whole small town of Grise Fiord. Most of the time I was working with kids doing programs such as book reading clubs, crafts, experiments, story time. I have loved every bit of this job, everyone is so kind and helpful. I have opened so much more and I never thought I would like working with kids, until I got comfortable. I also had done stuff to do at the library like shelving books, and bringing books to the other libraries.

My host parents Amanda and Vaughn, are so nice and open. They have two dogs and one cat which Brandon likes a lot. They have let us explore so much places, we have gone to Niagra Falls 3 times, and for my third time Sean and Bec took us out for Sean’s first time! We went up the CN tower and on the glass floor without fear, we went sailing in Lake Ontario which was a very cool experience for both me and Brandon. I was helping with the sails release and pulling back in which was fun. We went to Canada’s Wonderland and rode all of the scariest and fastest rides they have with a smile and our hands up. We went to the flying squirrel which is the biggest trampoline place in all of Canada and finished the night with some ice cream

There is a lot of big changes we have down here compared to home, I see a lot of fresh foods at a lower cost. The heat is a whole lot warmer down here which we had to adapt to, the trees are everywhere you go, the bugs are so annoying, traffic, the wildlife. But who am I to complain to when I love it here. At least the people are nice.

In one of Canada’s most scariest haunted house of over 100,000 chickened out, me and the Brave Brandon who lead me through most of everything when my eyes were closed had made it through the whole thing in one piece. 

As being a participant I have learned how to manage my budgeting, how to talk publicly without being shy about it, how city life can be, met so many amazing people and had a lot of fun.

My experience with NYA was amazing and I totally recommend for the youth to apply in this cool program.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed.

Sincerely, 

David Junior Watsko