Hi my name is Jaylene Ukatiku, I am 16 years old and I live in Baker Lake.

Last year I was an alternate and I am now a participant in NYA. I am enjoying my time here in St. John’s, although we get basically 1-2 days of sun and rain the rest of the week. The people here in St. John’s are very friendly and it is very beautiful out here. My buddy is Alaasua Audlaluk and she is from Grise Fiord, and we both work at St. John’s Native Friendship Centre. We are mostly down stairs at the Youth Center, the first 2 weeks of working there we painted and painted and painted, but I like painting so I had fun. We do other things too like help supervise the kids when there is a program happening at the Centre, help set up and take down for programs, garden work and many other things. Each day we have different things to do at work.

My host family includes Meghan, Joel and their cat Bartleby. The first weekend we were here we went to the powwow in Conne River with Meghan, it is about a 5 hour drive from St. John’s but there was traffic while we were driving there and back because there was construction happening. On July 25th Alaas and I got to have lunch with Sheila Watt-Cloutier, then we went to the pride parade and after that we went to Sheila’s speech.

So far we have been to Signal hill, Get Air, Bowering and Bannerman Park, Salmonier Nature Park, we’ve had beavertails which are very delicious. I have also spent a night in Clarks Beach with my teacher. In Bay Roberts my teacher and I saw a guy walking shirtless with a snake on his shoulder walking around, Bay Roberts is about a 5-10 minute drive away from Clarkes Beach.

I enjoyed seeing friends I’ve met before at orientation and I also enjoy meeting new people and trying new things.  I have two more weeks here in Newfoundland and I hope to visit other places, and tell more people about my home community and Territory.

Thank you for reading my blog

Hi my name is Chaz. I am 18 years old and this is first time being part of NYA. I have enjoyed the experience so far and life outside of my town. I didn’t think life out here would be like this. My first day here I had to figure out the bus schedule.

I didn’t think it would be as challenging as it is, but I am glad I decided to take part in NYA. I enjoy the beach and the trees around here, because back in the north we don’t have trees as big as here in BC. My host family is strict which I don’t mind, and my work placement has been the best. I enjoy working with them everyday for the past 2 weeks. Time has gone by really fast , which is a good and bad thing. The main reason I joined NYA was to experience life away from home, and that’s what I am learning about everyday. 

The people around BC are very nice and friendly. At first, this town seemed like a dream because everything was so colourful and nice, and the water was so clear and beautiful. I felt like this place came out of a book, but it’s real life! I am glad I came here, but I am still faced with ups and downs which I have overcome so far. There are only two more weeks until I’m done, and I know it will be worth it in the end. 

Chaz

Hi! My name is Jailyn Edgi and I’m a 17-year-old from Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories. So far, I’ve been enjoying my time here in London, Ontario, especially my work placement, where I work in a daycare facility. I am required to take care of children and watch them. I find it fun but sometimes it gets a bit hectic. On occasions during the week, we would go for short (yet long) walks, have water days—where we would get out a hose with sprinklers and have the kids run around, make smoothie popsicles, have sandcastle competitions, and many other things. 

In the future, we will get to see a fire truck—which I’m sure the children would enjoy considering they always pay lots of attention to the garbage truck whenever it comes by. Other than that, I like working with the children. They’re very sweet and super nice towards me. In fact, on my first day, they invited me to play cars with them.

Aside from my work placement, I’m also enjoying my stay with our host family. They’ve been keeping both my buddy and I busy. For example, they’ve brought us bowling, took us on a trip to Niagara Falls—which was very exciting considering I’ve never been before, took us to an art class which included spray painting, brought us to Lake Huron, and many other places. My first week I was a little homesick and sad, but Deb and her two sons, Micah and Mathew, have made me feel better. I am looking forward in getting to know them for the remaining weeks of the program.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Jailyn Edgi

Hi my name is Susannah Mablik and I am from Naujaat , Nunavut. I am an NYA Next participant and it has been a lot of fun! My first week here I got to tour Parliament Hill with the other participants. I saw so many interesting things but my favourite part of the tour was seeing the library because I’ve never seen a library like that before. A week after that, we all went to the beach. I enjoyed swimming and spending time with group, but I didn’t expect the sand to be so hot.

Last week we went camping for the weekend and got to spend time with the Assembly of Seven Generations (A7G) group. They were all so kind and welcoming. We watched one of the A7G member dancing with hoola hoop and it was awesome. We also got to listen to a few of their traditional songs. I enjoyed my time with them. The only thing I didn’t like about camping was the bugs.

During the weekend we went to a park to watch the movie “Coco” and it was fun although the ending was sad. A day later we hada choice of going to the market, or a Canadian Museum of History. I picked the museum and it was amazing. I got to see many cool things like the t-shirt Terry Fox wore during his marathon, some traditional clothing made by first nation people, and old things like spoon, knives, combs and so many more.

If it wasn’t for NYA, I would never have these experiences. Thanks to all the staff and leaders for their hard work.

Thanks ☺

Susannah

Hi everyone, my name is Megan Maliki and I’m from Hall Beach. The first two weeks were hard on me as I was homesick. I kept wanting to go home but people around me kept motivating me to stay, so I stayed. I never really left my room until I met Laila. Before I met her, I was always in my room and people would ask me if I want go out but I’d say that I’m staying in. Construction class is actually fun. At first I thought I wouldn’t like it but I’m actually caught up with the construction class. Xavier and were afraid we wouldn’t finish our project as we are always laughing. We were afraid to touch the electric saws but then I was actually able to do it! We thought we wouldn’t be able to finish our project but we’re almost done the dog house with a little bit of help from Doug.

I recommend that the Canadian participants apply for NYA Next after they complete the Canadian program. The staff are all really supportive. They’ll do whatever it takes to support you. They’ll make sure you’re okay, you ate, had enough sleep, and are on time for class. I also got to spend Saturday with Laila, my brother Simon and his girlfriend Isabelle. I felt so much better afterwards. I finally talked about what’s been going on and how I feel. I also did my personal learning project with Jennifer and we went to a makeup class. The theme was mature skin makeup class. At first they did a natural look makeup then a glamorous makeup look. So far I am enjoying my summer!

Megan

Hi my name is Tegan Nitsiza and I’m from Behchoko, Northwest Territories. My experience with this program has been amazing so far. I would highly recommend this program for anyone wanting to experience the college life for 6 weeks! In the four weeks we have been here, we have almost completed our 3 week construction class and are almost done making our dog house and picture frame. I’m happy I took this course because I’m enjoying it a lot and I can take this trade and use it back home.

 We also went camping over at the Fitzroy camping site and I grew closer to my tent mates and I’m happy about that. Also we had the opportunity to spend some time with the A7G’s which is an indigenous group here in Ottawa. It was a great experience for me to meet with other indigenous people around my age. Their traditional ways are kind of different from my traditional ways from back home.

The highlight of my time so far has definitely been going swimming because of the heat wave that was going on. I have never experienced this type of heat and it is so different from the north. My experience so far from being on this program has been great and has made me excited to go to college next year, more prepared to leave my home community, and has generally made me a more prepared college student. I’m really happy I got to experience this while I can and I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is thinking about it because these kinds of things are once a lifetime.

Tegan

My name is April Beaulieu and I am 18. This is my first year participating in Northern Youth Aboard. I graduated from Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School in Behchoko. This program helps me open up to people, make new friends, and learn about the different cultures.

My favourite part so far was orientation because at first I would only socialize with Allistair, Sharon, and Chaz but thanks to orientation I’ve learned I have so many common interests with the people I’ve met.

My host family includes Deb Branston and her two sons Matthew and Micah. They also have two pets, a dog name Finn who is only four months old and cute. They also have a cat name “Lovely” who is chubby and quiet. Micah and Matthew play video games they have gotten used to Jailyn and I since we first got here.

London, Ontario is my host community and my placement is at the London Children’s Museum where I roam around, tidy up, help with the programs, and the learning garden. The thing I’m looking forward to is Canada’s Wonderland because Deb is taking me and Jailyn there next week and I’m excited for the adventures I’ll have.

Thanks for reading.

April

Hi, my name is Kathleen Gill and I’m 23 years old from Fort Smith NWT. This is my third year participating in NYA. I completed my Canadian phase a couple years ago, the NYA NEXT phase last summer and now I’m in Costa Rica taking part in the International phase! So far it’s been a crazy whirlwind of different experiences and adventures. We were in Ottawa for a week of orientation where we learned about what we’d be doing here in Costa Rica, had a Spanish lesson, told what to pack and what to expect about living together for almost 2 months in another country none of us have been to before.  

We flew out on July 6th, had a layover in Mexico City and then our last flight was in to San Jose. We’ve been here for 2 weeks now and are staying at United World College (UWC) located in Santa Ana. The campus is beautiful. There are a lot of trees, plants, animals and bugs that we have never seen before in our lives! It can get hot and humid at times and it rains in the afternoon a lot, but everything else makes up for it I promise! During these 2 weeks we’ve been really busy on campus doing things like workshops about how to become better leaders, and how to apply this knowledge to our communities when we go back home. We talked to someone who is indigenous to Costa Rica about their culture and traditions, while we shared our knowledge with them. We’ve had some free time to go into Santa Ana and look around their local stores, but in between all of that we’re doing summer assignments. One of them included giving a presentation about the NWT, Nunavut and NYA as a whole. We gave our first presentation to the Canadian Embassy this past Monday which was a proud moment for us all. The NYA International phase can be about fun things like going to the mall, farmers markets, and exploring inactive volcanoes at the highest point in Costa Rica, but ultimately we’re here to learn and soak up as much culture as we can while sharing ours too. I could not be happier to share it with the NYA family I have here with me. I cannot wait to see what the rest of our trip has in store for us.

Kathleen

Hi, my name is Lilah! I’m 17 years old and this is my first summer participating in the NYA Canadian program. I recently graduated from Sir John Franklin high school in Yellowknife. This program has helped me gain so much knowledge on other cultures , as well as share my own. So far my time with NYA has been a wonderful learning experience. Experiencing life in the city for 5 weeks has been quite different from life in my community.

 I have been here for 2 weeks and have been working at “The Miller’s Oven” , which is a full service restaurant in the historic village of Manotick. It has been great to experience what it’s like to be a waitress and work as part of a team. This could help me get a job as a waitress when I get back home. The Millers Oven is a great work environment with homemade desserts, like the infamous  “mile-high lemon pie”. I work 6 hours a day, and have enjoyed serving customers and meeting people my age.

Since coming to Ottawa, I have been to the beach, walked around downtown in the Byward market, and went to the Northern lights show at Parliament. I also went to the Experimental Farm and got to see many animals such as cows, horses, goats, and a pregnant pig in a special care area.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Lilah