Hello, my name is Owen Wellin I am apart of the Next program. I also did the Canadian phase last year after I did a program called Outward Bound which took place in New Brunswick. It was awesome because we got to kayak and hike all along the beautiful seas and new forest that I have never seen before, so that made me feel amazing because we were surrounded by mother nature and some good people at the same time. It was a long trip with but worth it in the end because I’ve met some new friends on the program which was a pretty awesome experience for me to see new places and see new people.

Now I’m in Ottawa ,ON for NYA 2019 to get a chance to get out of my community where a lot of people suffer from alcohol and drug abuse which isn’t healthy and fair for others trying to make a change in my community.
And its been wonderful visiting Southern Canada for the second time. The Staff and Facilitators are really nice to all of the participants and they support us. They show us some really cool places and other amazing things like huge structures and a lot of stores and beautiful places like the beach and the mall I’m really enjoying my time with NYA 2019 Participants and staff/Facilitators.

NYA took us to the Ottawa Mission where I got to make candy bags to provide to homeless people who needed our support. I really hope everyone that joins NYA next year has the time of their lives!

Because it’s a unique opportunity for everyone across Canada to see new places, meet new people and learn new things and gain valuable knowledge that you can take with you in your future.

But the most important part of the program is to have fun!

My name is Alexandria Banksland, I’m 17 years old and I live in Ulukhaktok N.T. I am participating in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian program! A BIG thank you to everyone that helped support NYA and me coming on this program, especially on short notice.

July 16! Already a few weeks since I left home. Aside from the hours and hours of travelling and the bumps along the road we made it to our more permanent summer placement about a week ago and it has been great. I have been placed in Glencoe, Ontario with an amazing host family and two of their Spain students for the summer! I have seen a lot and met a lot of new people, more than I can name. I’m currently working at my host family’s ranch, our drive every morning is around twenty minutes. Some of the things we do down at the ranch is taking care of the ducks, painting fences and putting them up for the horses, moving things around and overall getting setting it up so it is ready to use for the summer and equine therapy! 

I’ve also been running around doing community visits with my host mom, Jennifer. She has been teaching me more about her job as a mental health support worker, which is great because I’ve been looking into counselling and many other therapy options for a future career. 

Since we’ve been on the road my buddy and I have tried a lot of new things and been to new places. Since we reached Glencoe we have walked around town and got to know the community. We are very excited about what’s planned our host family is always on the run during the day, especially at the weekends. I’m looking forward to finishing my first week at work! 
My host family I am staying with over the summer are fun to be around because they always have something to talk about and can answer any question, they’re very welcoming and understanding. 

Being a participant for NYA has been great so far, this program has helped me realize what life is like outside of the NT and also with all the assignments It has help me with time management. It is very EXCITING showing/teaching other people about my culture and learning about theirs. 

Aye my name is Ethan Tutcho, I am 17 years old, graduated from school, here for the next program, and I am from Norman Wells NWT. My experience here was a good time, first, we started at the orientation at McSkimming area meeting all the other participants and getting prepared for the summer and it was a great time. Meeting new friends, having new assignments (which is pretty boring for me) and doing the activities. We did it for a whole week.

When the Canadian participants left to their placements we and the International stayed behind and cleaned up for the participants and got prepared for the summer on Thursday afternoon, later that night we had dinner at Boston Pizza with the international group since it will be our last dinner with them. On Friday we arrived here at Algonquin college where we would stay for the summer, we got settled in, but we said our last goodbyes to the international group before they left to Costa Rica.

We had the weekend to talk about what we are going to do for the summer, then on Tuesday we started our first class of construction, ain’t gonna lie I like our teacher for the construction class. We started out making picture frames, it was pretty fun building stuff which made me realize that I really like construction, so I had a great time being in the class. Now we are about to start working on our mini picnic tables that we get to bring home and I am planning to put it at the local park in Norman Wells for the youth.

We did some presentation of our NWT and Nunavut’s culture to the kids and showed them and the staff some of the traditional games, they had a great time playing the games. During the weekend of July 13, we went to downtown Ottawa walked around to get the taste of the city, to prepare ourselves for the city when we go on our own, we killed it, later on we went to the movies to watch either Annabel returns home or toy story 4 and then I chose toy story 4. It was a great movie.

On Sunday, July 14 we were able to go on our own to the city to check it out, me and Owen went to check out the mall, then we wanted to check a little store we wanted to see the day before, and the clothing was nice, but the gold chains and watches were fake.

My summary of my experience in Ottawa, I am having a great time being here and I am thankful that I took this opportunity to go on this trip, and I am excited of what comes next later on in the summer.

My name is Aranxa Tunguaq and I am from Baker Lake, Nunavut and I am a participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian Program. Without your support, my experiences with NYA wouldn’t be possible.

My host community is located here in Stittsville (Ottawa), Ontario. The things I know that we can do here is to go shopping at any store, go to the theatres, which is called Landmarks, also go to the beach that’s not far from where I am staying and other stuff we can do.

This summer I am volunteering at Altitude Gym, the things we do are rock climbing, play any group activities, go to the park and other stuff. My rules at work are to be on time, watch the kids, play with the kids, be careful rock-climbing and many more rules.

I really love my host family I am staying with this summer. The people are Loukisha who is the mother, and Pierson and Pierra who are Loukisha’s children. They were welcoming when we got to the house and they’re chill.

Being a participant for NYA is awesome and a lot of fun, we get to meet new friends who are family to me already. Also, we get to stay out of our home communities over the summer and get job experiences.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Sincerely Aranxa Tunguaq

The Northern Youth Abroad Program was first introduced to me when I was about 16/18. I did my Canadian Phase last year (2018). I was placed in Ottawa and I volunteered at the Wabano Center and lived with a host family for about six weeks – and when I applied for the NYA Next Phase I thought it would be the same as the Canadian Phase, though it is not; it’s completely different. Being part of the NYA Next Phase, it really grows you as an individual.

My experience here in Ottawa with NYA Next has been amazing so far. When in construction class it’s really important to follow the rules, especially punctuality. Life on campus is fun, all of your favourite shops (Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza…) are only 5-15 minutes away. Living at the residence, you have to rely on yourself. On the other hand, there’s a lot of fun/amazing stuff to do in your free time such as going to the gym, playing pool, going to the courtyard to play volleyball/ basketball, and watching movies in the theatre room, except you have to book some of the rooms in advance.

The type of volunteer work we did was at the Ottawa Mission – some of us stored candies in bags and attached sheets of hopeful messages, while some of us helped clean up outside the Mission building – their goal is to help homeless men get housing and jobs. The maximum time men can stay there are 30 days. Just recently we did a presentation about what it’s like living up North, what NYA does etc.

My experience, in general, has been wonderful! Life-changing experience – I recommend all of the youth all over NU and NWT ages 15-20 apply for this program! The Staff, facilitators and everyone you meet are such great and supportive people.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Exciting news – here are the Host Communities for the 2019 Canadian Program! NYA Interviewed potential Host Families from across Canada and carefully selected those who will be a great fit for our program. Each Participant will travel to and volunteer in one of these communities across Canada. Follow along with this years NYA programming by liking and following our Facebook Page! We’ll be sure to share photos and announcements about this summer.

Join millions of Canadians this giving season in

#GivingTuesday and support NYA on November 27th, 2018.

Help NYA reach its goal of $5,000 to support the NYA Legacy Fund. This will help Alumni and Future Participants gain access to bursaries, the discretionary fund, and other tools that will help them achieve their ambitious goals. Please Donate on or before Tuesday November 27th.

https://givingtuesday.ca/partners/northern-youth-abroad

My name is Shantel Kanayuq Qirngnuq and I live in Kugaaruk, Nunavut, and I was a Participant in the 2018 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian Program. Thank you to everyone who supported NYA. Without your support, my experience with NYA would not be possible.

My host community was Ottawa ,Ontario. There are so many things you can easily access in Ottawa, since it is not so isolated like Kugaaruk. In Ottawa, it would take me an hour and a half to my work placement and back to host parents, but I didn’t mind because it got me over my fear of learning how to use the bus.

All summer, I volunteered at the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre Camp (OICC Camp). There I worked with 20 new kids every week. All through the summer we did fun and educational actives like; Inuit games, Indoor/outdoor games, arts and crafts, stories to tell, and presenters (Let’s talk Science, Sun safety, NYA Next). Some of my work placement responsibilities were to help supervise kids and provide additional support, participate in activities (so kids can join) and tidy up. At my work placement, I learned a lot of things like, being more patient, being more flexible and open-minded, and my time management has improved a lot since Orientation.

I loved the family I stayed with over the summer. My host moms, Rachel and Desneiges, host sister Iris, host brother Xavier, and Jack the cat. They’re so fun to be around because they talk a lot. They’ve been so warm and welcoming, which made the stay very comfortable.

Some of the fun things I did over the summer were going on road trips with my host family. We got to go to Midland, a 6-hour drive from Ottawa. In Midland, I got to go fishing, boating, and meet up with an old friend from Mississauga, ON.

Being a 2018 Canadian Participant for NYA was such a good experience. The program 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, and getting to know the city of Ottawa before going there for Nunavut Sivuniksavut (college).

What I’ll be doing with my experience with NYA when I get home is try to form a Youth Committee to help my community out more, and to share my great experience with NYA and get more youth into programs like NYA by doing a community presentation. Northern Youth Abroad had a very big impact on what I want to do as a career because since I was a kid I wanted to be a Nurse. But now I am thinking to become an Early Childhood Educator.

Northern Youth Abroad helped me in so many ways and I would like to thank the funders and everyone for supporting NYA so that I could have this great experience.

Sincerely,
Shantel Kanayuq Qirngnuq.

Hello, my name is Ethan Tutcho. I am 16 years old going into Grade 12, and I am from Norman Wells, NWT.

I am currently living in Cheltenham, Ontario with John, Julie, Colleen, and placement buddy Kyran. Julie is my host mom and she is really fun to be around. We play chess and sequence (she taught me how to play sequence). Julie is really competitive when is come to board games – she makes it really fun to play! She is a really good cook and she brings us to places I’ve never experience before. John is my host dad. He is a very hardworking person. When he gave us a tour around his job and talked about what he does, it sounded like he works very hard especially when he is working with electricity. Colleen is my host sister. She took Kyran and I to new places, like when she took us to Canada’s Wonderland. It was so much fun, I was really thankful and grateful to be there. She brought us to a bagel cafe and it was really good to eat there.

My work placement i am volunteering at is call “BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF PEEL”. What I do at my job is to act like a Role Model by showing leadership, responsibility, being confident, organized, and have great knowledge. I also plan activities to play for the day. The kids there love to play basketball as much as i do, so every time during lunch break we start up a game to play. I have had the opportunities to go on great trips like the Wet ‘N’ Wild waterpark. I had a really fun time being there, and am excited for our next upcoming trip to watch the Rogers Cup, I am very excited for it and I’ll have a great time watching it.

There are a lot more opportunities I get with activities down south than back in the north. Like getting a tour around a university, and getting an invitation to a basketball tournament, where I  got to meet a lot of new people. Throughout the summer here in Cheltenham, I’ve been playing basketball, eating a lot and trying new types of food, and spending a lot of time with my host family. Me and Kyran had met up with other Participants Jailyn, Allistair, and April at Canada’s wonderland and I really had fun going on the rides with them.

I am really grateful to be in this program and getting opportunities that don’t happen much back in NWT. I feel I am both ready and not ready to go back home in the NWT, I am ready to see my family back home, but I am not ready because I am going to miss this family and all the people I’ve met during the summer. I wish to come back to the NYA Next or International.