Hayley and Laila at NYA Orientation Camp

Hi, my name is Hayley Totalik and I’m from Taloyoak, Nunavut. This is my second year with Northern Youth Abroad. I completed the Canadian phase last year and I was placed in Truro, Nova Scotia. This year I’m taking the NEXT program along with 13 other participants from across Nunavut and The Northwest Territories. The NEXT program offers many great opportunities and our placement is for about 6 weeks. Currently we are staying at the Algonquin College and taking a construction trades class. We learned how to build picture frames and are now starting on dog houses. As simple as these projects sound, the picture frame was far more different than I thought, but I love the learning experience and getting comfortable with tools.

It’s been three weeks since I left home and I’ve gotten to do so many fun activities. For Nunavut day we took a bus to explore a little bit of downtown Ottawa and saw an Inuk artist perform. Last weekend we took a two day camping trip and I got to swim in a river for the first time. We also have sessions with “Let’s Talk Science” and learn cools things about different topics based on science. As a group we did a presentation to children between the ages of 5 to 13 where we talked about the northern life and its rich cultures; language, traditions, art, and climate.

In the next three weeks I’m looking forward to travelling to Montreal, seeing The Jerry Cans, and getting my first tattoo.

NYA has given me the opportunity to grow as a person in many ways I wouldn’t have imagined, including building my confidence, independence and self-motivation. Thanks to the staff and my mentor Lauren McFAdden for helping me get to where I am. Quyannamiik.

Hello my name is Rachelle MacCauley and I am a 2017 participant in NYA’s Canadian program. My placement is in Kitchener, Ontario, where I have been working at the Queen Street Commons Cafe. This work experience has been a great opportunity for me as I would like to have a career working in a bakery or cafe. The cafe offers a vegetarian menu with homemade meals, snacks, desserts, fresh roasted coffee, and has a unique gift shop. My host family are very kind and nice to me. They brought my host buddy and I to Niagara Falls which was so much fun. The experience being in the south is different coming from a small community of around 500 people. It has been unbelievably great having the opportunity to explore the south and experiencing the culture differences. This past week I have got the opportunity to work at the bakery and greenhouse where they prepare most of the food for the cafe which was awesome to be a part of. I have learned a lot of new things along the way and I look forward to seeing what else comes my way!

Richard in carpentry class

Hello NYA Program Participants, sponsors, future NYA participants and alumni. My name is Richard Tungilik and I am 21 years old. I started off with the Northern Youth Abroad in 2015 as a Canadian Program Participant, and this year I am participating in the NYA Next Program. This has been a busy but exciting year for me as I prepared myself for the program.

I have come to discover my career interests are either working in the Canadian Armed Forces, working in an environmental or wildlife job, or working in carpentry. I’m currently taking courses in carpentry at Algonquin Collage and have been learning a lot from the instructor. We work with a partner on class projects and are currently making a dog house.

I really respect our instructor as he owns his own business and I hope one day to have my own business in my home community. I still have a lot of learning to do before I can start my own business but the program has been a great start for me to gain experience. I’ve been able to set goals during the program which has helped me focus a lot on what I need to do next. Having the experience of living on a college campus has been really cool. Overall this experience has been really rewarding and I can’t wait put into action what I have learned.

Hi my name is Jame Duncan and I’m from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. I am currently 18 years old and am doing the NYA NEXT Program!

In this program I have had the opportunity to see a lot of the beautiful city of Ottawa and particularly have enjoying visiting Parliament Hill. Our group is currently living on residence at Algonquin Collage and we have been taking a lot interesting classes including construction class. In this class I learned how to make a picture frame and am currently working towards completing a dog house. I’m really enjoying these classes and learning a lot from them.

One of my favorite things I’ve done while in Ottawa is enjoy a beaver tail which is a delicious pastry with different toppings on it depending on which kind you get. I got the Oreo flavored beaver tail and strongly recommend it.

One weekend we went camping and got the chance to go canoeing and swimming which was a lot of fun. My friend DJ and I also played volleyball on the trip with a group of people that were already playing and let us join. Both of us really enjoyed playing and the people we played with were super nice.

I’m looking forward to visiting Montreal and going back to camp for re-orientation to see all the other participants in the NYA program. I am also looking forward to completing the program and going home to share all my experience with friends and family.

My name is Des Beaulieu and I am from Inuvik, Northwest Territories. NYA’s Canadian Program has given me the opportunity to experience life in the South for five weeks. I have been place in Port Alberni to volunteer full time at the Friendship Centre.

My host parent have two daughter and a beautiful home. They also have three cats, a dog, and a fish. I don’t have any pets back home so it’s a nice change. My host family has experience living in the North, so it’s cool to talk to them about it once in a while. We’ve been to many places on Vancouver island so far such as Nanaimo and Ucluelet, along with Mclean Mill, and camping at Mussel Beach.

Working at the Friendship Centre has been a great experience overall. The culture, the people, the land, are all amazing. I had a change to help out with the Culture Camp at Qualicum Campground and it was really nice to see how many people showed up, helped out, and had fun. I did one of my presentations there and it wasn’t as scary as I’d originally though it would be. The people in the circle were welcoming and respectful. This positive experience with public speaking helped a lot and has made me more comfortable for my next presentation and something I’m looking forward to.

On my first day, I worked in the Out of School program with a couple of the summer students. There were about 20 kids and this daycare was used to having about seven as the most when it first started. Working with children isn’t my forte, and I din’t think I’d make through the five weeks if I was going to work in the daycare everyday. Thankfully, after speaking to my supervisor, he understood that I didn’t work well with children and would rather be in more of an office setting. Since then I’ve been helping with the morning parenting programs, preparing meals, and working in the office in the afternoons. The people at the centre have their own little quirks and mannerisms that make working in the office an enjoyable place to be.

My favourite party about doing volunteer work here in Port Alberni is learning about the differences in culture and lifestyle, talking about eh similarities, sharing stories, and just connecting with different people.

I would definitely come back to Port Alberni one day. It’s a wonderful place and there’s a lot to do in or around the community. I’d recommend NYA to anyone in the North who is interested in gaining experience living and working in Souther Canada.

My experience with NYA Next has been amazing! The first day we came to the Algonquin College campus was very busy. We had to help each other get all of our things unpacked.

We have learnt how to build picture frames out of wood at the Algonquin Construction Centre. I got to learn how to read a tape measure and calculate different measurements. We are now trying to more dog houses, but before we stat building we need to draft a picture.

We have seen a lot around Ottawa, we got to see Parliament Hill, and we had beaver tails (which were very good). We have also given a cultural presentation to summer camp students.

One night, we went to see the Jerry Cans perform at the National Arts Centre, which was awesome. We even got to meet the singer. All of us had a great time!

I am looking forward to going on our trip to Montreal next week.

Thank you Northern Youth Abroad for this awesome summer!

My name is Brenden Angotingoar, I am from Naujaat Nunavut, and I am 19 years old. My placement is on Salt Spring Island, B.C. My work placement is at Penny’s Pantry. It is a little restaurant attached to a golf course. I do cutting, sandwich making, baking, and I wrap cutlery. My host family is very kind and welcoming. They have two kids, one dog and a cat. I love the kids because they are very talkative and always want to play games.

When I was going to Salt Spring Island I had to flight to Victoria and we had to take a Ferry to Salt Spring Island. It took us over thirty minute to get to the Island. I like it here because everyone is kind and always welcoming. My host family really like to play baseball. It was fun to go watch my host parents play.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Brenden Angotingoar

Jayme in downtown Ottawa

Hi, my name is Jayme Nerysoo I am from Fort McPherson, NT. Last year I completed the Canadian Program and was placed in Kitchener, ON. This summer I am participating in NYA Next, in Ottawa. This is the second year that NYA has ran the NEXT Program. NYA Next is all about the next steps after high school. It gives you the opportunity to stay on a college campus and to take a construction course for 4 weeks, and to explore a bigger city.

So far we have gone to the malls, camping, canoeing, exploring parts downtown, such as Parliament Hill, and even tried a beaver tail. We also went to the Jerry Cans concert at the National Art Centre, they are an Inuit band from Iqaluit and Pangniqtuuq, Nunavut.

In our construction course we made a picture frame in the first week. Now we’re working in pairs of two to make dog houses, which I am looking forward to.

I am looking forward to exploring more of Ottawa and going to Montreal next month for a weekend. I will also be taking a Spanish class to learn some more Spanish, which I think will be very interesting.

I am really enjoying myself this summer here in Ottawa, making new friends, and great memories with the rest of the participants in the program!

Charmaine, her host parent Kari, and buddy Shavanna

Hi, my name is Charmaine Putulik. I am from Naujaat, Nunavut, and I am 18 years old.

My host mom is Kari, she is wonderful. Kari is beautiful, loving and caring and does so much for us. I am so thankful that she helps us when we are feeling down and takes great care of us when we get sick.

My placement is in Ottawa and I working at the YMCA-YWCA. It is a cool placement, and it is amazing working with children 6-12 years old. We go to the park for lunch and do a lot of different activities like swimming lessons, science projects, and arts and crafts.

There are quite a lot of different things in the South compared to up North. Here we can go shopping pretty much any where and can buy things a lot cheaper. The biggest difference is the heat, sometimes it feels like the desert during summer. Culturally it is different because they hunt other animals then in North.

So far we have went shopping at the Rideau Centre, Bayshore Mall, and to other stores. We went to a restaurant called Colonade Pizza which was very good, and we were able to watch the workers make our pizza. We also saw two Jerry Cans concerts, a P!NK concert, and watched a football game.

I took this program to gain experience living away from home and prepare myself for college, as I will be going to Rankin for Management Studies in September. I am also improving on becoming less shy.

I am so proud of myself for doing NYA. This is an awesome opportunity for all the youth to come and try get use to travelling and getting the hang of things, in their own way. It really helps if you are going to go to college to learn to be organized and learning how to be away from home. If it wasn’t for this program I wouldn’t have become so independent. To all the 2017 Canadian Phase, NEXT, and International Phase Participants, thank you all for the memories and an awesome summer.