(From left to right) Brian Kimiksana, Cora Rabisca, Liveena Toonoo and Jeff Antoniak at their worksite

For my research topic, I had done “Traditional Roles of Women in Guatemala”. I observed the women with as much curiosity as they had of us women doing construction. I noticed they seemed shocked of us to do “men’s work”, they stared and seemed to wonder what in the world we are doing to do such things as we were 6 out of 9 women within our team. While I would be very curious as to what they did in and around the house. I really noticed the woman walking back and force within the houses. Cleaning their pots and such, sweeping, and cooking.  While all in between their work, they’d peak out, stare and have hushed conversations. While us 6 women would all wonder what they thought of us. After the 2^nd or 3^rd day, (which was the day we all sang to Taylor Swift and danced around) they seemed to adjust to us being there, and would smile a lot more, and obviously giggled when we’d sing and dance. One young girl even gave me a bracelet while I was working on chiselling the cement, which probably made my whole trip. We even managed to have a conversation with them (with Lucho translating of course), and they asked us questions.  Asking us if we’re married, have children, ask how old we are, and some other questions, with all the answers being no, they were very shocked. We all laughed in that moment, considering the kind lady we were building the house for was only 21 with a child, and most of us were close to that age more or less. I didn’t know what to expect in Guatemala, especially seeing women amaak a baby in their style of amautik, balancing objects on their head daily, and breast feeding in public. The women are very beautiful and strong, which very much so reminded me of my Inuit culture. Considering girls and women in Guatemala, and the Inuit women back in the day, were taught how to sew, cook, clean and take care of children also at a young age, in order to gain wife and mothering skills.

Group Leader William Sandy (left) with Mickey Iqaqrialu (right).

We arrived in Guatemala at midnight and took some time to settle in and rest. The next afternoon, Luchofigo, one of the Team Leaders, came to get us at the hotel and then we drove for an hour and a half from Guatemala City to Antigua. Luchofigo showed us around Antigua and there was festival we got to enjoy as we walked around. We then drove 1 hour to our host community in Tecpán, Guatemala where we had an open ceremony to meet the volunteers and masons from Habitat of Humanity. We greeted them and told them our names and where we are from.

On August 27th, we started to work at Santa Cruz near Tecpán, Guatemala, which is about a 15-30 minute drive from our hotel. On our first day of work, the masons taught us how to do rebar and make concrete. Ronnie, one of our Habitat for Humanity leaders, showed us around Tecpán. We worked for the next couple of weeks on our house-building project. Then on our last day in Tecpán, we got a special treat of hamburgers and fries at the restaurant! One day later, we drove to Panajachel Solola, Guatemala but we stopped at an outdoor market to stretch our bodies and take a group picture with a beautiful volcano behind us. We were the first to arrive to the hotel, and then Team Turbo met up with us. We then walked around Panajachel and went to explore a nearby lake. The next day we went to work and made a smokeless stove in Panajachel. It took us 5 hours, but the next time we made one, it only took 2 hours.

We went on a boat ride from Panajachel to San Juan La Laguna, which took about 30-45 minutes. Once we arrived, we went to a ladies clothing store to learn how they made clothes from yarn dyed from plants and fruit. We bought some clothing for ourselves and our families. We also went on a coffee tour. We took a boat back to Panajachel and took a group vote of what to do, and most of us chose to go to the market. Finally our last day in Panajachel came and we drove back to Antigua, where we got to hike 8km up a volcano and roast marshmallows in the dry lava! We had a blast. We said our goodbyes to Luchofigo and Ronnie. That night, there was lightning and thunderstorms. One of our Group Leaders, Chelsea, told us to go inside because it was getting dangerous outside. In the morning, there was a mini earthquake. We travelled to Guatemala City to catch our flight back to Ottawa. The NYA Staff met us at the airport. We finally smelled nice, cold, fresh air! I spent my last few days with my International Program family, but I had to leave Re-Orientation early for a medical appointment in Iqaluit. Two days later, I flew home to Arctic Bay after 2 months of being away! Thank you for reading my blog.

Team Turbo working on a house in Guatemala

My name is Brian Robert Kimiksana and my nickname is Bushman or Bush. I’m from Fort McPherson, NWT. I was an NYA participant in 2010 with the Canadian Phase, where my host buddy was Jacob Peffer from Inuvik, NWT and my host family was Dean and Dolores Scott. My volunteer placement was with the YMCA and I was volunteering with a summer camp for children. I was really fun.

Now I’m completing the International Phase. We began in Ottawa for four weeks. We were first at McSkimming Camp for Orientation learning what we were going to do in Guatemala. We split into two groups – the “EH team” and “Team Turbo”. I was in Team Turbo. We met are group leaders who are awesome, random, nice, funny and one of a kind. The next 3 weeks we spent at Algonquin College where we completed construction class. We had a great teacher. We all finished a doghouse in one week. The highlight was our graduation ceremony.

Our Guatemala experience has been fun and awesome, but really busy with work and activities. The first day was pretty good, we learnt how to build a house. By then end of the first week we have complete our first house. We also visited hot springs, a toy making shop, a volcano and went to the market.

Angus, Dakota, Valerie, Mickey, Jaylene, Jamesie and Tim visiting a Mayan Ruin

Hey everyone, Angus here again. I’m here to talk to you about my trip to Guatemala this summer.

My research blog is about the housing in Guatemala. They aren’t the same as the houses here in Canada. Most houses in Guatemala are made completely from concrete. Also the inside of the houses in Guatemala are like a maze. You have to make so many turns to get to the bathroom, or you can just go straight to it from the door. Most houses in Guatemala have the straight roof where you can have a patio on your roof top.

In Guatemala you have very limited water because most of it isn’t sanitized. We in Canada have to appreciate what we have and what we have access to and should respect the land. People around the world are fighting for what we have, while we keep wanting more.

Any who, during my trip in Guatemala my group and I had a great time. Sure we had our ups and downs but we fought through the whole summer. We met a wonderful couple whom we made the house for. Walter, the man who is visually impaired and his wife, I believe that her name is Martha. The company we partnered with in Guatemala is called “Habitat for Humanity”. They help a lot of families whom are having trouble with housing in the country of Guatemala. Over the years they have helped make 75,000 homes to families in need.

After traveling to this beautiful place I have learnt to appreciate what I have in my community of Gjoa Haven, NU and it makes be believe that we as a country can make a better living then we already have. We should be able to help out each other as much as possible.

During the program it is a struggle being far away from home for a long time but at the end of the program you feel a whole lot of pride and excitement for yourself and your family.

One of my highlights during our trip was hiking up the Pacaya Volcano, which was an 8km hike – 4km up and 4km back down. Another highlight was having a bbq and pool party with a bunch of school children. Seeing all the smiles on their faces brightened my day.

If you plan on applying for Northern Youth Abroad I 100% recommend it to those who are eligible.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog.

Angus Hiqiniq, Gjoa Haven,

Hi peeps, my blog is just a tad late, so I guess it better be great. First of all, camp was hilarious. As he promised me last year, Shane returned as our facilitator, despite his extremely busy schedule. Our travel day, which actually felt decades long, I unfortunately couldn’t sleep on any of the gazillion flights we took that night. We flew all night and quite a few of us did not sleep at all.

Anyways, our sleepy, grumpy meet and greets didn’t go too bad at all, only there were three of our group missing, thanks fog. We did a few sessions with Shane, ate great food, and looked at the Canadian Phase participants in “mock” pity. At our First Aid session, with Eric, we went over all the necessary topics, as well as any allergies anyone in the group may have. As it may be, one of us in the group is allergic to fish and seafood, and so carries a couple epi-pens. So when Eric asked what we should do if so-and-so has an allergic reaction, there are a few ‘stay calm’s and ‘call EMS’, but the loudest was, “STAB HIM WITH THE EPI-PEN”. Anyways, we ended up taking a ten minute break, because I couldn’t stop laughing – the first of many great laughs.

Then for our mini-group skits for the Canadian Phase guys, one of the other groups did a skit on getting lost while taking public transportation, they basically got on the wrong bus and finally got back hours later. Anyhow, me and Liveena – I split hot chocolate on her crystal white sweater during jeopardy night, we’ve been roommates ever since – as soon as we got our bus passes we decided we wanted to go get our nails done. Surprise! We got on the wrong bus and spent like an hour trying to get back in time for our first group meeting at Algonquin. This was all within the first week of our trip. At Algonquin we took Spanish lessons with Jackie, built dog houses with Craig, and learnt a lot about the college with Jon. And with such an inadequate word limit, there is no way I could ever express my gratitude towards the NYA staff, the volunteers, my mentor, and my amazing parents. There is so much more to tell, so many stories, and I’m already pushing my word limit, but thank you for reading my first and very late NYA blog.

My name is Jamesie P. Itulu, from Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

Starting from the beginning, I did my Canadian phase back in the summer of 2012. I was placed in a small town called Deep River, Ontario, just a two hour drive north of Ottawa. My placement buddy was Chris and we got along well with one another and our host family. My job placement was in a District Hospital as one of the maintenance crew, just on the edge of town, where my host mother worked as well.

The first day on the job, I met with my co-worker, Aiden, and our Supervisor showed us around the building, but then we were attacked by a swarm of tiny wasps, in which we thought at first were just irritating, small flies. But overall, my job placement kept me busy and it was pretty okay.

Our host family took us to do a lot of different activities and to many different places. We went to the beach where the water only reached up to your knees for the first fifty feet and drops off like a steep cliff into an abyss of water. We went boating to the Quebec side of the Ottawa River with an old couple and went on land to check out a waterfall. My host parents also took me to a wedding to another town in Ontario, and also took us to a Carnival to another town just nearby and it was a blast!

Now moving onto why I applied to the International phase.

I honestly had forgotten that NYA had an International phase at all, but when my old teacher and mentor, Tessa, asked me about applying again for NYA International I immediately applied and became a Reserve; just in case someone dropped out. But just a few months before summer break I declined and decided to apply next year because I needed to look after my father after his hip surgery in Ottawa back in 2014. After he healed up I applied again. It took quite some time before I was finally messaged about my position in the program, but just two months before summer break, I was given a spot. I did the best I could to finish up all the assignments and managed to complete it just in time.

On June 26^th, 2015, I departed from Pond Inlet with a couple other participants in town and headed down to Ottawa to start our adventure.

When we arrived in Ottawa, I was met with familiar faces I hadn’t seen in three years, and a few new ones to go with it. There were only a few of us the first night at MacSkimming, so we had a pizza dinner and went to see a movie. I watched the new movie “Jurassic World” with Mick, Chelsea and Jeff. It was awesome, especially the last part.

While at camp, it felt like going back to school again, but we also did other things like going to Parliament for Canada day, watch a Baseball game and go to the mall to shop.

After about a week, the International and Canadian groups split; our group was taken to Algonquin College while the first years went to their host-families around Canada. We were paired up with buddies and shared a two-roomed dorm in our apartments and I was pared up with Mick. I say we get along pretty well.

We took construction classes there from Tuesday to Friday each week and Spanish Classes in another building on Tuesdays and Fridays. In all honesty, I wasn’t really interested in the construction class but I did it anyway because I knew it was important for me to learn the new skills of how to use tools and other equipment safely and efficiently. I only managed to get into three out of five classes in Spanish lessons but they were fun and interesting nonetheless. We did construction classes in the mornings and Spanish classes in the evenings.

Throughout the three weeks we were in Ottawa, we went to the Mooney’s Bay beach, shopped in malls around the capital, visited museums, went to the movie theatres, played mini-golf and took a visit to Fun Haven to play Laser Tag (which my group planned). I’m sure I forgot to add something else we did in Ottawa; there were simply too many things we’ve done for me to remember on the spot, but the whole three weeks we spent there were pretty fun.

And now, we’re in Guatemala.

The day before we got here in Central America we packed away what we needed the most as our luggage needed to be less than fifty pounds. We left the things we didn’t need to be watched by Bec and the other staff. We left for the airport around eight in the morning and departed around ten or eleven. We arrived at the Newark International Airport, in New Jersey around two in the afternoon. We ate a bit in the rather large airport and just chilled near our Departure Gate. The place was a lot more chaotic than I was used to back in Canada and we finally left and got on the plane around four or five. The flight itself was pretty long to say the least; I spent that time trying to sleep and watching movies on my iPod. We landed down in Guatemala around nine or ten at night in their time zone. We waited in the lobby for an hour or two, waiting for Tim to find his luggage and we found out it wasn’t brought along on our plane’s cargo hold. With that done we finally went out and got in a van to be taken to our hotel.

The building itself was at least twelve stories tall, and when we got in it was made to fit a royal family, but we were all too tired to really care. I got paired up to share a room with Angus and Mick. We turned on the TV and we couldn’t understand a single word, so we just went to one of our leader’s room and ate some fries and sandwiches before going to bed.

In the morning, I looked out the window and it looked beautiful. We could now see what we couldn’t last night and three volcanoes were practically looking over the city like sleeping giants. After our little ‘Awe’ and ‘Cool’ we went down to the lobby and ate a delicious breakfast. After that, we heard there was a swimming pool in the fifth floor on a rooftop, so we went and swam for two hours in the warm water and sun. I didn’t notice it at the time but I got sunburn on my shoulders that I couldn’t really feel until the next day.

Anyways…

Around noon, we got into a van without lunch but we had little snacks and went to a small town near a volcano beside a lake. The drive there took about two hours but I loved the scenery. I felt as though I was finally immersed in Central America.

After the long drive we reached our destination and unloaded in a small hotel. I was pared up yet again with Mick and Angus to share a room and we found out we could barely fit in the bathroom in our room. We all settled in for an hour before we went down to the parking lot behind the hotel and our tour guide took us around town for a little tour. When it got dark he took us to a restaurant nearby and I found out that Guatemalans made the best lemonade and their food was great.

The next morning was a little sad as we were splitting up again. The other group, Team Turbo, left early in the morning to go to another town, and after our ‘Good Byes’ we went for breakfast. In the afternoon we packed up and went to our town. There we settled in, then Mick and I exchanged greetings with the people we were going to be working with.

Our job is to help build a home for a couple in Santa Cruz. Personally, there have been ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ but I have habits of following the directions of my leaders, so I brush aside the little ‘downs’ for later and do my job. Being in the Army Cadets for quite some time will do that to you.

Other than construction, so far we’ve went to the Mayan Ruins not far from here and went exploring a little on a tour. We’ve also done a few laps in go-carts. I accidentally ran into a small tree trunk when I looked away for one second and that is when I knew I would never buy a full-on car or truck. But I don’t mind having a Dune Buggy.

In the near future we’ll be doing other activities in the coming weeks, but now I stop here.

So till next time, have a nice day/night, everyone.

Cora, Karlene and Dakota after construction class at Algonquin College

Hello to all who may read this interesting story I have to share. My name is CoraLynn Rabisca, I am from Fort Good Hope, NWT. I was a Canadian participant with NYA in 2013. We were the first participants to all come back. We made it through the whole 6 weeks of the program in Canadian then we had a celebration. I was placed in Ottawa, Ontario. My host buddy was Patti Wediwin. It was the best summer. I was placed at the Nepean Sportsplex working with kids and everyday was a different activity. We always went swimming, which was great because it was so hot and humid – it felt as if you have just stepped into the shower (outside). My host mom was the best, she took us to places I thought I would never be. She took me and my host buddy to Toronto and we went to a live show at MUCHMUSIC. We also went to Niagara Falls and went on the Maid of Mist. I had a great summer with my host Mom. Now this year 2015 I am in the International Program for 6 weeks – 3 weeks in Algonquin, 3 weeks in Guatemala.  Let me first tell you about Algonquin College.  It was AWESOME!!  but at the same time I did miss my family and my 3 best friends. I called them to say hi and tell them how my whole day was and how fun it was, especially learning new things.

We had a construction teacher his name is Craig. During the week we had classes Tuesday to Friday. He showed us how to use power tools safely and with patience. Craig started us off making picture frames, than we moved on to making dog houses for dogs shelters. We accomplished that (Yaay!) now the dogs have a home they can crawl into. At the end of our Algonquin training we had a graduation ceremony. We got awards and t-shirts. My name was spelled wrong – but that was fixed in no time. We also had Spanish classes. Our Spanish teacher was Jacky. We had class on Tuesdays from 1:30pm to 3:30pm and on Fridays from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Thinking of that I should of took more interest in that class, because there is very little English spoken here in Guatemala. My advice would be that if you do the international program take the classes more serious, you’re going to need it.

On our nights off in Algonquin we would go to the mall, go shopping or go to the food court.  We would also go to the movies and checked out the museums. Besides that we had some crazy laughs, and some funny and exciting moments.  Sometimes someone would get down about missing home, but we always tried to make them feel much better – it’s always good to be there for your teammates as you’re going to be spending the whole 6 weeks with them getting to know them and you may become close buddies.

Now there is only three more weeks to go. It feels as if it’s been a long time but I’m sure once we are getting closer to going home it is going to be hard to say goodbye.

Now I am going to mention how lucky I am to be picked for the International program and to be meeting my great fellow participants. I’d like to thank the Northern Youth Abroad staff for how much they do for us and for taking the time to give us Northerners a life changing experience and for helping us prepare for our futures by providing us with high school credits and knowledge. You also get the chance to meet other participants from all over the NWT & Nunavut.  There are so many great things about this program, if I had a second chance I would do it all again.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Sincerely.

CoraLynn Rabisca

Liveena in Totonicapan

Hello, my name is Liveena Toonoo (most prefer Liv), and I am from Cape Dorset, Nunavut. My Canadian Phase was in St. Albert, Alberta with my buddy; Anne Renee in 2012. I was placed at the YMCA Citadel Day Care, which really prepared me a lot for my job experiences since. Now I am currently doing the International Phase.

Algonquin College in Ottawa was part one of our International Phase. We had basic Spanish classes 2 times a week for 3 weeks with an awesome Spanish teacher named Jackie. (But I manage to almost mix up Ukrainian and Spanish, and the kids find it quite funny to hear us try to speak very basic Spanish, and it’s adorable). We also had a 3 week construction class course with the whole group taught by Craig. I would’ve never thought that I would be doing a construction class, considering I avoided it in high school. Any tools, whether it be hand or power tools, had always scared me prior to the class. Which Craig definitely saw on my face prior to trying every tool – I definitely loved the Compound Miter Saw though. We all successfully completed the course. We were split into 4 groups and all managed to finish a dog house for each group. They then donate the dog houses, which is awesome.

Those 3 weeks in Ottawa definitely flew by, and we are now currently in Totonicapan, Guatemala. It is breathe taking and beautiful. We’re almost 3 thousand feet above sea level, working on our second house. It’s quite exhausting, but so worth it knowing we’re making a house, that the families will then make into a home. Things to remember “apply sunscreen constantly, drink lots of water, wear a hat”.  The people here are beautiful, the women’s clothing especially. Some children are also very entertaining, curious and shy. They definitely notice my Monroe piercing. One young lady gave me a bracelet on our first house while I was chiselling cement blocks, which has probably made my whole week! (Side thought: Everyone is almost all my height or shorter; “these are my people” and “Oh my gosh, I feel tall”).

I definitely recommend Northern Youth Abroad to all the youth of Nunavut and Northwest Territories. NYA has many great benefits, such as receiving high school credits, and volunteer hours at great work places (which all vary depending on your interests). You also get to see different part of Canada in the Canadian Phase, and then you’d be eligible for the International Phase. So take the leap, get out of your comfort zone, there’s a whole different world waiting for you out there!

Alisha, Kyla, Sandra at horseback riding

My experience in the NYA program has been extremely amazing and incredible. I am so happy I’ve got to have this experience. I was placed in London, Ontario. My placement buddy is Kyla. My host mom’s name is Deb Branston. She has 2 sons Micah who is 3 and Matthew who is 9. She also has 2 foster daughters. I’ve had a lot of fun this summer and did a lot of stuff like: go to Canada’s Wonderland, horseback riding, to East Park (which is a water park in London), go on a tall ships tour in Toronto, go to Stratford to see a play called the Sound of Music, go go-karting, to the beach, to Rock Glen Conservation Park, to the movies many times, and the mall. I also made a new friend from France who was also a student staying with my host family. I worked at the London’s Children Museum. I did stuff like art demos and science demos with kids, planning for day camps and prepping for camps too.  I really enjoyed working there. My coworkers were really friendly and awesome. I will also be starting at a bakery for the last 2 days. I’m excited to work there. I’ve gotten used to living in the South. I’ve explored most of the city and know my way around. I’m used to taking the bus everywhere. I’ve made a lot of new friends too, which was one of my goals. Kyla and I have also gotten to hang out with Angela and Sandra a few times. Marcus and Paul also came over with them one night and we went swimming in the backyard and had a campfire and sundaes. It was really fun. I haven’t really been homesick. I’m having too much fun to be missing home. I’m really glad that I’ve done this program and looking forward to applying for the international program.