Lilly working at the bakery

My name is Lilly and I’m from Cape Dorset. I was placed in Saint John, New Brunswick with my buddy Saveah from Kugluktuk. I volunteer at a bakery called Piece O’ Cake Custom Creations. At work I learn how to bake cakes and cupcakes, how to keep things organized and how to do icings and designs.

I work with my AWESOME co-workers Jo-Lynn and Meg, and of course my supervisor Sherry. Sherry is a very nice person and she’s fun to be around. My host parents are Cheryl and Steve McDaid. Cheryl (my host mom) makes me laugh every day, which is a good thing because I love laughing. My host dad Steve is funny and always joking around. They are both very nice and welcoming. They also make sure that we are always safe and having a good time.

They have two kids, James is 15 and Katie is 11. They also have 2 cats and one dog, the kitten’s name is Peanut, the cat’s name is Pepper and the dog’s name is Jess.

I’ve been enjoying my experience so far. I’ve gone to the beach, shopping, jogging and toured around the city. Saint John is a beautiful place and I’m happy that I’ve been placed here 🙂

Kyla and Alisha horseback riding

I started off my first work day by taking the first bus I’ve ever took alone in my life. I had to take 2 busses in order to get to my work placement, it was definitely a learning experience. I have now been taking the bus every day to work for 3 weeks. I quickly learned my route home, to work, and surrounding areas by heart. Travelling around the city by myself was very intimidating at first, but after time it got easier, and now I can do it no problem.

In our summer home, lives brothers, Matthew and Micah, their mom Deb, and foster daughters Erin, and Karibia. Over the summer we have also had 2 French students from France stay with us – Marjorie, and Nathan. We became great friends with them throughout the summer doing a lot of fun activities with them. We even joined other NYA participants, Angela and Sandra, for campfires, and swims in the backyard pool. Their host family also lived in London.

Kyla, Alisha and Host Family at Canada’s Wonderland

Over the summer, Deb did everything she could to fulfil our new city desires. She brought us to the African Lion Safari, waterfalls, several beaches, horseback riding, watching plays, trips to Toronto and Stratford, and Canada’s Wonderland, where we got to go sky flying in bungee cords, and on the slingshot ride. The slingshot threw us into the air, forcing us into flips. It was an exhilarating experience. Nights when we didn’t do these activities we would do things like watching movies at theatres close to the house and going out for coffee at nearby coffee shops. Deb was the best host mom ever! She did everything she could to make us feel at home and have as much fun as possible. I couldn’t have asked for anyone else to host me for this program.

After enough 5am wake ups for an hour bus ride to work and arrival time of 730, I switched to a different job, that only required one bus ride to work, at the Bright Beginnings Day Care! The staff are very sweet, and the children are even sweeter!  I am going to miss the kids terribly! My job included playing with the kids, helping with supervision, and helping prepare some
activities.

I am extremely proud to be an NYA participant! I am the only participant from Inuvik to apply for the Canadian program, and I will definitely recommend this program to anyone who is interested! I have worked many hours to gain these high school credits, and learnt a lot in the south. The NYA staff are the nicest people you’ll ever meet, they made me feel very welcome to this program, and made my homesickness pass quickly. NYA is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It had its ups and downs, but I couldn’t have asked for a better summer.

Rahabi preparing to go dragon boating

Hello, this is Rahabi Nattak – I’m a 2015 NYA Canadian phase participant. My host community is in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. It’s a very nice, little community. I volunteer at the Wolfville Children Center, I love working there. The children come up to me and ask for help or to play, and the teachers seem very happy that they have another helping hand. In my spare time I have been doing dragon boat racing. The team I participate with are called the Breast Quest. They do dragon boat racing in support and to raise money for breast cancer. I have enjoyed helping them out and love paddling. Wolfville is an awesome place. In the future I would like to come back and see how it has changed and see all the wonderful sights again. What I love about this little town is that it has a lot of history and wonderful sights. The best part about Wolfville are the chimney swifts, where a lot of birds fly into a chimney at dusk, which is pretty cool and lovely to watch.

Sincerely,

Rahabi Nattak

Hello to all the participants, my name is Karlene Isaiah and I’m from Fort Liard, NWT. I was a Canadian Participant for NYA in 2012. My host buddy was Valerie MacKenzie, who is here with me for the International Phase. We were both placed in Shawinigan Lake, BC. We experienced and learned so much, it’s amazing that we get to do it again here in Ottawa, ON. My work placement in BC was at Harlequin Nature Graphics Ltd. Our host family was good to us, they made sure we had something to do every week and introduced us to their friends and family.

The first week in Ottawa, ON at Orientation camp, we learned a lot about our group leaders are and what we’re going to learn and see in Guatemala. I am nervous and excited to travel outside of Canada as it will be my first time flying internationally.

Taking Construction and Spanish classes was so much fun for the 3 weeks that we’ve been here. The first few days of Construction was uneasy for me as I found out that I’m deathly terrified of the table saw. Nothing bad has happened it’s just loud noises that I don’t take too kindly to. Lol I thought construction wasn’t for me but I love it – but only the hand tools lol. Our construction teacher Craig and Spanish teacher Jackie were so patience and I’m thankful they took the time to teach us what they know. We made picture frames and dog houses which are going to shelters for dogs in need. Knowing that makes our work feel that much more special and satisfying. Spanish class was great, the classes always went by quickly.

Being here at Algonquin College has definitely laid all my anxiety and nervousness feelings to rest. We’ve all had to be responsible for ourselves. Waking up early, getting to class on time, making sure your assignments are done, etc. I’m looking forward to college this fall in Fort Smith, NT.

I am honoured to be an International Participant for NYA. It is truly life changing and it teaches you things that will help you through any challenge life has to throw at you. I recommend this program to every eligible person in Canada. I don’t want this program to end, it’s been so satisfying and I feel like our International group is not just close friends but family, and that’s what I want everyone to experience. The joy and love you receive and give back out into this world.

Gracias (thank you) for reading my blog and I hope you pass on the word in your community about how NYA has been so amazing in many ways to so many lives.

Karlene Isaiah from Fort Liard, NT, an International Participant of 2015. Buenos Noches.

Hello, this is Mickey Iqaqrialu from Arctic Bay, Nunavut. On June 26^th there were 4 of us that arrived in Ottawa, and then settled in at MEC (MacSkimming Education Centre). That night we went to watch a movie at the Cineplex. Chelsea, Jeff, Jamesie and I watched Jurassic World – I was so scared, I kept closing my eyes. Anyways, a day later everyone arrived in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.

Couple days later we went to Rideau Hall and we met the Governor General of Canada, afterwards we met his dog Rosie, she was 14 months old. On June 30^th we went to a baseball game on my birthday. I would like to say thank you to the Northern Youth Abroad staff for taking us to the baseball game! July 1^st all of the International program participants went to the Canada Day celebration in downtown Ottawa. There was a lot of people downtown and it was raining so heavily in the afternoon that we had to go into the mall.

After the MEC we moved to Algonquin College. We took part in a work shop at Algonquin where we made frames. After that we learnt how to build dog houses. We then graduated from our program at Algonquin.

My placement is in Powell River, Bristish Columbia. There are beautiful landscapes and beautiful sunsets! It’s a nice little spot – we have a shopping mall, a movie theatre (happens to be the oldest theatre in BC) and a recreational centre. Home to the Tla’Amin people!

My work placement is at BOND (Babies Open New Doors) where I do various tasks, from organizing donated clothes to being at the CRC (Community Resource Centre) garden! I also have another work place, Family Place, in the mall. I mainly tend to the dishes and take out the compost, sometimes help with crafts, snacks, lunch on Wednesdays, and anything else!

I came here mainly to gain independence and leadership skills. I feel that I will accomplish my goals by the time we’re done with re-orientation.

My host mother is a single parent and her oldest daughter is 13 years old and has another daughter who is 9 years old, who spends every other week here. This family has never had NYA participants living here before, this is their first year! Me and my host buddy, Shannel share a room together.

Recently, we went to an event, ‘Tribal Journeys’, it was a great experience! I had the chance to experience their dancing and singing of the Tla’Amin and other cultures, I enjoyed it. There was also this Sea Fair that we got the chance to go to. It had rides, games and FOOD! It was pretty amazing.

Me and Shannel were on the radio here with one of our host mother’s friend’s radio shows! It was scary! But it’s nice to get our voice heard out here. People get a sense about where we’re from and who we are. We also went to a Pride day event! I found it interesting!

I have done things here that I wouldn’t have been able to do in the north, for instance, taking the bus. That was abnormal for me. I seriously could not remember when to request my stop on the bus!

I’m also not really open to trying new food, but this one night after the movies, we went to this Indian place across the street and I have to admit, I really liked it even though I had never tried it before.

My Northern Youth Abroad journey has been very interesting!

James and Robert out on the lake

Hey it’s James here – I am from Rankin Inlet, NU and I was placed in Bobcaygeon, Ontario. My work placement is at Duncan’s Auto Service. My host parents are Scott Livie and Beth Gilroy and they have 2 children named Robbie (7) and Findley (4), and they own a cat named Agatha. I have learnt a lot about repairing vehicles and ways to take care of them properly. My supervisor is Duane Black and I work with him, Chad and Rob at my work placement. So far I’ve been to a Blue Jays game with my host family – the Jays won the game. I’ve also been tubing with my host family and my host father’s brother on both Golden lake and Catchacoma lake.

I went for a walk around Toronto, where we went to an aboriginal pavilion and participated in the activities that they were demonstrating. I’ve also went to the Pan Am games with my friend for the first time and it was great. I got to see Serena Ryder, Pitbull and Kanye West perform at the closing ceremony. After that we went to go see the fireworks display outside of the Rogers Center where the fireworks were going off on top of the CN tower – it was amazing!

Hello everyone,

My name is Angus Hiqiniq, I am from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut. I was a participant with Northern Youth Abroad in 2009 as part of the Canadian Phase where I was placed in Yorkton/Theodore, Saskatchewan. My work placement was at Logan Stevens Construction. I enjoyed it a lot. I made a lot of friends and stayed with wonderful people that I called family for 6 weeks. I am now taking part in the International Phase, where I will be travelling to Guatemala for the next 3 weeks to build houses for locals in the country. I am very excited and pleased to be participating this year with a bunch of great participants and great group leaders, as well. We stayed in Ottawa for 4 weeks, the first of which we stayed at a camp called Macskimming where we spent time talking about and learning what we will be doing in Guatemala. Then the next three weeks we stayed at Algonquin college taking construction classes where we were able to build some picture frames and some dog houses. The time here in Ottawa flew by quickly.

Northern Youth Abroad is a great program and I recommend it to all who are eligible to apply. It is a great opportunity to make new friends and allows you to travel outside of your home community and also out of Canada. Personally, I don’t want to stop here, I want to become a group leader or a facilitator. Not only because you get to make new friends, but because they will become your family.

Thank you for taking your time to read my blog.

Angus Hiqiniq
Gjoa Haven, Nunavut
2015 International Participant.

Rock on and keep on keeping on.

It is me Devin and I have interesting news for this post. I am happy to say I am enjoying my time here on Salt Spring Island. I have amazing co-workers and work with the most amazing children at the kid’s camp. I have been helping my host parent Corey to tear down a wall and do some home renovations. I have also been helping him with line-ups and coaching the slow pitch team. Alexander and I have been keeping busy with our work, and when not working, we have been helping out as much as we can. I have met amazing people here. To my surprise I have met other Inuit here, as well as two people who have been a principal and a teacher in my home community. I am meeting people who have been and stayed in remote communities in the north for their jobs.

I have also been getting to spend time with Rosalind, Fraser and their family. Chelsea (another NYA participant) came for one night to Salt Spring, and so Rosalind asked if I wanted to have supper at their home. They have welcomed me into their home, fed me and conversed with me about the elders, and reminisced about the past.

And that is me, Mr. Bruce with my report on Salt Spring.