2015 Canadian and International Participants prepare to leave Orientation

With another Orientation come and gone, NYA’s 2015 Participants have officially begun their summer placements. Our 35 Canadian Program Participants have each travelled to their host communities across Canada to begin volunteering for 5 weeks. Participants are spread out across the country in 18 communities from Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island, living in pairs with their host families. The 12 International Program Participants are settling in at Algonquin College, where they will be hard at work taking courses in the construction trades before travelling to Guatemala at the end of July.

His Excellency, The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada answers questions from NYA Participants

Orientation was quite busy this year, as in the past, but included some exciting new components as well. This year featured all of NYA’s standard Orientation sessions such as coping with homesickness, culture shock, workplace safety, job preparation, conflict resolution, first aid, leadership, etc. but also saw some new additions, such as a presentation on budgeting from TD Bank employees and ABC Life Literacy’s Money Matters program. Orientation included some exciting field trips too. Once again, Participants from both programs were invited to visit His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada for a brief meeting and tour of the residence. Participants were eager to meet His Excellency and ask lots of questions before receiving a tour of the residence that included the Ball Room, Tent Room, Library, Drawing Room, private green house and the gardens. The participants were also delighted by the bus trip through downtown where they were able to see Parliament Hill and other national landmarks throughout the capital. For some, this was their first time seeing the insides of a city if they’d never travelled south before!

Another highlight included a trip to the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Centre to receive Swim to Survive training. Aside from learning how to swim safely, participants had a great time making use of the diving board and slide, playing games and enjoying a fun, refreshing afternoon away from the heat. The real high point of Orientation for everyone, however, was attending an Ottawa Champions baseball game.

Canadian Program Participants learn to swim at Orientation

Canadian Program Participant Allison Apples of Gameti, NT, receiving an autograph from an Ottawa Champions player

The Ottawa Champions Baseball Club invited NYA to watch a baseball game and donated tickets for all participants, staff and facilitators. For many Participants, this was their first professional sports event ever, and it did not disappoint. The Participants made the most of their experience by leading the crowd in cheers and chants, clocking the speed of their pitches, singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch and meeting some of the players to get autographs. International Participant Mickey Iqaqrialu of Arctic Bay had his birthday announced over the PA and some members of the NYA section even made it onto the jumbotron! It was definitely a night that will not soon be forgotten.

2015 Canadian and International Program Participants, Group Leaders, Facilitators and Staff at an Ottawa Champions baseball game

With a healthy balance of work and fun, Orientation was a great success! All of the Participants, Facilitators, Group Leaders and Staff Members worked incredibly hard and made this a fun, productive and memorable camp.

Now into the first week of the summer placements, Participants are getting used to their new routines with their host families and becoming more familiar with their summer communities. By volunteering every day and enjoying activities on evenings and weekends, our participants are developing skills, knowledge, confidence, experience and memories to bring back home with them in the fall and make use of when pursuing their goals. No matter their aspirations, be they completing high school, going to college, beginning a career, becoming a leader, improving confidence, etc, NYA is helping provide northern youth with the tools and capacity to achieve them.

Best of luck to each of our Participants and a big thank you to all of our volunteers, including Host Families, Volunteer Workplaces, Facilitators, and Group Leaders for your commitment and hard work this summer!

Canadian Program Participants departing from Orientation