Students expand knowledge through travel

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The Nunavut Youth Abroad Program in Baker Lake is designed for youth 16 to 21. By applying to the program, Nunavut students have the opportunity to work in southern Canada or Swaziland, Africa for six to seven weeks in the summer.

Students must complete the Canadian program before applying to the project in Africa. This program is designed to help broaden the horizons of Nunavut's youth. It will promote education and growth through work and travel. The exposure may lead the students to want higher levels of education. The participants will earn school credits while in the program.

"So far it has been very successful. In the last three years we've had only one kid drop out of the program," said Chris DaSilva, chairman. "The youth come back focused on school and on their future, which is exactly what we are trying to achieve in this program," he said.

The program was designed by a partnership of educational organizations in Nunavut. It is comprised of three Nunavut boards of education, three Inuit associations and Canadian Crossroads International. Based in Toronto, Canadian Crossroads is an organization that is responsible for cross-cultural exchange between Canadians and third world countries. It has been designed to promote global education, international citizenship and to further develop the youth as future leaders.

"A steering committee runs the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program," said DaSilva. "They do the screening of the host families and the employment and make sure that everything works well for the students. While in Africa the participants rent a house and live as a group," he said.

The program first began to take shape in 1996 with the Kivalliq Divisional Education Council. In 1997, 10 youth were selected and the participants were paired up and placed in communities such as Uxbridge, Ont., Thunder Bay, Ont., Salmon Arm, B.C., and Shelbourne, N.S.

Participants are recruited into the program or chosen through schools or regional youth conferences. In the summer, 25 students gather in Ottawa for an orientation seminar. Fourteen students will be part of the Canadian phase and six will be part of the African phase.

"Over the last three years we've had applicants from 26 communities," said DaSilva. "We also choose extra students in case some of the participants drop out."

Participants are sent to work in pairs. Pairing helps the students build a support system with each other. For some of the students this is the first time away from home.

Why southern Africa?

"I guess a number of reasons. First of all, we wanted to really stretch the kids. A couple of people on our steering committee had contacts and direct experience with people in Africa. So it made sense to utilize those contacts when we were designing the program," said DaSilva. "The temperature in Swaziland is actually temperate. It is far enough away from the equator that it gets a little cool there. It is also a very safe country and easily accessible by air. We were looking for a place where the logistics would be easy," he said.

Students have a lot of contact with the people in Africa. They get to go to schools and do presentations. On previous trips, students found that the people in Swaziland were friendly and made the group feel at home.

When the participants get back home they are asked to put together a project about their experiences. They develop skills in cross-cultural awareness, community development, leadership development, career awareness and planning, global education, international citizenship, and volunteerism. Students who were successful in the program return to their communities with a positive attitude, increased confidence and self-awareness.

"The kids that did the program in Africa have really learned a lot," said DaSilva. "They feel like they can do anything and go anywhere now. Their confidence is really high," he said.

Nunavut is Canada's newest territory. Many people in this region feel optimistic about the future;however, there are a number of statistics that people in this region are concerned about. There is a high percentage of school drop-outs, high rates of suicide, high levels of drug and alcohol abuse, and a high incidence of teenage pregnancies.

This program may help translate the present reality of Nunavut youth into a positive future. Many of the youth live in remote locations and face high costs when they want to travel. Lack of training outside their communities limits their qualifications for highly skilled career opportunities. To date, five graduates of this program have stepped into a leadership role in their home community.

"I support this program wholeheartedly and I hope it will be successful and ongoing," said John Amagoalik, chief commissioner for Nunavut.