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When I volunteered for Youth Challenge International I never thought it would have such a long-term impact on my life. I was fortunate enough to volunteer from January to June of 2009 in Mombasa Kenya. While in Mombasa I volunteered at Kwacha Afrika, YCI’s local partner, organizing workshops, events, forums and community events, focusing on health promotion, leadership, human rights and equality.
While at Kwacha Afrika, I worked closely with many youth including, a 16 year old boy whose amazing dedication, hard work and passion for helping those around him always amazed me. After working with him for many weeks I began to understand the difficult circumstances he faced, orphaned and living with his older brother, barely able to afford 3 meals a day. He expressed many times how much he wanted to go back to school, but couldn’t return because his brother could not afford to send him.
I sent an email to my parents describing the boy’s situation and they quickly decided to send money so that he could return to school. During the following months in Kenya, Michael Kalu (our local officer) and myself began the paperwork to establish a scholarship fund for youth in Mombasa. Within my six months in Kenya we had received enough donations from friends and family back home to support 7 students in returning to school.
Upon returning to Canada, we began the application process to become a registered charity with Revenue Canada. In March we were approved and are now fully registered and fundraising to continue supporting the seven students currently in school, as well as accepting additional students each year.
The scholarship fund is intended to help youth who have no financial means of funding their education and provide them with the opportunity to pursue their educational goals. The scholarship fund also provides support by mentoring the youth in their pursuit of education.
Preference is given to those youth whose parent, or parents are deceased, or who do not live with, or gain financial support from their parents. Proof of parental income or of a guardian’s income is required as a determining factor of each applicant.
Once students have been accepted to receive a scholarship, our local program officer Michael, helps them select a suitable school and make all necessary arrangements. Because many of the students do not have any family members, Michael accompanies them to the school, helps buy school supplies and ensures they are settled. Our preference is to find boarding schools for all of our students. This ensures they have a safe place to live, access to three meals a day, access to water and no distractions from their school studies. Although tuition is more for boarding schools, we think it is worth the added cost!
So far we have managed to raise money simply through word of mouth and a large group of very supportive, caring friends and family. We always welcome donations and are constantly amazed by the generosity of those around us!
For more information check us out at:
http://canadamombasascholarshipfund.weebly.com/index.html
- Jessie Gresley-Jones, YCI Youth Ambassador. Jessie volunteered on back-to-back YCI projects in Kenya during the Winter and Spring of 2009.
Want to learn what other YCI alumni are up to? Check out our blog’s Alumni Update category.
Hey Guys,
So, a bit less than a week ago I attended a conference at the UN offices in New York to celebrate the international day of Peace, which falls on September 21st every year. Myself and over twenty other youth went with a Montreal based group called Cercle de Paix.
While we were there we got to see a peace bell ceremony, as well as attend a conference with messengers of peace, and be part of a discussion held among all the youth present, the ambassadors of peace, and youth from a few other places that they had with us via videoconference. One of the most exciting parts of the conference was that they had, over this videoconference, students from Sudan and Liberia in the room with us. It was a great opportunity for everyone to come together and talk about how we could move towards a lasting peace, and to see that there are so many like-minded people. At the end of the conference, they held a flag ceremony, where in turn each countries flag was held up and represented in a wish for peace.
Flag Ceremony
It was humbling and inspiring to see that these incredibly accomplished people – Nobel Laureates, ambassadors of Peace – were taking the time out of their lives to talk to us about what we could do for peace. It was very motivating and really got me excited for the trip we’re all about to make. One of the ideas I heard a few times was the need for us to start trying to understand each other. That’s a huge part of why I’m excited for this opportunity with Youth Challenge International – it’s offering me the opportunity to experience a culture I would otherwise know nothing about, in a very important and intimate way. I feel these kinds of experiences are important in coming together in peace, and this trip to the UN has made that ever more clear.
It’s nice to know as I prepare for this trip, that there are people who believe in the value of acquainting yourself with other cultures, and who support what we’re doing even if we aren’t aware of it. I imagine that will be something I can lean on if I ever run in to a tough time in Tanzania.
Over the next month I’ll be getting ready to leave for my eight weeks in Tanzania. I cannot wait to meet everyone, and get started on our project. It’s approaching quicker than I ever expected, and in a matter of weeks I’ll be landing in Dar Es Salaam. It’s a bit crazy to think about. I’m sure this trip to the UN will be something I can look back on, as well our trip to Tanzania, as something that really made an impact on me.
- Rebecca Acheson, preparing YCI volunteer, Tanzania 2010. Rebecca is getting ready to participate in an 8-week project in Morogoro to work on youth health and youth leadership initiatives.
Rebecca in front of the UN offices in NYC
Jessica Lockhart has been a long-time member of the YCI family. In addition to being a YCI alumna (Vanuatu, 2006), Jessica worked in the Toronto office as a member of the Volunteer and International Programs Teams for more than two years. Now, Jessica is back travelling the globe- this time in Guyana. Check out her blog: http://jessicalockhart.blogspot.com.
For over two years at YCI, I‘ve wished countless volunteers good luck as they’ve set off on their international volunteer placements. And for over two years, I’ve often sat at my desk, under the soft glow of my computer screen, wishing that I was in their place instead. Those two years afforded me a lot of time to wonder—if I were a YCI volunteer, and had the chance to do it all over again, where would I go?
For a while, Africa seemed like the obvious choice. The only problem? Urban centres have never appealed to me. Coming from a rural community in northern Alberta, I’m continually drawn to communities that have characteristics in common with my hometown—whether it’s size, isolation or even industry. Guatemala and Costa Rica were both at the top of my list for a while, but at the end of the day, I kept coming back to one place: Guyana. Volunteers would come back raving about their experience, and I would spend hours sorting through photos of the lush jungle scenery and the vast savannah plains.
It seemed only too fortuitous that just as my contract with YCI ended in early August, a job opening was passed my way for a short-term site coordinator position in Guyana. And it also seemed somewhat serendipitous that the hiring manager was friends with a YCI alumnus, who gave me a lovely reference. Everything was somehow falling into place.
So at the end of August, after years of preparing volunteers for their adventures, I was finally setting out on an adventure all of my own. After a hectic three weeks in Alberta and BC visiting family, I flew back to Toronto early one Saturday afternoon. And then, after only four hours of frantic packing, I was back at the airport again later that night, this time to catch my evening flight to Georgetown.
My flight itinerary was the very same one that I’ve sent to volunteers over the years. Overnight to Guyana, a brief stopover in the Port of Spain, and maybe a night at the Hotel Tower before orientation with Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG). Sitting on the plane, I thought about how many YCI volunteers before me had sat in that exact same spot.
I spent the next 10 days travelling through Region 7 and Region 2 of Guyana, meeting community partners and local stakeholders in preparation for an upcoming short-term medical mission in October. And everywhere I went, people’s eyes lit up in recognition whenever I mentioned my connection to YCI. (During one such meeting with a stakeholder, I mentioned my experience in passing. But the conversation soon took a turn, when I found out that the stakeholder in question was the founder of YCG!) It didn’t matter where I was—a YCI volunteer had been before me.
As I prepare to return to Guyana with Ve’ahavta in October, I can’t help but think about what a small world it really is—and how YCI has become, over the last five years, my family. I know that wherever I head next, there will be a network of alumni and supporters there to help me along the way.
To learn more about Ve’ahavta’s work in Guyana, please visit their website at www.veahavta.org. You can read more about my adventures in Guyana, Vanuatu and throughout Canada at http://jessicalockhart.blogspot.com.
I'm standing in front of where the Mazaruni and Kamarang Rivers fork in Kamarang. Kamarang is in the Upper Mazaruni, in Region 7 of Guyana.
Lisa D’Alimonte and Devon Hamilton are students in a Post Graduate Program in International Development at Humber College in Toronto. We, along with 3 other students from our class, will be travelling to Ghana on October 4th to work along side in country partners in Koforidua and Takoradi. We will work on capacity building, proposal writing, fundraising and delivering/facilitating workshops on development topics to community leaders and youth.
Devon and I will be using this YCI experience in Ghana towards the completion of our Post Graduate Certificate at Humber College, as the program requries that each student complete a 2 month placement either in Canada or overseas.
We are extremely excited for this experience and to put our skills to use in the field.
- Lisa D’Alimonte & Devon Hamilton, preparing YCI volunteers. Lisa & Devon are part of a small group of International Development students from Humber College who will be volunteering in Ghana for 10 weeks starting this October. They will be holding a fundraiser in Toronto on September 23rd at The Emmet Ray on 924 College St that will include Live Music and Prizes!
Interested in reading about the whole volunteer process from selection to arrival on project?
Check out Youth Ambassador Michael Jew’s blog! Michael provides a detailed description of the entire process from selection, fundraising and pre-departure learning to arriving in Guyana, orientation and life on project. For preparing volunteers, this is an incredible resource!
Michael completed a 5- week project in Guyana this summer. His project focused on youth literacy and HIV/AIDS education.
“Having been involved for a long time in social activism and yearning for an adventure outside of North America, I decided to participate in YCI’s Guyana project, which will take place over July-August 2010. I will use this page as a means to chart my progress and my exploits while in Guyana!”
- Michael Jew, YCI Youth Ambassador, Guyana 2010
