One day til showtime....

Wow. it is hard to believe that it has already been three weeks here on the Sunshine coast.  Soooo much has happend and every day is full of training.  We spent our first week in Vancouver and got to enjoy a lot that it has to offer.  I went to the Vancouver Aquarium which is a beautiful huge place.  And also went for bike rides around stanley park among many other activities.  These things were all strategically placed inbetween hours and hours of trainings.  We had intercultural communication training (we still are all struggling with it :) The array of accents and literal vocabulary make for some interesting miscommunications at times.  But, usually its all very funny.  We also had some conflict resolution training and then headed off to camp Elphinstone.

We have now been at YMCA Camp Elphinstone for two weeks.  Two solid weeks of training.  We have met the staff which are all great but are also children.  The camp operates with volunteers and staff. The volunteers are all 17 years old and most of them have worked through the camp program and are now "training" to be paid staff next year.  I'm by far the old lady on the block.  at least 2 years older than the next oldest. ha.  A girl actually said to me yesterday, "you are 11 years older than me, holy crap" nothing like making an old girl feel older.  Plus, i was talking about Bobby's World and some childhood cartoons and non of these youngsters had a clue what i was talking about.  Times are achangin' 

But, I've learned a lot, and the leadership and maturity (for the most part) is very impressive.  The camp does an amazing job turning youth into leaders.  Which brings me to my first assignment.  I will be a group leader for the two week camp of LD1 which is the Leadership Development first group.  This is the older kids who dont reallly got to traditional camp anymore.  we work on things like hard skills, outdoor living, How to teach archery, canoeing, kayaking etc and not just how to do it.  I'm pretty honored to be a leader for the leadership program right off the bat.  It will be a blast and include a 3 day out trip where we will camp and canoe somewhere around Gambier Island. 

After that two weeks I'll be on my "learning week" so i'll head back to Vancouver for a week and begin my meetings and volunteering with local non profits.  I'm really looking forward to this week and hope to learn a ton about YMCA programs in Vancouver. 

The YPN'ers are all good.  They seem to be struggling a bit with some of the language barriers.  But, they like to have me around to explain stuff in a little clearer and slower pace.  Its amazing to realize how fast and poorly people talk until your with 13 non english speakers and they all look at me after someone says something.  But, they all hold their own.  We're pretty excited to do our global education to the youth.  We have some great ideas and have learned some very interesting ways of teaching. 

We did lose a YPN participant who had to leave because his father was ill. its really sad because he was from Kosovo and I was sooo looking forward to learning about the history of Kosovo.  He lived through the war and had some pretty interesting stories about life before, during and after.  Lets just say he is a big fan of Bill Clinton. He will be very greatly missed.

Everythign else is pretty good.  I'm excited to get into camp. We will have Camp Moomba which is a special camp for HIV/Aids youth adn people affected by it.  I'm really interested in being a part of this camp.  I'll have more info about it later.  Also, I may have the chance to go to another camp waaaay up north about 8 hours from vancouver.  well see on that too.

I'll post more soon.  Its very hard to get to a computer since we have 1 for about 100 staff and the WiFi goes in and out.  But, I'll try to post more often.

Miss everyone and see you soon!

Introducing YPN 2012!!

Well, I have arrived in Vancouver.  And so has everyone else with their versions of flight stories.  Delays, cancellations, person next to them fainting on the plane.  You know, the usual. We have all made it.  Representing YPN 2012 this year is:

Zenia- Lebanon
Julia- Argentina
Gigi- Senegal
Edita- Czech Republic
Kristina- Ukraine
Yoanna- Colombia
Cecilia- Ecuador
Edgar- Mexico
Chen- China
Jenny- Phillipines
Mo cha- Hong Kong
Artan- Kosovo
Andrea- United States
Robyn- Canada

I was so excited to learn where people were coming from.  I of course, am the oldest...probably be the mother hen around the city.  and Mo cha our spit fire Hong Kong girl is the youngest at 20.  We're just getting to know each other which isnt too hard when four of us are cramped in a tiny hostel room. But, i dont think it will take too long.  We have a looooooooooooot of training over the next three weeks. 

I'll have more to post with pictures and introductions to the program and participants as soon as I can get a bit more time on a computer. 

Chao for now!

Youth they are important EVERYWHERE.

Lakota Instructions for Living

Friend do it this way - that is,
whatever you do in life,
do the very best you can
with both your heart and mind.

And if you do it that way,
the Power Of The Universe
will come to your assistance,
if your heart and mind are in Unity.

When one sits in the Hoop Of The People,
one must be responsible because
All of Creation is related.
And the hurt of one is the hurt of all.
And the honor of one is the honor of all.
And whatever we do effects everything in the universe.

If you do it that way - that is,
if you truly join your heart and mind
as One - whatever you ask for,
that's the Way It's Going To Be.

passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman

A year ago I got the opportunity to go to the Sioux YMCA for two weeks on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.  For 6 years, the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities have been sending staff to run summer youth programs in partnership with the Sioux YMCA in Dupree, SD in the smaller communities on the reservation.  We went in groups of 3 and each day would go to two different communities in a van loaded with basketballs, baseball equipment, arts and crafts, and whatever else we could fit besides ourselves.  It is an excellent staff development and cultural peice as well as one more layer to the vastness of how the Y is dedicated to communities. 

The Cheyenne River Reservation is a beautiful, magical place besides the extreme poverty of the communities and social problems they face.  The "amber waves of grain" really come to life here.  And the spirit of the youth is unlike anything.  In this world of young people "needing" the latest fashion, video games, movies etc. the youth on the reservation have giant smiles and they may not have shoes.  They are a joy to see everyday. 

So this year, when I got a  phone call from my teammate from last year who is there again this year, that one of our kids (they are "our" kids by the time you leave, because you kind of want to steal them) had committed suicide last fall it really hit me.  Royce, a 14 year old leader, and one of the older kids in the community had started to dabble in alcohol and drugs.  A reality that is too common for the young people on the reservation.  He must have found his life too hard, and chose to end it.  I can't put into words the saddness that overcomes me when I think of this kid, a great athlete, with big smiles playing softball with us found this world too hard. 

No young person should find this world to hard. 

On another note, I got to hear from some of the kids i met last year with from my former team mate.  They say "hi" they miss me and actually remember me. Wow, if that doesn't make you warm and fuzzy. 

The work is important in this forgotten land.  These are young people with just as much potential and are the exact same as the kids as in the inner city or down the street.  They just need nurturing and the avenue and support to be successful.  The Cheyenne River Reservation is not done yet.  Let the healing begin.

Here are a few pictures of the reservation and kids:

To learn more about the YMCA Sioux Y Initiative check out their blog at http://siouxymcainitiative.blogspot.com/ or to make a donation to the Sioux YMCA  http://www.siouxymca.org/