GAMETI/RAE LAKES
Justina Moosenose recently took a train from Ottawa, to Kingston, Ont., marking a special moment for the 16-year-old.

Justina Moosenose, 16, from Gameti, travelled to Kingston, Ont., this summer as part of Northern Youth Abroad. - photo courtesy of Justina Moosenose

"I'd never been on a train before," Moosenose said.

She was making the commute to spend her summer working at a summer camp and living with a host family as part of Northern Youth Abroad, a non-profit organization that sends NWT and Nunavut youth abroad to get traveling work experience.

While in Kingston, the Gameti teen also went on a 1000 Island boat cruise and travelled to the nearby town of Gananoque. She also caught the annual Buskers Rendezvous while she was in Kingston. While she said she had fun doing activities with her host family, Moosenose said she especially enjoyed her work placement as a supervisor at Queen's University summer camps.

"I supervised the kids," she said.

"I helped with activities and I explained how and what we were doing with an activity."

Moosenose helped organize activities and supervised groups of children from age four to 12. Her duties included making sure kids had fun while staying safe. "I had to do a head count, making sure everyone was there and no one got lost," she said.

Moosenose said one of her favourite parts of the job was helping to organize basketball and volleyball games for older children. She also enjoyed helping to run a camp called Little Explorers for children aged 4 to 6.

"We did activities throughout the day and on Fridays we would go to the park and they would have the option to either play in the park with whatever the parks had, swings and slides, or they could go to the splash pad," she said.

The experience helped Moosenose realize she had some work to do when it came to understanding children.

"I learned that I didn't know how to handle kids," she said.

But after a few weeks, Moosenose said she learned how to interpret children's' moods and the best way to tackle each problem.

"I would ask them what's wrong and try to figure out why they're frustrated," she said.

Learning how to persevere and work through tough problems was a big part of Northern Youth Abroad, especially when it came to the inevitable feelings of homesickness, Moosenose said. While she didn't experience it, she said there were other participants who did miss home – especially those who hadn't traveled before.

"(Youth) need to be prepared to be able to experience culture shock, especially if they have never left their community," she said. "It's okay if they feel homesick because that's a natural feeling."

Discussing problems with fellow participants or host families is key to making sure homesickness doesn't become overwhelming, Moosenose said.

"Never leave your feelings inside," she said. "Always talk about it."

Moosenose said she hopes to participate in the international phase of Northern Youth Abroad in 2017.

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