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LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
When youth from Northern communities decide to venture south - whether for school, work or life experience - one of the many issues they must deal with is culture shock.

Heather Pope, left, from Norman Wells and Delta McKay from Fort Resolution organize food at their workplace, the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Centre in Ottawa. Pope said living in Ottawa for two months last summer gave her perspective on life outside of her home community. - photo courtesy of Rebecca Bisson

Not having much experience outside of their hometowns causes many of our young people to get disoriented when travelling - even within their own country. Northern Youth Abroad is a program that aims to address this issue and gives young Northerners a chance to live and work in a new environment.

Heather Pope, a 17-year-old Grade 11 student at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells, said the program was a great experience.

"It is a chance for kids who are not able to get out of their communities that often, like I was, to actually go and see parts of the world - actually get a feel of what life is outside of your community," she said.

Pope travelled to Ottawa this past summer with NYA, where she lived with a host family for two months. While there, she had to deal with many changes to her day-to-day life. "Because I come from a community of 800 and I went to a city of like a bagillion," she said.

Compared with Norman Wells, Ottawa is big, busy and fast-paced, said Pope. Major things that stood out included high-speed limits - some city thoroughfares allow traffic to clip along at 100 km/h - and the ethnic diversity of the people who live in the capital city.

One highlight of the trip was attending Ottawa's Lebanese Festival. Pope and a friend read about it in the newspaper.

"I never really heard of Lebanese people before; never really heard of Lebanon. So, we went there and checked it out and it was really cool," said Pope. "Their music was so cool, I actually got inspired and I used their culture for my assignment for music class."

Participants in NYA must volunteer for 35 hours per week while stationed in their host communities. Pope completed her volunteer work with Tungasuvvingat Inuit, a community-based counselling and resource centre for Inuit peoples based in Ottawa. As a result, she learned about a Northern culture that she had previously known very little about.

NYA sends 36 youth from the NWT and Nunavut to various communities across Canada each summer and 12 lucky young people who have completed the national program are sent on international trips. Pope is planning on applying to the international program, but not right away. She would like to wait a couple of years before venturing overseas. Participants are allowed to apply until the age of 22.

On average, NYA receives between 125 and 150 applications for the national program and between 25 and 30 applications for the international program.

"It's super-tough (to select participants), especially with how competitive it is," said Rebecca Bisson, program director for Northern Youth Abroad. "We're looking for participants who maybe don't have as much travel experience and for youth who definitely have a capacity to build as leaders within their community but maybe haven't had as many opportunities to develop in that area."

NYA started as Nunavut Youth Abroad which ran its first travel program in 1998.

"The original goal was to provide an opportunity to travel outside of their home communities and gain self-confidence in who they were and where they were from," said Bisson.

The program grew to include NWT youth in 2005 and now has more than 275 alumni.

"Generally speaking, the vast majority complete high school, many move to post-secondary and many are doing great things in their home communities or wherever they have decided to end up," said Bisson.

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