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NUNAVUT
Doreen Okalik didn't experience summer in 2009, but she has no regrets. The 22-year-old Rankin Inlet resident spent that time across the world experiencing winter in Botswana as part of the Northern Youth Abroad program.

Doreen Okalik, right, sitting on the table, and other Northern Youth Abroad participants examine a map ahead of their trip to Botswana, in southern Africa. - photo courtesy of Northern Youth Abroad

"It opens your eyes, your mind and your heart,” Okalik said of her experience in the African country. "It was a whole new experience and a culture shock. I loved Botswana. If I could do it over and over again, I would apply."

Her trip to Africa came as the second phase of NYA, a volunteer program that sends Northern youth aged 15 to 20 (as of June 1, 2012, for its next program) to communities across southern Canada for five weeks, and, if they choose to continue, they can apply to go to Botswana another year for six weeks. For the first phase, Okalik spent the summer of 2007 in Kitchener, Ontario, volunteering at a day camp at Conestoga College.

"I wasn't too nervous because I was still in Canada and I had friends close by," she said. "I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but when I realized what I was doing, I knew I had to go for the international phase."

Each participant is placed with a host family and spends 35 hours per week doing work that suits his or her interests. Some have done construction, others work at music stores, and others have volunteered at community centres. For the international component, two groups of six travel to another country, each group working on a separate project. Each component requires ten months of commitment, and students get high school credits in return.

"Things like career-building exercises, resume writing, determining volunteer work they want to do, and fundraising from potential donors (are all required in those ten months)," said NYA program officer Naomi Schatz, "as well as beginning communications with the families they will stay with.

"Once they're back home, they have assignments to complete, including updating their resumes, filling out passport applications, and doing goal-setting for the future."

The bulk of the program is paid for, but each participant has to raise $700. The ideal candidate is looking for a new experience that will improve their life and their world.

"Someone who is motivated, who wants to see some change happen," Schatz said. "It doesn't have to be someone in high school or someone with the best grades; we're looking for people who are motivated and have a genuine interest in learning more and challenging themselves. We're looking to build leaders who can return home and bring the skills they've developed over the summer back to their communities."

For Okalik, who now works as a counter agent for Canadian North at the Rankin Inlet airport, the program has great benefits, and allows participants to see how things are on the other side of the world.

"When you go there for six weeks, you realize what you take for granted back home," she said. "Cell phones work, and there is Internet, but if people think it's slow in the North, it's even slower in Africa. The culture there is different but it's still similar to the culture in Nunavut and NWT. I believe that anyone should apply."

The application deadline for Nunavummiut is Nov. 1, and applications can be found on the organization's website.

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