tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1190334017443262082024-03-13T07:27:49.290-04:00Kai Nestman - BlogAdventure. Education. Experience. Travel.Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-75748899763409431122013-02-08T09:35:00.001-05:002013-02-08T09:47:05.873-05:00Defining global peace<b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Defining global peace</b><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ROTARY GLOBAL PEACE FORUM</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KAI NESTMAN/SPECIAL TO COAST REPORTER</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Published, COAST REPORTER: Friday, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February 08, 2013 </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tOTuzhxWrek/URULfKkcLDI/AAAAAAAAEFU/Mq5Xj_8JqIU/s1600/Aung+San+Suu+Kyi+-+Source+David+Livingston1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tOTuzhxWrek/URULfKkcLDI/AAAAAAAAEFU/Mq5Xj_8JqIU/s320/Aung+San+Suu+Kyi+-+Source+David+Livingston1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Aung San Suu Kyi received the Hawaii Peace Award from Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka </b></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">of Japan at the recent Rotary Global Peace Forum in Hawaii.</b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">David Livingston Photo</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peace can be described as a lifetime journey that individuals travel through in the quest to achieve harmony — a personal expedition in search of harmony that could extend to the cosmos, our environment, the relations between each other and harmony with oneself. Peace could include a world free from violence and suffering, full of tolerance and love.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a world that has become clouded with the complexities of globalization and a consistent fight between regions, cultures, religions, ethnic groups and communities, we must look to our own life to encourage change through peace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hawaii extends the “spirit of aloha” as a tolerance for strangers and a welcome without conflict. What can we learn from another culture? How can we incorporate friendship, understanding and healing among groups in struggle?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Youth offer us this hope.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was fortunate to participate in a Rotary Global Peace Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii, recently where the forum placed a heightened emphasis on young people as catalysts for peace. Workshops brought together participants from around the world to discuss and engage in peace education, technology, intercultural understanding, peace through humanitarianism and world peace through personal health, among many other topics. Young people offer us the greatest opportunity to move towards world peace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and member of parliament in Burma (Myanmar), was the keynote speaker.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Young men and women should not need to think about peace. If they need to think about peace, there is something wrong with society; there is something wrong with their family situation or their social situation,” described Daw Suu Kyi when I asked, “What encourages people to believe in peace and especially youth in this process?”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suu Kyi continued in her response, saying, “The young must also understand the sedative for peace and the drive for peace … and because there is so much turmoil in the world we live in, that more and more young people understand the value of peace.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Youth must gain access to the opportunity to broaden their horizons and cultural understanding through experiences such as a Rotary Youth Exchange. Rotary International sends more than 8,000 secondary school students each year to over 80 countries where students live with host families and bridge international friendships over a year-long exchange.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many opportunities for young people to study abroad, live in another country with host families and engage in a new culture and language. These experiences through high school or during college and university develop international relationships between two similar yet different cultures. These exchanges precipitate peace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Aung San Suu Kyi stated, “We depend on our young people to take us forward.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This could be significant in the quest to achieve world peace; however, we must look to organizations such as Rotary International and educational institutions to promote this shift in international experience and ensure greater accessibility. Everyone has a role in peace, but we must empower youth to grow as peacemakers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOTE: A similar article appeared in <i>Rotary Voices: Stories of service from around the world</i>, entitled <a href="http://blog.rotary.org/2013/02/01/kai/" target="_blank">Everyone has a role in peace</a>, posted on February 1, 2013.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01812735496344863060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-53559819365877916252013-01-18T18:00:00.004-05:002013-01-18T20:23:14.668-05:00An introduction to Aung San Suu Kyi<br />
<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An introduction to Aung San Suu Kyi</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ROTARY GLOBAL PEACE FORUM</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KAI NESTMAN/SPECIAL TO COAST REPORTER</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Published, COAST REPORTER: Friday, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">JANUARY 18, 2013 </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Aung San Suu Kyi will be the keynote speaker at the Rotary International Rotary Global Peace Forum in Hawaii Jan. 25. </b></span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sechelt’s Kai Nestman will be attending through a partnership with the Rotary Club of the Sunshine Coast.</b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo courtesy peaceforumhawaii.com</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aung San Suu Kyi is known by many people for having spent much of the past 20 years under house arrest in Myanmar. As the chairperson of a pro-democracy party, Suu Kyi is a symbol in her efforts of non-violence and peace while engaging with the repressive military-backed government in Myanmar, also known as Burma.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her “non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights” — a prize that was accepted by her two sons and British husband. Suu Kyi was held under house arrest in Burma and could not risk leaving the country to claim her prize.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was released from house arrest in November 2010, following bouts of freedom and detention, but full restrictions on Suu Kyi’s movement and associations were not relaxed until 2011.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year in a landslide by-election victory, Suu Kyi was elected to sit in parliament along with other members from her National League for Democracy Party. This marked significant progress for a military power that had denied Suu Kyi’s previous victory as a member of parliament. The military junta has enforced a strong influence over the country since its 1962 coup d’état.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myanmar has experienced significant change over the past year. Canada’s foreign minister visited the country in a first-of-its-kind stopover, and most notably U.S. President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar following a preparatory visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in 2011.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obama’s visit marked progressive announcements by the government of Myanmar to ease border conflict, allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) greater access to prisons, and investigate political detainees. The change of pace in Myanmar brought forth statements by the governments of Canada and the U.S. to begin slowly easing strict sanctions meant to apply political pressure to Myanmar and its military-backed government.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conflict has been ongoing in Myanmar and most recently has continued in the northern state of Kachin where internal struggles have existed between ethnic minorities and the government.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suu Kyi continues her work to build peace through non-violence. She recently wrote, “Myanmar remains firmly under military rule” when she described the conflict in Kachin.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rotary International, though its work in humanitarian and volunteer service, has also focused on peace. Each year Rotary sponsors up to 110 Rotary World Peace Fellows who study peace and conflict resolution at one of six Rotary Centres for International Studies located around the world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Jan. 25, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Rotary International will host its second Rotary Global Peace Forum, the first of which was held in Berlin, Germany, at the end of November. A third forum will be hosted in Hiroshima, Japan in May. The forum will bring together more than 800 participants from around the world — many of them youth. I will have the honour of attending the forum through a partnership with the Rotary Club of the Sunshine Coast.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rotary Global Peace Forum will include workshops that look to Hawaiian culture and peace while highlighting the special importance of conserving and protecting shared environmental resources, and encouraging young adults to be catalysts for peace. The forum looks to empower a new generation’s vision of world peace — peace that could extend to conflicts such as that in Myanmar. Suu Kyi will be the keynote speaker.</span><br />
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Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.69719309999999344.7060676 -76.988086599999988 46.1369916 -74.4062996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-41663020377887869372011-10-30T14:10:00.002-04:002011-10-30T14:10:12.374-04:00Building leaders through volunteerism<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Building leaders through volunteerism</b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CANADA WORLD YOUTH</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KAI NESTMAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Published, COAST REPORTER: Wednesday, October 22, 2011</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 25px;"><a href="http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20111021/SECHELT0604/310219994/-1/SECHELT/building-leaders-through-volunteerism" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #bf1717; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.coastreporter.net</a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qhuH0YxUOF0/Tq2RCBWlVyI/AAAAAAAAA2k/FkcqUBvmzw0/s1600/Salaberry-de-Valleyfield%252C+Qu%25C3%25A9bec+-+Allada%252C+B%25C3%25A9nin+2009-2010+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qhuH0YxUOF0/Tq2RCBWlVyI/AAAAAAAAA2k/FkcqUBvmzw0/s400/Salaberry-de-Valleyfield%252C+Qu%25C3%25A9bec+-+Allada%252C+B%25C3%25A9nin+2009-2010+%25285%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7b7b7b; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Kai Nestman, originally from Sechelt, participated in Canada World Youth’s 2009/10 </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7b7b7b; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Youth Leaders in Action program in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec and Allada, Benin.</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For 40 years Canada World Youth (CWY) has enabled 34,000 youth aged 15 to 29 to participate in international co-operation programs hosted by 11,000 families in more than 67 countries.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week (Oct. 17 to 23), the work of these volunteers and
the significant impact these experiences have had on thousands of youth around
the world will be celebrated. Forty special events will be held in 40 different
cities, and more than 130 municipalities have officially proclaimed Canada
World Youth Week, including Sechelt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CWY offers young people the opportunity to learn new
languages, embrace diversity, and improve awareness and appreciation for other
cultures. CWY participants cultivate skills to become involved in
community-based projects related to the environment, health and equity. For
many of the youth volunteers, the experience is life-changing. CWY shapes who
they are and who they will become.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an organization, CWY contributes to the implementation of
the UN Millennium Development Goals and trains new generations of youth to
become active global citizens. CWY participants volunteer more than one million
hours every year by building youth leadership in Canada and around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enriching the lives of young Canadians has never been more
important. This past September, Canada’s youth unemployment rate stood at 14
per cent. This means that more than 400,000 Canadians aged 15 to 24 were still
looking to enter the job-market. CWY offers youth a bridge to other countries
when other avenues are closed to them. At its best, CWY offers youth the chance
to apply their skills and passion in a meaningful experience, at home and
overseas. Youth are empowered through these experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sunshine Coast has embraced CWY over the years through
hosting local groups such as the current Canada-South Africa team, as well as
supporting local participants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beyond the national events of the 40th anniversary, CWY is
committed to broadening its approach to youth leadership. Programs must be
accessible. As the value of volunteerism and community engagement grows, CWY
will reach out to young people from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities,
as well as youth from rural areas, with a goal to engage youth from every
socio-economic group, even those not accustomed to turning their sights
overseas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canada has some two million citizens living abroad. Many do
fabulous work as volunteers. Organizations like CWY focus on young people from
all parts of Canada, giving them a platform and opportunity to volunteer
abroad. They represent the leading edge of this country’s soft power and a huge
advantage for Canadian business and Canadian citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Editor’s note: Kai Nestman, originally from Sechelt,
participated in Canada World Youth’s 2009/10 Youth Leaders in Action program in
Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec and in Allada, Benin. He is also a member of
the CWY board of directors.</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.697193145.0649016 -76.328907100000009 45.7781576 -75.0654791tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-28397751502709690282011-10-20T20:16:00.000-04:002011-10-20T20:16:00.877-04:00Youth volunteerism builds leaders<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Youth volunteerism builds leaders</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Organization turns 40 with celebrations across the nation</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>by Kai Nestman</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Published, The Powell River Peak: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 9:54 AM PDT</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2011/10/19/community/doc4e9e0cb6d0b61295790009.txt">http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2011/10/19/community/doc4e9e0cb6d0b61295790009.txt</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GxlXDQhajPk/TqC5d1GcmcI/AAAAAAAAA2c/Waq_YpFzjyU/s1600/Salaberry-de-Valleyfield%252C+Qu%25C3%25A9bec+-+Allada%252C+B%25C3%25A9nin+2009-2010+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GxlXDQhajPk/TqC5d1GcmcI/AAAAAAAAA2c/Waq_YpFzjyU/s400/Salaberry-de-Valleyfield%252C+Qu%25C3%25A9bec+-+Allada%252C+B%25C3%25A9nin+2009-2010+%25287%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">HELP ON THE GROUND: Pablo McDonald [left] and Kai Nestman of Canada World Youth </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet, 'Trebuchet MS', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">volunteer with a local Pineapple Cooperative in Allada, Bénin. Kai Nestman Photo</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For 40 years, Canada World Youth (CWY) has enabled 34,000 youth aged 15 to 29 to participate in international cooperation programs hosted by 11,000 families in over 67 countries. From October 17 to 23, the work of these volunteers and the significant impact that these experiences have had on thousands of youth around the world will be celebrated. Forty special events will be held in 40 different cities, and over 130 municipalities have officially proclaimed Canada World Youth Week.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CWY offers young people the opportunity to learn new languages, embrace diversity and improve awareness and appreciation for other cultures. CWY participants cultivate skills to become involved in community-based projects related to the environment, health and equity. For many of our youth volunteers, the experience is life-changing. CWY shapes who they are and who they will become.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an organization, CWY contributes to the implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals and trains new generations of youth to become active global citizens. CWY participants volunteer more than one million hours every year by building youth leadership in Canada and around the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enriching the lives of young Canadians has never been more important. This past September, Canada’s youth unemployment rate stood at 14 per cent. This means that more than 400,000 Canadians aged 15 to 24 were still looking to enter the job market. CWY offers youth a bridge to other countries when other avenues are closed to them. At its best, CWY offers youth the chance to apply their skills and passion in a meaningful experience, at home and overseas. Youth are empowered through these experiences.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Powell River has been an outstanding host community for CWY and will again host a Canada-Vietnam group this coming December.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, as it moves beyond the national events of the 40th anniversary, CWY is committed to broadening its approach to youth leadership. Programs must be accessible. As the value of volunteerism and community engagement grows, the organization must reach out to young people from first nations, Inuit and Métis communities, as well as youth from rural areas. It wants to engage youth from every socio-economic group, even those not accustomed to turning their sights overseas.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canada has some two million citizens living abroad. Many do fabulous work as volunteers. Organizations like CWY focus on young people from all parts of Canada, giving them a platform and opportunity to volunteer abroad. They represent the leading edge of this country’s soft power and a huge advantage for Canadian business and Canadians at large.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kai Nestman, originally from Sechelt, participated in Canada World Youth’s 2009-2010 Youth Leaders in Action program in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec and Allada, Benin. He is also a member of the Canada World Youth board of directors.</span></i></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.69719309999999345.1341061 -76.250852099999989 45.7089531 -75.1435341tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-9215523643544069292010-03-16T00:42:00.007-04:002010-03-16T00:54:34.722-04:00Future politician reports on African experience<h2><span style="font-weight:bold;">CANADA WORLD YOUTH</span></h2>Future politician reports on African experience<br /><h5>CATHIE ROY<br />ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER<br />COAST REPORTER<br /><a href="http://www.coastreporter.net" target="_blank">http://www.coastreporter.net</a></h5><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S58Mh4iz_JI/AAAAAAAAA1c/w_iSwUx8UNY/s1600-h/rotarypresentation.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S58Mh4iz_JI/AAAAAAAAA1c/w_iSwUx8UNY/s320/rotarypresentation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449087850395204754" /></a><small><center>CATHIE ROY PHOTO--Kai Nestman, CWY alumni, gave a presentation to the Sunshine Coast Rotary Club on March 4; here Rotary president Darcy Long thanks him. His colourful shirt is indicative of Béninois clothing.</center></small><br /><br /><br />What do you do if you want to become fully fluent in French? If you’re Kai Nestman, you find a way to fully immerse yourself in the language and help humanity at the same time.<br /><br />Nestman, a young Sunshine Coast man, recently returned from the African country of Bénin where he was part of an exchange sponsored by Canada World Youth (CWY).<br /><br />On March 4, he updated the Rotary Club of the Sunshine Coast on his adventures with CWY. Along with many other groups on the Sunshine Coast, the Rotary Club had contributed to Nestman’s participation in the youth program.<br /><br />CWY is based on a six month program. For the first three months, the Canadian youth and their counterparts from various foreign countries spend their time in Canada. The following three months are spent in their partners’ homelands. The emphasis of the program is volunteer work and community building.<br /><br />Prior to going to the impoverished African country on the Atlantic Coast, Nestman spent three months in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. The city of roughly 40,000 is situated on an island in the Saint Lawrence River.<br /><br />While in Quebec, Nestman and Timothée, his Béninois counterpart, spent time with the rest of their group working on environmental projects, the primary one being a community idle-free plan, where signage and education were aimed at average citizens to convince them to cut down on idling their vehicles. Provincial and federal funding helped the CWY group achieve their objectives.<br /><br />While in Quebec, Nestman and Timothée stayed with a family of five — three children and two adults. All day-today living was conducted in French, an excellent learning opportunity for Nestman, who hopes to be a federal politician one day. He was also fortunate to be able to go to Ottawa with the CWY group. And while he has taken two years of political science at the Ottawa University, so this wasn’t a first visit for Nestman, he was proud to show off our Parliament to his African mates.<br /><br />Bénin was an eye opener for the Canadian youth. The county of about nine million people is ranked 187th in the world in terms of quality of life. The average life expectancy is 59, and only 48 per cent of men over the age of 15 can read and write. The statistic for women is even more dismal — only 23 per cent are literate.<br /><br />The official language is French. Religions practiced include Islam, Christianity, Voodoo and various tribal beliefs. Growing pineapples is a prime industry in the poor country. The average wage is $2 per day and in the pineapple juice-manufacturing sector, it’s nothing for women to work a mind-numbing 12 hours a day, six days a week putting labels on bottles. As a community job, this didn’t sit well with the Canadian contingent of the CWY.<br /><br />Culture differences in Canada and Bénin were most pronounced in regard to women, according to Nestman.<br /><br />He told of the treatment of the grandmother of his host family in Bénin. The woman, a counsellor of some repute, was regularly approached by men in the town for answers to their problems. Yet, Nestman said the men would not look the woman in the eyes.<br /><br />“It was as if they were ashamed to talk to a woman for advice,” he explained.<br /><br />While in Bénin, Nestman saw several instances of Rotary help.<br /><br />One project was a large ferryboat that took children to school every day. One hope there is for the Béninois is to change their pineapple farming from the present chemical-dependent style to organic, a concept that would require a complete 18-month growing season with no product to market — a tough sell in a desperately poor country.<br /><br />Over the past six years, Nestman has travelled extensively on both humanitarian and personal development. A Rotary exchange student with the Sechelt Rotary Club in 2004, Nestman spent almost a year in Thailand, a country he said bore similarities to Bénin in the farming style. He has also spent a year in France as an au pair learning French.<br /><br />Right now he’s looking to become a project leader in the Katimavik program. Similar to CWY in scope but national rather than international, Katimavik concentrates on dispersing Canadian youth to areas in Canada to help with social programs. And currently he plans to return to university in the fall.<br /><br />Should his future plans in government materialize, it’s safe to say Nestman’s constituents will be in well-rounded hands.Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-52504905881579567422010-02-06T20:18:00.002-05:002010-02-06T20:23:39.659-05:00Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch RelayFebruary 4, 2010<br />98th Day of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Sechelt, British Columbia.<br />Torch Bearer number 027!<br /><br />Check out the photos and video below!<br /><br />Capture your Vancouver 2010 Olympic spirit!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S24VjQxjAmI/AAAAAAAAAzM/Ry--E51QnJY/s1600-h/037.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S24VjQxjAmI/AAAAAAAAAzM/Ry--E51QnJY/s320/037.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435305495825154658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S24VjHOfMlI/AAAAAAAAAzE/RvLH4j1ct-I/s1600-h/DSC02559.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S24VjHOfMlI/AAAAAAAAAzE/RvLH4j1ct-I/s320/DSC02559.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435305493262185042" /></a><br /><object width="580" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VtArWktoZIA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VtArWktoZIA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360"></embed></object>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-5120469456078744652010-01-27T16:31:00.002-05:002010-01-27T16:34:40.227-05:00Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Sechelt, BCJanuary 27, 2010<br /><br />MONTREAL – With only one day left on my Canada World Youth exchange I’ll be participating in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay presented by Coca-Cola and RBC and supported by the Government of Canada on February 4, 2010, in Sechelt, British Columbia.<br /><br />Come cheer me on as I carry the torch for the 98th day of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay!<br /><br />February 4, 2010, 10:18:57 AM PST<br />Relay segment starting along: Northwest Bay Road at Julmar Road<br />Sechelt, British Columbia<br /><br />For more information check out the relay website:<br /><a href="http://www.vancouver2010.com/torchrelay">http://www.vancouver2010.com/torchrelay</a>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-64890964109854290202010-01-15T15:10:00.002-05:002010-01-15T15:16:40.387-05:00Unearthing all things voodoo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S1DM_RkVswI/AAAAAAAAAx8/41Kcuw41fGI/s1600-h/bilde.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 298px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/S1DM_RkVswI/AAAAAAAAAx8/41Kcuw41fGI/s400/bilde.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427062938401092354" /></a><br /><br /><br />KAI NESTMAN/SPECIAL TO COAST REPORTER <br /><br />Driving down a red-earth, unpaved road with 19 Canada World Youth (CWY) participants jammed into a minivan winding and turning to miss the potholes, we head to Ouidah, the capital of all things voodoo.<br /><br />Marking the celebration each year on Jan. 10, the people of Bénin commemorate their traditional religion known as voodoo — a religion commonly overshadowed through the Hollywood image of voodoo dolls full of pins.<br /><br />A number of divinities make up the religion and are specific to different regions and represented in their local languages with a costume and dance. The divinity of the future and the oracle known as Fa, the divinity of thunder known in its local language as Chango, and the divinity of riches and money known as Dan are just a few examples of the variety of voodoo.<br /><br />At the beach, venders lined the shore around the festivities ready to capture the influx of tourism and even the odd foreigner innocently willing to pay a bit more than the going price, as the more wise barter around for a deal. Sounds of drumming mixed with other instruments and chanting gave life to the dance of each voodoo fetish. Artists set up makeshift galleries to showcase their work, while sunlight and heat beamed down onto the spectators. Dignitaries, local kings and chiefs, and even the president’s wife attended the day-long ceremony.<br /><br />Located along the coast 90 minutes from my host community of Allada, the national celebration of voodoo took place on the beach and in front of the historical Porte de non Retour (door of no return).<br /><br />Ouidah is also known for its historical link to the slave trade and as the past major port of trade for the French and Portuguese.<br /><br />We travelled the route of a slave as we headed through Ouidah making our way to the shore and the Porte de non Retour. The route begins with a slave market known as Place Chacha where the strongest men and women were sold in their last few days in what is now known as Bénin. Along the way is a famous tree where the slaves would circle nine times for men and seven times for women as a symbol to forget the memories of life in Africa before they headed on their last journey to the Americas. The route was bare and full of monuments to mark the terrible history.<br /><br />With only one week left in Bénin, we are gearing up for our return to Canada. We will host a thank you party in our host community and a final program evaluation before we return to Montréal for a rebound orientation with other Canadian participants.<br /><br />You can follow my CWY experience as my adventures continue in Allada, Bénin at www.nestman.ca.<br /><br /><br />© 2010 blog.KaiNestman.caKai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-38275862978876636862009-12-24T12:16:00.002-05:002009-12-24T12:40:30.114-05:00Happy Holidays!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SzOiBMf9XgI/AAAAAAAAAxk/JXFQ3Sk29A8/s1600-h/Kai+with+host+mom+and+sister-712184.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SzOiBMf9XgI/AAAAAAAAAxk/JXFQ3Sk29A8/s320/Kai+with+host+mom+and+sister-712184.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418852918075678210" /></a></p>Merry Christmas from Allada, Bénin!<p>This year I'll be spending the holiday in Bénin as I continue on my Canada World Youth exchange for the final phase of the program. With a team of ten Canadians and ten Béninois it's been quite the adventure as my first time on the continent of Africa.<p>Today we'll be at the local orphanage where we have organized Christmas events and gifts for all of the children.<p>Enjoy your holiday with family and friends.<p>Merry Christmas and all the best for 2010!<p>Kai<p>--Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-64393841250241767862009-11-30T11:42:00.004-05:002009-11-30T12:02:21.198-05:00Second phase of exchange begins<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409941260039611746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 310px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SxP46bRj5WI/AAAAAAAAAvw/dqQHz1xZ6c0/s320/beninhostmom.bmp" border="0" /><br /><br />KAI NESTMAN/SPECIAL TO COAST REPORTER<br /><br />One month into the second phase of my Canada World Youth (CWY) exchange takes me to Allada, Bénin, located one hour north of Cotonou, the economic capital of the country.<br /><br />Bénin, located on the West Coast of Africa, has a population of more than nine million people and is often referred to as one of the more stable democracies on the continent. Through the influence and affects of French colonization, Bénin’s official language is French, although there are various local dialects such as Fon, which is spoken in the southern region of the country.<br /><br />After a four-day orientation session where we toured Cotonou and settled into a new culture and environment, we arrived in Allada and visited each volunteer project before greeting our new host families.<br /><br />Our family is well respected within the community as its original ties to the kingdom of Abomey, the largest royal kingdom in Bénin, lends itself to the their pride and traditional role as the official fabricator of all cast metals. Royal rings, bracelets, necklaces, figures and even the money of the royal kingdom were cast out of precious metals and made exclusively by the family. Although this function is no longer carried out directly by my immediate host family, the original link through an ancient king’s brother tells a history of handed down customs and legends.<br /><br />Once during a time of war within the territory, the king wanted to make sure his children were protected from the injustices of fighting. He sent an order to distinguish his children by marking two scars on each side of the forehead beside their eyes. These ancestral markings have been carried on for generations, but this tradition seems to be declining as the grandparents begin to deny the ceremony given the growth of the family.<br /><br />Along with the knowledge passed down by my host grandmother, there have been many interesting first impressions during the initial month.<br /><br />The local market comes to Allada every fifth day as it rotates each surrounding community, bringing commerce from around the region. With the market comes an influx of people buying the freshly displayed foods and local produce, tables of bright coloured fabrics and homemade carts full of a variety of products. The flurry of activity and movement of goods around Allada flies by as sacks of rice piled on a motorcycle, a basket of peanuts perched on a woman’s head or a car jammed to the roof full of oranges. The fruit is endless and the dust is everywhere.<br /><br />With just two months left we are already planning our midway project evaluation where we’ll travel north for a four-day retreat. As the Béninois phase began with a new sense of energy for the program, our involvement within the community through our volunteer projects will continue to grow over the coming weeks as we discover a new culture and country.<br /><br />Remember you can follow my exchange and CWY experience as my adventures continue in Allada, Bénin at <a href="http://www.nestman.ca/">http://www.nestman.ca/</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#999999;">© 2009 blog.KaiNestman.ca</span>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-5053777866463865012009-11-19T08:05:00.000-05:002009-11-19T08:08:44.202-05:00The Beginnings in BéninA fon an! Bonjour depuis le Bénin!<br /><br />It’s been a while since I last sent out an email update! I know that I owe quite a few replies so hopefully this email counts towards some as our internet here in Allada, Bénin isn’t very dependable. And…if you’ve recently sent me an email don’t worry as I’ll get to it soon!<br /><br />Leaving our Canadian host community of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec, was a sure sign that we had past the half way point of our exchange. It was the compilation of our Canadian program where we had been hosted by a welcoming community and host families that truly embraced the program.<br /><br />We left for Montreal during the early morning of October 30 where we had a final orientation on health with another group that was hosted in Terrebonne, Québec and headed to Dassa, Bénin. Before making sure everyone was good to go with the baggage restrictions we left for the airport to start our wait and travel with a changeover in Paris. It couldn’t have been an easy trip through the Air France ticket counter as there were four of us in the group who didn’t exactly have assured tickets for the remaining trip from Paris to Cotonou, Bénin. It ended up that there was just a ticket issuing error and in the end we caught the same plane as the group, but that never stopped us from hoping for a free night in Paris!<br /><br />We arrived in Bénin during the night of Halloween and headed for what would be our compound for the next few days as we attended an orientation retreat. We had a session on the environment and its relation to our program, explored the city, the beach, and just had some time to adjust to the new time zone, heat, environment and culture.<br /><br />Some first impressions of Bénin include the endless amount of street vendors and little shops set up along the path of the road that sometimes sell the largest variety of items. The ‘zims’ or motortaxis are everywhere. Imagine 40 Canada World Youth participants all following each other as a pack weaving throughout Cotonou. Actually there are quite a few comparisons to my Rotary Youth Exchange year in Thailand.<br /><br />Our arrival in our new host community of Allada on Tuesday November 3 was met with a grand welcome from all the new host families and an introduction to the community. We quickly toured each volunteer project to understand the organizations and their objectives so that everyone could choose their project for the next three months.<br /><br />The volunteer project that I chose didn’t turn out to be the best project to learn from, but rather a project to pass our time and work for a company. I had been working with a pineapple juice cooperative known as IRA and took the last two weeks to learn each stage of the process. After trying to get the administration to allow us to spend more time looking into how we could support the cooperative with new initiatives such as an entrance in the European Union or an evaluation of the production efficiencies, the four of us who had been volunteering will move to a new project in the coming week.<br /><br />There are several different volunteer projects, but I’ll get into the details of them in future updates.<br /><br />My host family has been super since our arrival and always ready to cook a variety of new dishes for me to taste. The family that immediately lives with us includes our host mom, two sisters (14 and 3), a grandma, an uncle and his wife, and their son who is 1. Our other uncles and aunts visit often, but also many people from within the community drop by to get council from our grandma who is looked upon as an elder and advisor.<br /><br />Also….Movember lives on in Africa and for the second year in a row I’m growing out a moustache to support the Movember campaign to raise awareness and education on prostate cancer. For over a week it was a handlebar moustache, but now it’s down to a regular old moustache….HA!<br /><br />Anyways I will try and write an update at least every two weeks where I could post an article, write some thoughts, or just post some photos.<br /><br />Remember to follow my updates at www.nestman.ca and check out our group website at www.cwyjcm.org.<br /><br />Kai from BéninKai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-60312888040952283292009-10-24T16:30:00.005-04:002009-10-27T00:27:36.437-04:00Canadian exchange nearing an end<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.coastreporter.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GW&Date=20091023&Category=SECHELT0604&ArtNo=310239870&Ref=AR&maxw=290"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 532px;" src="http://www.coastreporter.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GW&Date=20091023&Category=SECHELT0604&ArtNo=310239870&Ref=AR&maxw=290" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div class="byline"><span>Kai Nestman/Special to Coast Reporter<br /></span><br />As my Canada World Youth (CWY) exchange in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec continues, the time left for my Canadian phase is quickly disappearing. Preparations have already begun for Bénin, and our volunteer projects are coming to an end.</div> <p>Recently we hosted our educational activity day. Each counterpart team that is made up of one Canadian and one Béninois will host a full day that covers a specific theme and present information to the group while developing the topic. My team’s focus was on the economy, and we specified our subject on food economy. The activity that launched our theme was based on product research at a local grocery store. We had the group take an hour to research products and find out more information on their origin, whether the store carried local products or products of Bénin, and note where the products were made or fabricated.</p> <p>The results made for some interesting debate. There was not one product that was marked ‘Made in Bénin’ and we were hard-pressed to find local products, although some could be made locally, but were marked ‘Made in Montréal.’ We discussed the effects of food transportation and outlined its relation to the environment. The group talked about food security and the need for more locally grown and fabricated products both in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and across Canada.</p> <p>The educational activity days are just one facet of our exchange, while we spend the majority of our time working on our volunteer project.</p> <p>Since the beginning of August there have been two of us, one Canadian and one Béninois, working on our volunteer project known as “Coupez le Moteur” (Cut the Motor).</p> <p>The objective of the program is to create a platform for an idle-free community. Through the development of educational programs that outline the effects of an idling car and its relation to greenhouse gas emissions, the program will reduce wasted idling hours while decreasing the environmental footprint of the municipality. Education is a key component, as there are many myths linked to idling, especially during the cold winter months in Québec.</p> <p>Idling wastes money and fuel and contributes to climate change. If a vehicle is going to be parked for more than 60 seconds, the engine should be turned off as long as the driver is not in traffic. Even during the cold days of winter, a vehicle can be warmed up by driving rather than idling, and during the coldest of days, only two to three minutes of idling is necessary. The program will be implemented by autumn 2010 along with a new municipal bylaw and promotional campaign.</p> <p>Remember that there are many youth opportunities available and we should encourage this involvement through the communication of these experiences.</p> <p>Youth from around the Sunshine Coast should participate in programs such as CWY, Rotary International Youth Exchange and Katimavik — programs that develop an appreciation of culture, language, community development and volunteering, and essentially an understanding of differences. As a community, we can only grow together by supporting our youth through these experiential educative programs as we bring our understanding and knowledge directly back to the Sunshine Coast.</p> <p>For more information on my exchange and CWY experience, you can follow me at http://www.nestman.ca.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); line-height: 18px;font-family:'Trebuchet MS';font-size:small;">© 2009 blog.KaiNestman.ca</span></p>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-24307310313347581212009-10-04T13:28:00.004-04:002009-10-04T13:32:55.418-04:00Nuit des Sans Abris-Valleyfield-de-Salaberry 2009<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(176, 176, 176); line-height: 19px; font-family:Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><h2 id="post-118" face="'Palatino Linotype', serif" size="1.7em" style="text-align: center; line-height: 1.2; text-decoration: none; margin-top: 30px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="http://www.nuitdessansabri.ca/fr/index.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Nuit des Sans Abris-Valleyfield-de-Salaberry 2009 ($-Gratuit)" style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Nuit des Sans Abris-Valleyfield-de-Salaberry 2009 ($-Gratuit)</span></a></h2><div class="entrytext"><div class="snap_preview"><p style="text-align: center; "><img class="size-medium wp-image-119 aligncenter" title="homeless" src="http://porcuswallabee.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/asdf.jpg?w=300&h=196" alt="homeless" width="300" height="196" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-right-color: black; border-bottom-color: black; border-left-color: black; " /></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Le soir de Octobre le 16 (2009) </span><a href="http://www.nuitdessansabri.ca/fr/index.html" style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">La Nuit des Sans Abri</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"> se tiendra au</span><a href="http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?hl=fr&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=109961842118295605826.000474e5478170b7a1302&ll=45.25474,-74.128318&spn=0.013806,0.027595&t=h&z=15" style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">parc Salaberry</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">. Tout le monde et bienvenue de tous les âges.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Il y aura des feux pour tenir tout le monde au chaud. Il y aura aussi des chansons, des présentation et discussions. Des bénévoles distribuera des vêtements d’hiver pour ceux qui sont moins fortunés.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Le groupe de </span><a href="http://cwyjcm.org/" style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Jeunesse Canada Monde</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"> vont être présente et favorable. On va aidé avec plusieurs aspect diffèrent de la nuit.<br />Le point culminant étant un spectacle.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Si vous besoin plus d`information SVP appeler (450) 373-1333</span></p><p><br /></p></div></div></span>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-89891299367309789052009-09-25T10:19:00.003-04:002009-09-25T10:22:44.647-04:00Environmental theme takes centre stage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrzR2MtyjmI/AAAAAAAAAno/c2w0SOJWcWQ/s1600-h/kaifamilytimothee.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 297px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrzR2MtyjmI/AAAAAAAAAno/c2w0SOJWcWQ/s400/kaifamilytimothee.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385409983484694114" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">KAI NESTMAN/SPECIAL TO COAST REPORTER</div><div>SEPTEMBER 25, 2009</div><div><br /></div><div>Sechelt – Through my Canada World Youth (CWY) exchange, our environmental theme has taken centre stage as we live our lives in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Qué.</div><div><br /></div><div>As each day goes on during our volunteer projects, our experience is constantly demanding more and more as we strive to live as eco-friendly citizens.</div><div><br /></div><div>Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is an environmentally-conscious municipality. It has taken on new initiatives to create an eco-friendly community through education and the development of programs to make it easy for the average citizen to participate and make their positive mark on the environment.</div><div><br /></div><div>One program that especially makes its impact on the ground is the Escouade Verte also known as the Green Squad. It is set up through returning university students during the summer months and provides employment opportunities for youth. The Green Squad’s mission is to educate residents on recycling, pesticide use, composting, and water preservation. The group takes appointments with interested citizens wanting to know how they can implement best practices in their home and garden. There is also another team that does education throughout the community, while holding presentations at festivals and education at the elementary school level. These types of programs are the most practical as it starts with education at the most basic level and allows access to resources for residents.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can make a difference one step at a time as we strive to incorporate smart environmental thinking into our daily lives. Timothée, my counterpart from Bénin, was the first to point out to our host family that they needed a compost for organic waste. We would notice each night while preparing dinner how much organic waste was thrown out into the garbage and headed straight to the local waste management site. Our host family has now pledged to have a compost by the time we finish our Canadian stage of the program. It’s just a simple move in the right direction and one that most host families have now made since their involvement with CWY.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also encouraged our host family to install bottles of water into the reservoir of their over-consuming toilets to displace water usage. Old toilets can flush as much as 20 litres of fresh water down the drain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Communities on the Sunshine Coast need to take a step further and embrace the environment throughout our daily lives. There needs to be a growing involvement with the municipalities to create the link between local government and residents as we develop high tier environmental programs that work best for the Coast. Let us work together to implement a higher standard of environmental awareness within our neighbourhood.</div><div><br /></div><div>For more information on my exchange follow me at http://www.nestman.ca.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: small; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); line-height: 18px; ">© 2009 blog.KaiNestman.ca</span></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-796494769386140092009-09-23T21:16:00.008-04:002009-09-23T21:39:16.036-04:00Journée d'activité éducative - Économie Alimentaire<div style="text-align: left;">We held our Journée d'activité éducative - Économie Alimentaire (Educational Activity Day - Food Economy). Timothée and I presented various ideas that sparked long debates among the group as we strived to reach solutions and answers to out theme. Check out some examples of our slides below.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrJuJf810I/AAAAAAAAAmo/BfFhGINdjzA/s400/Slide1.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838099135944514" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrJulA2pwI/AAAAAAAAAmw/F9ADz8aVoPU/s400/Slide3.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838106521708290" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrJuy_vzWI/AAAAAAAAAm4/gTBTatvppoM/s400/Slide4.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838110275161442" /><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrJvfG9YEI/AAAAAAAAAnA/Hq1VXpQdcbw/s400/Slide6.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838122116571202" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrJv81M24I/AAAAAAAAAnI/LUudooJSIVI/s400/Slide8.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838130095152002" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrKC93flGI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/l6QzSqByhf4/s400/Slide9.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838456790717538" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrKDe21uKI/AAAAAAAAAnY/mc-CD2wKmmU/s400/Slide11.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838465646344354" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SrrKDg_rYSI/AAAAAAAAAng/qOYaMT7zRVU/s400/Slide12.GIF" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384838466220286242" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#551A8B;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#551A8B;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span></span></span><br /></span></span></div></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-31154077901986482732009-09-13T19:45:00.005-04:002009-09-13T19:55:38.108-04:00Coupez le Moteur<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/Sq2GQAdAxtI/AAAAAAAAAmA/gRDpu6ZARWk/s320/car_e.gif" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 271px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381104739335325394" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div><div>Get some research of your own going for my volunteer project in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec! Check out these websites to learn more about an idle free project and <i>Coupez le Moteur:</i></div><div><i><br /></i><div><a href="http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/programmes/coupez-le-moteur/index.htm">http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/programmes/coupez-le-moteur/index.htm</a></div><div><a href="http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/idling/idling.cfm">http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/idling/idling.cfm</a></div><div><a href="http://www.idlefreebc.ca/">http://www.idlefreebc.ca/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/Sq2GP_OyQ7I/AAAAAAAAAl4/OYWA-KeFKXc/s320/coupezlemoteur.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381104739007218610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 160px; " /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-3252841073355084172009-08-24T00:04:00.003-04:002009-08-24T00:10:34.089-04:00A whirlwind first few weeks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SpISD8DHjOI/AAAAAAAAAlw/tNS_NYrOncA/s1600-h/IMG_6049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SpISD8DHjOI/AAAAAAAAAlw/tNS_NYrOncA/s320/IMG_6049.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373377164274535650" /></a><br /><div>Sechelt – The past three weeks and the beginning of my experience with Canada World Youth (CWY) have been busy — from Montréal to Val-David to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.</div><div><br /></div><div>Through various orientations and welcoming events, we’ve been able to get to know each other, our host families and our host community.</div><div><br /></div><div>Starting off in Montréal at the end of July, I met up with some volunteers who arrived early. We headed to the airport to welcome the other Canadians flying in from all over the country, and once all together, we waited for the Béninois to clear customs. With a grand welcome, we were off and ready to share the next six months together, focusing on our CWY exchange — based on the environment.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had five days of orientation in the town of Val-David along with another team that is stationed in Québec and exchanging with Bénin. Through various cultural exercises, group building activities and reflection on the upcoming adventure, we ended with an activity to pair the Canadians with a counterpart from Bénin.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each participant received two pieces of paper, one on which we wrote what we could give to our counterpart and on the other, our needs. We placed what we could give on our chest and our needs on our back and went around discovering what everyone was looking for in a counterpart. In the end we made our top three choices and it was narrowed down from there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Timothée, my counterpart, is 27 and from a small town in Bénin called Djougou. He has completed his undergraduate degree in land management.</div><div><br /></div><div>Counterparts are paired together for the duration of the exchange and share host families both in Canada and abroad.</div><div><br /></div><div>With our arrival in Salaberry-de-Valley-field we were greeted by all of the host families and given a key to find our selected family who was holding our bike lock. It was interesting walking around the circle, speaking to all the families and not knowing which lock our key would open.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our host father works for the Ministry of Transportation for Québec and our host mom is a French teacher. We also have two host brothers aged 15 and 18 and a host sister who 19 years old.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had a second orientation specific to our group and host community and were paired with a different partner for our volunteer project; the group had to come to a consensus with each project.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our team of 18 is dispersed around the city, working on projects such as energy efficiency, ragweed control, an environmental education group, river research and history and my project — the creation of an idle-free community that is conscious of vehicle emissions and driving habits.</div><div><br /></div><div>Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is a busy community during the summer months with boating and water sport traffic surrounding the island. Using the old canal, boaters can access the city centre and walk along boardwalks, through parks and stroll the main street.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the coming weeks, we will develop our knowledge and involvement within our specific volunteer project as the experience grows and as my French becomes stronger.</div><div><br /></div><div>For more information on my exchange and CWY experience, you can follow me at <a href="http://www.nestman.ca/">http://www.nestman.ca</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#999999;">© 2009 blog.KaiNestman.ca</span></span></div><div><br /></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-91031454932087815882009-08-12T00:29:00.004-04:002009-08-12T00:35:51.283-04:00Salaberry-de-Valleyfield - Our Team<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFnA0yIMI/AAAAAAAAAhc/UKfyVXDU67g/s1600-h/IMG_6661+resize.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFnA0yIMI/AAAAAAAAAhc/UKfyVXDU67g/s400/IMG_6661+resize.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368930242317656258" /><br /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFnA0yIMI/AAAAAAAAAhc/UKfyVXDU67g/s1600-h/IMG_6661+resize.JPG"><br /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#551A8B;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFm09ms_I/AAAAAAAAAhU/Lq-M3_Tupjs/s1600-h/IMG_6486+resize.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFm09ms_I/AAAAAAAAAhU/Lq-M3_Tupjs/s400/IMG_6486+resize.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368930239133430770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFmVx8cVI/AAAAAAAAAhM/xIPMr3ecAa0/s1600-h/IMG_6704+resize.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fJeuDcRD34I/SoJFmVx8cVI/AAAAAAAAAhM/xIPMr3ecAa0/s400/IMG_6704+resize.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368930230763024722" /></a></div></div>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119033401744326208.post-37978263273916008292009-08-01T01:35:00.004-04:002009-08-01T01:39:19.759-04:00Jeunesse Canada Monde - Beginnings<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;"><p style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;font-size:0.8em;"><span class="location"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Sechelt – </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">After growing up on the Sunshine Coast, I attended the University of Ottawa for two years before taking the past year to develop my French while working in France and travelling around Europe.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Last autumn I applied through Canada World Youth (CWY) for their ‘Youth Leaders in Action’ exchange and was accepted for a Québec/Bénin team.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">CWY has been developing international programs for youth ages 15 to 25 since 1971. Participants are involved in a six-month, two-phase program where the first phase occurs in Canada and the second phase in an exchange country. Each team of 20 volunteers are selected individually based on multiple demographic and socio-economic factors. The team is meant to represent a diverse group of youth, half from Canada and the other half from the exchange country.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">CWY programs are based on a unique model that involves the two-part exchange, advocating an experiential-based learning environment while being paired with an exchange counterpart for the full duration of the experience. Youth develop through their involvement in grass-roots volunteer programs in host communities and work on group dynamics, leadership, and personal development. Each team has a focus while participating in their exchange and our team’s focus is the environment.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is a major partner with CWY and funds exchanges throughout the world.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">My first exchange phase of three months takes place in Valleyfield, Québec and began on July 30. Located just 50 minutes from Montréal on the island of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield with the Saint Lawrence River to the south and Lac Saint-Louis to the north, Valleyfield has a population of around 40,000 people.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The second phase of the exchange will begin at the end of October in Allada, Bénin — a country situated on the West Coast of Africa and bordered by Nigeria, Niger, Togo, and Burkina Faso.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Bénin, commonly known as Dahomey before 1975, has a population of roughly nine million people and is about nine times smaller than B.C.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Through the partnership and generous support of the Rotary Clubs of Sechelt, Sunshine Coast, and Squamish, and the Lions Club of the Sunshine Coast, I will be able to participate in this upcoming experience.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Youth in our community need to take advantage of the numerous opportunities both within Canada and abroad while they have the time to participate and get involved. We must communicate these experiences in order to encourage more youth participation and to take advantage of the valuable education through different cultures and the world around us.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Communities on the Sunshine Coast, such as Sechelt and Powell River have hosted exchange teams in the past and this year Sechelt will host a new team.</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">For more information on my exchange and Canada World Youth experience you can follow me at </span></span><a href="http://www.nestman.ca/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(11, 155, 186); text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">www.nestman.ca</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">.</span></span></p></span>Kai Nestmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07205184092412263594noreply@blogger.com1