Youth Challenge International

NEWS - FULL STORY

June 26, 2008- Letter from a YCI Alumnus

My name is Cynthia Thomson, I was a participant on the V6-6A project in Vanuatu and was also at the Youth Open House at the World Bank in Washington DC with YCI's Interim Executive Director, Erin Nesbitt, in 2007. I have been meaning to write this letter for a while but when I saw the article by Jess,YCI's Office Manager, (Jess was in the same group as me!) in the E-news today I thought I better write this before I start procrastinating again.

We, as Canadians, are rarely exposed to the Pacific region and its socio-economic situation and thus often forget that many Pacific nations still rely heavily on international aid. Once you travel to places as special as Vanuatu the experience is not easily forgotten. The lasting impact is further solidified when one partakes in a unique program such as YCI. The people you meet and the experiences lived stay with you forever.

YCI seems to be one of the only programs that continue to send Canadian volunteers to Vanuatu, giving youth an extraordinary opportunity to experience the islands. To my knowledge there is no threat to the Vanuatu program at YCI but as one of the only organizations sending Canadians to Vanuatu, I wanted to highlight how important I think it is that YCI keep the Vanuatu program going as strong as possible. I realize that YCI's ties to Youth Challenge Australia make this program possible, however without the participation of Canadians in the Vanuatu program the experience would not be the same. The dynamics of Australian, Ni-Van and Canadian youth working together is what makes the Vanuatu program so special.

Having recently started working at an NGO (The Canadian Environmental Network) that faced a funding crisis last year I understand how difficult it can be to secure funding and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to secure funding for a project occurring so far beyond Canadian borders. I can only hope CIDA recognizes the importance of such a program for Canadian Youth. Congratulations to YCI for keeping the Vanuatu project going strong while other organizations are forced to concentrate their efforts on other regions of the world.

-Cynthia Thomson, V6-6A Alumnus