MY Circle GETOUT! Youth Action Team
A MY Circle meeting can get pretty hectic. At any given time, you might hear ten conversations in as many different languages… and some youth might even be part of two or three at the same time! They do know how to have fun, but actually MY Circle youth are most often very focused and dedicated to their goal of making a difference in their communities.
The Multicultural Youth Circle Action Team (MY Circle YAT) is a youth-driven initiative that brings together alumni from the Immigrant Service Society’s MY Circle training program. My Circle YAT youth are interested in promoting the rights of immigrant and refugee youth by creating a stronger voice for them in society, educating other youth about the issues newcomer youth face and capitalizing on their talents and strengths in order to find ways of engaging in their communities.
The Action Team holds weekly meetings to allow alumni to continually develop their own ‘peer support group’, practice facilitation skills and work on upcoming projects. They have designed, planned and led a multicultural youth soccer group that successfully reached out to new immigrant youth in Vancouver. By tapping in on the cross-cultural popularity of soccer, the program helped new comers feel more integrated into the community and linked them with other settlement services. Every week the youth organizers are excited to see new faces in what seems more like a World Cup than a match in a local community centre. Cheers are heard in many languages from participating youth from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mexico, Iran, Venezuela, Eritrea, India, Russia, Colombia and many more.
In the beginning, the Action Team started with GetOut! programming several initiatives to outreach and connect newcomer youth to Vancouver. One example is their Multicultural Outdoor Buddy Program that invited newcomer youth who were feeling isolated to get out and take advantage of the many outdoor recreation opportunities in Vancouver. Youth who have recently immigrated to Vancouver often lack the knowledge and money for getting active, connecting with the community and enjoying the parks, mountains, beaches and cool places that this city offers. The program brought recently immigrated youth together with a group of youth who have lived in Canada for a longer time and know how to get around. Some of the activities included ultimate Frisbee, beach volleyball, hiking, snowshoeing and soccer.
[top]