Beyond the Classroom

Read about our week in Ouje Bougoumou, Quebec

A week of hosting the Ouje Bougoumou youth in Toronto

Day 1 – An Awaited Reunion

The second part of our Youth Exchange Canada adventure involved the group from Ouje Bougomou Quebec, visiting us here in Toronto.  Our focus changing from being guests to becoming hosts.  Although we did not have a long and arduous trip ahead of us this time, there was still some waiting around and killing time to be done. Our guests had a journey two hours longer than ours, and so we had to wait an extra two hours longer than we expected. Alas, at about 9:30 in the evening, the 56 seat Coach Canada bus turned onto Breadalbane and came to a halt in front of our school.  Being the energetic bunch we remembered in Ouje, our 8 student guests and 2 adult chaperones filed out of the bus, bags and pillows in hand.

After quick hellos and other small talk, we showed our guests into our school and congregated in the cafeteria. We shared food, drink, a tour of the school, and introductions to Academy hosting families.   Our guests and their host families went home to get acquainted and rested as the next day would prove to be a tiring one.

Day 2 – All Aboard!

Day two had us heading towards Evergreen Brickworks for a session of planting.  While in Ouje, our community service component had us helping out at a dog and cat spaying and neutering clinic.  Our community service theme in Toronto was environmental stewardship, and what better way to be friendly towards our environment than to plant some greenery?  When we finished planting over 200 plants, we had a quick bite to eat and then proceeded to the second part of our day, a TTC scavenger hunt which was organized and run by our very own volunteer/teacher candidate extraordinaire Todd.

The purpose of the scavenger hunt was to get our guests knowledgeable and informed about the city’s main transit system that they would be utilizing during their stay.  Knowledge and information aside, the scavenger hunt was a huge, fun filled success, with two teams finishing in a tie for most items found (although if one were to be a bit more pedantic we know which team truly won).  Upon all groups finishing the hunt, the exchange group made their way to the Acker residence where they dined on delicious chili, salad, and the always crowd pleasing garlic bread.  With our bellies full and our feet exhausted from an afternoon of planting and scavenging, day two came to an end and we all departed for home in order to rest up for day three.

Day 3 – Of Worms, Dinosaurs and Bandits (Baseball?)

Our third day started off with an option; more digging and planting or the exciting world of worms.  While half the group worked on greening the daycare play area by turning soil and planting various plants, the other half learned about the fascinating world of vermi composting.  When you read the words exciting and fascinating preceding words like worms and composting you may think them to be contradictory.  Let me clearly state, however, that learning about worms and the role they play in composting was quite literally both interesting and fun.  Our workshop leader, the energetic and vibrant Queen of the worms Cathy Nesbitt, owner of Cathy’s Crawlers made something as mundane sounding as vermi composting a delightful and intriguing experience.

Hands washed and lunches eaten, we walked over to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).  While at the ROM we saw dinosaurs, swords, armour, and many an ancient artefact.  Upon returning to the school we had a wonderful pizza dinner followed by an hour of down time in order to recharge for our evening event, a Jays Game.  This was not going to be any ordinary game; for it was promised by a certain staff member who shall remain unnamed that he could get the group on the Jumbotron.  Suffice it to say, the unnamed staff member delivered on his promise (as he always does) and the group got on the Jumbotron because out in front of the group was a 25 foot sign that read Bautista’s Bandits (us being his bandits – with bandanas at our necks and all).  As if motivated by our sign, the Jays slugger, Jose Bautista hit a home run, sending the stadium into frenzy.

The game ended up being an extraordinary one.  From losing by 5 runs, going ahead by 1 run, the game was back and forth, filled with excitement. Then came the top of 9th and final inning, where our opponents tied the game up.  In the bottom of the 9th inning, up came lucky number 13, Bret Lawrie.  With the swing of his bat, Lawrie hit a walk off home run, winning the game for the Jays. There was so much excitement and drama that you would have thought that it was a scene from a baseball movie scripted by a Hollywood screen writer.

Day 4 – A Market, A Doc and a Tower

After a busy and exciting day 3, day 4 was not going to be any less exciting.  We started the day off with a walking tour through the U of T campus, stopping along the way to admire the library shaped like a peacock known as Robarts.  Continuing on, we trekked through the famous Kensington Market, and ended up at Rol San in Chinatown for a Chinese lunch buffet.  Upon stuffing our faces with delicious servings of Chinese food staples such as sweet and sour pork and chicken fried rice, we started making our way over to the Bloor Cinema to watch “We Are Legion,” at the Hot Docs festival.  In short, the documentary resonated with our digital generation students.

From there we rushed down to what was once the tallest free standing structure in the world and now the second largest, the CN Tower.  After passing all of our security screenings inside the bomb residue detector we made our way up to the observation deck to take in the spectacular view of our city.  As always, the fun yet nerve racking glass floor was a favourite and a great place for funky photo ops.  Hungry from a full days worth of activities we made our way back to the Academy where we had a delicious Italian, home style pasta, salad and garlic bread feast waiting for us courtesy of the Anderson family.  Fed and ready for more, our last event of day 4 was heading to the Eaton Centre for some shopping.

Day 5 – Shopping, Falling Water and Bumper Cars

The morning of day 5 was used to allow our guests to do whatever shopping they had left because the rest of the day we would be out of town and in the honeymoon capitol of the world, Niagara Falls.  Our first stop in Niagara Falls was at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory.  The place was unreal, somewhat of a scene out of Avatar with hundreds, if not thousands of colourful butterflies flying from flower to flower and sometimes even landing on a hand or shoulder of a lucky passer by.

When we had finished marvelling at the beautiful butterflies, we headed to our second and final stop, the Maid of the Mist boat tour.  It was an incredible experience being able to get right beside the amazing Horseshoe Falls.  It is one thing to see the Falls from up above, but quite another to see it from such a close and amazing vantage point.  Our excitement still high, we headed back to the Dimech home for delicious and mouth watering pulled pork sandwiches, pizzas and a whole bunch of tasty treats.  After dinner we headed to a place called the E-Zone where we played a hybrid bumper car/basketball game called Whirelyball.  Under thunder and rain, we made our way back to the bus in order to go home and rest up for day 6.

Day 6 – A Feast, a Cabin and Meatloaf from the Gods

Our last day with our guests from Ouje was spent in the same place it started; at Evergreen Brickworks.  We arrived first thing in the morning in order to prepare a humongous “goodbye” feast.  From boiling pasta to cutting up vegetables, everyone was doing something to help with the meal.  The whole thing was planned and organized by the students in Kaili’s Managing Personal and Family Resources class. Once the meal was ready, we all sat down together and enjoyed the fruits of our labour.

With the kitchen clean and our hungers satiated, we headed back to school for the afternoon portion of our last full day together which consisted of either a matinee movie (Cabin in the Woods) or a tour of China Town.

Our last event was dinner at the Goodman house where we were treated to an incredible amount of delicious food, most notably meatloaf so delicious it made you want to cry from the joy it gave your taste buds.  Everyone ate and socialized throughout the evening trying to forget what the next day would bring.

Day 7 – All Good Things

The 2 weeks we got to spend with our group from Ouje was unforgettable and an experience that truly will be once in a lifetime.  We got a chance to see how fellow Canadians from another part of Canada live and we got a chance to show them how we live.  Over the 2 week period we participated in exchange activities, both in Ouje and Toronto we forged friendships and memories that we will all cherish for a lifetime.  Unfortunately, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end; and at 5:50am on Saturday May 5, our friends from Ouje headed back home, bringing a close to our Youth Exchange Canada adventures.  We hope and trust, however, that with all the social media outlets available to everyone, we will be able to stay in touch with our friends from Ouje and keep the experience and friendships ongoing.

Check out the rest of the photos from our trip on our Facebook page! Gallery One | Gallery Two | Gallery Three | Gallery Four

Read about our week in Ouje Bougoumou, Quebec

Forward

The Youth Exchange Canada program is a Government of Canada initiative that helps Canadian youth connect with one another, experience the diversity of Canada’s communities, languages and cultures, and get involved in the future of the country. Groups from across the country are paired according to the age and interest of their members. After several weeks of planning, research, fundraising and anticipation, matched participants exchange with their partner from another part of Canada.

We would like to extend our appreciation and gratefulness to everyone who helped make this experience the amazing adventure it turned out to be while we where on our trip, and the amazing experience it’s going to be when it’s our turn to host.  From the Youth Exchange Canada program to our staff, students, families and the YMCA community at large who helped out with our silent auction fundraiser, everyone played an important role in making this experience the success that it was.

Visit the YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada Program Website

Day 1 – The Long Awaited Journey

The first day of our journey to the Cree reserve in Ouje [oh-jay] Bougoumou, Quebec was an endurance test.  With an anticipated bus ride of 15-16 hours ahead of us, most travellers came prepared. Most came ready with electronics and other means of entertainment to maintain sanity on such a long travel.  The most popular choice for killing time on the trip, however, was the age old classic sleep depravation which allows one to sleep as long as possible on route.  Bags packed and everyone on board, the buses wheels rolled down Breadalbane Street at 6:30 am.

Three meals, two pit stops, and fourteen and a half hours later, we arrived at our long awaited destination…or so we thought.  Our arrival at Ouje was under cover of darkness, which caused difficulty finding the lodge we were going to be staying at.  Luckily, the small size of the community and the large size of our coach bus allowed the local police patrol car on duty to quickly spot us and escort us to our lodge.  Suffice it to say, after such a long voyage, not much more happened.  Once we got to our lodge (where we were greeted by the lodge dog “Spot”), we checked into our respective rooms and called it a night.

Day 2 – Two Worlds Collide

Our second day of the exchange and our first full day in Ouje began with breakfast at the lodge diner.  Shortly after breakfast came the proverbial moment of truth when we finally got to meet our hosts in person. We had been matched with the Ouje students what seemed many moons ago, way back on October. We had many email, Facebook and phone exchanges, but this would be our first face-to-face connect.  The first encounter was short, quiet and as would be expected with two groups of teenagers from different cultures, a bit awkward.  After the steadfast introductions we proceeded walking over to the Petaapin Youth Center where we played ice breaker games to get everyone a bit more comfortable with one another. Following our ice breaker session we shared a meal of delicious cold cut and egg salad sandwiches for lunch.

Wachiya.  This is the first Cree word we learned during our afternoon Cree language activity.  Symbolically enough, wachiya is the Cree word for welcome.  After learning about common words in Cree and the Cree alphabet, we all learned to write our names in Cree which was both fun and interesting.  The rest of the day had our students wandering around town with the local youth, getting to know the town as well each other a bit better.  We finished off the second day of our adventure with a movie night in the lodge’s common room.

Day 3 –Dogs and History and Rain Oh My!

The first activity on our agenda for day 3 was not only rewarding, but cute and adorable as well.  Once a year in Ouje, there is a free, 2 day spaying and neutering clinic for all local cats and dogs.  An interesting thing to note about Ouje is that most of the pet animals live outside, and so, any strays are rounded up by the local fire department and brought over to the clinic to be spayed, neutered or simply given their yearly vaccination shots. Our morning at the spaying and neutering clinic was part of the volunteer/community work all Youth Exchange Canada participants must do.  During our visit to the clinic our students helped with filling of syringes, washing of surgical equipment, and caring for dogs coming out of anaesthesia. All in all it was a great experience for our students, although probably not so much for the dogs and cats.

Afternoon brought a hearty lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches with ketchup and a delicious soup, in Ouje’s brand new cultural center.  Warm soup was much appreciated after our walk over in the cold and icy rain.  With our stomachs full, we went on a tour of the center which culminated in a museum that hosted an exhibit of both modern and traditional Cree relics.  The evening program had us visit Ouje’s fitness center which houses a swimming pool, hockey rink and fitness gym.

Day 4 – A Day in the Bush

Our fourth day promised to be the most interesting because after breakfast we were scheduled to trek to a place called kilometre 2, which was stated on our itinerary simply as “the bush”.  The bush signifies the traditional Cree way of life which embodies living in the wilderness and living off the land, just as their ancestors once did.  Many Cree elders still live in the bush for most of the year; some so far in that you can only reach their camps via snowmobiling and/or portaging.  So you can imagine how exciting it was for us to learn that we would be spending an entire day and night in the bush, sleeping in outdoor tents in sub-zero temperatures.  When we finally arrived at kilometre 2 we were greeted by Jumshum (grandfather) and Goukum (grandmother).

Jumshum and Goukum live in the bush for most of the year and are grandparents to 36 grandchildren, several of which were part of the exchange group from Ouje.  The things we observed and learned while in the bush were truly amazing and incredibly interesting.  For those interested, Jumshum took us to set Beaver, Rabbit and Lynx traps.  Those not interested in trapping stayed back and helped Goukum make lunch (moose stew).  After lunch we went into the largest Cree community in the James Bay region called Mistissiny.

Upon completion of our community tour and dinner, we made our way back to kilometre 2 and began preparations for our overnight sleepover.  Aside from two or three of us who had camping experience, for the majority of our students this was the first time sleeping in a tent, let alone in freezing weather.  Inside each tent was a wood burning stove that kept those of us on fire duty up most of the night.  This is because the stove had to be re-fuelled every 2 hours; otherwise the toasty tent quickly cooled leaving us to a long, dark and cold night.   It goes without saying, however, that the view of the stars in the night sky was too beautiful for words to describe.

Day 5 – A Council of Youth and Beating Hearts

Day five had us waking up right where day 4 ended, in the bush.  After breakfast, Jumshum took us to go see if the animal traps we set the day before had caught anything (they hadn’t) and upon arrival back at camp, we got to see Goukum skin a beaver as well show us the traditional ways of caring for a baby while out in the bush.  For lunch we helped goukum make donuts and ate them alongside a delicious Shepherd’s Pie.  When lunch was over, we expressed our thanks and gratitude to both Jumshum and Goukum for their hospitality and headed back to Ouje.  Once back in Ouje and after an hour to settle back in, we headed to Ouje’s school’s gymnasium where students got to throw around footballs, shoot basketballs as well as some other crazy and rambunctious activities.  To finish off the day, we watched an evening movie at the Petaapin Youth Center.

Day 6 – Of Pizzas and Pins

Our last day in Ouje began with a cultural community hike.  During our hike we got to see a meat smoking tent, a bear cooking fire, not to mention beautiful natural scenery.  Our community hike really worked up our appetites and upon our return to the Petaapin Youth Center we made our very own Indian tacos.  An Indian taco is all the same ingredients as a conventional taco; however, it is put together a bit differently.  At the base is a soft, thick piece of fried dough.  The ingredients are then placed on top of the piece of dough as your taste buds desire.  Our last evening in Ouje was spent going to Chibougamau, the nearest town to Ouje where all large scale shopping and purchasing is done.  While in Chibougamau, we had scrumptious thick crusted Quebecois pizzas and then headed out for a night of bowling.

When all the pins that could be knocked down had been knocked down, we head back to Ouje for the last time in order to pack up our belongings and clean up our rooms for our early departure the next morning.

Day 7 – The Journey Home

The last day of our trip was fairly similar to our first.  We had an early wake up for an early departure.  Our trip was once again long and full of sleepy students and staff.  This time, however, the excitement was not for a place and experience unknown, but instead, for a place known and dear to all, home.

Check out the rest of the photos from our trip on our Facebook page! Gallery One | Gallery Two | Gallery Three | Gallery Four

In less than three weeks (from April 29 to May5) the YMCA Academy will be hosting 12 Youth Exchange Canada guests from Ouje-Bougoumou, Quebec. Last Thursday, to fund our hosting activities,  we held a silent auction.  The ten and a half hour silent auction showcased a plethora of  items all donated by our students’ families, staff, and the YMCA community at large.  From printers, jackets,  jewellery, to vases, kitchen appliances and even a waffle maker, our auction had it all.

After bids, counter bids, and last minute buys the day long auction was able to raise $1,936 for our hosting activities.

We are grateful to all those who donated, gave their time, and supported our endeavor. Thank you!