Canada Indonesia and Truro CWY

I live in a magical house on a hilltop in Princeport, Nova Scotia. This is the first time I've ever lived with 14 other people, seven of whom are children. This is the first time I've ever tasted fresh cows milk, the first time I've ever lived anywhere where I could look out my bedroom window and not see another house.

You see, I was born and raised in downtown Toronto, so having people say hello to me in the cafe on a daily basis, stopping for me to jay-walk and commenting on my funny fur trader's hat, are things that would usually strike me as odd, but here, they are all part of one's daily routine.

I've been living here for the past eight weeks as a participant of the international volunteer program, Canada World Youth. I'm not the only participant who lives here, in fact, there are four of us living in the same house: Graham from Victoria, B.C., and Azwan and Indra who hail from Indonesia. In total, there are 16 participants all scattered around living with different host families in the Truro area. Each Canadian is paired with an Indonesian counterpart.

During the average week, we spent our time volunteering in Truro, some of us were stationed at the food bank, the library, Maggie's Place, the Nova Scotia Agriculture College, the Cobequid Parent and Youth Resource Centre, the Colchester Community Workshop, the Jane Norman Centre for Child Studies, the Friendship Club, the Wynn Park Villa, and the Colchester Adult Learning Association. In these capacities we made friends that we never would have imagined. People opened their hearts- lent us their space, gave us their time and invited us into their homes for dinner. And in turn, we laughed, we cried, we debated, we learned, we made mistakes, and for some, experienced snow and ice skating for the very first time.

In a few days we will be leaving for a tiny island off of the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. We've been told the water is black, that we'll have to travel by boat for five hours through a swamp, that by 7 a.m. we'll have sweat stains down the sides of our shirts. No doubt there will be new challenges and adjustments that will have to be made, but just as I made my own transition from big city life to rural life, from a family of five to a family of 15, I know that the roots will grow just as they have here. And that it is thanks to this town and its people that I've been capable of doing that and know that I'll be able to do it again in Indonesia.  

Otiena Ellwand,

Canada World Youth Participant

Truro, Canada/Indonesia Exchange

 

The Canada World Youth have set up a link for us to follow their experience in Indonesia.

http://cwyindocan.wordpress.com/