We ended 2014 reeling from the allegations of violent sexual assaults and drugging victims against Jian Gomeshi and Bill Cosby, sexual improprieties on Parliament Hill and sexually violent threats by Dalhousie University dental students. We had a break over the...
The question is - how do we talk about the prevalence of violence against women in our communities without blaming and shaming the boys and young men in the room? Just the other day I was approached by a member of our community who felt strongly that boys are being...
"Fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities....
“Maybe our future can be found in the past’s moments of kindness and courage rather than its centuries of warfare.” – Howard Zinn Most history books are written by the winners, but this book presents history from a different point of view. The history of the...
It is hard not to feel that the world has gone mad when the daily news this week is full of sadness and outrage over the senseless killing of almost 300 passengers on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. Flip channels and you will hear that the Israelis and Palestinians...
The days when etiquette encompassed topics such as who should open a door for who and how to set a table correctly, definitely predated the internet and social media. We live in a whole new world now where communication is instantaneous and anonymous. When we...
With great sadness I write about the rape and murder of two girls in Northern India last week. Two cousins ages 14 and 15 went out to the fields in the night to relieve themselves because they have no toilet inside their house. They were brutally gang-raped by a group...
As Pass It On draws to a close for another year, I find myself in that same parallel of emotions I feel every year at this time. I am sad to part ways with the young women I've spent the past year with. Although we live in a small town and see each other often here...
Working as a mentor supervisor I enjoy a position with the unique perspective of 28 young women ranging in age from 13-18 years old. I see many sides of these young women as we grow to know each other. Where often their insecurity is what drives their...
A Salt Spring Island campaign taking place with the aim to address stereotypes and silence regarding crime and victims of crime in our community. SWOVA’s Salish Sea Girls’ Leadership Project secured the funding from the Federal Ministry of Justice to run the campaign...
A big Thank You to Island Savings employees on Salt Spring Island who donated to SWOVA's R+R program in 2013.
I grew up in rural Nova Scotia and last week was grateful and relieved to read that the Halifax Regional School Board voted to rename Cornwallis Junior High, a public school named after the city founder Edward Cornwallis who was a British military officer who founded...
A Salt Spring Island campaign taking place with the aim to address stereotypes and silence regarding crime and victims of crime in our community. SWOVA’s Salish Sea Girls’ Leadership Project secured the funding from the Federal Ministry of Justice to run the campaign...
A big Thank You to Island Savings employees on Salt Spring Island who donated to SWOVA's R+R program in 2013.
International Women’s Day March 8, 2014 For over one hundred years, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been a day of celebration and recognition to mark exceptional achievements of women and to build on inequities still to be addressed. This year SWOVA, IWAV, Victim...
Universal Children's Day is on November 20, 2013, a day to annually celebrate childhood worldwide. First proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day to initiate action to benefit and...
When I sit in circles with young people to talk about respect, healthy communication and relationships, I find it useful to have names and faces in my own mind and heart of what we’re talking about as it relates to real life couples rather than the Hollywood celebrity...
In one of our Grade 10 Respectful Relationships workshops this past week, we spoke with youth about our 5-month social justice youth facilitator training that we do on Monday evenings after school. Our R+R Youth Team co- facilitate sessions with the Adult Facilitators...
The eleven young women who make up the Youth Advisory Council for the Salish Sea Girls’ Leadership Project (SSGLP) will be joining the ranks of off island commuters over the next few weeks. In order to explore what their peers from Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna...
A clear vision, a number of passionate and engaged youth, inspiring performers, and many generous community donations, make up the Sparkfest recipe for success. The vision comes from Kate Maurice – Mentor/Supervisor of SWOVA’s Pass It On program - and from amazing...
I feel that the SWOVA youth team has impacted my life in such a dramatic way that it would be an injustice to fail to recognize it. As a graduating member of the Respectful Relationships Youth Team, I can say with confidence that the future is in good hands. Working...
In my life, the mentor's I've had have always been people I've recognized after the fact. I think it's rarer when we find ourselves in intentional mentoring. In either direction — to have the confidence to believe you could be a mentor to someone or conversely the...
Social and emotional learning are as important to our children as learning to read and write. They are skills for life that will support our children to become successful and caring adults. They are the skills that build community and our relationships with each...
SWOVA has always prided itself on the training it provides facilitators interested in delivering the Respectful Relationships (R+R) curriculum. Respectful Relationships (R+R) is a National and Provincial award winning schools-based primary violence prevention program...
As a contractor for SWOVA, I have very specific tasks laid out that involve project coordination. As the project coordinator for the Respectful Relationships (R+R) program, the Pass It On Program, and for the Online R+R Facilitator’s Training, I need to ensure all the...
The Pass It On female teen mentorship program has now completed its second year. This year there were 16 mentors and 16 buddies. The mentors met weekly with their mentor supervisor, Kate Maurice, for support and guidance. In addition, they met monthly as a group with...
Kate Maurice, the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On female teen mentorship program, held us intimately and passionately in a circle of gratitude during an evening of entertainment on Sunday April 29th at the Harbour House Hotel. The event was a fundraiser for the...
A Salt Spring Island campaign taking place with the aim to address stereotypes and silence regarding crime and victims of crime in our community. SWOVA’s Salish Sea Girls’ Leadership Project secured the funding from the Federal Ministry of Justice to run the campaign...
A big Thank You to Island Savings employees on Salt Spring Island who donated to SWOVA's R+R program in 2013.
International Women’s Day March 8, 2014 For over one hundred years, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been a day of celebration and recognition to mark exceptional achievements of women and to build on inequities still to be addressed. This year SWOVA, IWAV, Victim...
Universal Children's Day is on November 20, 2013, a day to annually celebrate childhood worldwide. First proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day to initiate action to benefit and...
When I sit in circles with young people to talk about respect, healthy communication and relationships, I find it useful to have names and faces in my own mind and heart of what we’re talking about as it relates to real life couples rather than the Hollywood celebrity...
In one of our Grade 10 Respectful Relationships workshops this past week, we spoke with youth about our 5-month social justice youth facilitator training that we do on Monday evenings after school. Our R+R Youth Team co- facilitate sessions with the Adult Facilitators...
The eleven young women who make up the Youth Advisory Council for the Salish Sea Girls’ Leadership Project (SSGLP) will be joining the ranks of off island commuters over the next few weeks. In order to explore what their peers from Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna...
A clear vision, a number of passionate and engaged youth, inspiring performers, and many generous community donations, make up the Sparkfest recipe for success. The vision comes from Kate Maurice – Mentor/Supervisor of SWOVA’s Pass It On program - and from amazing...
I feel that the SWOVA youth team has impacted my life in such a dramatic way that it would be an injustice to fail to recognize it. As a graduating member of the Respectful Relationships Youth Team, I can say with confidence that the future is in good hands. Working...
In my life, the mentor's I've had have always been people I've recognized after the fact. I think it's rarer when we find ourselves in intentional mentoring. In either direction — to have the confidence to believe you could be a mentor to someone or conversely the...
Social and emotional learning are as important to our children as learning to read and write. They are skills for life that will support our children to become successful and caring adults. They are the skills that build community and our relationships with each...
SWOVA has always prided itself on the training it provides facilitators interested in delivering the Respectful Relationships (R+R) curriculum. Respectful Relationships (R+R) is a National and Provincial award winning schools-based primary violence prevention program...
As a contractor for SWOVA, I have very specific tasks laid out that involve project coordination. As the project coordinator for the Respectful Relationships (R+R) program, the Pass It On Program, and for the Online R+R Facilitator’s Training, I need to ensure all the...
The Pass It On female teen mentorship program has now completed its second year. This year there were 16 mentors and 16 buddies. The mentors met weekly with their mentor supervisor, Kate Maurice, for support and guidance. In addition, they met monthly as a group with...
Kate Maurice, the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On female teen mentorship program, held us intimately and passionately in a circle of gratitude during an evening of entertainment on Sunday April 29th at the Harbour House Hotel. The event was a fundraiser for the...