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...
This following image was chosen by the Obama campaign to be the image that came up when they declared their victory in November. It went on to become one of the most liked photographs of all time (it was an image actually taken last August). Someone commented that it...
The recent tragic suicide of Amanda Todd is front-page news in Canada. Cyber-bullying and other forms of bullying are the topic of many conversations. What seems to be missing from the conversations is the desire to look at the systemic violence, attitudes and...
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...
I literally read this book over 48 hours. “A Walk Across the Sun”, by Corban Addison, is a compelling novel following two young South Asian girls who are betrayed by people that they trusted and sold into slavery, after losing their family in the 2000 Tsunami. ...
The last few days, I’ve been having conversations about how to nurture a rural queer community - when Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Bi, Queer (GBLTQ) people feel safe in our community and when they don’t. I talked to someone at a Youth Drop-In Centre. He told me of a...
Dating violence is up across Canada according to a recent Statistics Canada report. The numbers, which encompass a wide range of relationships (boyfriends and girlfriends, exes and many permutations of intimate entanglements), were compiled from police reports from...
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...
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.
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...
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...