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...
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...
A year ago Amanda Todd took her own life because of cyber bullying. Author and child activist Raffi Cavoukian has written an article featured in The Star. Please read the article here: For more information about cyberbullying and Raffi, please visit his website:...
Position Title: Male Facilitator, Respectful Relationships Program ("RR") Contract: November 1, 2016 - May 30, 2017 The successful candidate will have education, job skills and training in the areas of youth violence prevention, social justice, community organizing...
Winter seems to be a time of great change and learning for me. My mother passed away this year on January 1st. For anyone who has lost a parent, the mixed emotions and loss will be familiar. When a parent dies we flounder between our adult selves and the child inside...
I’ve just recently completed 4 weeks of delivery of Respectful Relationships and Peace Kids programs at Salt Spring Island Middle School. This is my first time in my role as male facilitator in these programs working alongside Christina Antonick, an experienced...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAy5LYJlTII From high profile cases in the media to Canadian students and faculty calling for change across college and university campuses, the term “Consent” is being put under a microscope. Our understanding of this word raises...
Statistics tell us that one in three women and one in six men will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, while less than one in ten assaults are reported to the authorities. Most sexual assaults happen by someone the victim knows. (Stats Can 2004)...
Read Canadain Women's Foundation Blog Post "Day 8: How SWOVA is Helping BC Teens Develop Respectful Relationship Skills"
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to come. We have only today. Let us begin." Mother Theresa During the month of October and November Christina Antonick and I were in the classes of primarily grade 3, 4 and 5 students delivering the Peace Kids program....
"Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky." - Sonia Gandhi- In early October, I was blessed to travel to Calgary for a national meeting of Canadian Women's Foundation's 17 Teen Healthy Relationships Grantees - of which our...