Meet Pedro

This August the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg will welcome Pedro to Canada. Pedro is from Uruguay and is taking part in the latest exchange between our Y here in Winnipeg and the YMCA of Uruguay.

Below is a letter of introduction from Pedro in both English and Spanish. We look forward to meeting Pedro soon and sharing more about his experience with you.

Hi friends from Canda!

My name is Pedro Ithurralde, I am from Uruguay and in August I will visit you for a few weeks.

I have been asked to tell you some about me, to make you get me know, but before, I want to thank you in advance to allow me to make this trip.

Like I said before, I am from Uruguay, am 21 years old and was chosen for further strengthening the partnership between the YMCAs of our countries.

About myself, I am involved with the YMCA from my birth and I love the institution because is part of my family and my home. My father, Jesus Ithurralde, is the actual COO of YMCA Uruguay, but he began to work in his youth, before he and my mom got married. For this, my sisters and I have spent a huge part of our life inside the YMCA, we grew up with it and I am sure that I will grow old with it.

My childhood and adolescence was very funny inside the YMCA, I met a lot of friends, enjoyed camps and did much sport. 

At the age of 15 I started the course of Leadership with one of my sisters, and at the next year we graduated as Leaders. With this I began to enjoy the volunteer work, play and spend time with children. 

In 2008, when I was 18 years old, I finished a part of my life and started another. I commenced the university and at the same time I applied to work in the YMCA as a salaried person. I started in charge of a group of children at a YMCA that had just been opened. There was one more YMCA in Uruguay. 

A few months later, into this new place, decided to open a Leadership Course, and I was selected to be one of the people who taught the course. At present I am the referring of the fourth generation of Leadership in the YMCA of the “Ciudad de la Costa” which have just five years old. I am in charge of the program coordination with the group of Leaders, too. We plan activities with children from some schools, children from YMCA and we do plans with the local government. 

About my life in the YMCA, I am studying two careers. I am in my fourth year of accountant and in the last year of systems analyst. My idea with such us different careers, is try to do a mixture of them. For example, create accounting software or start a business selling computers.

Concerning my likes, I love reading, sports, mainly football soccer and volleyball, but I always wanted to try ice sports such as sky, hockey or snowboard. But here in Uruguay there is no snow.

Well, I am looking forward to seeing you and meeting lots of YMCA people from Canada as well as your working styles.

We keep in touch,
Pedro Ithurralde.


Hola amigos y amigas de Canada,

Mi nombre es Pedro Ithurralde soy de Uruguay y en Agosto voy a ir a visitarlos durante unas semanas.

Me han pedido que les cuente un poco de mi, para que me vayan conociendo, pero antes quería agradecerles por adelantado el que me reciban.

Bueno como ya dije soy de Uruguay, tengo 21 años y fui elegido para seguir estrechando los lazos que hay entre las ACJs de nuestros paises.

Les comento que estoy involucrado con la ACJ desde que naci y amo a la institución pues es parte de mi familia y mi hogar. Mi padre, Jesus Ithurralde, es el actual COO de la ACJ Uruguay, pero comenzó trabajando desde muy joven, desde antes de que mi padre y mi madre se casaran. Por esto mis hermanas y yo, hemos pasado gran parte de nuestras vidas dentro de la institución, crecimos con ella y yo estoy seguro que envejeceré con ella.

Mi niñez y adolescencia fue muy divertida dentro de la ACJ, la pasé con muchos amigos, disfrutando de varios campamentos y dormilonas, y haciendo mucho deporte.

A mis 15 años comencé a hacer el curso de Lideres junto con una de mis hermanas, me gradue como Lider al año siguiente y comence a disfrutar del trabajo voluntario con niños, realizar juegos con ellos y convivir con ellos.

A mis 18 años, en el 2008 terminé una etapa de mi vida e inicié otra. Comencé mi carrera universitaria y al mismo tiempo entre a trabajar en la ACJ como una persona asalariada. Inicié a cargo de un grupo de niños en una ACJ que recien nacía, se sumaba una ACJ mas a todas las que ya había en el Uruguay. Este trabajo era diferente que siendo voluntario, porque ahora yo tenía mas responsabilidad. A los pocos meses en esta nueva ACJ se decidió abrir un Curso de Lideres y me seleccionaron para ser una de las personas que diera el curso.

Y esto ultimo es lo que estoy haciendo hoy en dia. Hoy les estoy dando el curso de lideres a la cuarta generación de liderato de la ACJ de la Ciudad de la Costa la cual tiene solo 5 años de vida. Tambien estoy encargado de la coordinación de programa junto con el grupo de lideres. Planificamos actividades con niños de las escuelas, con los niños de la ACJ y hacemos programa en conjunto con la Intendencia Municipal de Canelones.

Sobre mi vida fuera de la ACJ, estoy estudiando dos carreras, estoy en mi cuarto año de la carrera de contador y en el ultimo año de Analista en Sistemas.

Mi idea con estas dos carreras tan diferentes, es intentar mezclarlas de alguna forma, por ejemplo dedicarme a crear software contable o tener un negocio de computadoras.

Con respecto a mis gustos, me encanta la lectura, me gusta practicar deportes, principalmente futbol soccer y voleyball, aunque siempre quise probar por ejemplo deportes sobre hielo como Sky, hockey o snowboard pero aquí en Uruguay no hay nieve.

Bueno estoy deseando estar con ustedes, y conocer muchas ACJ de Canada, asi como los estilos de trabajo que tienen alli tanto en programa y como en gestión administrativa, alta dirección y toma de decisiones.

Nos mantenemos en contacto,
Pedro Ithurralde.

Fair Trade Day a Success!

Thank you to all of our members, staff and the community for supporting the International Working Group's first Fair Trade Day on June 21st! Over $1500 of Fair Trade goods from Ten Thousand Villages were sold in our branches that day. 

Thank you especially to Ten Thousand Villages for helping us to raise awareness around Fair Trade in our branches!

The International Working Group is looking forward to August 2012 when we will welcome Pedro, a youth from the Uruguay YMCA (ACJ) to Winnipeg.  More details on Pedro will be featured on our blog in the coming weeks!

FAIR TRADE DAY | June 12th

Please join us on June 12th for Fair Trade Day at the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg!

Spring Updates!

Greetings from the International Working Group!

Uruguay Exchange Presentation

Kirsten Schmidt, who participated in the International Exchange this past February in Uruguay, presented at our April meeting. Our International Working Group was excited to hear about her experiences. Below is the slideshow presentation prepared by Kristen. If you have any questions about her exchange, please let us know - simply leave a comment below!

Uruguay presentation

View more PowerPoint from mmarginet

Thank you Westland Construction!

Peter Grose presents a $1000 cheque to Dave Vankoughnett
to support the Casa program in Mexico.

On April 13th Mel Marginet from the International Working Group and Dave Vankoughnett, General Manager of Fund Development, presented to employees of Westland Construction. Westland has joined us as a supporter of the Casa Program in Mexico. Thank you to Peter Grose who invited us out to share information about our programs, and to all of the staff of Westland Construction for supporting the important work being done at Casa.

May 12th is World Fair Trade Day! 

Be sure share information on Fair Trade with your family and friends.

The International Working Group is planning a special Fair Trade Day for our Winnipeg Branches on June 12th – be sure subscribe to our blog to receive all of the information, coming soon! 

Are you interested in volunteering for this event? Contact Mel Marginet at mmarginet@ymcaywca.mb.ca.

Final post from Uruguay!

Hello everyone,

We´re coming to the end of our trip now, which we´re all very upset about! Especially since we hear that it´s still very much winter and cold back home in Canada!

Campers perform in Carnival costumes for their parents.

Kristen & Marjan with youth from San Jose at Camp Artigas.

We just came back from Camp Artigas, where we stayed for 2 weeks. In the time that we were there, several different groups attended the camp, including groups from YMCAs and some school groups. Over the past week, they had their Family Camp, where families from all over Uruguay come to the camp to participate in both adult and children´s activities.

It was interesting to see how a lot of the families have been involved with the Y and the camp for generations, where they were once children at the camp, and then camp counsellors, and now adults and coming to the camp with children of their own. The theme for this year´s Family Camp was ¨Carnival¨ and all the programs and preparation for the camp was done by the leaders and counsellors. We were amazed to see how many different activities they had for the kids during the day, and how closely each of their activities followed the theme. In Uruguay, there is a lot of history and tradition associated with ¨Carnival¨. We were surprised to see the activities not only followed the themes, but they were educational as well in explaining some of the history behind this event.

At the end of the week, the children performed in a mini ´carnival´ with help from their counsellors. Each age group paraded through the main camp area with songs and dances, and of course, their Carnival costumes and face paint! It was very impressive to see how much effort they had put into the parade, in terms of costumes and decorations.


Right now, we have just arrived back in Montevideo, staying with our host families for the last few days before we come home. Over the course of this month, we have become very close with our host families and have been very appreciative of everything they´ve done for us! It will definitely be a sad good bye when it´s time to go!

Tara, Marjan & Kristen

Update from Uruguay - We're at camp!

Playing volleyball in San Jose

Greetings!

Tara, Marjan and I have access to a computer and internet right now so we thought we´d update you on our trip to San Jose, and how life at Camp Artigas is going so far.

On Friday, Feb 11, 2012 we arrived in San Jose. We got to visit ¨La Casita¨ where a lot of their social programs for kids and youth are run. We got to sit in on a First Aid class happening there (not run to certify the youth, simply just to give them knowledge). We learned that La Casita is a second home to about 120 youth, who use the facility to do homework, study, have something to eat, brush their teeth, plant an organic garden and play games. As of now, the Casita consists of 4 classrooms, a kitchen, an office and a bathroom. They have an outside area to play in, but it doesn´t belong to them (they are hoping to purchase it), as well as they have an outdoor organic garden which they grow food that they use to cook. We were happy to find out that the Casita was made possible because of the strong partnership with the Winnipeg Y, growing over the past 40 years. 

"What time is it Mr. Shark?" on the beach!

We visited the other branch of the Y in San Jose which was the gym, workout area and pool. Carla, the CEO, hosted a BBQ with all the leaders and employees of the Y there to welcome us. 

During our stay in San Jose we stayed with Fernando Ramos, the vice-president of the board of the San Jose Y. Fernando and his family were very hospitable and welcoming to us.

After the weekend in San Jose, we came to camp on a school bus with a group of campers and leaders. The bus ride began at 8am, and was nothing short of 2 drums, a tambourine, singing and laughter. Oh, and there was also a megaphone in the mix. About half way through the trip, a herd of cows started to run towards the bus! We slowed down and waited for the cows to separate to the sides of the road. We started to speed up again, only to see they were quick to turn around and herd with the bus. 

First aid class

Camp Artigas is very rustic and beautiful. There are an abundance of eucalyptus trees, a river and sandy beaches. There are four main zones with cabins and bathrooms. We are staying in the central zone. The main activities during the day are beach games, boating, canoeing, zip-lining, and games in the forest. There are also some arts and crafts. There are coordinators and camp employees here, but the leaders run the show. We have been able to incorporate our ideas, games, and songs from home with the groups. The heat during the afternoon is very trying. Tonight some of the groups will be sleeping in tents after cooking super on a bonfire (supper here is at the earliest 9pm). We´ve only been here for a few days (including our time last week), the camp in deep in tradition and so far we´ve barely scratched the surface. 

We´re not sure when we will have access to a computer again, however when we do we will be sure to send another update. Tara is also able to send pictures through her phone when she has a chance.

We hope all is well back at home!

Sincerely,

Tara, Marjan and Kristen

Update from Uruguay!

L-R: Marjan, Kristen & Tara

Below is our first update from our Urugay exchange participants, Kristen, Tara and Marjan.

Hola de Uruguay!

We arrived Sunday morning at 11am, and were picked up from the airport by Adrian and Omar. Then we were taken to our home stays. I am staying with an elderly lady named Margarita, who is in many ways the Uruguyan version of my Grandma. The last two days we have spent acclimatizing to the hot, humid weather of Montevideo, while meeting everyone from the ACJ, the Asociacion Cristiana de Jovenes. We’ve been sharing information about our different facilities in Canada, and learning about the various Y facilities here in Uruguay.  It is refreshing to see that we are so far away from home, yet the Y is just as strong with its programs and values here in Uruguay. Of course things are run a little differently here, however most importantly our countries are both working towards the same goals.  It is enlightening to listen to people here talk about the Y, and see the belief and passion they have for the organization.  It seems as though the organizations are focused in the same areas, recreation and social programs. The most important thing to the people here is building relationships between members and practising the core values in action.

The Downtown branch, which I am currently staying right next to, is a centre focused on child and youth programs. There is a gym and a pool, and people have memberships; however, the majority of the programs running right now are day camps for children and youth ages 2-17. We’ve been helping run the day camps during the afternoons, and it’s been a blast! The kids are adorable of course, and eager to show us they can count to 10 in English and say various things.  Yesterday, we had the opportunity to see the new school in the process of being built. The school will be for pre-schoolers, and the people from the Y are very proud and excited about it. They will be opening in March of this year, and will start off with a small class of ten children, with hopes of growing in the near future.

This weekend Marjan, Tara and I are being sent to the beach to get to know each other better, and to see the resort town of Punta Del Este.   We will then be off to Campamento Artigas next Tuesday. The following weekend we are going to San Jose to see the facility there and learn about the social programs going on. This Thursday we are also going to get the chance to talk more in depth about the social programs going on in Montevideo.

Other than that, the food has been amazing, and the people have gone above and beyond to ensure we are comfortable and safe. Tara, Marjan and I are getting to know each other, and we are very happy to be here!

I hope all is well at home! Take care,

Kristen Schmidt

YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg

So far so good!

What a great opportunity! What a country! We have been welcomed with open arms. Everyone we meet is so kind and seems to be just as eager to learn English as we are to learn Spanish. It has really been a treat to see the similarities between the YMCA of Uruguay and Ys across Canada. They stress the importance of the YMCA core values and boast of all of their life-long Y members.

Though we have only been here a couple days we have already experienced so much and can´t wait to see what´s next.

Gracias,

Tara Molson 

YMCA Regina

Hi from Uruguay! 

Everything is going SO well and we love how beautiful it is here!  So far, we have spent the week visiting the different YMCAs in the capital city, and meeting some of the staff and the kids.  It's been really nice to build relationships with the staff and the kids at YMCA, because a lot of the same kids will be at Camp Artigas next week when we go.  It's also been so interesting to see how similar their YMCAs are to ours in Canada. We have had the chance to see a lot of their programs and how they run this week, and it's amazing how we do almost the exact same things in our children and youth programs as they do!  There's a bit of a language barrier because they predominantly speak Spanish (and my Spanish is pretty rustic!), but just by observing the programs, we can see the quality of their programs and we are able to point out the similarities. Yesterday, we helped with a program for 6 and 7 year old children. Their counsellor sat them all in a circle and started to explain a game.  Instantly, Kristen, Tara and myself were able to join the game because we had all played the same game with children in our programs back in Canada!  

Everyone here from the YMCA has been so hospitable to us!  The host family I am staying with this week has been taking very good care of me as well!  

We will continue to take pictures and keep you updated on everything that's happening here!  Talk to you soon!

Marjan Mogharrabi

YMCA-YWCA Guelph

We look forward to future updates from the exchange!