Final thoughts on Spain

July 14, 2008

Who would of thought that seven youth from Toronto Community Housing Corporation(TCHC) and The Institute at Havergal College would come together through the United Nations Association in Canada and form Youth 4 Water(Y4W).

Y4W is a youth advisory group that raises the awareness around water issues in Toronto and all of Canada. Bam! Eight months later Y4W is invited to Zaragoza, Spain to present at the Water and Sustainability Exposition - Expo Zaragoza 2008.

For 12 days (June 13 to June 24 2008) I traveled half way around the world to Spain to enlighten myself, tighten my relationship with the other members, create new experiences and absorb the Spanish culture.

Spain is everything and more than what I expected. It has a rich history, memorable Spanish artists like Picasso and Gaudi, mouth watering seafood and fruits, small cobble stoned streets, tiny cars, obsessive and wild soccer fans and of course great shopping!

Expo Zaragoza 2008 gave me the opportunity to learn more about water issues affecting the 100 countries that were present. I had the chance to meet representatives from around the world and ask direct questions about their country’s water situation. As for our presentation and screening of our video in the El Faro Pavilion, we received a big applause from the crowd and compliments and praise from the director of the Expo.

During our time in Barcelona I felt like the energizer bunny, I just kept going and going. Of course I had to see and feel everything, whether it meant waking up every morning at 10:30 for breakfast and walking for miles. Thanks to siesta (mid-day break) I was able to regain my energy for our nightly escapades and dinner. Thanks to our Spanish classes with our teacher Cecilia, I was able to test out the language with the locals. Which was helpful when asking for the washroom or ordering a cafe con leche.

This whole experience wouldn't have been possible without the funding and support provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), The United Nation Association in Canada, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, The Institute of Havergal College, tenant councils across Toronto, the Rathburn Area Youth Project, and other support groups.

I would like to thank our intelligent and witty project officer of UNA-Canada (Lauren Alcorn) who has worked an extensive amount of hours to organize and plan our whole trip from day one. Also, she impressed me with her crazy navigational and map skills to some how get us across Spain, and her ability to keep us in line for our next tasks/adventures that we decided.
Thanks Lauren!

Khary Collins our Regional Officer has worked with our group from the beginning to plan and organize this trip and was unable to come.
With his support and direction in our meetings he has helped me to successfully prepare for this trip. Thanks so much Khary, I wish you came!

One of our supporters from TCHC, Julet Allen also joined us. She was like our mother hen who was very strict but always looked out for us. Since she was very stern, it was a pleasure of mine to annoy her and make her laugh, which worked most of the time =)
She's also a great shopping partner! "Zara, Mango, Vera Moda which one???"
Thank you for gracing us with your lovely presence.

Keddone Dias from LAMP who works with the Rathburn Area Youth Project, also joined us in Spain from the 13th to 20th. Thank you, Keddone for helping me collect funds from the RAY youth council. It was pleasure having you on the trip. Thanks Keddone and RAY

I would like to extend my thanks to Malinda who helped us develop and produce the video that documented our work around water in Toronto. It has been a long process to capture all our moments and join us on our trips and meetings, but it was worth it and the video was amazing. Thanks again.

Lastly I would like to thank, our most recent addition to the group Melanie Sharpe, who is our communications project officer. With just one meeting she has helped us prepare a mission statement, answer questions from the media, and has helped put this blog together. Thanks for your hard work, Welcome to the Team!

Leann, Shire, Jae, Travis, Ahmzad and Christine it is a pleasure working with such a fun, intelligent, and mature group of people. We all possess different personalities and characteristics and it was amazing to see how we compliment each other and work well together. I'm so happy that I had the chance to meet each and everyone you, and I look forward to getting to know you guys better and working with you on our next adventure.

One chapter of Y4W is done and a new one has opened up! Get ready for a new and improved Y4W this summer and the rest of 2009.

- Pia Johnson

Come and meet Youth4Water!!

On July 13, 2008 Youth4Water will be participating in Regent Park's annual Sunday in the Park festivites here in Toronto.

We will have a booth set up with lots of information on Canadian and International water and sanitation issues. We will also be running a water taste test. Can you tell the difference between tap water and bottled water?

Hope to see everyone there!

- Youth4Water

Spain Synopsis

July 8, 2008.


As all great things must come to an end, so did our adventurous trip to Spain for the International Zaragoza Water Expo.

This experience as a whole was an eye opener as well as life changing for me. I don’t have much traveling experience previously but through this trip I have learned a lot regarding the differences in cultures and attitude of people in Canada and Spain. Going back to the beginning of our trip it was really great to start off landing in Madrid, although we did have to wait in the airport due to luggage delays. But never the less we were ready to take on whatever Spain had in store for us.

That same night we traveled to Zaragoza and every one had a sigh of relief. As soon as the sun hit the surface of our windows and our tired faces, it was time to get down to our real purpose of over sea traveling. After a hard day of adapting everyone got into the presentation gear and worked very hard that night rehearsing and taking a closer look at every little detail to make our presentation flawless as possible.

And before we knew it the big day had arrived and everyone was full of energy and confidence. As we had hoped, our presentation went very well and the applause from the audience reconfirmed it. At the end of that day one of our missions was complete and with the dawn of the next day we were back at the expo networking with all the different countries that were showcasing their presentations as well. As the clock winded down and days passed by our Zaragoza a trip also came to an end.

Never the less the water expo and all the experiences with it were amazing. If I am ever given the chance to attend another water expo, I will do it without a second thought. Although our tenure in Zaragoza expired, with it a new journey began for us in Barcelona where we spent a couple of our last days before heading home.

Barcelona is a very different city from Zaragoza. First and foremost the density of the population in Barcelona was jaw dropping. But our team enjoyed Barcelona just as much as Zaragoza as we traveled around the city and visited various famous breathtaking sites. One particular thing that cannot go unmentioned is the amazing night life - people never seemed to sleep. Just like Zaragoza our time winded down in Barcelona as well and it was time for us to say “adios” to Spain and “hola” to Toronto again.


- Amzad Khan

Moving forward

July 4, 2008.

Hello everyone,

It's been about a week and a half since we arrived, safe and sound, at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

Upon reflection, we learned so much in Spain, both at the Expo and in Barcelona.

We explored issues, thoughts, ideas, and emotions surrounding water. We learned about Spanish language, culture, politics, and lifestyles. And in my opinion, most significantly, we learned about ourselves and our group dynamics.

Now we are back with new ideas and perspectives in our brains, passion in our hearts, and inspiration and hope in our souls. Thank you to everyone who made this growth possible, and please keep in touch as we move on in this next chapter in the story of Youth4Water.

- Christine Moon

More pictures from Zaragoza

Youth4Water (from left to right) Pia Johnson, Jae Kim, Shire Brandi, Leann Hughes, Christine Moon, Travis Dixon, Amzad Khan

Reflections and returning home

June 24, 2008.

Wow, it feels like the trip just started and already I am packing my suit case to go back home. I cannot believe I have spent 11 days in Spain; the trip is definitely one of the highlights of my life.

Thank you again to all of our supporters and staff for sending Youth4Water to Spain. Thank you God.

What has the trip meant to me? What has is meant to the group? And how did it change me? These are questions I am asking myself right now. The answer is I really don’t know.

But I can say for sure that the trip meant a lot to my group members and me because it elevated us to a new level by brining us closer to each other. We also learned a lot of new information and material that can really help us out. We can also bring this information back to our communities in Canada. For example, we learned about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and it turns out their website has tons of useful scientific information. We also learned about the Japan Agency for Marine – Earth Science and Technology (JAMTEC) their website also has very credible and useful information.

I realized in Spain how important our trips, workshops and activities have been. It all makes sense when looking back at it now. It was only after that I realized this and I think it will be after when I realize the real reasons of what the trip has meant to me. I am not talking about educating ourselves and what not about water, I mean what the trip has really meant to me, the group, our journey and to our lives. I don’t really like to talk about inner deep touchy emotional things, but by being truthful to myself I have to tell the truth.

Even though I am sad I am excited to be going back home. To tell you the truth I really miss home, there is no place like home. Being in Spain I also realize how unique and different Toronto is compared to other European cities. I know I am being very general considering Spain is the only European country or as a matter of fact the only country that I have been outside of Canada.

To tell you the truth I think Toronto is more unique than Barcelona, maybe I’m saying this because I am a Torontonian and a proud Korean Canadian. There is a song that I know that I think represents Toronto very well, excuse me if the lyrics are not correct but the song goes something like this:

We got the whole wide world in our hands, we got the whole wide WORLD in our hands, we got my brothers and my sisters in our hands, we got me and we got you in our hands, we got the whole world in our hands.

- Jae Kim