This Tuesday, August 21, we heard from Chavi Kausha, current past president of the J Percy Page Interact club and whom we sponsored to attend the Adventures in Citizenship Program held in Ottawa this spring. Adventures in Citizenship is a four-day program in Ottawa for around two hundred high school students who have been sponsored to attend by their local Rotary clubs. It is organised and hosted by the Rotary club of Ottawa. Chavi said that she will forever remember the people, experiences and connections she made with the other attendees.
She arrived the day prior to the program and was billeted, along with another attendee, with an Ottawa family. They went for a walk that evening around the local neighbourhood and got to see the homes of several ambassadors from various other countries. On day one they were introduced to the organisers and then toured the Canadian War Museum. In the evening they made a trip into Quebec for a traditional Quebecois meal. On their second day they toured the Parliament buildings, but parliament was not in session that day. In the afternoon they received a presentation from Library and Archives Canada and in the evening they attended a dinner in Ottawa. On their third day the were taken on a tour of the University of Ottawa, the Rideau Canal, the Indigenous Peoples Center and then Ottawa City Hall. On their last day they attended a citizenship ceremony and then went to a conference center for their final day ceremonies. A representative from each Province gave a short speech and all attendees received a certificate for their attendance. Some special awards were also presented and Chavi received the Young Citizens Scholarship of one thousand dollars towards her first year of University. She will be attending Ryerson University in Toronto this fall.
Chavi thanked our rotary club for this opportunity and said that she is very grateful to have had a chance to meet so many like minded people. She gave special thanks to Carin Jansen Van Vuuren from our club and to Karen Huculak, the J Percy Page teacher co-ordinator for the Interact club for all of their encouragement and support.
