A midway meeting update from the NJRs!

Hey JB Canada, as you probably know, the NJRs have just finished their midway meeting! Mercedes took the ferry over to Victoria and stayed in Amy’s humble abode. We got tons done this weekend, starting with a trip to the bank as well as some much needed Starbucks to get us going for the weekend. We skyped with Grace Voterro, from the USA who is the Chapter Development specialist on the IJB team who was awesome. She was incredibly helpful, and gave us lots of new strategies to tackle some problems that we’ve heard of in some Canadian JBs and chapters. If you’d like to hear what she had to say, let us know. We’re really excited to be able to put into action her words of wisdom. Next up, we got to check in with the lovely Francois Rivard from Montreal, who is our JB representative on the peace bus program committee. There’s some really exciting stuff going on for the peace bus 2014, so if you’d like to know more, contact Francois!

One thing we worked a lot on this weekend was creating a policy that is similar to the Child Protection Policy we learned a lot about at SBTF and NBM this year. Currently we’re calling it the Youth Protecting Youth Policy, but it’s subject to change. It focuses a lot on how to deal with awkward situations and what boundaries to draw when we’re in positions of authority but also still children (under 18 years). There is also a big chunk about social media, so keep your eyes peeled for the new policy!

After hammering out the policy, we looked through some old CISV documents from as far back as 2000! Did you know that JB started in Canada, all the way back in 1981, with the election of our first NJR Jeffrey Parliament? Pretty cool. Some chapter reports were written by the LJRs back in the day, Aynsley Hague, Alyssa Alidina, Julia Sheldon, Keenan Dixon, Kaleene Thors, and Alex Nueman. Pretty cool that they are all still involved in CISV! If you’d like to look at the reports from your chapter, let us know and we can scan a copy for you!

 We also skyped with the IJRs, Cande and Anjo and learned lots about them, and they learned lots about JB Canada – they seemed pretty impressed! We wrapped the weekend up by working on our bylaws! They’re (almost) completely up to date, and we will distribute the new version as well as a document that tracks the changes made.  We then took hilarious pictures for a possible Christmas/holiday card!

All in all, it was a crazy fun two days, with tons of work jam-packed into it. We got lots done, and are looking forward to implementing the new strategies for the coming year! 

See you all in 2014, JB Canada!

             -Amy & Mercedes

Eh Team Meeting #3!

The Eh Team is currently busy having the 3rd meeting of the year! Any questions for the team? Email jbcommsquad@cisv.ca.org and we will pass them on!

IJB THINKS #22!

Hello, CISV Canada!

IJB Thinks #22 – It takes two!

This issue aims at bridging the gap between CISVers by offering them the space of IJB Thinks to chat and discuss. Anyone can submit a question and anyone can volunteer to answer one. There is only one rule: you can submit any question as long as it explores who the other person is as a CISVer and what her/his impacts as such are.

So, there are two ways in which you can contribute to IJB Thinks #22.

Ask

Ever wonder what other people's motivations are to give so much of their time to CISV? What is the best-kept secret of their local Chapter? Ever ask where other CISVers get their inspiration from? Fancy to know what three things a CISVer has learned from a relative? Want to know what they are most proud of? Maybe in need of a solution for an activity you have to run with parents?

Ask them! This is your opportunity.

➽ Submit your question before December 31st to ijbthinks@ijb.cisv.org.

Answer

Would you like to be one of the many people to answer exciting questions from around the world? 

➽ Read this very brief info and find out how to volunteer to answer a question.

It's as much about the questions as it is about the answers.

T'was the night of the potluck! An update from Victoria!

I'm sure you, reader of this, have heard of a great man by the name of William Shakespeare, and I suspect that many of you have also heard of his historic play "Henry VI", but how many of you know that a playwright named Thomas Nashe also contributed greatly to the writing of "Henry VI"? Diving even deeper into this, how many of you knew that the word "Potluck" is included in a 16th century piece by the same man, Thomas Nashe? I'm sure a few of you already knew all of this, and I congratulate you on your incredible knowledge of 16th century England. But listen here self-proclaimed historians, I have a question that only the brightest of light bulbs could answer, what CISV Canada chapter recently had a potluck? The answer you are looking for of course is Victoria! The Victoria chapter in fact did host a potluck, and man was it fantastic! It started with the arrival of 100+ guests, all of them arriving with delectable treats and satisfying savouries. We kicked it all off by digging in of course, and let me say, the food was absolutely delicious. We tied up the meal with all kinds of holiday goodies, and started right into a human rights activity run for both the adults and kids of CISV Victoria. After the activity had been run, the leftovers were placed in the kitchen with care, in hopes that the debrief would soon be there. The participants were nestled all snug in their chairs, while visions of human rights danced underneath their hairs. They all did stand for flag after that, and then the Senior chair did announce "Happy Holiday's to all, and to all a goodnight". 

Cole Evernden

CISV Victoria Sr. Chair 

Want to let the rest of JB Canada know about your activities? Email us at jbcommsquad@cisv.ca.org

Happy Holidays! 

What's up on the DCC front?

An update from our lovely DCCs!

Hey JB Canada! 

Last night was the first JBDC meeting of the year, and what a success it was! Having talked about last year's success and ways to improve, we went on and brainstormed projects for this year. Some of the ideas we came up with include: Story book 2.0, JB Introduction Videos, CISV Canada Cookies (to be sold as a fundraiser) and lastly a JB calendar. We hope that you are as excited as we are for this year. Make sure you talk to your LDCCs to get more information or one of us DCCs! 

Happy Holidays JB Canada! 

National Camp Staff Announcement!

A bilingual update from our National Camp Coordinator Sierra!

Salut tout le monde!!

Les applications pour les conseillers a National Camp

sont maintenant disponibles! Contactez ncc@ca.cisv.org pour les formulaires.

Ils sont dues le 31 dec, 2013. J’encourage tout ceux qui sont intéressés de

commencer aussitôt que possible, parce qu’ils nécessitent deux references ainsi

que plusieurs autres choses. Si vous désirez cette information en français,

messages moi et je ferrais mon possible (vous pouviez voir que je mes

traductions sont complètement sans fautes :p).

En harmonie,

Sierra

Hello everyone!

Staff applications for National Camp are now available! For additional

information, please email ncc@ca.cisv.org. Applications are due by Dec 31,

2013. If you are interested, please get on it right away, because we require

two references among many other things.

Hope all is well!!

Sierra

NaJuWo!

Hello JB Canada! 

We were lucky to have a representative at NaJuWo this past weekend in Hamburg Germany! What exactly is NaJuWo? NaJuWo is an international JB workshop, that takes place in Hamburg, Germany every December.

This year’s theme was Heimat [ˈhaɪmat]… if you have no idea what that is? ... don't worry! Check out this English video: http://goo.gl/2ypN7P

"It was a really cool experience. Definitely interesting to be involved in an international mini camp. They had an absolutely fantastic camp theme. Especially for an international mini camp, the theme of "greater sense of home" was an absolute slam dunk.

There were definitely aspects of the camp that better than others, but it was really cool being there and meeting new people from the German Chapters. The camp staff, and the participants did a factastic job of promoting speaking English and being friendly to the internationals instead of collapsing into the friend groups I'm sure they've had for years. So that was excellent!” - Brett Shearing, Vancouver

If you are ever traveling internationally and want to take part in workshops or local activities, let us know and we can help you get in contact with the right people! 

IJR Mid-Way Meeting!

Our International Junior Representatives Cande and Anjo are busy having their first Mid-Way meeting! Check out their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CISV.IJR?fref=ts) too see what they're up too! Junior Branch is a global movement and JB Canada we are a part of that!   

Another great opportunity from CISV Ottawa!

Ever really wondered what its like to go to a regional 14+ activity? Well......now's your chance!! Ottawa is hosting their annual WINTER CAMP! The dates are running January 2nd-5th 2014! It's a perfect end to the holidays if you ask the Comm Squad! Registration is opening today and will be found at www.cisvottawa.ca!  There's no fun in telling you the theme here so head over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/195648333957097/ and learn more about what's going to be happening and the super awesome theme! If you have any questions you want answered regarding Winter Camp let the Comm Squad know and we will get you in contact with Ottawa Junior Representatives! 

Thats all for now JB Canada! 

Check back soon! 

Check this out!

Take a sweet peak at the new activity database! It's filled with great activities you can run with your JB! http://www.cisv.org/resources/running-or-taking-part-in-educational-programmes/ed-activities/finding-activities/