IJB Thinks #21 - Truth or Dare!

Hey JBers! We know you were all excited about the upcoming IJB Thinks edition: Truth or Dare, but many of you didn't have the time to get your article submissions in. Well... You're in luck! Because the submission deadline has been extended until April 30th! So get writing!

Canada Wide Video Call?!?

Yes that's right! A Canada wide video call will be happening on April 25th at 4:30 PM PDT. This call will give the opportunity for any JBer from Canada to talk to any other JBer. Canada is a huge country, and with only a few national events throughout the year, something had to be done to improve JB communication. This is how the JB Canada wide video call came to be! This video call will be a place for chapters to talk about everything and anything from their recent JB activity, to the weather, to the awesome camps they'll be attending this summer. 
So remember, April 25th at 4:30 PM PDT. Be there or be square!

LGBTQ in CISV Canada

This is an amazing project undertaken by two amazing people. Sierra and Erin, who will introduce themselves shortly, have spend an unbelievable amount of time building resources for LGBTQ Youth in CISV, as well as building a pair of activities around addressing LGBTQ concepts safely with your chapters. More info after the break, including an quick piece from both of them. For now, if you're in a rush go check out CISV LGBTQ and Inclusion

JB London is on Fire!

Shout out to JB London for being super on top of activities and write-ups!

Here is a little update from their JB on some activities they have held recently

Regional Camp: Regional Camp was held in London this past October at Stevenson Children's Camp. There was about 55 participants from the London, Waterloo, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal Chapters! It was a fun filled weekend. All the activities were very original and went along with our theme of Lord of the Trek Wars ft. Batman, The ultimate quest for Sustainable Development.

Chapter Wide Event: We held our Annual General Meeting in February. We held it at the "YOU made it Cafe." This Cafe is run by the organization Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU). YOU is an organization that focuses on the communities youth's most pressing needs, engaging all youth in learning and creating opportunities to build their future.

Cookie a thon: On March 23rd we held our annual cookie a thon! This year we decided to make the event only 12 hours but it have it loaded with classic but also some new CISV activities. We baked over 2000 cookies and donated them to the Men's Mission, Soup Kitchen, Masonville Manor Retirement Home, Women's Community House, The Unity Project and The Boys and Girls Club of London. For the first time ever we didn't lose money on this event. The money we made is being designated as the JB's money. The JB have decided to put this money towards the templates for our new merchandise.

Upcoming events for CISV London: Bottle drive on April 21st, and a 14+ Activity cleaning up the community on April 20th

Check Out the Latest Monthly Digest!

Hey JBers! 

Here is the link to the latest Monthly Digest that is put out by the IJB team.

http://issuu.com/cisvjuniorbranch/docs/march_2013

It talks about the next IJB Thinks (which you could contribute to!) coming out soon, as well as the new CISV International website!

Check it out, you won't regret it! 

Also, if you want to find previous issues of the Monthly Digests, you can always find them in the JB Library (talk to us if you need the username/password).

Woah! Props to CISV London!

Hey guys! 
Check out this newspaper article which featured CISV London's Cookie-A-Thon! 
Just follow this link: http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/community-story/2513830-cookie-and-a-smile/

Want to Attend CISV USA's National Camp?

Would you like to attend CISV USA's National Camp? Well you're in luck because we have been given 5-6 spots for Canadian JBers age 12+ to attend the camp!

Participants will be selected on a first come first serve basis, with the option to make adjustments based on the application form at the NJRs discretion.

The camp is May 24th - 27th and is in Detroit. The cost of the camp
is $190USD plus the cost of flights.

PLEASE GET THE APPLICATIONS IN ASAP! They are due April 10th and registration for the accepted applicants will be due April 20th

Please email forms to Dow and Amy at njr@ca.cisv.org

Please get the forms back ASAP, and don't hesitate to ask me any
questions!

JB Calgary Says HELLO

JB Calgary has been hard at work for the past few months, and we’ve held many successful activities. We have been especially focused on this year’s theme of human rights. At our last activity, we played a version of freeze tag that included questions about human rights and CISV. This was followed by an activity where the role of different human rights was discussed through participants placing the rights on different parts of a tree.

Right now we are planning an amazing mini-camp in April, a cookie-athon and a silent auction for Bon Voyage. So much to look forward to!

An Update from Vancity!

This past January, CISV Vancouver hosted our annual winter mini-camp. It was a great chance for everyone to catch up, and we welcomed some new faces too. Our buddy system paired these newcomers up with existing members so that everyone felt welcome. To kick off the night, our mosaic team prepared a thought-provoking activity for both the JB and the parents. We learnt about a growing issue that we face as citizens of a developed and privileged country like Canada; the privatization of one of our most basic resources, water.

On Saturday morning, we rose bright and early to commence a full day of activities, centring around the theme of revolution. A number of activities were planned around the theme including an abuse of power simulation. This was fun...for some of us. Maybe not so fun for those who were forced to march around in the rain for an hour. Regardless, the camp was a great success for us as a chapter, and we are looking forward to our next big event...Cookie Bake!

Meet Our Jr NJR, Amy!

Hello CISV Canada! I am Amy, your Jr NJR. I live in the beautiful city of Victoria BC. Over the last few years I have grown to love this great organization called CISV.

I started off at the ripe old age of 13, and traveled on an Interchange to Denmark over two summers. I then became involved in Victoria's JB and Village program. I traveled to Toronto to attend a Seminar Camp, and in 2011 I Jr staffed a Youth Meeting in Victoria, and was on the Eh Team as National Camp Coordinator! This past year I was one of the DCC and a Jr Leader on an Interchange to Germany. 

This weekend, right now actually, I am hanging out with the amazing Canada Exec board. There are ideas whizzing around, so many amazing people in one room! 

Perhaps I should tell you a bit more about myself? Shall we play two truths and a lie? 

That sounds fun! Ok, let's do this. Leave a comment on this post with your guess of which one is a lie. If you guess right I will send you a prize! (Probably a Starbucks Gift Card) Let's put a timeframe on this. March 8, after that I will send you a message on Facebook asking for your address to send your prize to. 

1. In preschool I decided I was a dog, and when my mom took me on an earth walk downtown for earth day I crawled and barked then entire way. 

2. When I was in China on a band trip, I visited a kung fu school and saw monks teaching children the traditional art of kung fu. 

3. When I was in Mexico doing a house building project, we went swimming in the waves after working all day, and a pool of dolphins swam close enough for us to touch.