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On June 8, 2023, 6 of our volunteers were able to take part in Thorncliffe's Sports Day. We manned the refreshment station, providing water bottles and watermelon on a hot day. We also provided sidewalk chalk for the children to use as they took their refreshment break. It was a fun day helping and talking to the children.

Les 17 et 18 décembre, HOPE worldwide Canada à Montréal a participé à la célébration de la fête de Saint-Nicolas pour les familles ukrainiennes nouvellement arrivées au Québec. Nos bénévoles ont aidé à décorer la salle et à monter les tables, acheté des cadeaux pour les enfants et de la nourriture pour les repas qu'ils ont servis le dimanche. Ils ont fait la connaissance de gens très vaillants et courageux! - ENGLISH TRANSLATION - On December 17 - 18, HOPE worldwide Canada in Montreal took part in a Saint-Nicholas celebration for Ukrainian families newly arrived in Quebec. Our volunteers helped decorate the room and set up tables, bought gifts for kids as well as food for the meal, and served at tables. We met very devoted and courageous people there!

Les 17 et 18 décembre, HOPE worldwide Canada à Montréal a participé à la célébration de la fête de Saint-Nicolas pour les familles ukrainiennes nouvellement arrivées au Québec. Nos bénévoles ont aidé à décorer la salle et à monter les tables, acheté des cadeaux pour les enfants et de la nourriture pour les repas qu'ils ont servis le dimanche. Ils ont fait la connaissance de gens très vaillants et courageux!

On December 22nd, 8 of our volunteers went to Thorncliffe School and made and served a Pancake Lunch to the whole school. The children were so grateful and thanked and wished us a Merry Christmas as they went through the line. One child who had recently moved to Canada was able to taste his first pancake. Our volunteers also provided 9 food hampers to 9 families. When one women picked hers up she burst into tears in gratitude. It was a Merry Christmas!

On December 17th, 22 of our volunteers went to Rosslyn Seniors Lodge to sing Christmas Carols. The seniors were very encouraged and shared memories of past years we'd been there. Always a highlight is when we sing the 12 days of Christmas and get everyone involved. They also requested O holy night sung by Ashley Griffiths. We were accompanied on guitar by Enrico Ilaga.

On Saturday, September 10th, 11 of our volunteers were able to help build beds for children who do not own one. The organization, Sleep in Heavenly Peace ( Sleep in Heavenly Peace | Canada (shpbeds.ca) set up a space, along with materials and tools to enable the volunteers to build beds. They were able to build 40 beds.

Meet Riya Rokka. She lives in Kathmandu, Nepal with her family. She is a graduate from the Asha Vidhyashram School (translates from Nepalese to "Hope for Education") operated by HOPE worldwide Nepal, and from the Nava Indra Dhanush English Boarding School. Riya is a stellar student, loves to learn, and always had the desire to become a nurse. But due to her father's illness, and hence inability to work, her family is unable to afford her tuition fees. In 2019, HOPE worldwide Canada offered financial support by sponsoring Riya for her 3 years of Nursing Studies at the "Om Samaj Shaikshik Pratisthan" College in PCL Nursing (Staff Nurse) in Kathmandu. Flash forward to the present, she has successfully passed her entrance exam for the nursing program, completed her years of studies, and is now an officially licensed nurse. We at HOPE worldwide Canada are so proud of Riya and her wonderful achievement! Thank you to all of your prayers and your donations that helped make Riya's dream a reality. Check out the video below of her testimony: To support many others just like Riya, consider making a donation today: https://donate-can.keela.co/HOPEworldwideCanada

La Fondation Canada-Ukraine (FCU) a accordé une subvention de 364 065 $ à l’organisme de bienfaisance HOPE worldwide Canada afin de favoriser l’expansion de son programme de traumatologie Helping Hand for Ukraine . Ce montant permettra à HOPE worldwide Canada, pendant les deux prochaines années, d’enseigner à près de 240 formateurs et psychologues des méthodes thérapeutiques pour traiter près de 10 000 enfants ukrainiens déchirés par la guerre. Taras Kulish, responsable bénévole des relations internationales pour la section canadienne, affirme que HOPE worldwide Canada travaille de concert avec HOPE worldwide Ukraine depuis déjà 2015 à offrir le programme de traumatologie Helping Hand for Ukraine à des milliers d’enfants et de familles de l’Est de l’Ukraine et de la Crimée. Le 24 février 2022, dès que l’on nous a confirmé que tous les membres de l’équipe ukrainienne étaient sains et saufs, nous avons adapté et élargi le mandat du programme afin d’y inclure les crises en santé mentale qui ont un lien direct avec l’invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie. Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir ce partenariat à long terme avec la Fondation Canada-Ukraine. Nous espérons qu’avec le soutien de la Fondation, nous pourrons donner une plus grande portée à nos programmes et ainsi, aider plus d’Ukrainiens que nous avons pu le faire auparavant. « La Fondation Canada-Ukraine s’engage à coordonner, enrichir, organiser et offrir des projets d’aide conçus par des Canadiens pour les Ukrainiens, déclare Victor Hetmanczuk, président du conseil d’administration de la FCU. « Nous sommes fiers d’offrir 364 065 $ à HOPE worldwide Canada et de contribuer à améliorer la santé mentale des enfants et de leur famille en Ukraine. » Pour obtenir plus d’information sur HOPE worldwide Canada et l’aide apportée aux personnes victimes de la crise en Ukraine, veuillez consulter hopewwc.org. Pour les détails sur HOPE worldwide Ukraine et le programme Helping Hand for Ukraine , rendez-vous à https://hopeww.org.ua/en/projects/children-s-and-youth-projects/helping-hand/ Pour en savoir plus sur la Fondation Canada-Ukraine, consultez cufoundation.ca.

The Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) has provided a $364,065 grant towards the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” - trauma therapy program of HOPE worldwide Canada. Over the next 24 months, this grant will allow HOPE worldwide Canada to equip close to 240 trainers-psychologists with the methods to provide therapy for an estimated 10,000 children in war-torn Ukraine. Taras Kulish, International Relations Volunteer of HOPE worldwide Canada, states: "HOPE worldwide Canada has worked hand in hand with HOPE worldwide Ukraine since 2015 to bring the Helping Hand for Ukraine trauma therapy program to thousands of children and families from Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Since February 24, 2022, as soon as we were able to ascertain that all the members of our Ukrainian team were safe, we set about to pivot and expand the program to deal with the growing mental health crisis directly caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are pleased to welcome the Canada-Ukraine Foundation as a key long-term partner. We plan, with the support of CUF, to expand our programs and help a larger swathe of the Ukrainian population than we were previously able to serve." "The Canada-Ukraine Foundation is committed to coordinate, develop, organize and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine”, says Victor Hetmanczuk, Chair of the Board of CUF. "We are proud to partner with HOPE worldwide Canada by providing a grant of $364,065 to help provide mental health support to children and their families in Ukraine." For more information on HOPE worldwide Canada and the work they are doing to support people affected by the crisis in Ukraine, please visit hopewwc.org, and, for more information on HOPE worldwide Ukraine and the " Helping Hand for Ukraine " program, please visit https://hopeww.org.ua/en/projects/children-s-and-youth-projects/helping-hand/ To learn more about the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, please visit cufoundation.ca.

What you get back when you serve. How do you define ‘poverty’? Perhaps the image of the child from a charity commercial, or a country experiencing famine, or the people you see in the bus shelters near the grocery store. Living in a country like Canada, the concept of wealth is often spoken of synonymously with credit scores and account balances.

I want you to reconsider that definition. Although many of us might be materially wealthy, there are other forms of poverty that we should consider. The ever-so-popular Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one of the most referenced models for understanding how we can measure what we have an what we lack. An individual might have an abundance of the bottom of the pyramid (safety, security, and physiological needs) but be lacking in the middle of the pyramid (love and belonging). In a similar way, someone might have abundance of self esteem, and love but be found not having as much in the bottom two categories. Which would you define as “poor”?
In both scenarios, the people are found having needs (like we all are). Defining poverty by the physiological need can cause us to miss out on the many other needs ourselves and other people have.

The Saviour Complex
The saviour complex is the (often unintentional, yet harmful) belief in a vertical aid. “I am here to rescue, save, or fix them”. Them being often people who are viewed on the basis of their financial or physical needs. The problems with the saviour complex is that it does not acknowledge the needs within ourselves and it also does not acknowledge what other people do have.

The saviour complex often strips people of their humanity, strength, beauty and resilience because it positions the people we help as “needy”, taking away the other facets of their humanity.

Mutuality
This is the idea that our own needs can be met as we seek to meet the needs of others. In contrast with the saviour complex, mutuality aims at acknowledging our own needs (that perhaps are not financial in nature). Approaching volunteering or service with the mindset of mutuality reminds us that the people we help are first and foremost people. It reminds us to acknowledge the strengths of the people we help as well as what we stand to gain through the service.

Oftentimes, people have a need for connection and belonging that can get swept under the rug. Serving can be a way to meet that need through connecting with the people you help. Someone might have a need to build relational trust and the helping someone might be the path to understanding trust.

As a volunteer, you have much to gain.

To explore opportunities to serve in your community, and to connect with others who are on the journey of continuing to grow in our ability to serve with mutuality, please visit www.hopewwc.org

I moved to Canada in January 2022 as a new university graduate ready to take the world by storm and fulfill the career success dreams I was sold. It was not long before I started learning to redefine success. In my search to start a career, it was difficult to define what meaningful work was and simultaneously worry about finances. I found myself in a strange spot with a desire to do meaningful work but having a hard time finding a job that fit that. In March, there was an announcement by the Winnipeg Chapter of HOPE worldwide Canada about the opportunity to volunteer in an English Conversation Club (ECC). The idea was simple, give people who are new to Canada the opportunity to practice their English to gain confidence. The reason such a simple idea meant so much for me was because it connected with my life since 2020. In 2020, I became interested in foreign languages. I tried to learn Japanese but quickly gave up and moved to French and later on to Spanish. As I learned, I was able to make so many meaningful connections to people who spoke those languages. Living in the United States, Spanish was the second language and I had encountered people who spoke it natively and struggled to communicate with them. I often left conversations embarrassed when I tried to speak other languages. On top of that, while searching for work, I saw the strong requirements for English communication and how many doors open up to people with this ability. Being Nigerian, I am an anglophone and so I have the privilege of being able to communicate in English and before 2020, I didn’t give it much thought. Language is a necessity for humans just as is food and clothing. I learned that it is more than words. It is meaning and connection. When English Conversation Club came around in April, I decided it would be a waste of my experience over the past two years if I did not volunteer. I signed up. As an English native, I had to learn what was best for people learning this language. Hearing first hand how ECC helped them at work and in their lives and seeing people smile reminded me of the feeling I had when I held a good French conversation with a stranger. The feeling was along the lines of “Wow, I’m actually learning!” and it is nothing short of satisfying. This is the feeling that I was able to help someone else have. People were gracious and patient with me in my learning I could do that for someone else. I could love because I had been shown love first and HOPE worldwide Canada gave me the opportunity to do that.

You registered, you fundraised, you showed up and showed your HOPE in Action. Across Canada, in June, our Chapters got active in our largest fundraiser of the year. With over 200 participants running, biking, walking, dancing, and working out, we raised $48,000 to go towards HOPE worldwide Canada programs across the country. Some Highlights Amazing Race Our Calgary Chapter put together an “Amazing Race” inspired by the show, that started at the Calgary Central Public Library. The Chapter runs the #yycstreetfridge program that helps people experiencing homelessness an d food insecurities. They raised funds towards creating a youth center in Calgary to support young people in the community. Zumba Zumba Zumba An incredibly fun and effective way to get active. Our Chapters in Montreal and Winnipeg tapped in and got moving as they followed Zumba instructors. Our Montreal Chapter raised money to support their programs to provide free French lessons to people who newly arrive Quebec, families going through times of need and those fleeing the war in Ukraine. Going The Distance Various Chapters including Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax, and Vancouver help 5K walks/runs. The funds raised from these distance activities are going towards helping those affected by the war in Ukraine as well. We went the distance physically with the goal of going the distance in our support for our neighbours. Our Newest Chapter Reached Their Goal As we celebrate our Chapters efforts, we cannot go without giving a special shout out to our Chapter in Newmarket, Ontario. After starting with us this year, they were able to raise enough funds to reach their goal in order to give to their community. They made a particular note on supporting single mothers in their own times of need. HOPE in Action 2022 Winners We want to congratulate and thank the leading fundraising team, our Halifax Chapter, with over $7,000 raised. We also congratulate our top youth fundraiser, Alex Bayle, who raised over $800, and our Chapter with the most participants, our Calgary Chapter. Because of their efforts, our top fundraisers will be receiving an additional $175 to put towards outreach programs in their local chapters. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s HOPE in Action to make a difference in our communities. We couldn’t have done it without you. We hope to see you again next year!